DE HEMELSGHE LEER

EXTRACTS FROM THE ISSUE FOR JANUARY 1930

In THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, AMEN.

EDITORIAL BY THE REV. ERNST PFEIFFER. - From the beginning of .the New Church her true members could be distinguished from her false members, in that the former accept the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg as the Word of God, while the latter deny this fundamental truth. The Lord's words in John: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life" (3 : 36), in the New Church have no other meaning. The crowning thesis of this belief is that the DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE must also be applied to these Writings.

Everything that is taught in the Latin Word concerning the Doctrine of the Church:' That the Lord is also the Doctrine of the Church, as He is the Word, and all Doctrine is from the Word (A.E. 19; A.C. 2859); that the'Doctrine is spiritual from celestial origin, and that in its origin the rational is not consulted (A.C. ch. 20); that in the present-day Christian churches the dogmas are not from the Word, but from their own understanding, and are consequently patched up from falsities and confirmed by a few things from the Word, but that in the New Church the doctrinal things are one series of connected truths which by the Lord have been laid bare by means of the Word, and that it is therefore permitted to enter with the understanding and to penetrate into all their arcana and also to confirm these by the Word (T.C.R. 508); that the Word without Doctrine is not understood; that the Doctrine must be drawn from the literal sense of the Word; that the Divine

6 AT THE FIRST APPEARING

truth, which belongs to the Doctrine, appears to no one except to those who from the Lord are in illustration; furthermore that therefore those who read the Word without Doctrine, or who do not acquire for themselves a Doctrine from the Word, are in darkness as to all truth, and that the Word without Doctrine is as a candlestick without light (8.8. 50-61); that the Church takes its existence from the understanding of the Word according to the Doctrine, and that consequently it is not the Word that makes the Church, but the understanding of the Word (8.8. 76; A.C. 10763; H.D. 243); that the words in the Revelation of John: "And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered" (12:2) signify the Doctrine of the New Church in its state of birth, and the difficult reception on account of the opposition of those who are signified by the "dragon" (A.E. 535; A.E. 710, 711); and that the words: "And she brought forth a man child" (Rev. 12 :5) signify the Doctrine of truth, • which is for the New Church, which is called the New Jerusalem; and that "the man child" is the genuine truth of the Church and therefore also its Doctrine, the truth of the Church from the Word being its Doctrine, as this contains the truths which are for the Church (A. E. 724; A.R. 543); that "The New Jerusalem" signifies the New Church with regard to its Doctrine; that "the town", "the field", "the carriage", "the ship", "weapons''; signify the Doctrine and the doctrinal things of the Church; - everything that is said in these and similar places concerning the Doctrine has regard to the Doctrine of the Church, such as it has been developed by the Church during the progress of its regeneration, and what is said with reference to the Word and the literal sense of the Word has regard not only to the Old and the New Testament but also to the Latin Testament.

It is true that in many passages of the Latin Word a strong appearance is created as if in the statements quoted, the Writings themselves were meant by "the Doctrine". And by "the Word and the literal sense of the Word" only the Old and the New Testament, and it is on this account that among the English speaking members of the General Church the expression "the doctrines and the letter of the Word" has become general, in which by "the doctrines"

7 OF "DE HEMELSCHE LEER"

the Writings and by "the letter of the Word" only the Old and the New Testament are understood. Plain examples of passages in the Writings that create this appearance are the Titles of the FOUR DOCTRINES, and especially a passage such as this in n. 7 of THE NEW JERUSALEM AND ITS HEAVENLY DOCTRINE: "But I proceed to the Doctrine itself, which is for the New Church, and which is called the Heavenly Doctrine, because it was revealed to me out of Heaven; for to deliver this doctrine is the design of this work"; and also a passage such as this in the APOCALYPSE REVEALED: "By the male child is signified the Doctrine of that Church; the Doctrine here meant is The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, published in London, 1758; as also The Doctrines concerning the Lord, concerning the Sacred Scripture, and concerning Life according to the Commandments of the Decalogue, published in Amsterdam. When these Doctrines were written, the dragonists stood around me, and endeavored with all their fury to devour them, that is to extinguish them" (n. 543; A. E. 711).

But if one bears in mind the truth that the Writings are the Word or the Sacred Scripture itself, it clearly appears that even in these the Heavenly Doctrine, as well as in the Old and the New Testament, is covered with the veil of a literal sense. It is said in n. 7 of THE NEW JERUSALEM AND ITS HEAVENLY DOCTRINE: "that the Doctrine of the New Church is from the spiritual sense of the Word, and that the spiritual sense of the Word is the same with the Doctrine which is in Heaven". That there by "the Doctrine of the New Church" and by "the spiritual sense of the Word" and by "the Doctrine which is in Heaven" are not signified the Writings, appears clearly from this, that they are full of natural ideas taken from the world, from the kingdoms of nature, from history and from ecclesiastical history, which we know are not understood in Heaven, but are at once changed into corresponding spiritual ideas. Of all that concerns the natural ideas in the letter the Angels know nothing. It is surprising that it has been possible for the idea to maintain itself so long, that, while in regard to all natural ideas in the Word of the Old and the New Testament, such as countries, cities, peoples, persons, it is expressly taught that in the internal sense they have a purely spiritual significance. This law

