Previous pages

INDEX

91                OF THE SWEDENBORG GEZELSCHAP

contains certain concepts which had at that time not yet been opened, and which only later on, once more essentially through Mr. Groeneveld's work, we have learned to grasp, it appears nevertheless that this argument concerning the essence of the successive Churches on this earth forms a perfectly cohering whole, to which at this day, in spite of the  then  as  yet  unsolved  difficulties, we cannot add anything of essential importance.

The concept of the Divinity of the Doctrine of the Church had indeed at that time already been received by us as a truth, but the rational foundation of that concept on the text of the ARCANA COELESTIA concerning the 12th, 20th, and 26th chapters of GENESIS had not yet been attained, a work which Mr. Groeneveld did not accomplish until a few months later in his address on The Doctrine of the Church of February 2nd, 1929. The Doctrine of the Church therefore in the address of December 30th, 1928, is not mentioned. And whereas now we would be inclined to say that the problems dealt with in this address can only be understood by one who, in a conscious way, is in possession of the essential principles of the Doctrine of the Church, we marvel when we see how these problems even at that time, had been grasped and solved. The greatest importance of this address lies in this that here for the first time it has been explained in a rational way why the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg are the Word of God'. It is indeed customary in the GENERAL CHURCH to say that the Writings are the Word; yea, there have been some even from the beginning of the New Church who said that the Writings were the Word. But so far a rational explanation of this truth has not been arrived at. The faith in this truth was based essentially on the express testimony of the Writings concerning their Divine origin, and on the conclusion from the teaching in the ARCANA COELESTIA (1540 and other places) that the internal sense is the Word itself (see C. Th. Odhner, Testimony of the Writings concerning themselves). It is true that some (E. S. Hyatt, C. Th. Odhner), with regard to the Writings as the Word, attempted to deduce a rational concept from the concept of the Trinity and from the concept of the three degrees 'o£ the mind, by which they were led to speak, with regard to the Writings, of "the

92            FROM THE TRANSACTIONS

Word of the Holy Spirit" (Hyatt), and, with regard to the Three Testaments, of "the Trinal Word" (C. Th. Odhner). We should not underestimate the historical significance of these contributions, but more than a tentative formulation of the problem thus far has not been attained.

The subject of this address is the order of the conjunction between God and the human race and the principles of the Divine operation by which this conjunction has become possible. The order of conjunction. between God and man is determined in the first place by the fact that God in Himself is infinite and man finite; that therefore there is no ratio between God in Himself and man, and that no conjunction is possible between God in Himself and man. The Human is the Mediator between God in Himself and man. God in His Human is the Lord, and therefore conjunction is possible only in the Lord. Before the Incarnation God had no Human of His own, and the conjunction was then through His Divine which made the Heavens and which is called the Human Divine, that is. He made use of the Angels for the conjunction with the human race. But after the Incarnation God had a Human of His own, which in contradistinction to the Human Divine is called the Divine Human.

The order of conjunction between the Lord and man is further determined by the fact that the Lord is Life, and that man has been created as an organ or a receptacle of Life; furthermore by the law that conjunction is-only possible if man participates in it as from himself. Without the cooperation of man as from himself no reciprocal and therefore no actual and remaining conjunction is possible. The conjunction of the Lord with man and the reciprocal conjunction of man with the Lord is effected through the two faculties which are called rationality and liberty. This is because all that a. man does out of freedom in accordance with his thought is appropriated to him as his own, and remains. These two faculties are from the Lord with every man; out of these faculties man has will and understanding, and out of these faculties man has life as from himself (cf. D. P. 71—79). It is by virtue of these two faculties and thence by virtue of the will and the understanding of man, if he is regenerated, that it is said that the Lord with man dwells in His Own.

93            OF THE SWEDENBORG GEZELSCHAP

  It is a law of Divine -Providence that every man should act as from himself, thus out of freedom according to his reason; butonly the regenerated man acts out of freedom itself according to reason itself (cf. D. P. 97). Every man therefore from the Lord out of his creation has the as-from himself; but the proper or celestial as-from-himself man receives only through regeneration. The celestial as-from-one's-self, or freedom itself and reason itself, exists in the will and the understanding which have been regenerated out of freedom and reason. There is thus conjunction of the Lord with man through freedom and reason, but there is  reciprocal  conjunction  of  man  with  the Lord only through freedom itself and reason itself, thus only through the regeneration of the will and the understanding.

  The complete conjunction of man with the Lord cannot take place otherwise than gradually according to a certain orderly series of successive states to which the successive ages of man from infancy to old age, correspond. Man is born as a natural being, he then during his manhood becomes spiritual, and finally in his old age celestial. In order, however, that man may later on become spiritual and celestial, he is born from the Lord out of his soul into the celestial of the innocence of infancy, or into the state of the innocence of ignorance. The celestial of infancy is thus given to man by way of an unmerited advance; it does not belong to man himself, as does the celestial of the innocence of wisdom of old age, by the complete development of the as-from-one's-self. In order now that man later on may become spiritual and celestial, he must first  leave  his  first celestial  state.  In his  first infancy he is in a celestial state, under the care of the celestial Angels, subsequently in his boyhood in a spiritual state, under the care of the spiritual Angels, and then in the years of adolescence in a natural state, under the care of the natural Angels. In this state an inversion takes place, and man now, by wrestling through the natural, must turn back inwards and climb up and return to the celestial state from which he started, but now as from himself. Then first of all, in his early manhood (juventus, cf. A. C. 10225), he is in a spiritual natural state and as to his spirit as an Angel of the first Heaven; he thereupon, during his manhood (virilitas), comes into a spiritual

94             FROM THE TRANSACTIONS

  state and as to his spirit becomes as an Angel of the second Heaven; and finally, in his old age, he comes into a celestial state and as to his spirit becomes as an Angel of the third Heaven. So it happens with every man who makes it -possible for the Lord to regenerate him, from the lowest degree -to the highest degree, according to the order of the successive degrees of the mind. From this it appears  that  man  can  only  enter into  the complete reciprocal conjunction with the Lord with regard to good and truth, or into the celestial as-from-himself, by passing through this series of successive states.  •

  According to the Third Testament a similar gradual development of the as-from-one's-self applies also to the history of the whole human race. Mankind from the most ancient times, in the form of the successive Churches had, as it were, to pass through all the ages of man, from the state of the innocence of infancy to the state of the innocence of wisdom. The period of the infancy of the human race was during the Adamic Church, which was a celestial Church; the period of the boyhood of the human race was during the Noachic Church, which was a spiritual Church; the period of the adolescence of the human race was during the Church of Eber, which was a natural Church; the inversion took place during the Israelitish Church, which was the representative of a Church, when the Lord came into the world; the period of the early manhood of the human race was during the Lord's life on earth, with those who believed  in Him, which was a spiritual natural state; the period of the manhood of the human race was during the Christian Church, which was

a spiritual Church; the period of the old age of the human race is that of the New Church, which is a celestial Church. Only bypassing through these successive states could the faculty of the complete mutual conjunction of the human race with the Lord, or the celestial as-from-one's-self of the human race, be developed. That the celestial as-from-one's-self of the Adamic Church and the spiritual as-from-one's-self of the Noachic Church, as compared with the spiritual as-from-one's-self of the Christian Church and the celestial as-from-one's-self of the New Church were of an incomplete nature, will appear from the following explanations.

