Apocalypse Explained #204
204. These things saith he that is holy, he that is true. That this signifies from whom is that faith is evident from the signification of holy and true, when said of the Lord, as denoting that charity and faith are from Him, the term holy being used in reference to charity, and the term true, to faith. That the Lord is called holy because charity is from Him, and hence, that holiness in the Word is said of charity and of faith therefrom, will be seen presently. But that the Lord is called true because faith is from Him, and that hence truth in the Word is spoken of faith, is because all truth has reference to faith: for that is said to be true which is believed; other things have not reference to faith, because they are not believed. But as the subject now treated of is the faith of charity, something shall first be said concerning faith and its quality.
[2] There is spiritual faith, and there is merely natural faith. Spiritual faith is wholly from charity, and in its essence is charity. Charity, or love towards the neighbour, is to love what is true, sincere and just, and, from the will, to act accordingly. For the neighbour, in the spiritual sense, is not any particular man, but is that which is in man; if this is what is true, sincere and just, and a man be loved from these, then the neighbour is loved. That this is meant by charity in the spiritual sense, any one may know if he will but reflect; for every one loves another, not for the sake of his person, but for the sake of that which is in him; this is the source of all friendship, favour and honour.
From this it follows, that to love men for the sake of what is true, sincere and just in them, is spiritual love; for truth, sincerity and justice are spiritual things, because they are out of heaven from the Lord. No one thinks, wills and does anything good, which is good in itself, but everything is from the Lord; and truth, sincerity and justice are the goods which are essentially good when from the Lord. These things, now, are the neighbour in the spiritual sense; it is therefore clear what is meant in that sense by love towards the neighbour, or charity. This is the source of spiritual faith; for whatever is loved is said to be true when it is thought of. That this is the case every one may know if he but reflects; for every one confirms what he loves by many things in his thought, and all these he calls truths; no one has any truth but from this source: it therefore follows that, according to the quality of a man's love, such are his truths; consequently, if that love is spiritual, so also will be the truths, because they act in unity with the love. All truths in the aggregate, because they are believed, are called faith; hence it is clear, that spiritual faith in its essence is charity.
[3] So far concerning spiritual faith; but faith merely natural is not the faith of the church, although it is called faith; but is mere knowledge (scientia). The reason of this is, that it proceeds not from love towards the neighbour, or charity, which is the very spiritual itself whence faith is derived, but from some natural love which has reference either to the love of self or of the world; and whatever proceeds from these loves is natural. Love forms man's spirit, for a man as to his spirit is entirely his love, as it were: hence he thinks, wills and acts; therefore no other truth constitutes his faith but that which comes from his love; and truth which belongs to the love of self or of the world is merely natural, because it comes from man and from the world, and not from the Lord and out of heaven; for he loves truth, not for its own sake, but for the sake of honour, gain and reputation, to which it is subservient; and because his truth is of such a quality, such also is his faith. This is why such faith is not the faith of the truth of the church, or faith in a spiritual sense, but in a natural sense, which is knowledge (scientia): therefore also, because nothing thereof is in man's spirit, but only in his memory, together with other worldly things, it is dissipated after death. For that alone remains with a man after death that belongs to his love; for, as has been said, love forms man's spirit, and man as to his spirit is entirely such as his love is. Other things concerning charity and faith therefrom, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, where charity and faith are treated of (n. 84-106, and n. 108-122); also in the small work, The Last Judgment 33-39), where it is shown that there is no faith where there is no charity.
[4] That the term holy in the Word is used in reference to Divine truth, and hence to charity and its faith, is evident from the passages where it is used. There are two things that proceed from the Lord and are received by the angels - Divine good and Divine truth; these proceed unitedly from the Lord, but are received by the angels variously; some receive Divine good more than Divine truth, and some receive Divine truth more than Divine good. The former constitute the celestial kingdom of the Lord, and are called celestial angels, and, in the Word, they are called the just; but the latter constitute the spiritual kingdom of the Lord, and are called spiritual angels, and in the Word holy (concerning those two kingdoms and the angels thereof, see the work, Heaven and Hell 20-28). This is why by just and justice in the Word is meant Divine good and what thence proceeds, and by holy and holiness is meant Divine truth and what thence proceeds.