8 AT THE FIRST APPEARING

should be of no effect in -the Latin Testament. It is, however, an undeniable truth that the Angels can have no other but a purely spiritual idea of such ideas in the Writings as "the Jewish nation", "Roman Catholics", "Protestants", "the Dutch", "the English", "the Germans", "Paul", "Luther", "Calvin", "Louis XIV", "Empress Elisabeth and Count de la Gardie", "Charles XII", "London", "Amsterdam", "Paris", "Vienna", "Venice", "Naples",and "Rome"; furthermore that they can have no other but a purely spiritual idea of all those countless illustrations of doctrine by things taken from the mineral kingdom, the vegetable kingdom, the animal kingdom, the human body, with which especially the tissue of the work THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION is impregnated. We therefore believe that also in the words quoted above from THE NEW JERUSALEM AND ITS HEAVENLY DOCTRINE, n. 7' that the Doctrine of the New Church is from the spiritual sense of the Word, and that the spiritual sense of the Word is one and the same with the Doctrine which is in Heaven, by "the Doctrine of the New Church" not the Latin Word but the Doctrine of the Church should be understood, and by "the spiritual sense of the Word", not only the spiritual sense of the Old and the New Testament, but in the first place also the spiritual sense of the Latin Testament. From this it follows that by "the Doctrine which is in Heaven", that is by "the Heavenly Doctrine", not the literal sense of the Latin Word, as has been thought hitherto, but its spiritual sense is meant.

Every Church must from the Word acquire for itself its Doctrine. It is not its Doctrine that is given to any Church by immediate revelation, but the Word in a literal sense is given, from which its Doctrine must be developed according to order; for in no other way can the holy, spiritual and celestial contents of the Word remain protected. The Christian Church might have acquired for itself from the Old and the New Testament a genuine Doctrine. The New Church must acquire its Doctrine for itself from the Three Testaments.

Erom this it follows that the Doctrine of the New Church, likewise, will be either true or false. Examples of a false doctrine are all teachings of CONFERENCE and CONVENTION, as far as they are based on the denial of the Divine Human essence of the Writings. An example of the true Doctrine of the Church are the PRINCIPLES OF THE

9 OF DE HEMELSCHE LEER

ACADEMY, as far as in tlie future they will prove to be imperishable. To those parts of the PRINCIPLES OF THE ACADEMY a purely Divine origin, a Divine essence and Divine authority must be ascribed.

The concept that the Heavenly Doctrine is the Doctrine of the Church and that the Writings of Swedenborg are that Heavenly Doctrine and that Doctrine of the Church itself, and that the revealed truths concerning the nature of the literal sense of the Word should apply only to the Old and the New Testament, has up to the present kept the Church as a whole in a purely natural state. Whereas the Divine qualities and prerogatives which the Latin Word ascribes to the Doctrine of the Church, have been claimed exclusively for the Latin Word itself, the Lord Himself, because He Himself is that Doctrine, has as it were remained unthroned in the Church. The Doctrine of the TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION concerning the Holy Spirit can be seen in its real light and in its real sense only there, where the Doctrine of the Church is acknowledged as purely Divine and therefore as the Lord Himself. Only along this way can the Church gradually enter into the celestial state, which has been foresaid for it by the Lord; only along this way can the human race return to the Adamic state of a new Golden Age. And this is also the only way along which the men and women of the Church can be led back to the state of love truly conjugial, of which it is said that with the Most Ancient it was one and the same with their religion, and with the celestial Angels one and the same with their heavenly felicity. This and nothing else is the internal sense of the words: Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His Wife has made herself ready (Rev. 19 : 7).

PROF. DR. CHARLES H. VAN 0s. — "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this Book; if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this Book; and if any man shall take away from the words of the Book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the Book of life, and out of the Holy City, and from the things which are written in this Book." — This is what we read in the 22nd chapter of the Revelation of John,

10 AT THE FIRST APPEARING

verses 18 and 19. In the APOCALYPSE REVEALED, n. 957— 959, the internal sense of these verses is explained. "Hearing the words of the prophecy of this Book" signifies reading and knowing the truths of Doctrine. "Adding unto these things" and "taking away from these words" signifies adding or taking away something on which account the truths of Doctrine would be extinguished. "The plagues that are written in this Book", signify the evils and falsities into which they fall who put the essence of religion in external things, such as a blind acceptance of the literal sense of the Word; these are they who are meant by the dragon. That "his part is taken out of the Book of life, out of the Holy City, and from the things which are written in this Book" signifies that such a one can receive no wisdom from the Word and from the Doctrine of the Church, and that in reality he does not belong to the Church. "The Book of life" is the Word, as from it comes all spiritual life for Angels and men. "The Holy City" signifies the Doctrine of the Church. "The things which are written in this Book" signifies the Church of the New Jerusalem, for of this Church does theRevelation of John treat in the internal sense.

In these verses therefore the Doctrine is treated of, and the great responsibility we bear for the preservation and the development of the Doctrine. We are admonished not to add anything to the Doctrine, nor to take away anything, even though when so doing, we should appeal to the literal sense of the Word. The fatal results for ourselves, if we should act contrary to this admonition, are pointed out to us.

