worships nature instead of God, and in consequence of such worship makes himself and his own proprium [or self-hood] the centre and fountain of his thoughts, instead of deriving them out of heaven from the Lord, may easily fall into error concerning the Word, and into contempt for it, and say within himself while he reads it, 'What is the meaning of this passage? What is the meaning of that? Is it possible this should be divine? Is it possible that God, whose wisdom is infinite, should speak in this manner? Where is its sanctity, or whence can it be derived, but from superstition and credulity?'

"But he who reasons thus, does not reflect that Jehovah the Lord, who is God of heaven and earth, spake the Word by Moses and the prophets, and that, consequently, it must be divine truth, inasmuch as what Jehovah the Lord himself speaks can be nothing else; nor does such a one consider that the Lord, who is the same with Jehovah, spake the Word written by the Evangelists, many parts from his own mouth, and the rest from the spirit of his mouth, which is the Holy Spirit. Hence it is, as He himself declares, that in his words there is life, and that He is the light which enlightens, and that He is the truth. (John vi. 63; iv. 10-14; Mark xiii. 31; Jer. ii. 13; Zech. xiii. 1; Rev. vii. 17.)"

The divine and blessed Word of the ever-living God was written for the sake of spiritual usefulness-"to perfect the man of God, that he may be thoroughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Tim. iii. 17); that it may fertilize the human mind, dropping upon it like the gentle "dew" (Deut. xxxii. 2); and descending like refreshing "showers" (Isa. iv. 11), that by its means we may possess "eternal life;" for "by every word proceeding out of the mouth of God doth man live" (Deut. viii. 3; Matt. iv. 5). It was given "for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and instruction in righteousness" (2 Tim. iii. 16); "to convert the soul, to make wise the simple; to rejoice the heart, to enlighten the eyes" (Ps. xix. 7, 8). For a For a "defence" against our spiritual enemies (Eph. vi. 17); for our "sanctification" (John xvii. 17); for our "regeneration" (1 Pet. i. 23); and, to comprise all in one word, for our "salvation" (2 Tim. iii. 15). "The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times" (Ps. xii. 6).18

18 The whole holy Scripture, with Christ | ter, or written contents thereof, being as the everywhere understood therein, consists of body, and the spirit, or Christ himself, with two parts, letter and spirit; even as man, for the knowledge or truth of Him contained whose instruction the same was given, is con- therein, being as the soul of these divine structed of two parts, body and soul; the let-books. The latter of which is likewise to be

Now, unless there be a spiritual and heavenly meaning in the di vine Word, distinct from, though one with, the letter, how is this spiritual usefulness, so essential to the welfare of the soul, to be promoted in an immense number of passages, such as the following:where the prophet is almost universally allowed to be speaking of the Lord's advent, and giving the indubitable sign of it, that "a virgin should conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel [God with us, see Matt. i. 23]," it is added (Isa. vii. 18):—“ And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria." And in the 20th ver., "In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head and the hair of the feet; and it shall also consume the beard." "And it shall come to pass in that day that a man shall nourish a young cow and two sheep." Also in ver. 23, "And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall be for briers and thorns." Or this: "In Judah is God known; his name is great in Israel. In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling-place in Zion. There brake He the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle. Thou art more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey. The stout-hearted are spoiled, they have slept their sleep: and none of the men of might have found their hands. At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast into a deep sleep" (Ps. lxxvi. 1-6). Or this: "God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. And his brightness was as the light; He had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power. Before Him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet. He stood and measured the earth: He beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the

the internal; the life of the Lord flowing through the latter into the former, according to the affection of the person who reads it."-A. C. 2311.)

esteemed so necessary to be understood with | nal sense like the soul; and as the body the former, that, as the human body without lives by the soul, so the literal sense lives by the soul is dead, so the letter of Scripture, with out the spirit, is dead also. Nay, it is a killing and condemning word only to them that have it. As St. Paul expressly says,' The letter kill eth, but the spirit giveth life' (2 Cor. iii. 16)." -Holloway's Letter and Spirit, vol. i., int. pp. V., vi.

"According to the opinion of the Essenes, the sacred Scriptures, like man, are composed of body and soul; of the outward letter and "The twofold sense of the Word bears a the inward spirit."―(Geschicte, Lehren, and resemblance to body and soul, the literal | Meinangen aller religiosen Secten der Jaden, by sense being like the body and the inter- P. Beer Brunn, 1822, vol. i., p. 68.)

everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting. I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble. Was the Lord displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation? Thy bow was quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers. The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high. The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear" (Hab. iii. 3-11). Or where the prophet says, "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear nor dark : but it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day nor night: but it shall come to pass that at evening-time it shall be light. And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of Hosts" (Zech. xiv. 6, 7, 8, 12, 20, 21).