From these considerations it will be seen what is meant in the Word by being justified, and what by being sanctified, as in the Apocalypse:
"He that is just let him be just still, and he that is holy let him be holy still" (22:11).
And in Luke:
"To serve him in holiness and justice" (1:74).
[5] Because Divine truth proceeding from the Lord is meant by holy, therefore in the Word the Lord is called the Holy One, the Holy One of God, the Holy One of Israel, the Holy One of Jacob; and therefore, also, angels are called holy, and also prophets and apostles; hence also Jerusalem is called holy. That the Lord is called the Holy One, the Holy One of God, the Holy One of Israel and the Holy One of Jacob, may be seen in Isaiah 29:23; 31:1; 40:25; 41:14, 16; 43:3; 49:7; Dan. 4:13; 9:24; Mark 1:24; Luke 4:34. He is also called King of saints in the Apocalypse:
"Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints" (15:3).
The reason why the Lord is called the Holy One, the Holy One of God, the Holy One of Israel and the Holy One of Jacob, is, because He alone and none else is holy, which is also declared in the Apocalypse:
"Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy" (15:4).
[6] The reason why angels, prophets and apostles are called holy is, that by them, in the spiritual sense, is meant Divine truth; and the reason why Jerusalem is called the holy city is, that by that city, in the spiritual sense, is meant the church as to the doctrine of truth. That angels are in the Word called holy, may be seen in Matthew 25:31; Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26. That prophets are called holy, may be seen, Mark 6:20; Luke 1:70; Apoc. 18:20. That the apostles are called holy, may be seen, Apoc. 18:20. And that Jerusalem is called the holy city, may be seen, Isaiah 48:2; 66:20, 22; Dan. 9:24; Matthew 27:53; Apoc. 21:2, 10. (That by angels in the Word is meant Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, may be seen above, 130, 200; that the same is signified by prophets, may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 2534, 7269; as also by the apostles, see above, n. 100; that by Jerusalem in the Word is meant the church as to the doctrine of truth, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 6.)
From these considerations it is evident why the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord is called the Spirit of truth, and the Holy Spirit, as may be seen above (n. 183), also why heaven is called the habitation of holiness (Isaiah 63:15; Deuteronomy 26:15), and why the church is called the sanctuary (Jeremiah 17:12; Lamentations 2:7; Psalms 68:35).
[7] That holiness is said of Divine truth, is clear in the following passages. In John:
Jesus, when praying, said, "Father, sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified in the truth (17:17, 19).
Here to be sanctified is clearly said of Divine truth, and sanctified of those who receive Divine truth from the Lord. In Moses:
"Jehovah came from Sinai, out of the myriads of holiness; from his right hand they had the fire of the law; even he who loveth the people, in thy hand are all his saints, and they are prostrated at thy foot; he shall receive of thy words" (Deuteronomy 33:2, 3).
Sinai signifies heaven, where the Lord is, from whom proceeds Divine truth, or from whom comes the law, both in a limited and a general sense; myriads of holiness signify Divine truths; the law signifies, in a limited sense, the ten precepts of the Decalogue, and in a general sense, the whole Word, which is Divine truth. Those are called peoples in the Word who are in truths, and those of the people who are in truths are called holy. By they are prostrated at thy foot, he shall receive of thy words, is meant holy reception of Divine truth in ultimates, which is the Word in the sense of the letter, and instruction therefrom.
From these considerations it can be known what the particulars in that prophecy signify in the spiritual sense. (That Sinai in the Word signifies heaven, where the Lord is, from whom is Divine truth, or from whom is the law, both in a limited and a general sense, Arcana Coelestia 8399, 8753, 8793, 8805, 9420. That the law signifies, in a limited sense, the ten precepts of the Decalogue, and, in a general sense, the whole Word, n. 2606, 3382, 6752, 7463. That those who are in truths are called peoples, and nations those who are in goods, n. 1259, 1260, 2928, 3295, 3581, 6451, 6465, 7207, 10288. That foot, a place for the feet, and footstool, when said of the Lord, signify Divine truth in ultimates, thus the Word in the letter, n. 9406.) Hence it is clear that by myriads of holiness are meant Divine truths, and that those who are in Divine truths are called holy.
