Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Sidor ...
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
HIS LETTERS TO DR. OETINGER. 153
bodies. To this be pleased to receive kindly the following reply : That by all
flesh, there spoken of, is meant every man, wherefore in the Word mention is
sometimes made of all flesh, which is to denote every man. As to what con-
cerns the bodies of the angels, they do not appear lucid, but, as it were, fleshy,
for they are substantial and not material, and things substantial are not trans-
lucent before the angels. Every material thing, or substance, is originally de-
rived from what is substantial, and every man cometh into this substantiality
when he puts off, by death, the material films or coverings, which is the reason
why man after death is a man, but purer than before, comparatively as what is
substantial is purer than whctt is material. That the Lord has power, not only
over all men, but also over all angels, is evident from His own words in Mat-
thew :
’
All power is given to me in heaven, and in earth’ (xxviii. 18).
"Inasmuch as in your letter you make mention of the natural and spiritual
sense of the Word, lest it should be supposed that I have written anything con-
tradictory concerning those senses, I adjoin a few lines, wherein these two
senses of the Word are described.
" Ejianuel Swedeis’borg.
"Amsterdam, Nov. 8, 1768."
Concerning the Natural and Spiritual Sense of the Word.
•’
That there is an internal or spiritual sense in the Word, in its external or
natural sense, as a diamond in its matrix, or as a beautiful infant in its swad-
dling clothes, is a truth which has heretofore been altogether unknown in the
Christian world, and hence also it is altogether unknown what is meant by the
Consummation of the Age, the Coming of the Lord, the Last Judgment, and by the
New Jerusalem, on Avhich subjects many things are spoken and predicted in the
Word of each Testament, both Old and New. Without the unfolding and un-
swathing of the literal sense of the Word by its spiritual sense, who can know
intellectually what is signified by the things which the Lord predicted in Matt,
xxiv., and also in the Revelations, and in like manner in Daniel, and in the
Prophets, in many passages ? Make the experiment yourself, if you are so dis-
posed, by reading those passages of the prophetical Word, which treat some-
times of wild beasts and cattle, sometimes of forests and brakes, sometimes of
valleys and mountains, sometimes of bats, of ochim, tziim, satyrs, &c. &c. ; try
whether you can perceive anything divine therein, unless you believe it to lie
concealed inwardly, inasmuch as it was inspired of God, just as a diamond lies
concealed in its matrix, as was said above. That the diamonds, or treasures,
which lie concealed within, are those things which the internal sense contains,
is fully demonstrated in the doctrine of the New Jerusalem, concerning the
Sacred Scripture, 5-26 : and in the same doctrine it is further proved, that the
literal sense is the basis, continent, and firmament of its spiritual sense, 27-36
;
also, that the divine truth in the literal sense of the Word is in its fulness, in" its
sanctity, and in its power, 37-49 ; and, likewise, that the doctrine of the church
is to be drawn from the literal sense of the Word, and to be confirmed thereby,
50-61 ; and, moreover, that by the literal sense of the Word, through the medium
of its spiritual sense, there is effected conjunction with the Lord, and consocia-
tion with the angels, 62-69.
11
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