There are, as we know, different degrees of the Doctrine. In the highest degree the Doctrine is the Lord Himself, who continually tries to inflow with genuine truths into the Heaven and the Church. In a lower degree the Doctrine is the Heavenly Doctrine, that is the whole of the truths that are known in the Heavens, and of which the thoughts of the Angels consist. This Heavenly Doctrine is the same as the internal sense of the Word. In the next degree the Doctrine is the Doctrine of the Church, that is the whole of the truths that are known in the Church, and of which the thoughts of the members of the Church consist. The Doctrine of the Church therefore is the Heavenly Doctrine as far as this has clothed itself in human words, and has

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thereby descended into the natural world. Now as the natural is always the basis for the spiritual, the Doctrine of the Church is the basis for the Doctrine in all its degrees. From this is evident the great importance of the development of the Doctrine of the Church. The development of the Doctrine of the Church must take place by the cooperation of all the members of the Church who receive any illustration from Heaven. This development must take place in continuous contact with the literal sense of the Word, for this too, is a natural basis for the Heavenly Doctrine, only come into existence by a different way. To this development our monthly magazine shall be dedicated.

The word "doctrine" (leer), in the Dutch language, also signifies a "ladder". And the Doctrine of the Church in reality is a ladder, by which our thoughts may ascend to Heaven, that is to the internal sense of the Word. May it be given to us to make this ladder long and broad, so that the Angels may ascend and descend along it, and that influx and reflux by means of the Doctrine may go to and fro between Heaven and earth.

H.D.G. GROENEVELD. — Every member of the Church will welcome with great joy the appearance of the new monthly magazine, and be moved by the thought that in the Lord's Providence it has been appointed that now for the Church in reality the Heavens will be opened. After a period of preparation or of reformation of the Church, which reached its summit in a natural-rational understanding of the Third Testament, and on account of which a natural regeneration of the Church was possible, the Church has now come to a state by which a spiritual understanding of the Word and therefore a spiritual regeneration of the Church is possible. During the state of reformation the conjunction of the Lord with the Church is from the side of the Lord alone. By the birth of the Doctrine of the Church the Church has prepared itself, on account of which the conjunction now is from the side of the Church as well.

Just as everything which is has an internal and an external, so the Doctrine of the Church or the Doctrine of the Divine Human of the Lord has an internal and an

12 AT THE FIRST APPEARING

external. It is the internal Doctrine of the Church or the Doctrine of Genuine Truth, which is the Lord Himself, by which the Church is to be built. It is the celestial Doctrine descending from God out of Heaven. This Doctrine is free from all space and time, and purely spiritual from celestial origin. It is only by this Doctrine that Heaven does come down to earth, and that the Church does become truly Church. This Doctrine as a seed will be received by the Church continually more and more internally, and by the Church it will be made life. This seed from the Third Testament, that is from the Divine Doctrine, will be opened by the Lord in the rational of the male of the Church and be made life by the female of the Church. By this the Church will come into the possession of internal things, which have never before been given to the human race. This internal Doctrine of the Church can only be opened by the Lord in the rational of the male if the rational has been prepared for it, which happens only after heavy combat. It is now by means of the external Doctrine of the Church that this combat takes place and it is the male of the Church that must fight the combat. A heavy combat awaits the male, for the hells with all their might will rebel to maintain their power, and ever more fierce will be their assault. They will so beset the understanding that it will seem to the male as if its thought were taken from it. The male will continually have to remain impressed with the fact that the Lord alone fights through it. After perseverance in this combat the victory will be certain, as appears from the Lord's words in the 33^rd verse of the 16^th chapter of the Gospel of John: "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world". Then the infernal spirits will be cast down to earth, and the Lord will be able through the rational of the male to give to the Church the celestial Doctrine.

From the side of the female of the Church great cooperation is required. It is necessary for the female to give its devotion, by the sacrifice of all love of self and all love of the world. By its love of the Church it should give the male strength to accomplish the combat it must fight. All its delight of conjugial love depends on the victory in this combat. More and more will the female perceive this, and more and more will it be able by its love to

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assist the male. And when after the combat the celestial Doctrine will be given to the Church by the Lord, the female should receive this Doctrine with love and bring it to life. Then will the Church become more and more internal, and then will the most beautiful things be given to it. Then will this new Magazine be the place where the lord will openly speak to us.

FROM THE TRANSACTIONS OF THE SWEDENBORG GEZELSCHAP

The Transactions are preceded by the following quotation from CONJUGIAL LOVE, n. 132:

I once conversed with two Angels, one from the eastern Heaven, the other from the southern Heaven, who, when they perceived that I was meditating on the arcana of wisdom concerning Conjugial Love, said: "Do you know anything about the schools of wisdom in our world?" I answered: "Not as yet." And they said: "There are many. And those who love truths from spiritual affection, that is who love truths because they are truths and because by means of them is wisdom, come together at a given signal, and consider and form conclusions respecting such matters as require a more profound understanding."

The declaration of principle of the SWEDENBORG GEZELSCHAP is the following: "We, the undersigned, have united into a SWEDENBORG GEZELSCHAP for the purpose of cooperating towards the internal and external upbuilding of the Church by the explanation of the Word in the light of the Doctrine of the Church, and by our devotion to the principles of that Doctrine."

The Transactions contain further the minutes of the constituent meeting and of the preceding preparatory meetings. An English translation of the essential contents of these minutes, as they have been published in DE WARE CHRISTELIJKE GODSDIENST, January 1929, will be found here below in the Appendix.

 14 FROM THE TRANSACTIONS

Extract from the Minutes of the Meeting of Saturday, February 2nd, 1929.