[8] Again, in Moses:
"Speak unto the whole assembly of the sons of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy, for I Jehovah of Israel am holy" (Leviticus 19:2).
The subject treated of in that chapter is the statutes, judgments and precepts that were to be observed; and because Divine truths are thereby signified, it is therefore commanded that they should be holy. By Israel is also signified the spiritual church, or the church which is in Divine truths, and therefore it is said, I Jehovah of Israel am holy.
In Moses:
"Ye shall sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy. And ye shall keep my statutes that ye may do them" (Leviticus 20:7, 8).
The subject here treated of is also the statutes, judgments and precepts which were to be observed. Again:
"If they keep my statutes and judgments, they shall be a people holy to Jehovah" (Deuteronomy 26:17, 19).
In David:
"We shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, with the holiness of thy temple" (Psalms 65:4).
Here they are said to be satisfied with the goodness of the house of Jehovah, and with the holiness of His temple, because the house of God, in the highest sense, signifies the Lord as to Divine good, and temple as to Divine truth (see Arcana Coelestia 3720). In Zechariah:
"In that day there shall be upon the bells of the horses holiness unto Jehovah" (14:20).
The establishment of a new church is there treated of, and by the bells of the horses are signified scientific truths (scientifica vera) from the Intellectual. (That bells signify scientific truths may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 9921, 9926; and that a horse signifies the Intellectual, may be seen in the small work. The White Horse 1-4.)
[9] From these considerations it is evident what was represented and signified by it being commanded,
That upon the mitre, which was upon the head of Aaron, should be placed a plate of pure gold, upon which was engraved "holiness to Jehovah" (Exodus 28:36-38; 39:30, 31);
for the mitre signified wisdom, which pertains to Divine truth (see Arcana Coelestia 9827, 9949). It may also be known what is signified and represented
By Aaron and his sons, their garments, the altar, the tabernacle, with everything pertaining thereto, being anointed with oil, and that thus "they should be sanctified" (Exodus 29:1-36; 30:22, 24-30; Leviticus 8:1 to the end).
For oil signified the Divine good of the Divine love, and sanctification the proceeding Divine; for it is the Divine good which sanctifies, and the Divine truth is that which is thence holy.
[10] That the word holy is used of charity, is evident from what was said above concerning the angels of heaven, namely, that there are some of them who receive more Divine good than Divine truth, and that there are others who receive more Divine truth than Divine good: the former constitute the celestial kingdom of the Lord, and are those who are in love to the Lord, and because they are in love to the Lord, they are called just; but the latter constitute the spiritual kingdom of the Lord, and are those who are in charity towards the neighbour, and on that account are called holy. (That there are two loves which constitute heaven - love to the Lord, and love towards the neighbour, or charity, and that the heavens are thence distinguished into two kingdoms, a celestial kingdom and a spiritual kingdom, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 13-19 and n. 20-28.)
The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Teachings #1
1. The New Heaven and the New Earth, and What Is Meant by "the New Jerusalem"
It says in the Book of Revelation,
I saw a new heaven and a new earth, because the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. And I saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. The city had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and on the gates were twelve angels, and names written that are the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.
And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
The city was laid out as a square; its length was as great as its breadth.
And [the angel who talked with me] measured the city with a reed: twelve thousand stadia. 1 Its length, breadth, and height were equal.
Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, 2 which is the measure of a human being, that is, of an angel. 3
Its wall was made of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 4 The foundations of the wall of the city were made of precious stones of every kind.
The twelve gates were twelve pearls. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
The glory of God illuminated it, and the Lamb was its light.
