264、②对圣治的怀疑因以下事实而产生：迄今为止，人们还不知道，圣言的一切细节里面都有一个灵义，这灵义是圣言神圣的基础。当有人问，为何这灵义现在才首次被揭开，为何它通过某个特定的人，而不是通过某个杰出的神职人员被揭开时，对圣治的怀疑就会产生。但这一切无论是由某个杰出的神职人员完成，还是由某个杰出神职人员的仆人完成，都是出于主的美意；主知道各人的性质。圣言的灵义没有过早地被揭开，原因有两个：一是如果它过早地被揭开，教会就会亵渎它，由此亵渎圣言的神圣本身；二是在最后的审判完成，圣耶路撒冷所表示的新教会即将被主建立之前，构成圣言灵义的纯正真理无法被揭开。让我们分别检查一下这两个原因。
①圣言灵义没有过早地被揭开，因为如果过早地被揭开，教会就会亵渎它，由此亵渎圣言的神圣本身。教会建立后不久，就沦落为一个巴比伦，后来沦落为一个非利士。巴比伦的确承认圣言，但却看不起它，声称圣灵赐予它的最高裁判所成员的启示和先知的一样多。他们承认圣言，是因为教皇的职位就建立在主对彼得所说的话上；然而，他们仍看不起圣言，因为它不适合他们。这就是为何他们把它从百姓那里夺走，藏在修道院里，在那里很少有人真正地读它。因此，如果主与所有天使智慧存在于其中的灵义被揭开，他们就会亵渎圣言，不仅亵渎它最外在的形式，也就是包含在字义中的事物，还亵渎它的至内在含义。
表示与仁分离之信的非利士也会亵渎圣言的灵义，因为它将拯救置于他们要思想并谈论的一些话语，而不是置于他们当做的善事，如前所示（258节）。因此，它将拯救的能力归于没有这种能力的某种东西，尤其将理解力与要相信的东西分离。像这样的人与圣言的灵义在其中的光有什么相干呢？这光岂不变为黑暗？当属世意义变为黑暗时，属灵意义还能有别的情况发生吗？人若确认与仁分离之信和唯信称义，还愿意去了解何为生活的良善，何为对主对邻之爱，何为仁，何为仁之良善，何为善行和行善，甚至何为本质上的信，或构成信的纯正真理吗？这些人所写的书卷只是为了证明他们所谓的信，并声称我刚才所列举的这一切都包括在这信中。由此清楚可知，如果圣言的灵义过早地被揭开，它的后果就会如主在马太福音中所说的那样：
你的眼睛若昏花，全身就黑暗。你里头的光若黑暗了，那黑暗是何等大呢！（马太福音6:23）
就圣言的灵义而言，“眼睛”表示理解力。
②在最后的审判完成，“圣耶路撒冷”所表示的新教会即将被主建立之前，构成圣言灵义的纯正真理无法被揭开。主在启示录中预言，当最后的审判完成时，纯正真理将被揭开，一个新教会开始建立，圣言的灵义将被揭开。最后的审判已经完成，这在《最后的审判》和《最后的审判续》中已说明。这也是“天地过去”（启示录21:1）的含义。那时，纯正真理将被揭开，这一点在启示录中以这些话来预言：
坐宝座的说，看哪，我将一切都更新了。（启示录21:5；19:17-18；21:18-21；22:1-2）
那时，圣言的灵义将被揭开（启示录19:11-16），这一点由那被称为神的圣言，为万主之主，万王之王的那一位所骑的“白马”来表示（参看《白马》一书）。圣耶路撒冷表示那时将要由主建立的新教会，这一点可见于《新耶路撒冷教义之主篇》（62-65节），那里有解释。
由此清楚可知，圣言的灵义要被揭开是为了新教会，新教会将唯独承认并敬拜主，视祂的圣言为神圣，热爱神性真理，弃绝与仁分离之信。关于圣言灵义的详情，可参看《新耶路撒冷教义之圣经篇》（5-26ff节），即：何为灵义（5-26节）；这灵义就在圣言的一切事物和每个细节中（9-17节）；这灵义使得圣言成为神启，并在每句话上都是神圣的（18-19节）；这灵义至今不为人知，为何它以前没有被揭示出来（20-25节）；从今以后，这灵义只赐给那些专注于来自主的纯正真理之人（26节）。
由此可见，按照主的圣治，灵义一直向世人隐藏，直到当今时代，同时被保存于天上的天使当中，天使从中获得智慧。远古时代的人，就是生活在摩西之前的人知晓灵义，并进行了认真研究；但他们的后代将对应关系（他们的圣言和由此而来的宗教唯独由这些对应关系构成），变成了各种偶像崇拜，埃及人则把它们变成巫术，所以按照主的圣治，圣言被关闭，首先在以色列人当中被关闭，后来在基督徒当中被关闭；而现在，为了主的新教会，它又被打开了。
264. (2) That a doubt may arise against Divine providence from the fact that Christians have previously not known of the existence of a spiritual meaning in every particular of the Word, and that this meaning is the reason for its holiness: For one may introduce a doubt against Divine providence, saying, "Why has this been revealed for the first time now? And why has it been revealed through an ordinary person, and not through some prelate of the church?"