The memorandum calling this meeting together reads as follows: Subject, The Doctrine of the Church, (The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred Scripture, n. 50—61; Arcana Coelestia, Twentieth Chapter; n. 2496—2588; 2760—2763; 2855—2859).

The Rev. Ernst Pfeiffer gave a short introduction to the subject "The Doctrine of the Church". The purpose of these discussions should be to show that the Doctrine of the Church, if it is obtained according to order, is from the Lord alone. The difference between "the Heavenly Doctrine". which is the Word itself *, and "the Doctrine of the Church", should be clearly illustrated. The possibility and the danger of the doctrine of the Church being false, should be considered, and the means of guarding against this danger. The truth derived from the Writings "that the Doctrine of the Church also is the Lord", in its full significance has scarcely been seen by the Church up to the present, and of recent times has greatly influenced the thought of our Society.

THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH

ADDRESS BY H. D. G. GROENEVELD

According to ARCANA COELESTIA, n. 2106 and 2666, the human begins in the inmost of the rational and the Divine Human in the inmost of the Divine Rational. The Divine Rational or the Word therefore is the conjunction or the mediator between God the Father or Infinite Love and Wisdom and the human race. Only in the Divine Itself is Good itself and Truth itself, whereas the Divine Rational inflows into appearances of Good and Truth. The Divine Rational or the infinite Rational, because it expresses itself in appearances, can accommodate itself to the rational of man. The human race as a receptacle of the Divine Rational can therefore only be in appearances of Good and Truth. From the Good of the Divine Rational man receives good

* It appears from this sentence that at that time the difference between "the Heavenly Doctrine" and "the Writings" was not yet realized. EDITOR.

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or love, from the Truth of the Divine Rational truth or wisdom. Without the Divine Rational or the Divine Human of the Lord the human race could receive no love and no wisdom, whereas without reception of the Divine Rational in the rational of man, he could have no love and no wisdom. That the Divine Rational is, in other words that God is a man, is therefore the beginning of all wisdom. The rational of man therefore must be developed or opened for the influx of the Divine Rational. This opening is described: 1. in Abram's going to Egypt,

2. in Abraham's going to Abimelech,

3. in Isaac's going to Abimelech.

Abram's going into Egypt is the instruction of the internal man in the cognitions of the Word. The Lord's internal man was Jehovah, therefore Good and Truth itself. The internal man with man is above his rational. Abram therefore in man stands for the influx of good through the soul and Sarai for the influx of truth through the soul. Abram's going into Egypt is therefore the influx of good into the cognitions. Abram calls his wife his sister, which means that the influx of truth takes place into the understanding of man. Man then regards the truths of the Word as purely intellectual truths and has a desire, in this instance a natural desire, to multiply these with himself. Later on he recognizes that these cognitions are to serve for uses and therefore are to be vessels for the reception of truths. By this an opening of the first rational of man takes place, for from the conjunction of Abram with Hagar, or from the influx of good into the affection of cognitions, Ishmael or the first rational is born.

Abraham's going to Abimelech is the influx of good into the doctrine of faith. Abraham calls his wife Sarah his sister, which now means that the influx of truth takes place into the rational truth of man, that rational truth which has come into existence by the birth of Ishmael, or the first rational. Man now tries to construe for himself a doctrine, as he wishes to see the cognitions he has gathered in a certain order. Without a certain order the cognitions remain a chaos. The man walks in darkness and as there is no light, he first knocks up against one thing, and then against another. A doctrine also is like a king, who governs

16 FROM THE TRANSACTIONS

the affairs of his country according to a certain order. The man now tries to construe for himself a doctrine by consultation of and by conjunction with the rational he has acquired by cognitions. The man with an open mind is inspired with a certain fear of conjoining himself with that rational, and he then perceives that in this way no doctrine is obtained and that the rational truth is to be no more than a receptacle of spiritual truth. The doctrine therefore takes existence only from the influx of good into spiritual truth. The influx then takes place into the rational truth of man, for we are here speaking of that rational which is born by the influx of good into the affection of cognitions, therefore of the spiritual man or the spiritual Church. In this instance Ishmael, as appears from the Writings, stands for the spiritual Church. The doctrine for the spiritual man or the spiritual Church is of vital importance, for by the doctrine the man or the Church can now develop the truths, by which new truths arise which will determine the life of the man or of the Church. These new truths also are present in the literal sense of the Word, for the doctrine must rest upon the literal sense of the Word, but they had not been seen before because they are there implied in more general truths. All progress of the spiritual man and of the spiritual Church therefore depends on the development of the doctrine.

All order or the doctrine is from the Lord alone. The true doctrine of the man or of the Church is the Lord in a certain state of His Divine Human. In that state the doctrine is infallible, at any rate in a relative sense, for in an absolute sense only the Word, which is the Doctrine itself, is infallible.

