The WORD in the Sense of the Letter

Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The Word is Divine truth itself, which gives wisdom to angels and enlightens men. As Divine truth proceeds from the Lord, and as what proceeds is Himself out of Himself, the same as light and heat proceed from the sun and are the sun, that is, are of the sun out of it, and as the Word is the Divine truth, it is also the Lord, as it is called in John 1:1-3, 14:—

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Inasmuch as the Divine truth, which is the Word, in its descent into the world from the Lord, has passed through the three heavens, it has become accommodated to each heaven, and lastly to men also in the world. This is why there are in the Word four senses, one outside of the other from the highest heaven down to the world, or one within the other from the world up to the highest heaven. These four senses are called:—

• the celestial
• the spiritual
• the natural from the celestial and the spiritual
• the merely natural

This last is for the world, the next for the lowest heaven, the spiritual for the second heaven, and the celestial for the third. These four senses differ so greatly from one another that when one is exhibited beside the other no connection can be recognized; and yet they make one when one follows the other; for one follows from the other as an effect from a cause, or as what is posterior from what is prior; consequently as an effect represents its cause and corresponds to its cause, so the posterior sense corresponds to the prior; and thus it is that all four senses make one through correspondences.

From all this, these truths follow:—

The ultimate sense of the Word, which is the sense of its letter, and the fourth in order, contains in itself the three interior senses, which are for the three heavens when a man on the earth is reverently reading the Word. Therefore the sense of the letter of the Word is that from which and through which there is communication with the heavens, also from which and through which man has conjunction with the heavens. The sense of the letter of the Word is the basis of Divine truth in the heavens, and without such a basis the Divine truth would be like a house without a foundation; and without such a basis the wisdom of the angels would be like a house in the air.

• It is the sense of the letter of the Word in which the power of Divine truth consists.
• It is the sense of the letter of the Word through which man is enlightened by the Lord and through which he receives answers when he wishes to be enlightened.
• It is the sense of the letter of the Word by which everything of doctrine on the earth must be confirmed. In the sense of the letter of the Word is the Divine truth in its fullness.
In the sense of the letter of the Word the Divine truth is in its holiness.

(Apocalypse Explained 1066:3,4)

~~~

The Word is such because in its origin it is the Divine itself that proceeds from the Lord, and is called the Divine truth. When this descended to men in the world it passed through the heavens in their order according to their degrees, which are three. In each heaven it was written there in accommodation to the wisdom and intelligence of the angels. Finally it was brought down from the Lord through the heavens to men, and there it was written and promulgated in adaptation to man's understanding and apprehension. This, therefore, is the sense of its letter, and in this, the Divine truth such as it is in the three heavens, lies stored up in distinct order.

From this, it is clear that all the wisdom of the angels in the three heavens has been imparted by the Lord to our Word, and in its inmost there is the wisdom of the angels of the third heaven, which is incomprehensible and ineffable to man, because full of arcana and treasures of Divine verities. These lie stored up in each particular and in all the particulars of our Word.

As the Divine truth is the Lord in the heavens, so the Lord Himself is present, and may be said to dwell in all the particulars and each particular of His Word, as He does in His heavens. In the same way as He has said of the ark of the Covenant, in which were deposited only the Ten Commandments written on the two tables, the first fruits of the Word, for He said that He would speak there with Moses and Aaron, that He would be present there, that He would dwell there, and that it was His holy of holies, and His dwelling place as in heaven.

(Apocalypse Explained 1073:2)

~~~

The Word in the sense of the letter appears very simple, and yet there is stored up in it the wisdom of the three heavens, for each least particular of it contains interior and more interior senses — an interior sense such as exists in the first heaven, a still more interior sense such as exists in the second heaven, and an inmost sense such as exists in the third heaven. These senses are in the sense of the letter, one within the other, and are evolved therefrom one after the other, each from its own heaven, when a man who is led by the Lord reads the Word. These interior senses differ in the degree of light and wisdom according to the heavens, and yet they make one by influx, and thus by correspondences.

All this makes clear how the Word was inspired by the Divine, and that it was written from such an inspiration to which nothing else in the world can in anywise be compared. The arcana of wisdom of the three heavens contained in it are the mystical things of which many have spoken.

(Apocalypse Explained 1079:2)

What the Internal Sense Teaches

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
Unless Something Divine were Concealed Therein

The internal sense teaches what is therein, and that the subject is — the conjunction through truths of the Lord with those who are in His kingdom in the heavens and on earth. 
• with the angels through appearances of truth of a higher degree

• with men through appearances of truth of a lower degree
consequently through the Word, in the internal and external senses of which are contained these appearances.