The nations of those who are saved will walk in its light, and the monarchs of the earth will bring their glory and honor into it. (Revelation 21:1, 2, 12-24)
When people read this, they understand it only in literal terms. 5 They think that the visible heavens are going to be destroyed along with the earth and that new heavens are going to come into being and come down onto the new earth in the form of a holy city, a Jerusalem with the dimensions given in the description.
[2] Angels understand it in a completely different way, though. They understand in a spiritual way the details that we understand in an earthly way, 6 and they understand what those details really mean. This is the inner or spiritual meaning of the Word. 7 In the deeper or spiritual meaning that angels are engaged in, a new heaven and a new earth mean a new church both in heaven and on earth (both will be discussed later [§§2-5]). The holy city coming down from God out of heaven means its heavenly teachings. Its length, breadth, and height, which were equal, mean everything in those teachings that is good and true, all gathered together. Its wall means the truths that protect it. The measure of the wall, being one hundred and forty-four cubits, which is the measure of a human being, that is, of an angel means all those protective truths gathered together, as well as the nature of those truths. The twelve gates, which were pearls, mean introductory truths, as do the twelve angels on the gates. The foundations of the wall, which were made of precious stones of every kind, mean the knowledge on which the teachings are based. The twelve tribes of Israel mean all elements of the church in general and in particular, as do the twelve apostles. The gold like clear glass that the city and streets were made of means good actions done out of love, 8 which cause the teachings and their truths to shine. The nations of those who are saved and the monarchs of the earth who will bring their glory and honor into it mean everyone in the church who is devoted to what is good and true. 9 God and the Lamb mean the Lord's 10 divine nature itself and his divine-human nature. 11
[3] This is what the spiritual meaning of the Word is like; the earthly or literal meaning serves as its foundation. All the same, these two meanings, the spiritual and the earthly, are bound together by their correspondence. 12 I will not take the time here to show that this kind of spiritual meaning is present throughout because that is not my current task, but the reader may see what is presented in the following passages of Secrets of Heaven. 13
On earth in the Word as meaning the church, especially where earth means the land of Canaan: Secrets of Heaven §§662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1413, 1607, 2928, 3355, 4447, 4535, 5577, 8011, 9325, 9643. This is because earth, spiritually understood, means the people who live there and their worship: 1262. The people of the earth [or the land] mean those who are part of the spiritual church: 2928. The new heaven and the new earth mean whatever is new in the heavens and on earth in terms of what is good and true, which means in matters of the church in both realms: 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 3355, 4535, 10373. On the meaning of the first heaven and the first earth that had passed away, see the booklet The Last Judgment and Babylon Destroyed 14 from beginning to end, especially §§65-72.
[4] On Jerusalem meaning the church in regard to its teachings, see Secrets of Heaven 402, 3654, 9166. On cities meaning the teachings that are part of a church and a religion, see 402, 2451, 2712, 2943, 3216, 4492, 4493. On the wall of the city meaning the protective truth of the teachings, see 6419. On the gates of the city meaning truths that lead us to a body of teaching and through that teaching into the church, see 2943, 4477, 4492, 4493. On the twelve tribes of Israel as representing and therefore symbolizing 15 everything good and true in the church both in general and in particular, and therefore all aspects of faith and love, see 3858, 3926, 6335, 6640. The meaning of the twelve apostles of the Lord is much the same: 2129, 3272, 3354, 3488, 3858, 6397. When it says that the apostles will sit on twelve thrones and will judge the twelve tribes of Israel [Matthew 19:28; Luke 22:30], it means that everyone will be judged according to the true and good principles of the church and therefore by the Lord who is their source: 2129, 6397. Twelve means everything taken together: 577, 2089, 2129, 2130, 3272, 3858, 3913.