95                OF THE SWEDENBORG GEZELSCHAP

 The Lord, in the regeneration of man, operates from firsts through lasts; that is, to begin with there must be something from the Lord with man both in firsts and in lasts, if it is to be possible for man to be regenerated. That which according to order from firsts through lasts comes into existence in mediates is the regenerated man. In the states of the descending line from infancy to adolescence where the inversion takes place, the Lord operates successively from the good of the celestial, of the spiritual, and of the natural, which has as it were been given to man as an advance, as from firsts, and in these states He operates through sensual things which are received by direct cognizance, as through lasts. In the states of the ascending line however, from early manhood to old age, the  Lord  operates. from  the  natural-,  spiritual-,  and celestial-good, which man has acquired as from himself as his own property, as from firsts; and in these states He operates successively through the natural-rational-, spiritual-rational-,  and  celestial-rational-truth,  laid  down  in  the natural, to which by the wrestling through the natural the entrance is gradually and successively opened to man, as through lasts.

 That the Churches from creation until the Coming of the Lord followed each other in such .a descending line, is known. That all these Churches with regard to the basis for their thought were not in any internal truth itself, but were dependent-on sensual things, therefore on things outside of man, is taught in many places in the Third Testament. Of all Churches before the Coming of the Lord it is said that they were not in the truth (T. C. R. 786); it is also said that all  Churches before the Coming were representative Churches, which could not see the Divine Truth except in the shadow, but that after the Coming of the Lord a Church was instituted from Him, which saw the Divine Truth in light (S. S. 99; D.L.W. 233; T.C.R. 109). On a former occasion already (see DE HEMELSCHE LEER, First Fasc., pp. 38—40; 82—87) it has been explained in some detail that all Churches before the Coming of the Lord, since they missed the Divine Human as a basis for their thought, were dependent on sensual things for the conjunction with the Lord, and that neither the Adamite, nor the Noachite, nor the Israelite could

96                FROM THE TRANSACTIONS

form an idea of the Divine things except as represented in the sensual things of creation.

The state of the Churches before the Coming of the Lord was the state of the good of the celestial, the good of the spiritual, and the good of the natural respectively. In the measure in which by the shunning of evil they were in the good of their degree, they were without more, by direct  cognizance,  in  the  representative  truth of their degree. — The state of the Adamic Church was that of the good of the celestial of the infancy of the human race and therefore of the innocence of ignorance. The inmost degree of the human, the interior rational, which constitutes the third Heaven, with them was opened (A. C. 1914, 5145), and out of that interior rational all things of creation for them were representatives of the celestial and Divine things. In this way out of the interior rational the sensual things of creation were the basis for their thought, and without this sensual basis they could not form a single thought;  they  could never think of the celestial and Divine things otherwise than as represented in the sensual things of nature. The entire natural creation in this way was a paradise for them; on earth they lived as it were in Heaven. With regard to their internal they were among the Angels of their Heaven and had open communication with them. They saw the Lord as represented in the sun and His infinite qualities as represented in the things of creation; and the Lord also appeared to them often as an Angel of Heaven. Their religion, their charity, and their faith were one and the same with their celestial life. The Lord with them operated from the good of the celestial of the infancy of the human race as from firsts, and through the sensual things of their paradise, by direct cognizance, as through lasts. As long as by the shunning of the evil of self-love they remained in the good of their Heaven, that is in the good of the Human Divine which then made the third Heaven, out of that good by direct cognizance of the sensual things of creation they immediately perceived their interior rational truth, which, however, was only of a representative nature, for which reason it is said of them that they were not in the truth. — When the Adamic Church had been consummated a Coming of the Lord to the human race took place from the Human Divine which

97            OF THE SWEDENBORG GEZELSCHAP

then made the external of the Adamic Heaven, as from a seed, for the establishment of a new Church. According to the order of procreation of life from a higher degree to a lower degree, out of the external of the preceding degree there comes the internal of the next degree, for from the truth of the preceding degree is the good of the next degree. From this seed came into existence the Noachic Church. The good from the truth of the interior rational was the internal of this seed. With the man of the Noachic Church therefore the interior rational remained closed, and since it was out of the good of the interior rational that the Adamite in the sensual things of creation saw celestial truth, the Noachite in the sensual things of creation by themselves could no longer see truth. He was dependent on a written Word. The state of the Noachic Church was that of the good of the spiritual of the boyhood of the human race, that is, the state of the exterior or spiritual rational or of spiritual charity. The Lord operated with them from the good of the spiritual of the boyhood of the human race as from firsts, and through the sensual things of their social order and of the world, as seen in the light of their Word, by direct cognizance, as through lasts. While all particulars of creation without more for the Adamic man represented Divine and celestial things, the things of creation for the Noachic man represented Divine and spiritual things only so far as they were seen in the light of their Word and could be brought into some connection with their social order as things of spiritual use and of spiritual charity.

The basis for their thought was thereby considerably limited as compared with  that  of  the  Adamites,  but just on account of this limitation the spiritual man, as compared with the celestial man, was now for the first time able to form a somewhat concrete concept of the Divinity and of the essential human things; but nevertheless not yet as ideas of the truth in itself, but only as represented in sensual things. As long as the Noachites by the shunning of evil, in the light of their Word, remained in the good of spiritual charity, that is, in the good of the Human Divine which then made the second Heaven, out of that good by direct cognizance they could immediately see their representative  spiritual  rational  truth.  —  When  the Noachic Church had been consummated a Coming of the

98                 FROM THE TRANSACTIONS

Lord to the human race took place from the Human Divine •which then made the external of the Noachic Heaven, as from a seed, for the establishment of a new Church. From this seed came into existence the Church of Eber. The good from the truth of the exterior rational was the internal of this seed. With the man of this Church therefore also the exterior rational was closed. Their state was that of the interior natural, that is, of genuine natural charity. According to their internal they were in conjunction with the lowest Heaven. The Lord operated with them from the good of the interior natural of the adolescence of the human race as from firsts, and through the sensual things of their interior natural social order and of the world, as seen in the light of their Word, by direct cognizance, as through lasts. The man of this Church thus was in the good of the interior natural, and out of this good, by direct  cognizance,  he  was  in  the  truth of his degree, therefore more limited again than the Noachite, namely exclusively with regard to the things of their social order in the world out of interior natural charity. As long as they by the shunning of evil, in the light of the Word, remained in the good of interior natural charity, that is, in the good of the Human Divine which then made the first Heaven, out of that good by direct cognizance they could immediately see their representative interior natural truth. — When this Church too had been consummated a Coming of the Lord to the human race took place from the Human Divine which then made the external of the last Heaven, as from a seed, for the establishment of a new Church. From this seed came into existence the Israelitish Church. The good from the truth of the interior natural was the internal of this seed. With the Israelites therefore the Church had become so external that even the lowest  interior  degree  of  good  remained  closed,  and therefore an operation of the Heavens on the man of this Church was no longer possible, since the Heavens could no longer be internally present. The Lord operated with them from their merely external obedience to the commandments and statutes of the Old Testament as from firsts, and through the sensual things seen in the light of the Old Testament, by direct cognizance, as through lasts. The Israelite was therefore in the good of the exterior

99                OF THE SWEDENBORG GEZELSCHAP

natural, and out of this good, by direct cognizance, he was in the truth of his degree, which was now limited to the ecclesiastic life of his people, as the people of God. As long as by the shunning of external evil, in the light of the Old Testament, they remained in their worship in an external holiness, out of this good by direct cognizance they could immediately see their representative natural truth.