Isaac's going to Abimelech finally is the opening of the rational of the celestial man. Isaac stands for the influx of the good of the Divine Rational and Rebecca for the influx of the truth of the Divine Rational, or Isaac stands for the good of the inmost rational of the man or the good rational, and Rebecca for the truth belonging thereto or the true rational. Rebecca as a sister then stands for the rational truth or the rational of the spiritual man. The spiritual man, who has not yet an internal perception, and with whom therefore his intellectual stands foremost, does not yet see that all Divine truths in man become rational

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truths. It is true he says that all good and all truth belong to the Lord, but when he receives this good and this truth into his rational, he looks upon this good and this truth as belonging to himself. The celestial man has an internal perception of good and truth, and he acknowledges that all good and truth belong to the Lord and inflow- into his rational. '

That Isaac says of his wife Rebecca that she is his sister therefore means that the spiritual man considers every truth which he sees as belonging to him, because in his thought he grasps it as a rational truth. When a man begins to become celestial, he acknowledges that truth belongs to the Lord alone, and that all that he can receive are rational truths only and even only then, if good and truth from the Lord inflow into his rational. His doctrine is nothing but a confirmation of this. His doctrine is his life and his life is his doctrine.

THE NEW YEAR

ADDRESS BY H. D. G. GROENEVELD, AT THE NEW YEAR'S BREAKFAST OF THE FIRST DUTCH SOCIETY, JANUARY IST 1930.

As we know from the Third Testament the commencement of a new year signifies the beginning of a new state. It therefore certainly is no coincidence that now for the first time we are together on the first day of the New Year, for in our Society we may now speak of the beginning of an entirely new state. If the Lord were to open our eyes, we all would be deeply moved by everything which now, still as in a seed, is present in the Church, Then we would see what internal things have now been given by the Lord to the Church, and to what deep spiritual insight the Church may now attain. The old state has reached its fullness; a state in which the Church was in a natural spiritual light; a state in which the conjunction with the Lord was from the side of the Lord alone. Furthermore a state in which we indeed were in the Church, but the conjunction was from the side of the Church alone. In the new state the conjunction with the Lord will be from the side of the Church as well, while our conjunction with the Church will no longer be from the side of the Church

18 H.D.G. GROENEVELD. THE NEW YEAR

alone. The Church will be in us and will determine the whole of our lives. No thoughts will arise and no actions will occur, but they will be penetrated by the things of the Church. The Church will be the soul of our life.

The seed that has now been given to the Church contains within it the Doctrine of the Church, within which is present the celestial Doctrine. What has been revealed in the 22nd verse of the 21st chapter of the Revelation of John will be actually true: "And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it". For no longer will the truths such as they appear in the literal sense of the Word be the basis for the Church, but the spiritual things that are enclosed therein. It is the celestial Doctrine, therefore the Lord Himself, who will guide the Church.

All the rest depends on the development of the Doctrine of the Church, It is the male of the Church that has to

open these things, while it is the female of the Church that has after that to bring these things to life. In an entirely new light will the male view the Third Testament anew; there will be an entirely new gathering of cognitions. No longer will the attention be fixed on the natural things of the Word. The literal things of the Word will become vague and the spiritual things will appear, by which the deepest rational things will then be given to the Church. We shall be in the Heavens here on earth.

Unavoidably in the future there is a heavy combat awaiting the Church, which combat can be carried on only if we devote ourselves entirely to the Church. Therefore on this day let us be impressed with this, that in our lives we put the Church in the first place, and that we devote ourselves to her with all our strength, by the sacrifice of the love of self and of the love of the world, in order that the new state into which the Church has now been brought may be developed and attain to life.

DE HEMELSGHE LEER

EXTRACT FROM THE ISSUE FOR FEBRUARY 1930

"ARCANA COELESTIA"

EDITORIAL BY THE REV. ERNST PFEIFFER.

The title and the text of the HEAVENLY ARCANA begin with the Latin words Arcana Coelestia and by this the whole essence of the form and of the contents of the Word is indicated, in accordance with the general law ruling the style of the Word, namely that the essence and the quality of the beginning pass over into all that follows. From the choice of these words as a title and as a beginning it appears that the ARCANA COELESTIA are the Word in the same complete sense as the Old and the New Testament. It is

• the nature of the Word that, proceeding from the Lord, it has both a complete internal or spiritual, and a complete external or natural sense, being in perfect correspondence the one with the other. This nature is indicated' by the words Arcana Coelestia. By the word arcana the form of the Word, the external or natural, is characterized, by the word coelestia its contents, the internal or spiritual. Both words together indicate that in the Word the contents, being spiritual and celestial, lie hidden in a form which is natural.

The word arcanum is derived from the Latin verb arceo. This in some places has the meaning of to enclose, to close off, to surround, to restrain, and in many other places it has the meaning of to drive off, to keep off, to prevent, to guard, to protect, to shield, to save from. In the dictionaries we find the following examples: alvus arcet quod recipit (CICERO), "the abdomen encloses what it receives"; arcere capias hostium (CICERO), "to keep off the enemy's troops"; arcuit omnipotens (OVID), "the Almighty has prevented it"; arcere aliquem ab injuria (CICERO), "to save

 20 "ARCANA COELESTIA"

some one from disaster"; arcere oestrum pecori (VIRGIL, "to drive off the flies from the cattle"; and very well known is the saying by HORACE, odi profanum vulgus et arceo, "I hate the common people and I keep it off from me". — From these examples it plainly appears how by the word arcanum, which is derived from the root of arceo, the essence and the function of the literal sense of the Word in comparison, with and in its relation to its internal sense are strikingly characterized. It is the literal sense that encloses the internal sense, that closes it off, surrounds it and keeps it within bounds; and it is the literal sense that guards the internal sense, that protects and shields it, saves it from violence and damage, that wards off and keeps off the unprepared, the unauthorised, the not well disposed, and that prevents the genuine truth and the genuine good of the internal sense from being falsified and profaned. This is the reason of the literal sense in respect to this function being represented by "the Cherubim, whom Jehovah God made to dwell from the east against the garden of Eden, and the flame of the turning sword, to keep the way of the tree of lives", also by the curtains of the tabernacle, by a cover or a veil, by garments, by "a great stone rolled to the door of the sepulchre" (Matth. 27 : 60; 28 : 2), and also by the watch at the grave of the Lord (Matth. 27 : 66).