For truths Divine themselves are such that they can never be comprehended by any angel, still less by any man, because they surpass every faculty of their understanding. Yet in order that there may be conjunction of the Lord with them, truths Divine flow in with them in appearances; and when truths Divine are with them in such appearances, they can be both received and acknowledged. This is effected by adaptation to the comprehension of each person; and therefore appearances, that is, truths angelic and human, are of three degrees.

(from Arcana Coelestia 3362)

The Veil with which Brides Cover the Face

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself. (Genesis 24:65)

And she took a veil and covered herself.—

That this signifies appearances of truth is evident from the signification of the veil with which brides covered the face when they first saw the bridegroom, as being appearances of truth; for among the ancients brides represented the affections of truth, and bridegrooms the affections of good; or what is the same, brides represented the church, which was called a "bride" from the affection of truth; the affection of good which is from the Lord being the bridegroom, and hence all through the Word the Lord Himself is called the "bridegroom."

Brides veiled their faces on their first coming to the bridegroom, in order that they might represent appearances of truth. Appearances of truth are not truths in themselves, but they appear as truths; concerning which see below. The affection of truth cannot approach the affection of good except through appearances of truth; nor is it stripped of appearances until it is being conjoined; for then it becomes the truth of good, and becomes genuine insofar as the good is genuine.

Good itself is holy, because it is the Divine proceeding from the Lord, and flows in by the higher way or gate in man; but insofar as its origin is concerned, truth is not holy; because it flows in by a lower way or gate, and at first is of the natural man; but when it is elevated thence toward the rational man it is by degrees purified. At the first sight of the affection of good, it (truth) is separated from memory-knowledges, and puts on appearances of truth, and thus comes near to good; an indication that such is its origin, and that it could not endure the first sight of Divine good until it has entered into the bridegroom's chamber (that is, into the sanctuary of good), and the conjunction has been effected; for then truth no longer looks at good from appearances, or through appearances; but it is looked at from good apart from them.

Be it known, however, that neither with man, nor indeed with an angel, are any truths ever pure, that is, devoid of appearances; for all both in general and in particular are appearances of truth; nevertheless they are accepted by the Lord as truths, provided good is in them. To the Lord alone belong pure truths, because Divine; for as the Lord is Good itself, so He is Truth itself. ...

But what appearances are may be clearly seen from those passages of the Word where it speaks according to appearances. There are however degrees of appearances of truth.

Natural appearances of truth are mostly fallacies* [see definition below]; but with those who are in good they are not to be called fallacies, but appearances, and even in some respects truths; for the good which is in them, and in which is the Divine, causes another essence to be in them. But rational appearances of truth are more and more interior; in them are the heavens, that is, the angels who are in the heavens.

In order that some idea may be formed of what appearances of truth are, let the following examples serve for illustration.

I. Man believes that he is reformed and regenerated through the truth of faith; but this is an appearance; he is reformed and regenerated through the good of faith, that is, through charity toward the neighbor and love to the Lord.

II. Man believes that truth enables us to perceive what good is, because it teaches; but this is an appearance; it is good that enables truth to perceive, for good is the soul or life of truth.

III. Man believes that truth introduces to good when he lives according to the truth which he has learned; but it is good which flows into truth, and introduces it to itself.

IV. It appears to man that truth perfects good, when yet good perfects truth.

V. Goods of life appear to man to be the fruits of faith; but they are the fruits of charity. From these few examples it may in some measure be known what appearances of truth are. Such appearances are innumerable.

(from Arcana Coelestia 3207)

~~~

* From all that has thus far been presented respecting the life that is from the Lord and the existence of all things in the universe from it, everyone who is wise in heart can see that nature produces nothing from itself, but merely in the process of production serves the spiritual that proceeds from the sun of heaven, which is the Lord, as an instrumental cause serves its principal cause, or as a dead force serves its living force. This makes clear how mistaken those are who ascribe the generations of animals and the productions of plants to nature. This is the same as ascribing magnificent and splendid works to the tool and not to the workman, or like adoring a sculptured image and not God.

From this spring the fallacies, which are innumerable, in all reasonings about spiritual, moral, and civil matters; for a fallacy is an inversion of order; it is the judgment of the eye, not of the mind; it is a conclusion from the appearance of a thing, not from its essence. Consequently to reason from fallacies respecting the world and the existence of things in it is like confirming by reasonings that thick darkness is light, that what is dead is alive, and that the body flows into the soul, and not the reverse. And yet it is an eternal truth that influx is spiritual and not physical, that is, influx from the soul, which is spiritual, into the body, which is material, or from the spiritual world into the natural world; also that as the Divine from itself and through that which proceeds from itself created all things, so it sustains all things; also that sustaining is perpetual creation, as subsistence is perpetual existence.

(from Apocalypse Explained 1215)