When also the Israelitish Church, which in reality was merely the representative of a Church, had been consummated the Coming of the Lord into the Flesh took place. The Word in the Israelitish Church had become so external that an operation with regard to internal things through that Word was no longer possible, so that there was no question any longer of a proper Church; and if in this state of the human race the Word had not become Flesh, the conjunction would have been broken and the human race would have perished. In the Adamic Church the Lord operated from the good of the celestial, or the inmost good, as from firsts, and through the sensual of the celestial, which is the outmost, because all-comprehensive and unlimited sensual, as through lasts. In the Noachic Church the Lord operated from the good of the spiritual as from firsts, and through the sensual of the spiritual as through lasts. In the Church of Eber the Lord operated from the good of the interior natural as from firsts, and through the sensual of the interior natural as through lasts. Firsts and lasts in this way in the successive descent had approached each other more and more, until in the Israelitish Church they were both in the exterior natural, so that interior mediates could no longer come into existence, and there was no longer question of any internal good. For the Lord operated with them from their obedience to the commandments and statutes of the Old Testament laid upon them from without, as from firsts, and through the sensual things seen in the light of the Word, as through lasts. From this it now clearly appears that if the Lord Himself had not come, and had not brought His Good into lasts, the human race would have perished. The Human Divine which in accordance with the ever more external nature of the successive Churches had gradually descended as a seed from the highest to the lowest degree, had now become so external that it

  100            FROM THE TRANSACTIONS

  could be received as a Natural Seed by the Virgin Mary. This Seed therefore contained the Good of the Human Divine from the highest to the lowest degree (as described in the Genealogy of Matthew), and the Natural Seed itself contained the germ of the Divine Human and of the Holy Spirit (as described in the Genealogy of Luke). The Lord by the Glorification of His human conjoined the Truth of the Human Divine which in the form of the Old Testament came to Him from without, with the Good of the Human Divine which He had in Himself; the Good of the Human Divine became the Good of the Divine Human; the Word became Flesh; the Divine Human is the Divine Good even in lasts.

  It has already been explained above how in the successive Churches by the descent of the good of the Human Divine from which the Lord successively operated as from firsts, the representative sensual things through which the Lord could operate as through lasts were more and more limited. This gradual limitation of the representative sensual things as a basis for man's thought, had now advanced to a total discontinuance, and the thought of mankind was now limited to the Word become. Flesh, that is, the Truth not as represented but the Truth in itself. The basis for the thought of the human race, from the sensual things of creation, that is, from the merely external things, had now been transferred to the Divine Human, that is, to the internal things. By this the inversion of the human race from its descending to its ascending development was accomplished. Commencing with the lowest interior degree, the interior natural, and advancing through the middle interior degree, the exterior rational, the human race had now finally to be brought to the highest interior degree, the properly human basis for the thought, the interior rational.

  In the period of the descending development, that is, before the Coming of the Lord, it was good which determined the state of the human race; in the period of the ascending development, that is, after the Coming of the Lord,  it is  truth which determines the state of the human race. Before the Coming of the Lord man, by the shunning of evil, came into good and out of this good by direct cognizance he was immediately in his truth; after

101                OF THE SWEDENBORG GEZELSCHAP

  the Coming of the Lord man by the shunning of evil comes into truth and through truth into good. By shunning the evil of the first hell man comes into the truth of the first interior degree and through this truth into the good of the Divine Human which makes the first Heaven; by shunning the evil of the second hell man comes into the truth of the second interior degree and through this truth into the good of the Divine Human which makes the second Heaven; by shunning the evil of the third hell man comes into the truth of the third interior degree and through this truth into the good of the Divine Human which makes the third Heaven. The purpose of the wrestlings with the proprium or of the shunning of evil in the Churches after the Coming of the Lord is therefore to arrive at one of the interior degrees of truth and to maintain one's self in this truth, rejecting all lusts of the proprium which appear in the light of this truth, thus by an interior faithfulness to the spirit of this truth, by which a man comes gradually into the good itself of the respective degree and is thereby taken up into the Divine Human of the Lord. The purpose of the Churches after the Coming of the Lord is therefore first of all in their Word to arrive at the proper essence of the truth, in order so to attain an internal basis for their thought, for only in this way can they come to good. Before the Coming the Lord operated successively from the good of the celestial, of the spiritual, and of the natural of the Human Divine, which had been given to mankind as an advance, as from firsts, and through sensual things that were taken up by direct cognizance, as through lasts; after the  Coming the  Lord  operated  successively  from  the natural-, spiritual-, and celestial-good of the Divine Human, which the human race as from itself had acquired as its own property, as from firsts, and successively through the natural-rational-, spiritual-rational-, and celestial-rational-truth, laid down in the natural, to which by the wrestling through the natural the entrance is gradually and successively opened to man, as through lasts. For the new truth which is given to man after the wrestling as a revelation by perception, is laid down in the natural, so that the Word becomes an ever more internal basis in lasts for the further thought: by this the letter of the Word is gradually opened more and more to man; the interior doctrinal

102            FROM THE TRANSACTIONS

things which lie concealed in the letter more and more take the place of the literal things of the Word which first served as a basis.