Whether the person is a prelate or the servant of a prelate, however, is a matter of the Lord's good pleasure. He knows the character of the one and of the other.
But the reason the spiritual meaning of the Word has not been revealed before is that:
1. If it had been, the church would have profaned it, and profaned thereby the very sanctity of the Word.
2. Nor did the Lord reveal the genuine truths of which the spiritual meaning of the Word consists until after the Last Judgment took place and He was about to establish the new church meant by the Holy Jerusalem.
But let us examine each of these reasons in turn.
[2] FIRST, that the spiritual meaning of the Word was not revealed before, because if it had been, the church would have profaned it, and profaned thereby the very sanctity of the Word: Not long after it was established, the church was turned into Babylon, and later into Philistia. And although Babylon indeed acknowledges the Word, still it disdains it, saying that the Holy Spirit inspires them equally in their supreme judgment as it did the prophets.
Roman Catholics acknowledge the Word because of the vicarship established by the Lord's words to Peter, but still disdain it because it does not accord with their doctrine. Therefore they have also taken it from the people and hidden it away in monasteries, where few read it. Consequently, if the spiritual meaning of the Word had been disclosed, in which the Lord is present and at the same time all angelic wisdom, they would have profaned the Word, not only as happens now in respect to its outmost constituents, which are those contained in the literal sense, but also in respect to its inmost ones.
[3] Philistia, by which we mean faith divorced from charity, also would have profaned the spiritual meaning of the Word, because it places salvation in certain phrases that people are to think and say, and not in any goods that they are to do, as we have shown before. And thus it makes saving what is not saving, and furthermore takes the intellect away from things that should be believed. What then would it do with the light in which the spiritual meaning of the Word exists? Would it not turn that light into darkness? When it turns the natural meaning of the Word into darkness, what would it not do with the spiritual meaning?
Of those people who have confirmed themselves in faith divorced from charity and in justification by that faith alone, who among them wishes to know what goodness of life is, what love toward the Lord and love for the neighbor are, what charity and goods of charity are, and what good works and the doing of them are, indeed what faith is in its essence, and something of the genuine truth that forms it? They write volumes defending only what they call faith, and say that everything we have just listed is included in that faith of theirs.
It is apparent from this that if the spiritual meaning of the Word had been disclosed before, the result would have been according to the Lord's words in Matthew:
If your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! (Matthew 6:23)
In the Word's spiritual sense, by the eye is meant the intellect.
[4] SECOND, that the Lord did not reveal the genuine truths of which the spiritual meaning of the Word consists until after the Last Judgment took place and He was about to establish the new church meant by the Holy Jerusalem: In the book of Revelation the Lord prophesied that after the Last Judgment took place, genuine truths would be disclosed, a new church established, and the spiritual meaning revealed.