In Greek there is the verb aqxew with the same meaning as in the Latin, to drive off, to keep off, to prevent; many examples may be quoted from the dictionaries. But it has a further meaning there as well, which brings out the nature of the literal sense in respect to still another quality. It also has the meaning of to perform, to fulfil, to be strong, to be able, to be enough, to be sufficient. A few examples to illustrate: aoxeiv to un ou vaveiv (SOPHOCLES), "to prevent that some one perish"; aoxeiv pirois (SOPHOCLES), "to assist the friends"; aoxeiv raioiv (EURIPIDES), "to help the children"; ot ouxet aoxei (SOPHOCLES), "as it is no longer of avail"; aoxeow lvnoxovoa (SOPHOCLES), "it will suffice that I die"; aoxei (PINDARUS, AESCHYLUS), "it suffices", "it is enough". Hence the participle aoxwr, "enough", "sufficient", ra aoxouvra exeiv (XENOPHON), "to have what one needs".

On comparing these examples with the Latin, it clearly appears that bv the Latin etymology the negative, rejecting,

21. "ARCANA COELESTIA"

enclosing, protective nature of the literal sense is indicated, whereas the Greek etymology also recognizes these significations indeed, but adds, as of equal importance, the positive, accommodating, assisting, mediating, saving nature of the literal sense. The importance here, however, is principally laid in the idea of being enough, able, strong, suitable for mediation, just sufficient for assistance, delivery, salvation. By this especially the real nature of the literal sense is characterized, for it is founded on a law of Providence, that the Lord extends to fallen man, by way of an outstretched hand, no more than what is just enough and sufficient to effect mediation with the well-disposed and thus to re-establish conjunction. The Lord cannot possibly offer to man in that state the genuine truth itself. The ill-disposed would immediately falsify and profane, it, but even the well-disposed would not be able to accept it without preparation; and instead of redeeming man and saving him, the Lord would bring man to perdition by the truth; the salvation of the human race would become an utter impossibility. By this consideration it becomes perfectly clear that what man takes to himself from the literal sense of the Word, even from the Latin Testament, are never truths in themselves, but only scientifics, that is vessels of truth. With the man who is being regenerated the Lord fills these later on with truth, and later still this truth with good. A deeper examination will show that this truth is nothing but the essential spiritual sense, and this good nothing but the essential celestial sense. For the man who is in the essential truth, he alone is in the spiritual sense, and the man who is in the essential good, he is in the celestial sense. The man who is not well-disposed on the contrary turns the scientifics or vessels to himself, and fills them with evils and falsities. That man may turn the scientifics of the literal sense away from the Lord and to himself, and that still the genuine truths hidden therein do not suffer damage is represented by "the turning sword" of the Cherubim at the garden of Eden (S. S. 97). This is a universal provision of the Lord in respect to the Word, and that it is applicable to the Latin Testament, may be clear beyond doubt to any one who with judgment discerns the history and the present state of the New Church.

22 "ARCANA COELESTIA" 

Besides the verb there are in Latin and in Greek a number of nouns and adjectives, derived from the same root, and which in many respects throw a remarkable light on the nature of the literal sense. The adjective arcanus in its concrete use means "closed": the Word in its Three Testaments for most men is a closed book, sealed with seven seals, and this on account of the qualities of its literal sense. Many have thought that the Word in the Old and iii the New Testament only was sealed with seven seals, and that these seals in the Writings by Emanuel Swedenborg have been completely taken away, and that the Word there is now opened and that the Lord there now "shows plainly of the Father" (John 16 : 25). But that the Word also in the Third Testament is closed and sealed, and that in reality the veil has become still thicker and the arcana still deeper, and that "the opening of the seals" must have a deeper signification, this is proved by the history of these 150 years, which have shown that the human race, in spite of the publication of these Writings, has withdrawn more and. more from the Word, and moreover, this conception is expressly confirmed by the doctrine that genuine truth appears to those only, who are in illustration from the Lord. — In its abstract use arcanus means "silent", and it is used for instance by OVID for the description of the night. The Word, also as to its literal sense is the Lord Himself, therefore the Divine Man, but as long as man is not in the way of regeneration, has not been healed of his spiritual deafness and has not learnt to listen, it is entirely silent. That is why we so often hear, especially from cultured people, after they have been reading one or other book by Swedenborg: "It says nothing to me". However, in the measure that a man becomes susceptible to the Wisdom of the Lord and to the Love of the Lord, he hears in the Word "a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder" (Rev. I : 15; 14 : 2; Ezech. 43 : 2). In the Word the Lord for him "raises His voice, a mighty voice" (Ps. 46 : 6; 68 : 33). From the Word there proceed to such a man "lightnings and thunderings and voices" (Rev. 4 : 5), which signify illustration, perception and instruction (A. R. 236, 614, 615). As expressed in the title and in the commencement of the text of the Arcana Coelestia, there are for him in every detail