  By the Coming of the Lord on earth, His appearance before the eyes of men, and by the recognition of Him as the Son of God (Luke I :°35, 38, 43; ch.2 : II, 17, 20, 26, 30, 31, 32, 38), the transition from the adolescence of the human race to the early manhood was accomplished. No longer now did the sensual things of creation serve as a basis for the thought of men, but the Divine Human of the Lord. By the faith in the Divinity of the Lord the human race for the first time had left the representative truth and had been introduced into the truth itself. It was the task of the human race from now on, by ever deeper going victories over the proprium, therefore by a progressive wrestling through the. degrees of the natural, to climb up to the interior degrees of truth. — The period of the early manhood of the human race was during the life of the Lord on earth and until the Ascension and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit related in the ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, with those who believed in Him, which was a spiritual natural state. The good from which the Lord now operated as from firsts, was the good of His Divine Human, for the Lord had now taken all the Good of the Human Divine upon Himself. For this reason the Lord said: "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in Me. I am the vine, ye are the branches" (John 15 :4, 5). The truth through which the Lord now operated as through lasts, was the truth of His Divine Human.  In this first spiritual natural state, during the early manhood of the human race, while the Lord as a natural man was immediately present before their senses, the truth through which He could operate was determined by their faith that He was the Son of the living God. At this interior truth of the lowest degree they could only arrive by wrestling through the natural in the first degree. With those who could not believe that the essence of His Human was from the Divine, because they remained in the proprium, the Lord could not operate. This is described in the Gospel of Matthew:  "Jesus saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon &. Peter

103                OF THE SWEDENBORG GEZELSCHAP  

answered and said, Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him: „Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona" (ch. 16 : 15—17). And therefore too the Lord said: "Verily, verily, I say unto you: He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life. ... Whoso eateth My Flesh, and drinketh My Blood, hath eternal life" (John 6 : 47, 54); and: "He breathed into the disciples and said: Receive ye the Holy Spirit" (John 20:22). Concerning this we read in THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION: "The Lord breathed upon the disciples and said this because the breathing-upon (aspiratio) was an external symbol representative of the Divine breathing-into (inspiratio); the breathing-into, however, is the insertion into angelic societies" (n. 140). — The transition to the period of the manhood of the human race could take place only by the Lord leaving the earth; for man must first become independent of the sensual presence of the Lord if he is to receive the influx of the more interior degrees of truth. This the Lord teaches in the following words in the Gospel of John: ' It is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you.  ... When He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth" (ch. 16 :7, 13). The period of the manhood of the human race was during the Christian Church. To this Church there had been opened in the Word of the New Testament the entrance to the natural and therefore also to the exterior rational of the Human Divine. It was the purpose of the Christian Church, by wrestling through the natural, to arrive at the essence of its Word, the New Testament, as at the spiritual basis for its thought, and through this to its good, the good of spiritual charity. Its task therefore was by the shunning of evil to penetrate to the genuine spirit of the New Testament, which never has reference to the merely natural things themselves that are mentioned therein, but to the Divine, celestial, and spiritual things of the natural of the Divine Human of the Lord. That man without victory over the proprium could never arrive at that genuine spirit of the Divine Human, the Lord Himself says in the Gospel of John: "I shall pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, ... the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him

104            FROM THE TRANSACTIONS

not,  neither knoweth Him"  (John  14:16,  17). In this way the Christian Church could have come to a spiritual basis for its thought, and by this to the good itself of the natural of the Divine Human of the Lord. For this reason it is said in the Third Testament that the Christian Church, as to its internal essence, was a spiritual Church, for the characteristic of the spiritual is the combat with and the victory over the natural. It is also said that the Christian Church, as to its internal essence, was like the Noachic Church, of which it is known that it was a spiritual Church. In this way the human race in an orderly way might have gone through its period of manhood, and gradually have been prepared for the reception of the interior rational things themselves of the Divine Human. From this Church also it clearly appears that all Churches after the Coming of the Lord should no longer base their thought, as did the Churches before the Coming, on the sensual, that is, on the direct cognizance of the letter of their Word, but that, by wrestling through the natural, that is, by the shunning of evil as sin against the Lord, they should raise themselves to an internal basis for their thought. The Christian Church, however, only in its first ages took up its Word internally; and indeed in many things in the Epistles and in the writings of the church fathers the genuine Doctrine of the Christian Church is contained. In those states there was conjunction with the Heavens and with the Lord. But gradually the reception of the Word became more and more external, so that instead of coming into the Divine Human to which they could have come by genuine truth, they came more and more into the evil of the proprium. Instead of the interior truth there came the separated letter, instead of spiritual charity and living faith there came faith alone and the hypocrisy of a most external piety and philanthropy. What the complete development of the exterior or spiritual rational during the manhood of the human race might have become, in the theology of the Christian Church therefore does not appear; but rather may thr degeneration of that manly faculty be discerned in the many philosophic systems which were developed during the period of that Church, in which as a rule the Divine Human has been entirely lost sight of, or was falsified by the separated natural rational.

105            OF THE SWEDENBORG GEZELSHAP

 When the Christian Church was consummated the Second Coming of the Lord took place in the Word of the Third Testament. The Third Testament is the Rational of the Divine Human of the Lord. Man comes into the proper essence of this Word only through the interior rational which constitutes the third Heaven. Before the Incarnation the Lord operated from the good of the Human Divine as from firsts, and through the sensual things of creation as through lasts. The conjunction of the Lord with the human race therefore with regard to good was mediate through the Heavens and with regard to truth immediate through creation. After the Incarnation the Lord operated from the good of the Divine Human as from firsts,  and through the truth of the New  Testament as through lasts. With regard to good the conjunction of the Lord with the human race was now immediate, therefore independent of )l»' Heavens, since the Lord had made all the Human Divine the Divine Human in Himself. But with regard to truth the conjunction now became mediate through the Heavens. This appears from the following consideration: The New Testament is the Natural of the Divine Human, or, as Mr. Groeneveld has expressed himself in this address "the Truth separated by the Lord from His Divine Human; that Truth by which the conjunction of the Lord with the human race did not yet take place immediately out of His Divine Human; that Truth which with regard to the conjunction with the human race was still separated from the Good of the Divine Human, as the Son from the Father". For the influx of Divine Truth is immediately out of the Lord only into the interior rational; in the lower degrees, however, it is mediate through the Heavens, so that the human race as long as admittance had been given only to the natural of the Divine Human, for the opening of the truth of that Word was dependent on the influx of the Heavens. This appears from the following place in the CANONS: "Thus the Holy of God, which is called the Holy Spirit, flows in order into the Heavens; immediately into the supreme Heaven, which is called the third; immediately and also mediately into the middle Heaven, which is called the second; similarly into the ultimate Heaven, which is called the first" (The Holy Spirit 3 : 2).  As long as the Christian Church, on

106            FROM THE TRANSACTIONS

the basis of the New Testament, by the shunning of evil, came into the genuine spirit of the truth of that Word, there was therefore conjunction mediately through the Heavens with the Lord. However, in the degree in which the reception of truth became more and more external, and they therefore instead of coming into the Divine Human came into the proprium, more and more there came into existence between the Heavens and the Church imaginary. heavens animated from the hells, until finally the conjunction of the Lord through the Heavens with the human race threatened to perish  completely.  Then  the  Lord to<)k over from the Heavens upon Himself the task of mediation for conjunction also with regard to truth. This was done by His Second Coming in the Word of the Third Testament.

