356. And he that sat on him had a bow, signifies the doctrine of charity and faith from that understanding, by which evils and falsities are combated and dispersed. This is evident from the signification of "he that sat on a white horse," as meaning the Word (respecting which just above); also from the signification of "bow," as meaning the doctrine of charity and faith, by which evils and falsities are combated and dispersed. That "bow" signifies this doctrine will be seen in what follows. Here first let something be said respecting doctrine:

1. Without doctrine no one can understand the Word.

2. Without doctrine from the Word no one can fight against evils and falsities, and disperse them.

3. Without doctrine from the Word no one within the church, where the Word is, can become spiritual.

4. Doctrine can be acquired from no other source than from the Word, and by none except those who are in illustration from the Lord.

5. All things of doctrine must be confirmed by the sense of the letter of the Word.

In respect to the first, namely, "Without doctrine no one can understand the Word," it can be seen from this, that the sense of the letter consists of pure correspondences, which contain in themselves things spiritual, thus it consists of such things as are in the world and in its nature. From this it is that the sense of the letter is natural and not spiritual, accommodated, however, to the apprehension of the simple, who do not elevate their ideas above such things as they see before their eyes. From this it is, moreover, that it contains such things as do not appear to be spiritual, although the whole Word inwardly in itself is purely spiritual, because it is Divine. For this reason there are in the sense of the letter many things that cannot serve as doctrine for the church at this day, and many things that can be applied to various and diverse principles, and from this heresies arise; yet there are many things intermingled from which doctrine can be gathered and formed, especially the doctrine of life, which is the doctrine of charity and of faith therefrom. But he who reads the Word from doctrine sees there all things that confirm, as well as many things that lie concealed from the eyes of others; nor does he suffer himself to be drawn away into strange doctrines by those things in the Word that do not seem to agree, and that he does not understand; for all things of doctrine that he sees there are clear to him, and other things are obscure to him. Doctrine, therefore, which consists of genuine truths is as a lamp to those who read the Word; but on the other hand, to those who read the Word without doctrine it is like a lampstand without a light, placed in a dark place, by means of which nothing conducive to salvation can there be seen, known, inquired into, or found; moreover, one who so reads it is liable to be led away into any errors to which the mind is bent by some love, or is drawn by some principle. From this it can be seen that without doctrine no one can understand the Word.

[2] Second, "That without doctrine from the Word no one can fight against evils and falsities, and disperse them," can be seen from this, that from doctrine truths can be seen in their own light and in their own order, but not from the Word without doctrine. This is clear from what has just been said. But if truths cannot be seen, neither can falsities and evils be seen, for the latter are the opposite of the former; and yet all combat against evils and falsities is from truths, that is, by means of truths from the Lord; consequently he who reads the Word without doctrine may easily be led to fight for falsity against truth and for evil against good, by confirming evils and falsities by a wrong interpretation and application of the sense of the letter of the Word; and as a consequence the man is not reformed; for man is reformed by the dispersion of evils and the falsities of evil, by means of truths applied to the life. This is what is here meant by "the white horse" that was seen, and by "he that sat on him having a bow;" for "a white horse" signifies the understanding of truth from the Word, and "a bow" signifies the doctrine of charity and of faith therefrom by which evils and falsities are combated and dispersed.

[3] Third, "That without doctrine from the Word no one within the church, where the Word is, can become spiritual," can be seen from what has now been said, namely, that without doctrine the Word is not understood, and that without doctrine from the Word evils and falsities cannot be combated; for man becomes spiritual by means of a life according to Divine truths, which he does not know without doctrine, and by removing evils and falsities, which cannot be done without doctrine, as was said above. Without these two man is not reformed, thus does not become spiritual, but remains natural, and confirms his natural life by the sense of the letter of the Word, which is natural, by wrongly interpreting and applying it. It is said, within the church, where the Word is, since those who are out of the church do not have the Word, and therefore know nothing about the Lord; and no one becomes spiritual except from the Lord; and yet all who acknowledge a God and worship Him under the human form, and live in charity according to a religious principle that is in accord with the Word, are prepared by the Lord to receive spiritual life, and do receive it in the other life (on which we see in the work on Heaven and Hell 313-328; and above, n. 107, 195). Man becomes spiritual by regeneration, and regeneration is effected by "water and the spirit," that is, by means of truths and a life according to them (See in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, n. 173-186; that baptism in the Christian world is for a sign and memorial of regeneration, n. 202-209, in the same work).