That the Last Judgment has taken place we showed in a short work titled The Last Judgment, and afterward in a Continuation Concerning the Last Judgment, and that this is what is meant by the heaven and earth that would pass away (Revelation 21:1).
That genuine truths would then be disclosed was foretold in the book of Revelation by these words: "He who sat on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.'" (Revelation 21:5. See also Revelation 19:17-18, 21:18-21, 22:1-2)
That the spiritual meaning of the Word would then be revealed, see Revelation 19:11-16. This is what is meant by the white horse, whose rider was called the Word of God, and who was King of Kings and Lord of Lords (on which subject see my short work The White Horse).
That by the Holy Jerusalem is meant a new church that the Lord would establish then, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord 62-65, where we demonstrated this.
[5] From this it is now apparent that the Word's spiritual meaning was to be revealed for a new church that will acknowledge and worship the Lord alone, hold His Word sacred, love Divine truths, and reject faith divorced from charity.
But more on this meaning of the Word may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture 5-26 and thereafter. One may see there, for example, the following:
What the spiritual meaning is, nos. 5-26.
That there is a spiritual meaning in each and every constituent of the Word, nos. 9-17.
That it is owing to the spiritual meaning that the Word is Divinely inspired and holy in every word, nos. 18-19.
That the spiritual meaning has been previously unknown, and why it has not been revealed before, nos. 20-25.
That the spiritual meaning is granted hereafter only to someone who possesses genuine truths from the Lord, no. 26.
[6] It can now be seen from this that it is of the Lord's Divine providence that the spiritual meaning has lain hidden from the world until the present time, and that in the meantime it has been preserved in heaven among angels, who draw their wisdom from it.
That meaning was known and also cultivated among ancient peoples who lived before Moses. But because their descendants took the correspondent images of which alone their Word and so their religion consisted and turned them into various idolatries, and in Egypt into magical arts, it was of the Lord's Divine providence closed up, first among the children of Israel, and afterward among Christians, for the reasons given above - a meaning now opened for the first time for the Lord's new church.
264. 2. Doubts about divine providence may be raised by the fact that until now people have not known that there is spiritual meaning in the details of the Word and that this is the basis of its holiness. It may raise doubts about divine providence when people ask, "Why is this only being revealed now? And why is it happening through this particular individual, and not through some prominent clergyman?" Whether it is some prominent clergyman or some prominent clergyman's servant, though, is up to the Lord. He knows the nature of each.
There are two reasons, though, that this meaning of the Word has not been revealed earlier. The first is that if it had been revealed earlier, the church would have profaned it, and in so doing would have profaned the very holiness of the Word; and the second is that the genuine truths that constitute the Word's spiritual meaning could not be revealed until the Last Judgment had been completed and the new church meant by the Holy Jerusalem was being founded by the Lord. But let us look at these separately.
[2] (a) The Word's spiritual meaning was not revealed earlier because if it had been, the church would have profaned it, and in so doing would have profaned the very holiness of the Word. Not long after the church was begun it turned into a Babylon, and later it turned into a Philistia. Babylon does actually recognize the Word, but it looks down on it. They say that the Holy Spirit gives just as much inspiration to the members of its supreme council as it did to the prophets. They recognize the Word because the papacy was founded on the Lord's words to Peter, but they still look down on it because it does not agree with them. That is why they have taken it away from the people and hidden it in monasteries, where there are few who actually read it. So if the spiritual meaning had been revealed, where the Lord and all angelic wisdom are present, they would have profaned the Word not only as it is in its outermost form, in what we find in the literal meaning, but in its deepest meanings as well.
[3] Philistia too (meaning faith separated from charity) would have profaned the Word's spiritual meaning, because as already noted [258] it puts salvation in some words that we are to think about and say and not in good deeds that we are to do. So it attributes the power to save to something that has no such power. Particularly, it creates a gap between our intelligence and what we are to believe. For people like this, what becomes of the light that the spiritual meaning of the Word is in? Does it not turn into darkness? And when the outer meaning is turned into darkness, what else can happen to the spiritual meaning? Does anyone who has decided on faith separated from charity and on justification by that kind of faith want to know what a good life really is, what love for the Lord and our neighbor are, what caring and its good effects are, what good actions are, what "doing" is--actually what faith is in its essence, or any of the real truth that constitutes it? Such people write volumes, and all they do is prove what they call faith, claiming that all the things I have just listed are inherent in that faith.