  The Word of the Third Testament is the Divine Rational, and therefore the Truth itself conjoined with the Good itself  of  the  Divine  Human  of  the  Lord.  Man  comes into the proper essence of this Word only through the interior or celestial rational, which constitutes the third Heaven (A. C. 5145). In this interior rational there is immediate conjunction with the Lord Himself also with regard to truth, as appears in the passage quoted from the CANONS (The Holy Spirit 3:2). By the Second Coming of the Lord in the Third Testament therefore the conjunction of the Lord with the human race has become immediate and independent of the Heavens also with regard to truth.  On  this  rests  the  imperishableness of the New Church; for every conjunction which is dependent on the Heavens is also dependent on the human race, out of which the Heavens are made; and every conjunction which is dependent on the human race is exposed to the danger of destruction. Here it now clearly appears in a rational way that the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg are the Truth of the Divine Human and therefore the proper Word of God itself. The proper proof is given by the application of the words: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word, to the Coming and to the Second Coming of the Lord. Before the Coming of the Lord the conjunction of the Lord with the human race with regard to good was mediate through the Heavens; the Word thus was with God. By the Incarnation the Lord became that Word itself; thus God was the Word. Before

107         OF THE SWEDENBORG GEZELSCHAP     

the Second Coming of the Lord the conjunction with regard to truth was mediate through the Heavens; the Word thus was with God. By the Second Coming the Lord in the Third Testament became that Word itself; thus God was the Word.

  In the Third Testament the entrance has been opened to the human race to the rational of the Divine Human. By this the transition of the human race from the period of manhood to the period of old age was accomplished. The characteristic of the old age of man is the state of wisdom and of innocence in wisdom. Man in this state after surmounting the natural has entered the rational itself, that is, the interior rational which constitutes the third Heaven; the wrestling through the natural has ceased, man has become a celestial man, and with regard to his spirit, he is among the Angels of the third Heaven; he is in the immediate perception of truth out of celestial good, that is, for the first time he is in the proper human itself. The human race in the New Church comes into the proper essence of the Third Testament as the basis for its thought, only through the interior or celestial rational which constitutes the third Heaven. The New Church is out of the Third Testament. Everything that is essentially New in this Church is out of the Rational of the Divine Human, therefore with regard to man out of the interior rational which constitutes the third Heaven. And since it is not the Word which makes the Church, but the understanding of the Word, and as the Divine Rational in the letter of the Third Testament has been laid down in the natural and the natural man thence cannot take up anything but merely natural scientifics, and as the genuine Doctrine out of the Word is the internal sense of the Word, it follows that the New Church is out of the Third Testament, not by direct cognizance of the letter of that Testament, but through the celestial Doctrine out of that Testament. All the germs or seeds of the essentially New truth, out of which the New Church is established, and those out of which it will be further built, originally have been conceived and in the future must always be conceived in the interior rational. This is the reason why the New Church is called a celestial Church and why it is spoken of the New Jerusalem and its celestial Doctrine. It is only in the light of such interior

108                FROM THE TRANSACTIONS 

rational truths out of celestial origin that the letter of the Third Testament can gradually be opened for the Church, and that the Church as a whole can gradually be built. It is clear therefore that the men of the New Church, much more than those of the Christian Church, must avoid basing their thought on the sensual, that is, on the direct. cognizance of the letter of its Word, and, that by the interior wrestling through the natural, they must raise themselves to the internal bases of truth.

  In this way the human race in the development of the as-from-one's-self, by which alone the complete conjunction with the Lord could become possible, had to pass through all ages from the good of the innocence of ignorance to the good of the innocence of wisdom. In the proper state of the New Church, which is called "the Bride of the Lamb", the state of the complete celestial as-from-one's-self has for the first time been attained and the conjunction of the Lord with the human race thereby has become an immediate conjunction both with regard to good and with regard to truth.

  109

DE HEMELSGHE LEER

EXTRACTS FROM THE ISSUE FOR JAN.-FEB. 1932

           THE NEW YEAR

ADDRESS BY H. D. G. GROENEVELD AT THE NEW YEAR'S BREAKFAST, JANUARY 1st 1932.

  By the Doctrine of the Church the internal things have been given to the Church. These things, as in a seed, are present in the Church, which seed will be opened more and more when it is received and brought to life by the external things of the Church. It is the things of the Doctrine of the Church which determine the internal man, while these things can also flow into the external man, if after a preparation of- the external  man the Lord is born in that man. All things which in the former state were present from the Lord in the external man, have been taken up into the internal man, and they there make one man who is the Lord's. In the new state everything of the external man of all of us again appears impure before the Lord. By the Lord we must be provided in the external man with new garments, that is with new goods and truths, in order that in the new light we may again appear before Him in His Church. Let us therefore turn our eyes away from the things of this world and direct them only to ourselves. Let us examine ourselves with regard to each affection and with regard to each thought in the external  man. Hear therefore the words in the second verse of the third chapter of the Gospel of Matthew: "Repent ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand", and in the eighth verse: "Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance".

  Let us thus very diligently read the Word in the new light which the Lord has given to the Church, and let us acknowledge our evils and falsities before the Lord from love to Him, in order that the Lord may be born in the

110                H. D. G. GROENEVELD

external man in us. We should approach the Word and the Doctrine of the Church in lull devotion and receptivity, as appears from the 15th verse of the tenth chapter of the Gospel of Mark: "Verily I say unto you: whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein".

  The deeper hells and therefore our hidden love of self and love of the world will forcibly draw us away from the coming combat. For they wish to keep us in the good and the truths thence proceeded, of the former state. This good and these truths are of no power for the new state of our external man. The goods and truths of the former state are immediately present before us in ultimates and bring us no goods and truths for the new state of our external man. The new goods and truths must be born in the external man in us from the Lord out of the internal man, which is possible only after a combat against the evils and falsities which are now consciously present in the external man. It is these things that are contained in the .words of the ninth verse of the third chapter of the Gospel of Matthew: "And think not to say within yourselves: We have Abraham to a father, for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham".

  Let us be simple and upright, let us put off all semblance and outwardness. Let us realize more and more that all things of our understanding and all things of our will in the external man regard nothing but self-intelligence and love of self, in order that finally there may arise in us a feeling of complete helplessness and dependence. Then the Lord can come to dwell in our external man, thence to save us from our evils and falsities, as appears from the second verse of the eighth Psalm: "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast Thou ordained strength because of Thine enemies, that Thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger."

  Let us therefore order our lives, our work, our- families according to the things of the Church. Let us all fulfill our duties  towards the  Church  from love,  for in the Church the Lord is present, there we receive power. May we therefore in this new year accept the combat for the sake of ourselves, for the sake of the Church, for the sake of the Lord, our Father.

 111      SWEDENBORG GEZELSCHAP

FROM THE TRANSACTIONS OF THE SWEDENBORG GEZELSCHAP

Extract from the Minutes of the Meeting of Saturday, February 7th, 1931.

  The memorandum, calling this meeting together, reads as follows.: The Review of DE HEMELSCHE LEER in NEW CHURCH LIFE.

  The following gentlemen took part in the discussion of the review  which  appeared in the January issue of NEW CHURCH LIFE: Rev. Ernst Pfeiffer (p. Ill), Prof. Dr. Charles H. van 0s (p. 116), E. Francis (p. 120), N. J. Vellenga (p. 125), J. P. Verstraate (p. 132), H. D. G. Groeneveld (p. 136), Rev. Theodore Pitcairii (p. 144).