23 "ARCANA COELESTIA'

Mirabilia inseparably connected with the Arcana, that is Wonderful Things from the world of spirits and from Heaven. It is for this reason that the Lord in Isaiah (ch. 9 : 6) is called Mirabilis, that is, "Wonderful". — OVID'S expression arcana nox, "the silent night", also has a deep internal sense. The complex of his cognitions of good and truth by an Angel can appear to him as an immense starry firmament, whereas the realization of the fact that behind the little he knows, there is an abyss of Divine realities, appears to him as a deep night; for the Arcana of the Divine Truth in the Word are infinite, and the more deeply the Angel or the man is convinced of the night of his ignorance, the brighter and more beautiful do his cognitions shine. — Furthermore the adjective arcanus was applied even by classical authors to religion and worship: sacra arcana (OVID), "the hidden holy things", and from this is derived the noun arcanum (HORACE), "that which is hidden", "the mystery", "the secret".

To the noun arca, "the cupboard", "the box", "the shrine", a very wide meaning is attached. Arca vestiaria (CATO) "the wardrobe": the garments of the Angels signify their truths which they have derived from the Word. — Area is used as meaning "money-chest" (JUVENALIS, CICERO): the truths from the literal sense of the Word and from the Doctrine, that have become generally acknowledged in the Church and as it were have become current money, are in the internal sense signified by "money". The area later under the Roman emperors also meant "the imperial treasury", "the exchequer": the Emperor in the internal sense is the Lord; from His Word proceed all truths, and to His Word do all truths return. — Area is used in the sense of "cistern", "water tub" (VITRUVIUS): that waters signify the truths of faith is generally known, and they are all gathered together and contained in the literal sense. — ARCA in general means everything in the shape of a box, "the shrine", "the ark": the literal sense is like a beautiful shrine, the work of a Divine Master, filled with Divine treasures. By Noah's ark, the ark of the child Moses (Exod. 2 : 3) the ark of the testimony (Ex. 25: 10; 37: 1). "the ark of Thy Strength" (Ps. 132 :8) the as yet unrevealed arcana of the Word are indicated (A. C. 639). — In contradistinction to the favorable sense in the passages

24 "ARCANA COELESTIA"

just quoted, area sometimes has an unfavorable signification. Area may mean "a prisoner's dungeon", "the cell" (CICERO), and it even means "the coffin" (HORACE): the heretic is imprisoned in his letter, and the aversely disposed fills the scientifics of the literal sense with the evils of his proprium; the proprium is death, hell. Of an analogous signification is the Greek word n aoxus, "the net", "the snare", "the danger"; aoxues eiopous (EURIPIDES), "the danger of the sword", "the danger of perishing by the sword"; the literal sense, indicated by the Cherubim and the flame of the turning sword. — In the Roman art of surveying the word area occurs in the meaning of "a square borderstone", and also with a similar sense the words arcatura and arcella: it is the literal sense of the Word that fixes the borders of genuine truth; the Doctrine of the Church is to be drawn from the literal sense of the Word and to be confirmed thereby; the borderstone is square because in the genuine Doctrine of the Church there exists a marriage of good and truth, there is as much of good as of truth. — In GELLIUS we find, likewise derived from area, the word arcera, "a carriage covered over": the arcana of the Doctrine..

In accordance with the difference above indicated between the Latin and the Greek etymology of the root arc we find in Greek the adjective aoxios, "something on which one may depend", "what is sure", "being able", "sufficient"; thence ra aoixa, "medicaments", "medicines", and the noun ro aoxos, "the medicine": the literal sense for him who reads it in illustration, is reliable, sure, sufficient, the only source of truth on which one may depend; it is the medicine for him who thus far has been destitute of the truth (A.R. 936). Furthermore we cite n aoxeois, "help", "assistance", aoxtos, "sufficient", aoxouvews, "enough".

Although the purely philological etymology may perhaps be regarded as doubtful, it still appears from the internal sense that also the word o aoxos and o aoxios "the bear", are in connection with this same subject. Bears signify the literal sense of the Word, separate from its internal sense, and they, who carry through this separation in the spiritual world are seen as bears (A.R. 47). "His feet were as the feet of a bear" (Rev. 13 : 2), means the delusions derived from the literal sense of the Word.

25 'ARCANA COELESTIA

which one has read, but has not understood (A. R. 573; C. L. 193). In the plural ai aoxtoi means the constellations of the Big Bear and the Little Bear, and thence the North Pole and the North: in the spiritual world the north signifies the sensual and the natural, in contradistinction to the spiritual and the celestial (A. C. 426), or with regard to the Word, those who are in the literal sense only and do not see the internal sense; thence the bear, who has a similar signification, both in the natural and in the spiritual world, is a beast of the north (C. L. 78).

From the passages cited it clearly appears what a remarkable light the etymology of the word "Arcana" throws on the nature of the literal sense of the Word.

In Mythology, moreover, we find an inexhaustible wealth of particulars that further illustrate this subject. Areas, the ancestral parent of the Arcadians, the country of Arcadia, but especially Mercury, the God of Mediation, who bore the surname of Areas, belong here; their Mythology is nothing but a hidden description of the nature of the literal sense of the Word.

