the children for the fathers, but every man shall be put to death for his own sin" (Deut. xxiv. 16). These passages, without doctrine, seem contradictory, but when illustrated by doctrine, they are in perfect agreement. Jesus saith, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Without doctrine it might be supposed, from these words, that every one would certainly receive what he requests; but doctrine teaches, that whatsoever a man asks, not from himself, but from the Lord, that is granted him; for thus the Lord explains himself: "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you" (John xv. 7). The Lord says, "Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of God" (Luke vi. 20). Without doctrine it may be imagined, that heaven is designed for the poor, and not for the rich; but doctrine teaches that the poor in spirit are here meant; for the Lord says in another place, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. v. 5). Again the Lord says, Judge not, that ye be not judged; for with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged" (Matt. vii. 1, 2; Luke vi. 37). Without doctrine a person might here be led to this conclusion, that he ought not to judge in respect to an evil man, that he is evil; whereas from doctrine it appears, that it is lawful to judge, if it be done righteously; for the Lord says, "Judge righteous judgment" (John vii. 24). Again, the Lord saith, "Be not ye called Rabbi, for one is your master, even Christ; —and call no man your father upon earth, for one is your Father who is in heaven; neither be ye called masters, for one is your master, even Christ" (Matt. xxiii. 8, 9, 10). These words unexplained by doctrine, would seem to imply, that it is not lawful to call any person teacher, father, or master: whereas by doctrine we learn that it is lawful in a natural sense, though it be unlawful in a spiritual sense. Again, Jesus said to his disciples, "When the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matt. xix. 28). From these words it might be concluded, that the disciples of the Lord are to sit hereafter in judgment; when the truth is, that they cannot judge any person: doctrine therefore must explain how this mystery is to be understood: and this unfolds it, by teaching that the Lord alone, who is omniscient, and knows all hearts, will sit in judgment, and is

able to judge; and that by his twelve disciples is meant the church in respect to all the truths and goods which it has from the Lord by means of the Word: from whence doctrine concludes, that those truths and goods are to judge every one; according to the words of the Lord in John (iii. 17, 18; xii. 47, 48). Whosoever reads the Word without doctrine, does not know how those things cohere together, which are spoken by the prophets concerning the Jewish nation and Jerusalem, where it is said that the church shall continue with that nation, and its seat abide in that city forever; as in the following places: 66 'Jehovah hath visited his flock, the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle; out of him shall come forth the corner, out of him the nail, and out of him the battle-bow" (Zech. x. 3, 4, 6, 7). "And I will dwell in the midst of thee,- and Jehovah shall inherit Judah, and shall choose Jerusalem again" (Zech. ii. 11, 12). “It shall come to pass in that day, the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk and Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation" (Joel iii. 18, 19, 20). "Behold the days come in which I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man; - that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; and this shall be the covenant: I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their heart, and will be their God, and they shall be my people" (Jerem. xxxi. 27, 31, 33). "In those days-ten men shall take hold, out of all languages of the nations, of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you" (Zech. viii. 22, 23); so in other places (as Isaiah xliv. 21, 26; xlix. 22, 23; lxv. 9; Ixvi. 20, 22; Jerem. iii. 18; xxiii. 5; 1. 19, 20; Nahum ii. 1; Malachi iii. 4) where the coming of the Lord is treated of, and it is said that these things will come to pass. But the contrary is declared in many other passages, of which the following only shall be here noticed: "I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be, for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith; I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men, for they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them,- Their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah;

their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter; their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps. Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures? To me belongeth vengeance and recompense" (Deut. xxxii. 20-35). These things are spoken concerning that nation, as also things of a similar nature elsewhere: see Isaiah iii. 1, 2, 8; v. 3—6; Deut. ix. 5, 6; Matt. xii. 39; xxiii. 27, 28; John viii. 44; and in Jeremiah and Ezekiel throughout. Now the above passages, although they appear contradictory and irreconcilable, are nevertheless perfectly consistent with each other when viewed in their true light according to doctrine; which teaches that by Israel and Judah, in the Word, are not meant Israel and Judah, but the church in both senses; in the one sense, that it is vastated, and in the other sense, that it is to be re-established by the Lord. Several cases of a similar nature occur in the Word; whence it manifestly appears, that the Word without doctrine cannot be understood.