REV. ERNST PFEIFFER. — The subject of DE HEMELSCHE LEER, namely the Third Testament of the Word, and the Doctrine of the Church, has been clearly indicated in the first fascicle of the English edition which was reviewed; and the truth of the new theses has been amply confirmed with comprehensive documentation, derived from the literal sense of the Third Testament. The reviewer's argument in each separate sentence so clearly indicates that neither the essence of the subject, nor anything of the documentation quoted, has been understood by him, that it might justly be passed by unnoticed. It is greatly to be regretted that the editor of NEW CHURCH LIFE has presented this irrelevant article to the members of the GENERAL CHURCH as a review of DE HEMELSCHE LEER, so that they remain deprived of a correct guidance with regard to truths which will prove to be of great importance to the New Church.

 The Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg are the Word itself, or the Divine Truth in lasts, in its fullness, holiness, and power. There is an essential difference between the Word and the Doctrine of the Church. The Word is the infinite Divine Doctrine itself. The Doctrine of the Church is not the Word but out of the Word. We read in the ARCANA COELESTIA: "The Word in the letter cannot be

112                 FROM THE TRANSACTIONS

grasped except through Doctrine out of the Word, made by one who is enlightened" (n. 10324). It is clear that such a Doctrine cannot but be from the Lord alone, and is by no means a human production; how otherwise could it be a lamp to the understanding when the Word is being read?  Therefore it is also expressly said,  "That the Doctrine is  spiritual  out of  celestial origin,  but not out of  rational  origin"  (A.  C.  2496,  2510,  and  the whole of the twentieth chapter): and, "That the Lord is that Doctrine itself" (A. C. 2859). The spiritual essence out  of celestial  origin  of  the  genuine Doctrine has, in its essential particulars, been shown and described in DEHEMELSCHELEER (First Fascicle, pp 14—17; 56—65; 97—125).

  Thus there is the Divine Doctrine, that is, the Word itself. The Divine Doctrine in itself is above the Heavens and cannot be grasped by man or Angel; it is infinite. And there is the Doctrine of the Church; it is a natural Doctrine in a natural Church and in the last Heaven; it is a spiritual Doctrine in a spiritual Church and in the middle Heaven; and it is a celestial Doctrine in a celestial Church and in the highest Heaven. These three degrees of the Doctrine of the Church correspond  to each other, and there is no relation between them but that of correspondence. From this it appears clearly that also the cognitions of the different Doctrines differ entirely from each other, and that there is no relation between them but that of correspondence. So, for instance, the cognition of God: this cognition is different in the natural Heaven, different in the spiritual Heaven, and different in the celestial Heaven. A cognition of a higher Heaven cannot possibly be grasped by an Angel of a lower Heaven; and this is so also with regard to the cognitions of the discrete degrees of the Doctrine of the Church. Indeed, man comes into the full enjoyment of the spiritual and the celestial only when he has put off his natural body, but this has nothing to do with the opening of the three discrete degrees of the Church, and thus of the Doctrine of the Church. That this opening has to take place during the life in the natural body, and that there is a natural Church, a spiritual Church, and a celestial Church, is well known out of the Third Testament; consequently that there is a natural Doctrine,

 113        OF THE SWEDENBORG GEZELSCHAP

a spiritual Doctrine, and a celestial Doctrine (cf. N. J. C. D. 107; A. R. 350).

  We read in a sketch belonging to the INVITATION TO THE NEW CHURCH, concerning The Consummation of the Age and the Abomination of Desolation: "No cognition of God. No cognition of the Lord. No cognition of the Holy Spirit. No cognition of the Holiness of the Word. No cognition of Redemption. No cognition of Faith. No cognition  of Charity. No cognition of Free Choice. No cognition of Repentance. No cognition of the Remission of sins and of Conversion. No cognition of Regeneration. No cognition of Imputation. No cognition of Heaven and Hell. No cognition of man's state after death, and hence of Salvation. No cognition of Baptism. No cognition of the Holy Supper". In the literal sense these words have reference to the consummation of the first Christian church. But in the internal sense they have a universal reference, namely to the consummation of a preceding lower degree, when a Church or a man is to be raised to the next higher degree. The Church then enters into a state of obscurity with regard to all cognitions of good and truth; the former • cognitions prove to be of no power for the higher degree, and the cognitions of the higher degree must first be acquired by a further wrestling through the natural. This also is the signification of the words, "That the Lord will come with the clouds" (Matth. 24 : 30; Rev. I : 7). When man tries to grasp the interior truths as essential concepts, then first of all he sees nothing but clouds as it were, the genuine truth first appears to him as inaccessible; only after heavy wrestling can the victory be obtained, and does the light finally break through, and can the essence of the Divine things be grasped as a cognition. They are greatly mistaken who fancy that by direct cognizance of the Third Testament, without such a wrestling, one can arrive at genuine truth. These things in the INVITATION TO THE NEW CHURCH are described in the following words: "The Lord's Coming is according to this order that the spring does not come until after winter; nor the morning until after the night; that the travailing woman has comfort and joy only after pain; that states of comfort are after temptations; and that there is genuine life after undergoing death; even as the Lord says: Unless the grain • . . die (John                                                      

114            FROM THE TRANSACTIONS

12:24). The Lord Himself exhibited the type of this order, when He suffered Himself to be crucified and to die, and when afterwards He rose again; this type signifies the state of the Church" (n. 34).

  It has been said above that there is an essential difference between the Word and the Doctrine of the Church. What this difference is, now clearly appears. The Third Testament is an infinite universal revelation of Divine Truth in lasts, in its fullness, holiness, and power; but the Doctrine of the New Church is a particular revelation of Divine truth from the Holy Spirit, on the basis of the Third Testament, but dependent on the regeneration of the Church and thus of the men of the Church. The Divine Truth of the Third Testament is the Son of God, but the Divine truth of the Doctrine of the Church is from the Holy Spirit. The Doctrine of the Church contains no single truth that has been taken up by direct cognizance of the Third Testament; all its truths have been received as a revelation by perception from the Holy Spirit. The fact that false doctrines can creep into a Church and maintain themselves for a short time, has nothing to do with this truth; for such teachings form no part of the genuine Doctrine of the Church. Then only the Word with man is the Word, and he then sees the Divine Truth, namely, when the understanding of man and all human things and states concerned with the reception, by regeneration are from the Lord. Therefore also it is said: "The Divine, proceeding, which is called the Holy Spirit, in its proper sense is the Holy Word, and there the Divine Truth" (CANONS, The Holy Spirit, UNIVERSALS VI). Compare with this the reviewer's words: "If men hail the Word and the Writings as Divine,  and  accept them  without  reservations,  the Divine Doctrine becomes also the Doctrine of the Church.