DE HEMELSGHE LEER

EXTRACTS FROM THE ISSUE FOR MARCH 1930

FROM THE TRANSACTIONS OF THE SWEDENBORG GEZELSCHAP

Extract from the Minutes of the Meeting of Saturday. October 5th, 1929

The subject of the evening is "The Doctrine of the Church". The following gentlemen took part in the deliberations: Prof. Dr. Charles H. van 0s, H. D. G-. Groeneveld, Em. Francis, J. P. Verstraate.

REV. ERNST PFEIFFER gave a summary of the origin and the growth of the problem, which principally amounts to the following; In the course of the last few years we have more and more come to see that the Latin Testament contains a literal and an internal sense just the same as the Old and the New Testament. The crowning view of this subject was at last attained in the thesis, that the DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE, without any difference or reserve, should be applied also to the Latin Word. What is there said concerning the nature of the literal sense, namely that it serves for protection, that it derives its life from the internal sense, etc., therefore also applies to the Writings. Just as the literal sense of the Old Testament was falsified in the Israelitish church, and the literal sense of the New Testament in the old church, so the literal sense of the Third Testament may be falsified in the New Church. In a certain sense the entire history of these churches will repeat itself in the New Church. All the heresies that have existed in those churches, will force themselves upon the New Church, and the Church will have to meet and overcome them all. The Christmas Story, the Story of the Crucifixion and the story of the Resurrection will repeat themselves 

28 FROM THE TRANSACTIONS

also in the New Church. In the literal sense, even of the Writings, everything, but also nothing, has been given to man. The well-disposed man fills the literal sense with the spiritual and the celestial, the man who is not well disposed, fills it with his proprium. Even the most internal truth of the literal sense, for instance, that the entire Trinity is in the Lord, may, by the man who is not well disposed, be filled with coarse falsities. This nature of the literal sense is indicated by the word "Arcanum", if one understands it according to its etymology. This word is derived from a verb, which in the Greek has the meaning of "to ward off", "to keep off", but also of "to assist", "to help", "to protect", "to perform", "to fulfil", "to be enough", "to be sufficient"; the word "ark" is also derived from it; in other 'words: in an "arcanum" you never have the thing itself, but only, as it were, a shrine in which the thing lies hidden. From this it plainly appears that the term "Arcana Coelestia" has a much deeper signification than has thus far been realised. — This is the deeper

reason why it is said: "The Word without Doctrine is as a candlestick without light". In the true interpretation of this passage from the Writings the nature of this new view most clearly appears. So far one has thought that here by "the Word" only the Old and the New Testament were meant, and the Writings were taken for that Doctrine which gives light to "the Word". It is clear, however, that the Writings, which indeed for a long time have been acknowledged by the Church as "the Word", in this respect, too, belong to the Word, whereas the Doctrine, which gives the light, is the Doctrine of the Church, which, keeping

pace with the Church's regeneration, slowly develops within the Church.

That the Doctrine is the Lord is taught in many places in the Writings, but it has always been thought that the Writings were meant by this Doctrine. Rev. Pfeiffer relates, how in connection with the publication of the third volume of the ARCANA COELESTIA in Dutch, when reading the revision of the twentieth chapter treating of Abraham and Abimelech, it became clear to him that by that Doctrine not the Latin Testament but the Doctrine of the Church is meant. It is this Doctrine which determines the nature of a Church, therefore not immediately the Word itself,

29 OF THE SWEDENBORG GEZELSCHAP

but the understanding of the Word, that is the Doctrine of the Church. It is her Doctrine which determines the nature of the G-ENERAL CHURCH, and it is the doctrine of the CONVENTION which determines the nature of that religiosity, which appears plainly from the fact, that both, although they differ so essentially, claim the Writings as their foundation. In the existence of CONVENTION and CONFERENCE a clear proof may be seen what coarse, essentially anti-christian heresies have been able to arise in the New Church, if one will appeal to the letter only, without a true Doctrine. This was the origin of the false and the evil that has destroyed all the preceding churches, namely that the ultimates of the Word, proceeding from the Lord, which the men of the Church ought to have filled with the spiritual and the celestial, by them were diverted from their true destination, and were filled with the evil and the false of the love of self and of the world. And the history of the New Church also, and of each society of the Church provides many examples showing that there is a continual pressure from the hells to make men mix the truths and the spiritual interests of the Church with their proprial interests. Every member of the Church, as regards the non-regenerated provinces of his spirit, continues to turn towards his own interests everything that he derives from the literal sense, without really being aware of this fact, and if we could see every one's internal character, it would often appear that the devotion to the Word and to the Church does not go beyond that which favours his proprial interests; and that the devotion ceases as soon as a real sacrifice is called for. It is only the Doctrine that in the long run will lead the Church to overcome all these unavoidable temptations. It will be the principal task of the Doctrine of the Church in the future to prevent that any one should refer to the literal sense, without being able to show that his understanding thereof is interiorly opened even to the Divine Human of the Lord.

the problem. By Mr. Groeneveld's last mentioned address however, it has been. clearly shown that the attempt which has been made by some of the speakers to refer to life and charity as being more important than "the Doctrine alone", is, in reality, contrary to a true conception of the problem; and it cannot be denied that he who should confirm himself in that attitude would there by draw the suspicion upon himself, that he wishes to oppose the rise of the Doctrine of the Church and thereby the Advent of the Lord Himself.

That the title of the Arcana Coelestia and the elucidation

 

34 "ARCANA UNA CUM MIRABILIBUS"