1. 前言:新天國與新教會的信仰

首先, 將本書中所講述的真實的基督徒信仰, 也就是新天國和新教會的信仰, 分別以總體和具體的形式概要地說明。作為接下來全書的引言, 或作為進入聖殿的大門, 又或作為詳細內容的概要。此信仰被稱為新天國和新教會的信仰, 因為天人(angel)組成的天國和世人組成的教會, 如同一個人的靈魂與肉體, 內外一致,行動如一。因此, 若教會之人活在良善與真理之中, 對於思想內在而言, 他就是天國的一名天人。在肉身死後, 他便進入天國, 照著良善與真理在他裡面聯合的狀態在那裡安享極樂。當知道, 在主現在正建立的新天國中, 這樣的信仰是新天國的引言,入門和概要。

6068. 'And behold, they are in the land of Goshen' means that they are in the middle of the natural where factual knowledge resides. This is clear from the meaning of 'Goshen' as the middle or inmost part of the natural, dealt with in 5910, 6028, 6031. What is meant by their being in the middle of the natural is this: Once the Church's forms of good and its truths - that is, those which it has received from the Lord's Word - have been acknowledged and with faith accepted in the natural, they occupy the middle there. For things that are immediate objects of attention are in the middle, and those that are not immediate objects of attention are to the sides; consequently the ones in the middle are seen clearly, those to the sides vaguely.

[2] It is the same as it is with the sight of the eye. The objects on which the eye is directly focused are in the middle, that is, in the centre and are seen clearly; but those on which it is not directly focused are to the sides, away from the middle, and are seen vaguely. For the inner eye, which is the intellectual power of the mind and which depends for its vision on the light of heaven, sees things outside itself in the natural, which are known facts, just as the physical eye sees objects or a whole range of objects outside itself. Inward sight is directed towards the things that give the greatest delight and are close to the heart, and it fixes its attention directly on them, in the same way as outward sight focuses on things similarly delightful in whole ranges of objects. Inward sight accordingly focuses on those known facts that are in close agreement with the truth and good that govern a person. These facts are then, for that person, in the middle. The reason why inward sight sees factual knowledge is that such sight is spiritual and therefore directs its attention towards spiritual matters, thus towards known facts, for these are the appropriate objects of spiritual attention.