. ..  It is thus the Holy Spirit ... and is not qualified by human states" (p. 34). It is clear that "the Holy Spirit" of which the reviewer here speaks, is not the Holy Spirit, but Divine Truth in itself; that, however, Divine Truth in itself is  not the Doctrine of the Church,  is clear.  The fundamental truth that the reception of the Holy Spirit depends on the state of man, namely on his regeneration, has here entirely been lost sight of. "From this it now clearly  appears  that  where  the  difference between the

115         OF THE SWEDENBORG GEZELSCHAP     

Word and the Doctrine of the Church is not seen, there is no properly spiritual cognition of the Lord, no properly spiritual  cognition of the Divine 'Human,  no  properly spiritual  cognition  of  the Divine Trinity,  no properly spiritual cognition of the Word, no properly spiritual cognition of the Holy Spirit and the Divine Operation, and  consequently  no properly  spiritual  cognition  of Redemption  and  no  properly  spiritual  cognition  of Regeneration.

  If one is to understand the essence of the Third Testament and the order of the reception of the truth there from, one should have some conception of the difference between the Divine operation for conjunction with man before the Incarnation of the Lord and after the Incarnation of the Lord. Before the Incarnation of the Lord, in the states of the infancy,  the boyhood,  and the adolescence of the human race, man, out of good, by direct cognizance was in  truth;  after  the  Incarnation of the Lord, when the development of the as-from-one's-self of the human race had progressed to the state of adult age, the human race does not enter into the interior degrees of truth by direct cognizance.  Man must first by wrestling through the natural raise himself to one of the interior degrees of truth, and thereby he comes to good. This -was explained in detail in our last meeting, with reference to Mr. Groeneveld's address on The Coming of the Lord for Conjunction with the Church (See above pp. 86—108). So it is also with regard to the Third Testament. In that Testament by direct cognizance one only comes to natural scientifics; to the genuine spiritual and celestial truths in that Testament man only comes by a revelation through perception, that is by the Doctrine which is spiritual out of celestial origin.

  The remark has been made that by this view of the Divine  essence  of the  Doctrine of the Church,  "the Writings" are removed from the exalted position which should be given to them in the Church. He who has read DE HEMELSCHE LEER with an open mind, may know that just the opposite is true. It is there shown that the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg  are Divine in each smallest word, and truly the  Third Testament of the Word of God; yea, that they are the proper Word itself.

116            FROM THE TRANSACTIONS

To one for whom the essence of this Word in a rational way begins to become clear, it will therefore soon be evident that the name of "the Writings" is properly not the essential name for them. It is indeed not wrong to speak of "the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg", for it would certainly also be allowable with regard to the Pentateuch to speak of "the Writings of Moses", and with regard to the Psalms of "the Writings of David", and with regard to the fourth Gospel and the Revelation of "the Writings of John". But every one at once sees that these are not the essential names of those Books, and they are therefore scarcely in practical use. In the measure in which the essence of the Word will be rationally seen, one will not call the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg otherwise than the Third Testament or the Latin Word. But to speak with regard to this Word of "the Writings of the New Church", as is sometimes also customary, is essentially not correct. This may at once be seen in considering that with regard to the Old Testament one never speaks of "the Writings of the Israelitish Church", or with regard to the New Testament of "the Writings of the Christian Church". The writings of the Israelitish Church are the non-canonical books of the Old Testament, and these, the "Ketoovim", are also thus called by the Israelites; and the writings of the Christian Church are the Epistles and the  writings  of  the  Churchfathers,  and  the  further ecclesiastical literature of the Christian Church. And so "the writings of the New Church" are writings written by the members of the Church. But the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg are the Third Testament or the Latin Word.

  May the Lord give that the members of the GENERAL CHURCH, by an independent and unprejudiced study, may soon arrive at a vision of the real contents of the articles contained in DE HEMELSCHE LEER.

   PROF. DR. CHARLES H. VAN 0s. — The Lord when He came on earth pronounced a judgment over the Jewish church, and by His Second Coming the Christian church was judged in the literal sense of the Latin Word. In the mind of the man who stands affirmatively towards the Latin Word, the evils and falsities of the Christian

 117       OF THE SWEDENBORG GEZELSCHAP    

church are brought to light by its literal sense, and they may subsequently be removed from his thought. The Latin Word requires from us that we separate ourselves entirely from the old Christian church, that is, that we do not in any way further allow those evils and falsities, after having recognized them as such, to determine our thought. This is represented by the fact that at the Last Judgment; a strict separation took place among those who were in the world of spirits, and that they who could not be raised into Heaven, sank down into hell. Only after this removal and separation can man receive genuine good and truth from the Lord.

 The task before which man is thus placed offers peculiar difficulties. For in the literal sense of the Latin Word the evils and falsities of the former churches are continually spoken of, and they are thus called into our thoughts again and again. We must, however, learn to realize that these passages in the internal sense treat of more interior evils and falsities that are present in us after we have long belonged to the New Church, yea, after we have perhaps considerably advanced in regeneration. For the further a man advances in regeneration, the more he can be given to see the evils and falsities of the proprium.

  If we do not sufficiently realize this, and if we continue to direct our attention to the literal sense of these passages, then peculiar dangers to our spiritual life arise. We shall then feel ourselves elevated above the Christians of the old church, because the falsity of their doctrine has been revealed to us, but meanwhile we are apt to forget that the real work is still to commence, and that the Lord wishes to raise us to heights we have never been able to dream of.

  Mr. Odhner's . article  contains a number of remarks strongly calling such things to mind. He declares for instance that the revelation contained in the Writings, has terminated the time of mystery and uncertainty; that in the Writings the internal sense is comparatively near the surface; that the veil of the literal sense is of no more importance than the sunspots and the mists of noonday. These are expressions by one who is of opinion that he has  reached the goal,  and that no new, unthought of

118         FROM THE TRANSACTTOTJS

possibilities still exist. Over against this, we may point out that in every passage of the Latin Word. there is contained an infinity of spiritual things. This is illustrated by the fact that man lives only a limited number of years in the natural world, but to eternity in the spiritual world, where new things will ever be given to him. Life in the natural word and that in the spiritual world correspond to the literal and to the internal sense of the Word. We may also reflect that our earth corresponds to the sensual apperception of the Grand Man or to the literal sense of the Word; and that the billions of other earths in the universe correspond to the internal sense of the Word. From this it appears that we cannot think of the arcana of the Latin Word as deep enough, or of the veil which covers the more internal things, as thick enough.

  It is of such states that the Internal sense of the following passage treats: "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, .1 will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there; and the last of that man is worse than the first" (Luke  II : 24—26). —  In the  proximate internal sense it here treats of a man, whose mind is temporarily cleansed by truths which. he has seen, but who does not live according to those truths, and who thereby finally falls into still worse evils and falsities than those in which he first was. Of that nature were the Jews, and of that nature also are many Christians. Of any one living in the New Church we may believe that he knows to avoid such dangers. To this text, however, applies, what we have already remarked above, that it retains its signification for us however far we may have advanced in regeneration. This text applies for each standing still in the progressive process of regeneration, and points to the dangers connected with such a standstill.