We can see from this that if spiritual meaning had been disclosed earlier, it would have turned out as described by the Lord's words in Matthew, "If your eye had been evil, your whole body would have been full of darkness. So if the light that is in you is darkness, what a darkness!" (Matthew 6:23). In the Word's spiritual meaning, "the eye" means our discernment.
[4] (b) The genuine truths that constitute the Word's spiritual meaning could not be revealed by the Lord until the Last Judgment had been completed and the new church meant by the Holy Jerusalem was being founded by the Lord. The Lord foretold in the Book of Revelation that after the Last Judgment had been completed genuine truths would be disclosed, a new church would be begun, and spiritual meaning would be disclosed. On the completion of the Last Judgment, see what is presented in the booklet Last Judgment and in its supplement. This is the meaning of the heaven and earth that will pass away (Revelation 21:1). The disclosure of genuine truths is foretold by these words in the Book of Revelation, "The one sitting on the throne said, 'Look! I am making all things new!'" (Revelation 21:5). See also Revelation 19:17-18; Revelation 21:18-21; and Revelation 22:1-2. On the need for a revelation of the Word's spiritual meaning, see Revelation 19:11-16. This is the meaning of the white horse on which was seated the one called "The Word of God," the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. On this, see the booklet on The White Horse. On the holy Jerusalem meaning a new church that the Lord would begin, see Teachings for the New Jerusalem on the Lord 62-65, where this is explained.
[5] We can see, then, that the Word's spiritual meaning was to be revealed for a new church that would recognize and worship the Lord alone and would keep his Word holy, loving divine truths and rejecting any faith that is separated from charity. There is more about this meaning of the Word, though, in Teachings for the New Jerusalem on Sacred Scripture 5-26 and following. There the nature of the spiritual meaning is discussed in 5-26. Its presence throughout the Word and in every detail is discussed in 9-17; the spiritual meaning as the reason that the Word is divinely inspired and holy in every word, in 18-19; why the spiritual meaning has as yet been unknown and was not revealed earlier, in 20-25; and the granting of the spiritual meaning, from now on, only to people who have genuine truths from the Lord, in 26.
[6] We can therefore tell that it is under the Lord's divine providence that the spiritual meaning has been hidden from the world until this present age, and has been kept safe in the meanwhile among angels, who draw their wisdom from it. This meaning was known and cherished by the people of very ancient times, the ones who lived before Moses; but since their descendants took the correspondential relationships that were the sole basis of their Word and therefore of their religion and diverted them to various forms of idolatry (and to magic in Egypt), that meaning was closed off under the Lord's divine providence, first among Israelites and later among Christians, for the reasons just given. Only now is it being opened for the Lord's new church.
264. 2. A doubt may be raised against the Divine Providence from the fact that hitherto it has not been known that in every particular of the Word there is a spiritual sense from which it derives its holiness. It may be asked, as raising a doubt against the Divine Providence, why this is revealed now for the first time, and why it has been revealed through this or that person and not through some leader in the Church. But it is of the Lord's good pleasure whether a leader or a leader's servant is chosen; He knows the one as well as the other. However, that sense of the Word has not been revealed before because,
(1) If it had been, the Church would have profaned it, and thereby would have profaned the very holiness itself of the Word;
(2) The genuine truths, in which the spiritual sense of the Word resides, were not revealed by the Lord until the Last Judgment had been accomplished, and the new Church which is meant by the Holy Jerusalem was about to be established by the Lord.
But let these reasons be examined separately.
