Lord of lords." And in the sight of angels this is far nobler than to sit upon any terrestrial throne.

Those who thus reign over the empire within, will never desire to lord it over others, but only to do good and serve from neighborly love. They will seek to govern their feelings and conduct according to the laws of heavenly charity. This is what the angels do. Therefore they are said to sit upon thrones and to reign. And because the members of the church signified by the New Jerusalem will all be internally associated with the angels and forever conjoined to the Lord, therefore it is said that "they shall reign forever and ever."

Qualifications for Citizenship.

What, now, are the qualifications for admission into this city? Precisely those which fit one for membership in the kingdom of heaven; and which, therefore, constitute him a member of that true church on earth, which is one with the church in heaven. And it is only the faithful doers of the truth, who have their hearts cleansed of selfishness and sin, and are thus fitted for admission into heaven. As the Lord himself has declared: "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." And as none can enter heaven without keeping the Commandments, or without shunning all known evil as sin, neither can they enter the true and living church on earth in any other way. Accordingly the terms of admission into the New Jerusalem are thus clearly stated: "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." And again: "There shall in nowise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lie; but they that are written in the Lamb's book of life."

Yes: none but the faithful doers of the truth can really enter or have an abiding place in the New Jerusalem; for none others come into that state of union with the Lord and fellowship with the angels, which is the true church state. But all who acknowledge the Lord and humbly strive to obey his precepts, by whatever names they are known on earth, are known and acknowledged in the realms above as belonging to the true and living church. They have "entered in through the gates into the city."

Such, briefly, is the meaning of the New Jerusalem, and of the principal symbols employed in its description, as unfolded by the rule

or law of correspondence. As to its reasonableness and consistency, as well as its agreement with other parts of Scripture and the indications of God's purposes in the past history and present condition of the church, the reader will form his own conclusion. But he should not forget or overlook the general state of Apocalyptic interpretation, and the darkness, confusion and contradiction which have hitherto prevailed among learned commentators, with regard to the meaning and purpose of this book. If he wishes to pursue the inquiry, and to learn the signification of the numerous other symbols mentioned in the Revelation, and the true meaning of this wonderful book, we refer him to Swedenborg's extended explanation of it in his "Apocalypse Revealed."

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CHAPTER XI.

THE WORD AND ITS INSPIRATION-NO WRITTEN WORD BEFORE THE Fall -THE ANCIENT WORD THAT BECAME LOST-SOURCE OF THE GRECIAN MYTHOLOGY-ALL RELIGIOUS Knowledge FROM DIVINE REVELATION -THE SCRIPTURES A LIGHT TO ALL NATIONS-THE MEDIUM OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN ANGELS AND MEN-NATURE OF THE WORD IN HEAVEN-ILLUSTRATING AND CONFIRMING THE DOCTRINE OF CORRESPONDENCE-DISTINCTION BETWEEN VERBAL AND PERSONAL INSPIRATION-NO WRITTEN WORD ON ANY EARTH BUT OURS, AND THE REASON WHY.*

The Word and its Inspiration.

OF all the services which Swedenborg, under the guidance of Di

vine Providence, has performed to the world, perhaps the greatest is that of throwing a new light on the Sacred Volume, whereby it becomes to us, as it were, a new Book. And this light was greatly needed. There is no subject, perhaps, of a theological nature, about which there is more doubt and discussion at the present day, than in regard to the true character and meaning of the volume called the Holy Scriptures. Some calling themselves Christians, doubt and even deny the Divine authority of a large portion of it, regarding the Old Testament, for instance, as an obsolete code of laws intended only for a by-gone age and nation; while the greater part, perhaps, of the Christian world, though looking upon it as, in a general sense, the Word of God, yet either openly question, or else entertain only vague ideas concerning, its Plenary Inspiration.

In the midst of this obscurity, the Sun of Righteousness has risen on the world, "with healing in his wings:" "the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined." (Isaiah ix. 2.) The Lord who was the Word made flesh," and who is the Word in its spirit and life, has come a second time into the world, and revealed Himself anew to men, by the opening of the internal sense of that

*By Rev. O. Prescott Hiller. First published in the London Intellectual Repository, from June to December, 1864.