"Without the spiritual (or internal) sense," says Swedenborg, "it is impossible for any one to know why the prophet Jeremiah was commanded to buy himself a girdle, and not to draw it through the waters, but to go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole in the rock (Jer. xiii. 1-7); or why Ezekiel the prophet was commanded to make a razor pass upon his head and upon his beard, and afterwards to divide them, and to burn a third part in the midst of the city, and to smite a third part with the sword, and to scatter a third part in the wind, and to bind a little of them in his skirts, and at last to cast them into the midst of the fire (Ezek. v. 1-4); or why Hosea was twice commanded to take to himself a harlot to wife (Hos. i. 2-9; iii. 2, 3); or what is signified by all things appertaining to the tabernacle: as by the ark, the mercy-seat, the cherubim, the candlestick, the altar of incense, the shew-bread on the table, and veils and curtains. Who

would know, without the spiritual sense, what is signified by Aaron's holy garments; as by his coat, his cloak, the ephod, the urim and thummim, the mitre, and several things besides? Or, without the spiritual sense, who would know what is signified by all those particulars which were enjoined concerning burnt-offerings, sacrifices, meatofferings; and also concerning Sabbaths and feasts? The truth is, that nothing was enjoined, be it ever so minute, but what was significative of something appertaining to the Lord, to heaven, and to the Church. From these few instances, then, it may be plainly seen that there is a spiritual sense" in all and every part of the Word." (S. S. 16.) If we turn our attention to the preceptive portions of the Gospels, usually regarded as so plain and practical, we shall be surprised to find how much there is which could not be literally observed without breaking up all kinds of human association, and destroying all capacity for usefulness, affording indisputable evidence that they were only designed to be spiritually understood and obeyed, in which case each expression teems with "life." To instance only two or three passages from the Lord's Sermon on the Mount, as where he says, " And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell." "But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and

19" The Scriptures resemble man. As a man consists of three parts,—a rational mind, a sensitive soul, and a visible body, so the Scriptures have a threefold sense, a literal sense, corresponding with the body; a moral sense, analogous to the soul; and a mystical or spiritual sense, analogous to the rational mind."

"The literal sense is perceived by every attentive reader. The moral sense is somewhat more difficult to be discovered. But the mystic [or inmost] sense none can discover with certainty, unless they are wise men, and also taught of God.”—(Origen, De Principiis, lib. iv., Rom. v., a Levit. opp. tom. ii., p. 209.)

"The literal meaning," says Mr. Isaac Williams, "for the most part, is as the body, the spiritual meaning as the soul; as the soul is united with the body, so must the literal and

spiritual meaning be held together; both are necessary for the life of the written Word. And though the latter be considered usually as the latent and interior sense, yet it is often so obvious and Scriptural, that it speaks, as it were, visibly through the letter, illuminates it, and gives it its character."— Williams' Beginning of the Book of Genesis, pp. 32, 75.

It might be objected against the truth of the science of correspondences that, from the apostolic times to the present, those who have held that there is a spiritual sense in the Word of God have not understood it. But it may be answered, that most of the prophecies were hidden from the prophets (Matt. xiii. 16, 17, 35); and that the disciples did not understand the nature of the Lord's "Kingdom," even while they proclaimed that it was "nigh at hand.” (Luke xxiv. 21.)

And whosoever

Give to him that

take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee, turn not thou away" (Matt. v. 29, 30, 39, 40, 41, 42).

Even the preceptive portions of the Holy Word, such as the Lord's Sermon on the Mount, cannot be understood when viewed in their merely literal sense. When viewed, however, as to their spiritual import, they are seen to overflow in every sentence with infinite wisdom, and to teem with divine life.20

But these are the solemn declarations of the inspired Word, taken promiscuously from the sacred pages. Who, I ask, can comprehend them? Who can explain their import? Who can see their reference to righteousness, conversion, regeneration, sanctification, and salvation, to promote which they must unquestionably have been inspired and written, unless it be admitted that they have an internal and spiritual sense? And if this be admitted, it follows of necessity that a rule exists by which that sense can with certainty be drawn forth; or otherwise the Word would be a mockery of human reason, and a snare to the simple heart, unworthy of infinite intelligence. From the book of Genesis to the book of Revelation, thousands of passages are to be found equally as mysterious and difficult to understand in the mere letter; and their constant occurrence in the Word of God at once proves the necessity of some rational and invariable law to interpret the whole, and the probability of its existence.

20"The whole law of Moses is like to a living creature, whose body is the literal sense; but the soul, the more inward and hidden meaning, covered under the sense of the letter."-Philo Judæus. Prefixed, by Henry More, as a motto to his Defence of

"Conjectura Cabbalistica," or "Threefold Cabbala, and Triple Interpretation of the three first Chapters of Genesis, ed. 1653. This author's Treatise on Iconisms, is described by Clowes "to be nothing else but an imperfect sketch of the doctrine of correspondence."