  If by the reception of the literal sense of the Latin Word the genuine sense of the Old and of the New Testament in a certain sense has been revealed for us, this is still only the casting out of the evil spirits from our minds;

119            OF THE SWEDENBORG GEZELSCHAP

we are thereby saved from the false explications of the old Christian church and the false conclusions resulting therefrom. Now, however, the legitimate inhabitants, that is the genuine goods and truths, must enter into the mind, as otherwise the house remains empty and the danger exists, that the evil spirits return. This takes place when by the Doctrine of the Church the genuine internal sense of the Word is seen.

  In connection with this we may think of still other things. We read repeatedly that the evil spirits acknowledge the Son of God, but that He forbids them to speak and say that He is the Christ. The same thing He forbids the sick whom He has healed, yea, sometimes even His disciples. The casting out of the evil spirits signifies, as we have seen, the preliminary removal of the evils and falsities from our minds, thus the state of reformation. The truths which come to us from the Word cause the evils and the falsities to recede, as the darkness disappears before the light. That the falsities recede before the truths, thus as it were acknowledging their superiority.. is represented by this that the evil spirits acknowledge the Son of God. That, however, the evil spirits are not allowed to speak, signifies that man, from the fact that falsities recede, must not yet conclude that the truths which have now been taken up into his memory are already genuine truths. As long as the truths of faith have proved their power in man by this only that they have driven out the  falsities, the possibility exists that presently new teachings will come to man, and make a still greater impression on him, for the sake of which he becomes unfaithful to the principles first received; yea, even without this in the long run, when the charm of what is new is weakened, evils and falsities will be hatched by his proprium and will choke the truths of faith. This" is just the course of affairs described in the passage quoted. It is the Lord's end in view that by the truths which, by direct cognizance of the letter, have come to us from without and have been taken up into our memories — truths therefore that are by no means as yet genuine truths and by no means our legitimate possession — the birth of genuine truths out of good is made possible with us, of truths thus that actually live and rule in us, grow, flower, and bring forth fruit.

120            FROM THE TRANSACTIONS

Only then will our minds not be empty and will it be impossible for the evil spirits to re-enter. As long as we still listen to the spirits that have been driven out and the sick that have been healed, that is, as long as we know the truth only by its opposites, we have not yet been truly saved. Even the disciples are not always allowed to speak, that is, even those truths in us which already receive life from the Lord, we may use only with caution as a basis for our faith. From all of this we see how dangerous it is to pride ourselves on what we have already acquired and to believe that we have already become spiritual men, even if in reality this might be the case.

  The  following remark in  conclusion. When in the eighteenth century the Latin Testament was written, the Christian church had falsified the Word to such an extent that in the Old and the New Testament no one could see a single genuine truth any more. For this reason the proper signification was revealed of those parts of the Word, on which the falsities of the Christian church principally rested: Genesis, Exodus, the Revelation of John, and the principal things of the Gospels. The Latin Word, on the contrary, has not been falsified by the New Church; we know,- moreover,  that it cannot be falsified in such a manner, as it immediately closes itself to him who does not approach it in the right spirit. For this reason the unveiling of the internal sense of the Latin Word does not take place in the form of a new revelation, but by this that the internal things of the Word come to life in us according to order. From this it is evident that Mr. Odhner has misunderstood our purpose, if he is of opinion that we wish to open the letter by the mere application of the science of correspondences. What we see and describe as the internal sense of the Latin Word cannot and may not be anything else than that which through that Word from the Lord lives 4n our minds. As this has been called to life in our minds by means of the literal sense of the "Latin Word, it is self-evident that the essential things of it must afterwards again be found in the letter of that Word.

  Em. FRANCIS. —If I am asked, what do you say about the review in the NEW CHURCH LIFE on DE HEMELSCHE

121         OF THE SWEDENBORG GEZELSCHAP      

LEER and the conception laid down therein of an internal sense in the Writings, then I reply that, as far as my vision  now 'reaches,  the argument of the Rev.  Odhner forms a counter-weight to the conception referred to. — After these expositions of the Rev. Odhner it indeed seems questionable to me whether the various theses which the Rev. Pfeiffer has propounded are not open to contest out of the spirit of the Word. —

  The thesis of Rev. Pfeiffer that the Doctrine of the Church is drawn from the Heavenly Doctrine, according to the state of regeneration of the Church, if the hidden sense of the Writings is unfolded while making use of the correspondences, and that the thence proceeding Doctrine of the Church, as far as that has been obtained according to order, is of a purely Divine origin, essence and authority,  is  contested  by  Rev. Odhner  by  what  is taught against this in the DOCTRINE CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE, n. 56, namely that: "It may be believed that the Doctrine of genuine truth can be gathered by means of the spiritual sense of the Word which is given through a knowledge of correspondences; but the Doctrine is not acquired by that, but only illustrated and corroborated".  Indeed  it  seems  to  me,  as  far  as  I can  now  see,  that, if  the  Rev.  Pfeiffer's conception were the correct one, one might go so far as to [say that] what would be formulated by men as Doctrine of the Church by means of the science of correspondences, stands  deeper and  therefore  on  a  higher  plane  than that of the Writings themselves. This seems questionable to me!

  Moreover, so too is to me, for the present, the thesis propounded by the Rev. Pfeiffer that so far it has not been seen in the New Church that the Writings contain an internal sense, over against which the Rev. Odhner shows that this has been acknowledged in the New Church since as early as 1799, with this understanding however, that the internal sense of the Old and of the New Testament is remote from their literal sense, which is not the case with that of the Writings, which according to the Rev. Odhner finds confirmation by quoting from the Writings, where in T. 279 it is said: "But the internal sense is not there 'remote' from the letter as is the case in the Old

122        FROM THE TRANSACTION

Testament, where a sensual symbolism is used".— [Quoted in English]  *.

  Against the conception that there would be in the Writings a separated internal sense, a further warning is given by- quoting what stands written in N. CH. LIFE 1915, p. 199, where it says:

  "Any attempt to translate the Writings into a discretely interior sense, by means of sensual correspondences, is bound to meet with failure, as was the fate of "a recent attempt to spiritualize and explain away the "plain teachings of the work on conjugial Love". [Quoted in English].

 By the application of such a system, Rev. Odhner continues,  "actually  makes the  Doctrine of the New "Church of no effect, ... and we would then be left with "abstract principles of good and truth utterly inapplicable "to life in the concrete. — The temptation of New Churchmen holding such a theory in regard to the Writings "would be to revert to a state of rampant individualism, "and religious and social chaos". — [Quoted in English].

  These are serious warnings against dangers which are not imaginary, it seems to me!

  It is another case to think as does Bishop N. D. Pendleton, as described in the NEW CHURCH LIFE 1923, p. 343, where it says:

  "... the Writings as having 'their own ultimate, their "defined formulas,  which,  in their own way, call for "interpretive explanations' ... 'the vital things of revelation come to us through our interpretations' ". [Quoted in English]. Indeed thence come a "secondary body of "doctrine, consisting of interpretative formulas, if these "be guided by the genuine love of truth",  [quoted in English], says Rev. Odhner. But, says he further "the "mode of such interpretations is merely the normal process "of man's thinking". [Quoted in English].