[2] First: The spiritual sense of the Word was not revealed before because if it had been, the Church would have profaned it, and thereby would have profaned the very holiness itself of the Word. Not long after the establishment of the Church it was turned into the state of Babylon, and later into that of Philistia. Babylon, indeed, acknowledges the Word but still esteems it lightly, declaring that the Holy Spirit inspires them in their supreme judgment just as much as it inspired the prophets. They acknowledge the Word for the sake of the vicarship founded on the Lord's words to Peter; but they esteem the Word lightly because it does not accord with their views. For this reason, too, it is taken from the people and hidden away in monasteries, where few read it. Therefore, if the spiritual sense of the Word had been revealed, in which the Lord together with all angelic wisdom is present, the Word would be profaned not only, as is now the case, in its ultimates, which are contained in the sense of the Letter, but in its inmosts also.
[3] Philistia, by which is meant faith separate from charity, would also have profaned the spiritual sense of the Word because, as has been shown before, it places salvation in certain phrases which are to be thought and said, and not in good works which are to be done. It thus makes that saving which is not saving, and also removes the understanding from things that are to be believed. What have such persons to do with the light in which is the spiritual sense of the Word? Would it not be turned into darkness? When the natural sense is so turned what would not be done with the spiritual sense? Does any one of them, who has confirmed himself in faith separate from charity and in justification by that faith alone, desire to know what is the good of life, what is love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour, what is charity and what are the goods of charity, and what are good works and what is meant by doing them, or indeed what is faith in its essence and what is any genuine truth that constitutes it? They write volumes and confirm only what they call faith, and say that all the things just mentioned are included in that faith. Hence it is clear that if the spiritual sense of the Word had been revealed before, it would have come to pass according to the words of the Lord in Matthew:
If thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness. Matthew 6:23.
By the eye in the spiritual sense of the Word is meant the understanding.
[4] Second: The genuine truths, in which the spiritual sense of the Word resides, were not revealed by the Lord until the Last Judgment had been accomplished, and the new Church which is meant by the Holy Jerusalem was about to be established by the Lord. It was foretold by the Lord in the Revelation that after the Last Judgment had been accomplished genuine truths were to be revealed, a new Church was to be established, and the spiritual sense of the Word was to be disclosed. It was shown in the small work, THE LAST JUDGMENT, and later in the CONTINUATION of that work, that the Last Judgment has been accomplished; and that this is meant by the heaven and the earth which would pass away in Revelation 21:1. That genuine truths are then to be revealed is foretold in these words in the Revelation:
And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. Revelation 21:5; also 19:17-18; 21:18-21, 22:1-2.
That the spiritual sense of the Word is then to be revealed is foretold in chapter 19:11-16; and this is meant by the white horse, upon which He who sat was called the Word of God, who was Lord of lords and King of kings. On this subject the small work, THE WHITE HORSE, may be consulted. That by the Holy Jerusalem is meant the New Church which was then to be established by the Lord may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD (n. 62-65), where this is shown.
[5] It is now clear from these things that the spiritual sense of the Word was to be revealed for a new Church which will acknowledge and worship the Lord alone, and hold His Word sacred, and love Divine Truths and reject faith separated from charity. Concerning this sense of the Word more may be seen 1in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 5-26 and following numbers); as, in this section, what the spiritual sense of the Word is (n. 5-26); that there is a spiritual sense in all things of the Word in general and in particular (n. 9-17); that it is by virtue of the spiritual sense that the Word is Divinely inspired, and holy in every expression (n. 18-19); that hitherto the spiritual sense has been unknown, and why it was not revealed before (n. 20-25); and that henceforth the spiritual sense will be possible only to one who is in genuine truths from the Lord (n. 26).
[6] From these considerations it may be evident that it is of the Lord's Divine Providence that the spiritual sense has been concealed from the world until the present age, and has meanwhile been preserved in heaven with the angels, who derive their wisdom from it. This sense was known and also carefully studied among the ancients who lived before Moses; but as their posterity converted the correspondences, of which their Word and consequently their religion solely consisted, into idolatries of various forms, and the Egyptians converted them into magic, this [sense] was of the Divine Providence of the Lord, closed up, first with the Children of Israel and afterwards with Christians, for the reasons mentioned above; and it is now for the first time opened for the Lord's New Church.