52. From what has been said it is very clear, that they who read the Word without doctrine, or who do not form to themselves doctrine from the Word, are in the dark concerning every truth, and that their minds must be wavering and unsettled, prone to errors, and easily betrayed into heresies; which they will even embrace with eager. ness, in case they are supported by the authority and favorable opinion of mankind, and that they may do it with a safe reputation for the Word is to them as a candlestick without a light in it, and they fancy they see many things in the dark, though they scarcely discern a single object; for doctrine is the only light which can guide them in their inquiries. I have seen such persons examined by the angels, and it was found that they could confirm from the Word whatsoever opinion they pleased, and that they actually do so confirm all such opinions and tenets as favor their own love, and the love of those whom they study to oblige but I afterwards saw them stripped of their garments, which is a sign that they were destitute of truths; for garments in the spiritual world are truths.

53. 2. That doctrine ought to be drawn from the literal sense of the Word, and to be confirmed thereby. The reason of this is because the Lord is present in that sense, enlightening and teaching man the truths of the church: for all the Lord's operations are performed in fulness, and

the Word in its literal sense is in its fulness, as was shown above; this is the true ground why doctrine ought to be drawn from the literal sense.

54. That the Word is not only intelligible by doctrine, but is also as it were, luminous, appears from the Word's not being intelligible without doctrine, and like a candlestick without light, as was shown above. The Word, therefore, is intelligible by doctrine, and is like a candlestick with a lighted candle. Man then sees more than he had seen before, and also understands such things as he had not before understood. Things dark and discordant he either sees not and passes by, or if he sees them he explains them so as to be consistent with doctrine. The experience of all the christian world proves, that the Word is seen from and explained according to doctrine. All of the reformed church see and explain the Word from and according to their own doctrine; in like manner the Papists, from and according to theirs; nay, the Jews, from and according to theirs. Consequently falsities arise from false doctrine, and truths from that which is true. Hence it appears, that true doctrine is like a candle in the dark, and like a directing post on the road. But doctrine is not only to be drawn from the literal sense of the Word, but it is also to be confirmed by that sense; for if it be not confirmed by it the truth of doctrine appears as if the intellect of man only, and not the divine wisdom of the Lord, were contained in it and thus doctrine would be like a house in the air, and not upon the earth, and therefore without foundation.

55. The doctrine of genuine truth may also be fully drawn from the literal sense of the Word. For the Word, in that sense, is like a man clothed, whose face and hands are naked. All things necessary to the life of man, and consequently to his salvation, are naked; but the rest are clothed; and in many places where they are clothed, they shine through the clothing, as the face shines through a veil of thin silk. As also the truths of the Word are multiplied by the love of them, and that are arranged in order, they shine more and more clearly through the clothing; but this likewise is effected by doctrine.

56. It may be imagined that the doctrine of genuine truth might be collected by means of the spiritual sense of the Word, which is learnt by the science of correspondences; but doctrine is not attainable by means of that sense,

but only capable of receiving illustration and confirmation from it. For, as was observed above, n. 26, no one can come into the spiritual sense of the Word by means of correspondences, unless he be first in genuine truths derived from doctrine; but it is possible for a person to falsify the Word by some correspondences with which he is acquainted, when he connects them together, and applies them to the confirmation of particular opinions rooted in his mind in consequence of the principles he has imbibed, unless he be principled in genuine truth. Besides, the spiritual sense of the Word is opened to man by the Lord alone, and is guarded by him as the angelic heaven is guarded, for heaven is included in it. It is better therefore for man to study the Word in its literal sense: it is thence, only, that doctrine is afforded.

57. 3. That genuine truth, which doctrine is to teach, is apparent, in the literal sense of the Word, to those only who are in illustration from the Lord. Illustration comes from the Lord alone, and is afforded to those who love truths for truth's sake, and apply them to the uses of life: none else can receive illustration from the Word. The reason why illustration comes from the Lord alone, is, because he is in all things of the Word; and the reason of its being afforded only to those who love truths for truth's sake, and apply them to the uses of life, is, because they are in the Lord, and the Lord in them. For the Lord is his own Divine truth; and when this is loved for its own sake, which is the case when it is applied to use, then the Lord is in it, and is thus present with the man. This the Lord teaches in John: "At that day ye shall know-that ye are in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me; and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. And my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him" (xiv. 20, 21, 23). And in Matthew: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (v. 8). These are they who are in illustration when they read the Word, and to whom the Word appears in its brightness and transpa

rence.

58. The reason why the Word appears to such in its brightness and transparence, is, because there is both a spiritual and celestial sense in every part of the Word, and these senses are in the light of heaven; wherefore the Lord, by these senses and their light enters by influx into