[4] Fourth, "That doctrine can be acquired from no other source than from the Word, and by none except those who are in illustration from the Lord," can be seen from this, that the Word is Divine truth itself, and is such that the Lord is in it; for the Lord is in His Divine truth that proceeds from Him; those, therefore, who frame doctrine from any other source than from the Word, do not frame it from Divine truth nor from the Lord. Moreover, in the particulars of the Word there is a spiritual sense, and the angels of heaven are in that sense; consequently there is a conjunction of heaven with the church by means of the Word; those, therefore, who frame doctrine from any other source than the Word do not frame it in conjunction with heaven, from which nevertheless is all illustration. (That the conjunction of heaven with man is by means of the Word, see in the work on Heaven and Hell 303-310.) From this it is evident that doctrine is to be acquired from no other source than the Word, and by none except those who are in illustration from the Lord. They are in illustration from the Lord who love truths because they are truths; and because such as these do them, they are in the Lord and the Lord is in them.

[5] Fifth, "That all things of doctrine must be confirmed by the sense of the letter of the Word," can be seen from this, that Divine truth in the sense of the letter is in its fullness; for that is the ultimate sense, and the spiritual sense is in it; when, therefore, doctrine has been confirmed by that sense the doctrine of the church is also the doctrine of heaven, and there is conjunction by correspondence. Let this be illustrated by this only: when man thinks any truth and confirms it by the sense of the letter, it is perceived in heaven, but not if he does not confirm it; for the sense of the letter is the basis into which spiritual ideas, which are the angels' ideas, close, much the same as words are the basis into which the meaning of the thought falls and is communicated to another. That this is so might be confirmed by much experience from the spiritual world; but this is not the place to present it.

790. 'Waters' here and in what follows means falsities. This becomes clear from the places in the Word quoted in the preliminary section of this chapter ¹ and from those at verse 6 of this chapter, where the flood or inundation of waters is the subject. In those places it was shown that 'inundations of waters' meant desolations and temptations, which entail the same thing as falsities, for desolations and temptations are nothing else than inundations of falsities that have been activated by evil spirits. The reason why such waters mean falsities is that generally 'waters' in the Word means that which is spiritual, that is, that which is intellectual, rational, and factual. And since waters mean these they also mean their opposites, for every falsity is a factual matter, and seemingly rational and intellectual since it is a matter belonging to thought.

[2] That 'waters' means spiritual things is clear from very many places in the Word. But that 'waters' also means falsities, let the passages that follow, in addition to those quoted already, serve to confirm the point. In Isaiah,

This people have refused the waters of Shiloah that go out gently. Therefore, behold the Lord is causing to rise up over them the waters of the river, mighty and many. And it will rise up over all its channels and go over all its banks. Isaiah 8:6-7.

Here 'waters that go out gently' stands for spiritual things, 'waters mighty and many' for falsities. In the same prophet,

Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Cush, sending ambassadors to the sea, and in vessels of papyrus over the face' of the waters! Go, you swift ambassadors, to a nation marked out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled. Isaiah 18:1-2.

This stands for falsities, which belong to 'the land shadowing with wings'.

[3] In the same prophet,

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. Isaiah 43:2.

'Waters' and 'rivers' stand for difficulties, and also for falsities. In Jeremiah,

What have you to do with the way to Egypt, to drink the waters of Shihor? And what have you to do with the way to Asshur, to drink the waters of the River? Jeremiah 2:18.

'Waters' stands for falsities arising out of reasonings. In the same prophet,

Who is this coming up like a river, like the rivers his waters are tossed about? Egypt comes up like the river, and like the rivers his waters are tossed about. And he said, I will go up, I will cover the earth, I will destroy the city and those who dwell in it. Jeremiah 46:7-8.

'Waters' stands for falsities arising out of reasonings.

[4] In Ezekiel,

Thus said the Lord Jehovah, When I make you a city laid waste, like the cities that are not inhabited, when I shall cause the deep to come up over you, and many waters have covered you, I will cause you to go down with those who go down into the Pit. Ezekiel 16:19, 20.

'Waters' stands for evils and derivative falsities. In Habakkuk,

You did trample the sea with Your horses, the mud of many waters. Habakkuk 3:15.

'Waters' stands for falsities. In John,

The dragon poured water like a stream out of his mouth after the woman, to swallow her up in the river. Revelation 11:15, 16.

Here 'waters' stands for falsities and lies. In David,

Send forth Your hands from on high, rescue me, and deliver me from the many waters, from the hands of sons of the foreigner, whose mouths speak lies, and whose right hands are right hands of falsity. Psalms 144:7-8.

Here 'many waters' clearly stands for falsities, and 'sons of the foreigner also means falsities.