当人们只停留于圣经字义，不从圣言中的其它经文寻求内义来解释它时，他们就会陷入妄想。其妄想的程度从存在的异端数量清楚看出来；每一个异端都利用圣言字义来证明自己的信条。尤其考虑一下由自我之爱和唯物主义(以其一切疯狂和地狱)基于主对彼得所说的话产生的主要异端：
我对你说，你是彼得，我要把我的教会建造在这磐石上，地狱的门不能胜过它。我要把天国的钥匙给你。凡你在地上所捆绑的，在天上也要捆绑。凡你在地上所释放的，在天上也要释放。(马太福音16:15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
强调字义的人以为这些话与彼得有关，他个人被赋予这巨大权柄。然而，他们知道，彼得过着极简单的生活，他从未行使过这种权柄，如此行是对神之神性的一种攻击。尽管如此，自我之爱和唯物主义仍以其一切疯狂和地狱促使他们声称自己拥有地上天上的最高权柄，使自己成为神。所以他们根据圣经字义来解释这段经文，并极力为自己的解释辩护。事实上，这些话的内义是这样：对主的真信具有这种权柄或能力，这种信只存在于爱主、爱邻的人里面。即便如此，拥有权柄或能力的，不是信，而是主，信的源头。此处磐石表示这种信，如在圣言的其它地方一样。教会正是建造在这磐石上，地狱的门不能胜过它。对主的信拥有天国的钥匙。它关闭天堂以阻挡邪恶和虚假，向良善和真理打开天堂。这就是这些话的内义。
和以色列十二支派一样，十二使徒实际上代表对主之信的各个方面(577, 2089, 2129, 2130e节)。彼得代表信本身，雅各代表对邻之爱，约翰代表对邻之爱所行的良善(参看创世记18章序言)。他们的代表类似流便、西缅和利未(在代表犹太和以色列教会中，雅各的长子)的代表，这一点从圣言中的上千处经文可以看出来。上面这些话是向彼得说的，因为他代表信的形像。这表明人们因照字面解释一切而陷入怎样的黑暗，并把其他人也一起拖入怎样的黑暗，如我们从对彼得说的这些话所看到的；他们利用这些话来否认主拯救人类的权柄，并夺为己有。
在圣经或主的圣言中所揭示的天堂奥秘可见于对圣言内义的解释。至于这内义是何性质，可参看相关章节(1767-1777, 1869-1879节)中我的经历所说明的，也可参看正文(1-5, 64, 65, 66, 167, 605, 920, 937, 1143, 1224, 1404, 1405, 1408, 1409, 1502e, 1540, 1659, 1756, 1783, 1807节)。每一章的开头和末尾都附有我在灵人界和天使天堂所看到的奇事。在第一卷，奇事如下：
5.来自灵人的一些例子，他们活在肉身时对灵魂或灵人所持的观点(443-448节)。
11.那些在仇恨，报复和残忍中度过一生之人的地狱(814-823节)。
12.那些在通奸和淫乱中度过一生之人的地狱，以及骗子和女巫的地狱(824-871节)。
13.贪婪者的地狱；肮脏的耶路撒冷和荒漠中的强盗；以及那些只追求感官享受之人的粪便地狱(938-946节)。
18.大人中的位置；此外，来世中的地方和距离(1273-1278节)。
19.来世中的位置和地方，以及距离和时间续(1376-1382节)。
20.灵人和天使感知事物的能力；来世中的气场(1383-1400节)。
23.天使所在的光续；他们的壮丽花园和住所(1619-1633节)。
25.灵人的说话方式(【续)及其多样性(1757-1764节)
26.圣经或圣言隐藏着神性信息，这信息向善灵和天使的视野开放(1767-1777节)。
Arcana Coelestia
(Secrets of Heaven)
New Century Edition
Cooper(2008,2013)
First seek God's kingdom and its justice and you will gain all. — Matthew 6:33
[Author's Table of Contents]
THE "secrets{*1} of heaven" that have been disclosed to us in Sacred Scripture, or the Lord's Word,{*2} can be found in the exposition of the Word's inner meaning. To learn about the nature of this meaning, see what my experience has shown in 1767-1777 and 1869-1879; and see too what appears in the body of the text in 1-5, 64, 65, 66, 167, 605, 920, 937, 1143, 1224, 1404, 1405, 1408, 1409, 1502 at the end, 1540, 1659, 1756, 1783, 1807.