Footnotes:
1. Original Edition, Tafel Latin edition (1855) and Worcester Latin edition (1899) have "plura . . . videatur." See also 265[5].
264. (2) A doubt may arise in opposition to Divine providence from the fact that hitherto men have not known that there is a spiritual sense in all the particulars of the Word, and that its holiness is therefrom. For a doubt may arise in opposition to Divine providence when it is asked why this has now been revealed for the first time, and why it has been revealed through this man or that, and not through some primate of the church. But it is of the Lord's good pleasure whether this is done by a primate or by the servant of a primate; the Lord knows what the one is and what the other. But that sense of the Word has not been revealed before,
(1) because if it had been, the church would have profaned it, and thereby have profaned the essential holiness of the Word;
(2) because the genuine truths, in which the spiritual sense of the Word resides, were not revealed by the Lord until the last judgment had been accomplished, and the new church that is meant by the Holy Jerusalem was about to be established by the Lord. But let these be examined singly.
[2] First: The spiritual sense of the Word has not been revealed before, because if it had been the church would have profaned it, and thereby have profaned the essential holiness of the Word. Not long after the establishment of the church it was turned into a Babylon, and afterwards into a Philistia; and while Babylon acknowledges the Word it nevertheless despises it, claiming that they are inspired by the Holy Spirit in their supreme judgment just as much as the prophets were. They acknowledge the Word for the sake of the vicarship established by the Lord's words to Peter; and yet they despise the Word because it does not suit them. For the same reason it is taken away from the people and hidden in monasteries, where few read it. Consequently if the spiritual sense of the Word, in which the Lord and all angelic wisdom are present, had been unveiled, the Word would have been profaned, not alone as it now is in its outmosts, which are the things contained in the sense of the letter, but also in its inmosts.
[3] Philistia also, by which is meant faith separate from charity, would have profaned the spiritual sense of the Word, because it places salvation in certain words that they may think and talk about, and not in the good works they should do, as has been shown before; thus making that to be saving that is not saving, and also separating the understanding from the things that are to be believed. What have such to do with that light in which the spiritual sense of the Word is? Would it not be turned into darkness? When the natural sense is turned into darkness what would not be done with the spiritual sense? Does any one of such, who has confirmed himself in faith separate from charity and in justification by that alone, wish to know what good of life is, wish to know what love to the Lord and towards the neighbor is, what charity is, and what the goods of charity are, and what good works are, and doing them, or even what faith is in its essence, or any genuine truth that constitutes it? Such write volumes confirming only that which they call faith, and claiming that all the things just mentioned are included in that faith. From all this it is clear that if the spiritual sense of the Word had been unveiled before, it would have come to pass according to the Lord's words in Matthew:-
If thine eye be evil thy whole body shall be darkened. If, therefore, the light that is in thee becomes darkness, how great is that darkness! (Matthew 6:23);
"the eye," in the spiritual sense of the Word, meaning the understanding.
[4] Secondly: The genuine truths in which the spiritual sense of the Word resides were not revealed by the Lord until the last judgment had been accomplished, and the new church that is meant by "the Holy Jerusalem" was about to be established by the Lord. It was foretold by the Lord in the Apocalypse that when the last judgment had been accomplished genuine truths would be unveiled, a new church established, and the spiritual sense of the Word disclosed. That the last judgment has been accomplished is shown in the treatise on the Last Judgment, and again in the Continuation of it. This, too, is what is meant by "the passing away of the heaven and earth" (Apocalypse 21:1). That genuine truths will then be unveiled is foretold in these words in the Apocalypse:-
And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold I make all things new (Apocalypse 21:5; also Apocalypse 19:17-18; 21:18-21; 22:1-2).
That the spiritual sense of the Word is then to be unveiled (Apocalypse 19:11-16), this being meant by "the white horse," upon which He sat who was called the Word of God, and was Lord of lords and King of kings (see the treatise on The White Horse). That the Holy Jerusalem means the new church that would then be established by the Lord may be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Lord 62-65, where this is shown.
