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LETTER FROM DR. BEYER TO DR OETINGER. 157
are as distinct as the poles from natural things, although they coincide in ap-
pearance ; at the same time that lie has himself a knowledge of this branch of
philosophy, and strongly recommends the pursuit of it to others. He says, that
he is indebted for all his theosophical doctrines, and pJl the clear explanation of
the holy prophecies, to the Word of God alone, and to the illumination of the
Lord. But in proportion as we form a more imperfect view of these things—the
more we are careless in suffering the true knowledge of God to obtain a right form
in our hearts—and the less we ineditate upon the infinite wisdom and divine
holiness of the Word, unendowed with a right conception of it, the further we
are removed from the science of all sciences, which is called the science of cor-
respondences.
" An illumination comes from the Lord our God ; the Word of enlightening
wisdom is the truest mirror : the science of correspondences supports the spir-
itual sight, a sight which cannot be dispensed with. What our views therefore
ought to be, respecting these three fundamental points, may be clearly learned
from The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrines, 280-310, and 249-266; only let
us not spare the trouble to examine more deeply other individual important pas-
sages from the Arcana Ccelestia, along with the peculiar treatise on the Doctrine of
the New Jerusalem concerning the Lord, and concerning the Sacred Scriptures. Re-
specting the science of correspondences, it is not probable that any person can
conceive any idea of them, who thinks it a labor to acquire an intimate acquaint-
ance with the treatise. On Heaven and Hell, 87-115; as well as the remarkable
passages in the Arcana Codestia, 2987, and the follov/ing numbers, and especially
the general idea of them, 7550. Being therefore persuaded, from the high
esteem in which you hold everything that is divine, that you wall spare no pains,
be they ever so great, to maintain the truth as it is presented to us in unshaken
dignity, I proceed, and with 3^our approbation, more confidently, to examine,
with becoming modesty, the objections you have advanced against his writ-
ings.
" 1. You say that Assessor Swedenborg had not been called to give an interpret-
ation of the Scripture, but to make known in these our days, the things he has
seen and heard in the spiritual world.
" 2. You attribute to him that he does not follow the literal meaning.
" 3. You think that he leads to a doubtful and uncertain explanation of most
passages in the Scriptures.
’*
4. That he rests more upon the science of correspondences, than upon the
clearest expressions of the Sacred Word.
" 5. That he invents things repugnant to the declaration of Scripture, respect-
ing the White Horse and the White Horses, the Resurrection from the Dead,
the Last Judgment, the New Heaven and the New Earth, and the Holy City, the
New Jerusalem.
" 6. That he offends mightily against the analogy of faith, and teaches the
doctrine of the Trinity, not as the apostles have done, but according to the
Schwenkfeldian method.
" 7. That he diminishes the authority of Paul, by not ascribing to his writings
the title of the Word of God.
" 8. That he is not introduced to celebrity by signs and vv^onders, at least he
does not brmg them forth as open credentials, and that the divine seal is want-
ing.
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