Word wherein He dwells. Through his illuminated messenger He has now made known the precise nature of the inspiration of the Sacred Volume, and has shown that that Divine Word is the Lord's very presence amongst men, giving light not only to the Christian, but also to the Gentile world; and still more, that it illumines the heavens as well as the earth, and that it is read by angels, as indeed that Word itself declares-" For ever, O Lord, thy Word is settled in heaven." (Ps. cxix. 89.)

Our purpose in the present Essay is to enlarge upon these points; to show from statements and explanations in the writings of Swedenborg, the true nature of the Divine Word, the precise character and manner of its inspiration, its influence on the world, and the high use it performs as a connecting medium between earth and heaven.

The most effective way, perhaps, of presenting the subject in a clear light will be to treat it historically. In the Most Ancient Church, which existed before man's decline and fall, there was no outward or written Word; none such was needed. The influx of light from heaven into the interiors of men's minds was in that age a sufficient guide. This was because their minds, being in an unperverted state, were turned towards heaven, and consequently could receive the inflowing light and love in their true order, and thus be illumined by the one and warmed by the other. But after the Fall, man could no longer be thus led; for the human mind being then in a perverted state, and turned away from heaven, the truth flowing in became changed into falsity, and the good into evil. This was an effect of the great law, that a disordered mind perverts what flows into it,— that the recipient form modifies the influx, and assimilates it to its own nature. The operation of this law may be plainly seen in the outward universe; for instance, the heat and light of the sun flow into all vegetables alike, and the common earth gives them all nourishment; yet from the same materials, so to speak, the different plants manufacture different and sometimes totally opposite productions. Out of the same nourishment the rose brings forth its charms, and the brier its ugliness; the vine its grapes, and the hemlock its poison. This is because each plant, according to its interior structure and nature, modifies the inflowing light, heat and sap, and turns them to its own uses. Just so is it with the inner world of man's mind. The light and heat of the heavenly Sun are ever pouring truth and love and life alike into every mind; but these are received, rejected or modified according to the conformation, structure and order of the

mind into which they fall. A bad man's mind, being in a perverted and corrupt state, changes the inflowing warmth of love into the fire of evil passions, and turns the light, intended for his guidance to heaven, into an instrument for carrying out his own evil designs; thus he turns good into evil, truth into falsity. In such case, it is plainly impossible to instruct man from within, because the heavenly influx is perverted as fast as it comes. The only way he can be taught, is from without, by oral or written instruction, especially by a written Word, for that lies before his eyes in its integrity, whatever be his own character or views, and still speaks to him as a calm and truthful monitor, pointing out to him the right path, if only he have the will to listen to its teachings.

Now, by the Fall man came into the perverted and disordered state of mind above described, and hence the need of an outward written Revelation. And ever since that time, the human mind has been, in a greater or less degree, in the same perverted state, and hence the continued need of instruction from without. It is from ignorance of this great law that many opponents of the Bible, at the present day, protest against being taught by a Book, by a written Revelation, and maintain that the inner revelation from God into every man's mind is a sufficient guide. Did they understand the law before mentioned, namely, that the recipient subject modifies the influx according to its own nature, and were they at the same time acquainted with the truth, that every man's mental nature and constitution at the present day, is hereditarily disordered and perverted, they would then discern the true ground of the need of a written Revelation, and they would no longer oppose it, but would cling to it as the only means of salvation, the only sure guide to heaven and happiness.

We are instructed in the writings of the New Church, that before the promulgation of the Word which we now possess, there was another which Swedenborg terms the "Ancient Word." This Ancient Word, in fact, is referred to, and even quoted, in two places in our present Scriptures. For instance, in the Book of Numbers (xxi. 14, 15) we find these words-" Wherefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of Jehovah, What He did in the Red Sea, and in the brooks of Arnon, and at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of Ar, and lieth upon the border of Moab." Now, there is no such book, we know, as the "Wars of Jehovah" in our present Bible. Again, in the same chapter (verses 27 to 30) we find another