Accounts of the wonders I have seen in the world of spirits and in the heaven of angels{*3} are appended at the beginning and end of each chapter. In this first volume they are as follows:{*4} 1. Our resurrection from death and entry into eternal life 168-181
2. Our entry, once revived, into eternal life (continued) 182-189
3. Our entry into eternal life (continued) 314-319
4. What the life of the soul or spirit is then like 320-323
5. Several examples from spirits of opinions they adopted during their physical lives concerning the soul or spirit 443-448
6. Heaven and heavenly joy 449-459
7. Heaven and heavenly joy (continued) 537-546
8. Heaven and heavenly joy (continued) 547-553
9. The communities that make up heaven 684-691
10. Hell 692-700
11. The hells of those who spent their lives in hatred, revenge, and cruelty 814-823
12. The hells of those who spent their lives in adultery and lechery; in addition, the hells of deceivers and witches 824-831
13. Misers' hells; the foul Jerusalem and outlaws in the wilderness; and the feces-laden hells of those who have pursued sensual pleasure alone 938-946
14. A different set of hells than those already mentioned 947-970
15. Spiritual devastation 1106-1113
16. The earliest church, called "humankind," or Adam 1114-1129
17. The pre-Flood people who died out 1265-1272
18. Location in the "universal human;"{*5} in addition, place and distance in the other life 1273-1278
19. Location and place in the other life; distance and time there as well (continued) 1376-1382
20. The ability of spirits and angels to perceive things; auras in the other life 1383-1400
21. Perception and auras in the other life (continued) 1504-1520
22. The light in which angels live 1521-1534
23. The light in which angels live (continued); their magnificent gardens and their dwellings 1619-1633
24. The way spirits and angels talk 1634-1650
25. The way spirits talk (continued) and how it varies 1757-1764
26. Sacred Scripture, or the Word, which conceals a divine message that lies open to the view of good spirits and angels 1767-1777
27. Sacred Scripture or the Word (continued) 1869-1879
General information about spirits and angels 1880-1885
Footnotes:
{*1} The Latin word here translated "secrets" is arcana, which generally refers to sacred secrets or mysteries; the English equivalent, "arcana," has a similar sense, but has come to have a more limited use. Most previous translations of this work retained the Latin title Arcana Coelestia, literally, "heavenly arcana." [RS]
{*2} Although the use of the term "the Word" for the Bible was common in Swedenborg's time, his conception of "the Word" does not include all the books of which the Bible is generally understood to be composed. He generally limits his definition of "the Word" to those parts of Scripture that he believes to have an inner meaning throughout: the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy), the historical books (Joshua, Judges, 1, 2 Samuel, 1, 2 Kings), the Psalms, the prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi), the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John), and Revelation. He thus omits certain parts of the Hebrew Scriptures, such as 1, 2 Chronicles, Ruth, Proverbs, and the Song of Solomon, as well as the writings of the apostles in the Greek Scriptures. For a discussion of his reasons for these omissions, see his letter to his friend Gabriel Beyer (1720-1779) dated April 15, 1766, cited in Acton 1948-1955, 612-613, and quoted in the introduction to this volume, pages 86-87 [NCBSP: in the printed edition]. On the use of the term "the Lord" in Swedenborg's writings, see note 2 in 1. [GFD, RS]