[5] From all this it is now clear that the spiritual sense of the Word was to be revealed for a new church that will acknowledge and worship the Lord alone, and will hold His Word to be holy, will love Divine truths, and will reject faith separate from charity. But in regard to this sense of the Word many things may be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred Scripture 5-26, and the following numbers); namely, what the spiritual sense is (Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred Scripture 5-26); that the spiritual sense is in each thing and in all things of the Word (Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred Scripture 9-17); that it is from the spiritual sense that the Word is Divinely inspired, and holy in every word (Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred Scripture 18, 19); that the spiritual sense has been hitherto unknown, and why it has not been revealed before (Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred Scripture 20-25); that hereafter the spiritual sense will be given only to those who are in genuine truths from the Lord (Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred Scripture 26).
[6] From all this it can now be seen that it is of the Lord's Divine providence that the spiritual sense has been hidden from the world until the present age, and in the mean while has been preserved in heaven among the angels, who derive their wisdom from it. That sense was known to the ancients who lived before Moses, and was carefully studied; but their posterity converted correspondences, of which alone their Word and their religion therefrom consisted, into idolatries of various kinds, and the Egyptians converted them into magic, and consequently in the Lord's Divine providence, the Word was closed up, first with the children of Israel and afterwards with Christians, for the reasons given above; and now it is again opened for the Lord's New Church.
264. II. Quod contra Divinam Providentiam dubium possit inferri ex eo, quod huc usque nesciverint, quod in singulis Verbi sensus spiritualis sit, et quod sanctitas ejus inde sit: potest enim contra Divinam Providentiam inferri dubium, dicendo, cur hoc nunc primum revelatum est, tum cur per hunc aut per illum, et non per aliquem Primatem Ecclesiae; sed sive Primas sit, sive servus Primatis, in beneplacito Domini est; scit qualis unus et qualis alter. Sed causa, quod ille sensus Verbi non prius revelatus sit, est I, quia si prius, Ecclesia prophanavisset illum, et per id ipsam sanctitatem Verbi. II. Quod nec prius genuina vera a Domino revelata sint, in quibus spiritualis sensus Verbi est, quam postquam Ultimum 1judicium peractum est, et nova Ecclesia, quae per Sanctam Hierosolymam intelligitur, a Domino instauranda est: sed haec singillatim lustrentur;
[2] PRIMUM. Quod sensus spiritualis Verbi non prius revelatus sit, quia si prius, Ecclesia prophanavisset illum, et per id ipsam sanctitatem Verbi: Ecclesia non diu post instaurationem ejus versa est in Babyloniam, et postea in Philisthaeam: et Babylonia quidem agnoscit Verbum, sed usque contemnit illud, dicendo quod Spiritus Sanctus aeque inspiret illos in supremo Judicio illorum, sicut inspiravit Prophetas: quod agnoscant Verbum, est propter Vicariatum stabilitum ex Verbis Domini ad Petrum; at usque contemnunt illud, quia non concordat; ideo etiam ereptum est populo, et reconditur in monasteriis, ubi pauci id legunt; quare si sensus spiritualis Verbi detectus fuisset, in quo est Dominus, et simul omnis sapientia angelica, prophanaretur Verbum, non solum ut fit, in ultimis ejus, quae sunt quae in sensu literae continentur, sed etiam in intimis ejus.
[3] Philisthaea, 2per quam intelligitur fides separata a charitate, etiam sensum spiritualem Verbi prophanavisset, quia salvationem ponit in aliquibus 3vocibus quas cogitent et loquantur, et non in bonis quae faciant, 4ut prius ostensum est; et sic salvificum facit quod non salvificum est, et insuper removet intellectum e credendis; 5quid illis cum luce, in qua est sensus spiritualis Verbi; numne verteretur in tenebras; cum sensus naturalis vertitur in illas, quid non sensus spiritualis: quis eorum, qui se in fide separata a charitate, et in justificatione per illam solam, confirmaverunt, 6vult scire quid bonum vitae, quid amor in Dominum et erga proximum, quid charitas et quid bona charitatis, et quid bona opera, et quid facere, imo quid fides in sua essentia, et aliquod genuinum verum quod facit illam: scribunt volumina, et solum id quod vocant fidem, confirmant, et omnia illa, quae nunc nominata sunt, dicunt fidei isti inesse. Ex quibus patet, quod si sensus spiritualis Verbi prius detectus fuisset, fieret secundum verba Domini apud Matthaeum, "Si oculus tuus malus fuerit, totum corpus obtenebratum erit: si ergo lumen quod in te est, tenebrae fit, tenebrae quantae," 6:23 : per oculum in Verbi sensu spirituali intelligitur intellectus.
