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Doc. 245.] 359
ROSEN TO A SENATOR
.
things ought at least not to be disputed. What happened to
an Ezekiel and a Daniel, may certainly happen also to an
Emanuel. Visions and revelations are certainly most unex
pected things ; but deliberate falsehoods and a fanciful con
fusion can certainly not be reconciled with so great and pro
found an insight. ’ Standhafte Erfahrungen sind keine Ein
bildungen’ [a constant series of experiences is not a matter of
the imagination], says Superintendent Etinger182 in relation to
Emanuel Swedenborg, in his preface to The Earthly and
Heavenly Philosophy of Swedenborg and others’ (Swedenborg’s
und Anderer Irdische und Himmlische Philosophie). And who
has ever dreamt about the world of spirits and the lower
earth, about the heavens and the mansions that are there
prepared ? These subjects of superlative importance are now
first understood by us on reading the Word. Read among
others Isa. xiv, 9, 15 ; Ezek. xxxi, 14, 16 ; John xiv, 2.
"Our association with spirits, and by their means with
heaven and hell, remains a psychological arcanum, which the
world is unable to perceive ; and yet Scripture treats of this
subject (Matt. xvii, 15 , 18 ; see also Grotius on Ephes. ii, 2 ;
vi, 12). So long as this bond of connection between human
souls and spirits escapes our notice, Swedenborgianism is mad
ness in our eyes ; not, however, when it is known in what mode
and by what means spiritual blessings are communicated to
us, and remain with us.
"Gracious Sir, permit me to insert here a brief summary
of the, I hope, unpresuming ideas on the subject of Sweden
borgianism which I submitted to the Consistory.
"I have declared, that there is a Trinity in God ; but we
must have a different idea of the three persons* from that
which is commonly entertained. The doctrine, on examination
in its extreme form, proves this sufficiently. For the Church,
or to speak more correctly, the people, call upon the Father,
* "The offence given by a person who prefers to speak the language of
Scripture rather than that of our Fathers of the Church, can certainly be
only a light one ; since the mere fear of committing a great error, by
straying outside of Scripture on so important a question, must be esteemed
much higher than deference to the conclusions of men."
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