{*3} Swedenborg describes the next world as being divided into three major areas: heaven, hell, and a middle region called the world of spirits (see 5852, for example). A fourth area could be added: the "underground realm" (see note 2 in 247). [LHC] In his 1758 work Heaven and Hell 421, Swedenborg says, "The world of spirits is neither heaven nor hell but a place or state between the two. It is where we first arrive after death, being in due time either raised into heaven or cast into hell from it depending on our life in this world." (The translations from Heaven and Hell quoted in these notes are those of George F. Dole.) Angels form an extremely important part of Swedenborg's metaphysical system. Key aspects of his thought in this regard are that angels are persons in the strict sense, not abstract forces or entities. They have bodies as we do, and even wear clothing and live in houses in heaven (Heaven and Hell 73-77, 177-190). Moreover, angels were not originally created as such: every angel was at one point a person alive either on this earth or on some other planet (see his 1758 work Other Planets 1). Much of Swedenborg's information about the unseen worlds is reported in the form of conversations with angels. [RS]
{*4} Swedenborg later came to refer to these "accounts of the wonders ... seen in the world of spirits and in the heaven of angels" with the Latin term memorabilia. Traditionally they have been referred to in English as either "memorabilia" or "memorable relations;" in the annotations to this edition they are called "accounts of memorable occurrences," or some variation of that term. (Strictly speaking, the first separate "memorable occurrences" distinctly labeled in small capitals in the first editions appeared in Swedenborg's 1766 work Revelation Unveiled, but the term has since been applied to the shorter accounts embedded in his previous material.) Because of their basis in Swedenborg's spiritual experiences, these accounts are also sometimes referred to as "experiential" material (as opposed to doctrinal or exegetical). Swedenborg apparently saw the experiential material in the Secrets of Heaven volumes as the reader's easiest avenue of access to the work; in order to distinguish it, he had it printed in italics, in slightly larger type, and with more space between the lines. In this table of experiential material in the first volume, the first edition (the Latin edition of 1749) cites the passages by page number, an odd exception to Swedenborg's customary use of section numbers to refer to his text. He may have felt that the use of page numbers would make these topics more accessible to the browsing reader. The corresponding section numbers have been substituted in this edition. It should be noted that this first volume of the present edition contains about half the material in the first volume of Swedenborg's edition; so that when he here refers to "accounts of the wonders" (Latin mirabilia) appearing "in this first volume," the reader must understand that the passages cited after 946 appear now in volume 2. The same applies to the section numbers cited just above in the text. [SS]
{*5} Swedenborg describes heaven as having the form of a single human being, which he calls maximus homo, here translated "universal human." See 550, 911:2, and the sections referred to here by Swedenborg. See also note 1 in 318 below. [LHC]
AC(Elliott) 1
1. [AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTORY NOTE] The HEAVENLY ARCANA -- the matters in Sacred Scripture or the Word of the Lord that have been disclosed - stand in explanatory sections entitled THE INTERNAL SENSE Of the Word. As for the nature of that sense, see what has been presented on the subject from experience in 1767-1777, 1869-1879, and in addition in the main body of the work, in 1-5, 64-66, 167, 605, 920, 937, 1143, 1224, 1404, 1405, 1408, 1409, 1502 end, 1540, 1659, 1756, 1783, 1807.
The MARVELS -- things seen in the world of spirits and in the angelic heaven - have been placed in sections before and after each chapter. In this first volume the sections are:
The Word of the Old Testament contains heavenly arcana, with every single detail focusing on the Lord, His heaven, the Church, faith, and what belongs to faith; but no human being grasps this from the letter. Judging it by the letter or sense of the letter, nobody views it as anything more than a record, in the main, of external features of the Jewish Church. Yet at every point there are internal features that are nowhere evident in the external, apart from the very few which the Lord revealed and explained to the Apostles, such as that sacrifices mean the Lord; that the land of Canaan and Jerusalem mean heaven, which is therefore called Canaan and the heavenly Jerusalem; and that Paradise is similar in meaning.