[4] ALTERUM. Quod nec prius genuina vera a Domino revelata sint, in quibus sensus spiritualis Verbi est, quam postquam Ultimum judicium peractum est, et nova Ecclesia, quae per sanctam Hierosolymam intelligitur, a Domino instauranda erat; praedictum est a Domino in Apocalypsi, quod postquam Ultimum judicium peractum est, genuina vera detegenda, nova Ecclesia instauranda, 7et sensus spiritualis detegendus, essent: quod Ultimum judicium peractum sit, in Opusculo de ULTIMO JUDICIO, et dein in CONTINUATIONE ejus, ostensum est; et quod id intelligatur per Coelum et terram quae transitura, in Apocalypsis 21:1.
Quod genuina vera tunc detegenda sint, praedicitur per haec Verba in Apocalypsi, "Dixit Sedens super Throno, ecce nova omnia facio," vers. 5: tum 19:17-18; 21:18-21; 22:1-2.
Quod tunc sensus spiritualis Verbi revelandus sit, 19:11-16; hoc intelligitur per Equum album, super quo sedens vocabatur Verbum Dei, et qui erat Dominus dominorum et Rex regum, de qua re videatur Opusculum de EQUO ALBO.
Quod per sanctam Hierosolymam intelligatur Nova Ecclesia, quae tunc a Domino instauranda est, videatur in DOCTRINA NOVAE HIEROSOLYMAE DE DOMINO 62-65, ubi id ostensum est.
[5] Ex his nunc patet, quod sensus spiritualis Verbi revelandus esset pro nova Ecclesia, quae solum Dominum agnoscet et colet, et Verbum Ipsius sanctum habebit, et Divina Vera amabit, et fidem separatam a charitate rejiciet. Sed plura de hoc Verbi sensu videatur in DOCTRINA NOVAE HIEROSOLYMAE DE SCRIPTURA SACRA 5-26 et seq.: et ibi, ut quid sensus spiritualis, 5-26.
Quod sensus spiritualis sit in omnibus et singulis Verbi, 9-17.
Quod ex sensu spirituali sit quod Verbum sit Divinitus inspiratum, et in omni voce sanctum, 18, 19.
Quod sensus spiritualis hactenus ignotus fuerit, et cur non prius revelatus, 20-25.
Quod sensus spiritualis non alicui posthac detur, nisi qui in genuinis veris a Domino est, 26.
[6] Ex his nunc constare potest, quod ex Divina Domini Providentia sit, quod sensus spiritualis usque ad hoc saeculum coram Mundo latuerit, ac interea in Coelo apud Angelos, qui inde sapientiam suam hauriunt, reservatus fuerit. Ille sensus apud antiquos, qui ante Mosen vixerunt, notus fuit, et quoque excultus; sed quia posteri eorum, correspondentias, ex quibus solis Verbum eorum et inde religio constabat, verterunt in varias idololatrias, ac Aegyptii in magias, ille ex Divina Domini Providentia occlusus est, primum apud filios Israelis, et postea apud Christianos, propter causas, de quibus supra, et nunc primum 8pro Nova Domini Ecclesia apertus.
Footnotes:
1 Prima editio: Uitimum
2 Prima editio: Philistaea,
3 Prima editio: aliquibus
4 Prima editio: faciant,
5 Prima editio: credendis;
6 Prima editio: confirmavit,
7 Prima editio: instrauranda,
8 Prima editio: ptimum