[5] The same holds true for one hundred and forty-four because this is twelve times twelve: 7973. It holds true also for twelve thousand: 7973. All the numbers in the Word have definable meanings: 482, 487, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 6175, 9488, 9659, 10217, 10253. Multiples mean much the same as the individual factors that are multiplied to produce them: 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973. The measure means what a given thing is like in regard to its truth and goodness: 3104, 9603, 10262. The foundations of the wall mean the knowledge of truth on which elements of the teachings are based: 9643. Square means complete: 9717, 9861. Length means goodness and its extent, and breadth means truth and its extent: 1613, 9861. Precious stones mean true perceptions that arise from what is good: 114, 9863, 9865. On the precious stones in the Urim and Thummim, 16 both in general and specifically, see 3862, 9864, 9866, 9891, 9905. On the jasper of which the wall was made, see 9872.
[6] The street of the city means the truth of the teachings that arises from what is good: 2336. Gold means good actions that come from love: 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917, 9510, 9874, 9881. Glory means divine truth as it exists in heaven and the intelligence and wisdom that result from it: 4809, 5922, 8267, 8427, 9429, 10574. Nations mean the people in the church who are committed to what is good, and in an abstract sense the good actions that are taught by the church: 1159, 1258, 1260, 1285, 1416, 1849, 4574, 7830, 9255, 9256. Monarchs mean the people in the church who are committed to what is true, and in an abstract sense the truths that are taught by the church: 1672, 2015, 2069, 4575, 5044. The rituals involved in royal coronations have to do with matters of divine truth, but nowadays awareness of this symbolism has vanished: 4581, 4966 (which contain further discussion about divine truth).
Footnotes:
1. A stadium ("stadia" is the plural) was an ancient Greek unit of distance. It was always equal to 600 feet in the local measuring units, but since that local value varied, the value of the stadium itself cannot be stated definitively. By one common estimate, it can be taken to equal about 607 (United States customary) feet, or 185 meters. A distance of twelve thousand stadia would then be approximately 1380 miles, or 2220 kilometers. See the Oxford Classical Dictionary, under "measures"; for examples of the variation in this unit in just one ancient Greek author, see the article cited there, Bauslaugh 1979, 5-6, with note 6 in New Jerusalem 2. [SS, JSR]
2. A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow, approximately seventeen to eighteen inches (43. 18 to 45. 72 centimeters). The extent in question is presumably the height of the wall surrounding the city (which is far less than the height of the entire city), though some interpreters hold that the measurement refers to the thickness of the walls. In any case, the measurement would equate with approximately 204 to 216 feet (62. 18 to 65. 8 meters). [GFD, RS, SS]
3. The statement in Revelation 21:17 that "one hundred and forty-four cubits" is "the measure of a human being, that is, of an angel" is somewhat obscure. Given the reference to a measuring rod used by the angel in the preceding verses (Revelation 21:15-16), the natural inclination is to interpret this passage about the measurement of the wall as indicating that a cubit is the human standard of measurement that the particular angel in question was using, as many modern translations do; see, for example, the New Revised Standard Version, the New International Version, and the International Standard Version. However, Swedenborg interprets the wording nonidiomatically as indicating that both a human and an angel have the same measure; and since according to Swedenborg the inner meaning of "measure" is the quality of a thing (in the case of a person, the quality of her or his goodness and truth), the statement, he says, indicates that humans and angels have the same spiritual quality. See, for example, Secrets of Heaven 8988[4], 9603:2, 10217:9; Heaven and Hell 73; Revelation Unveiled 910; Revelation Explained (= Swedenborg 1994-1997a) §430:4. In the last cited section especially, Swedenborg states that the words in this verse mean specifically that one hundred and forty-four cubits (which has its own inner meaning), and not just a single cubit, is the measurement of a human being and also of an angel. In several of the passages cited he also says that this verse is unintelligible if the New Jerusalem is understood as a literal city. See also the similar line of argument in New Jerusalem 6. [LSW]
4. The literal meaning of the phrase "pure gold, like clear glass" in the biblical text here (Revelation 21:18), like the meaning of "pure gold, like transparent glass" in a later verse (Revelation 21:21), is not certain, but it probably is meant to suggest an idealized gold so free of opaque impurities as to take on the transparent qualities of crystalline glass. Compare 1 Kings 6:20-22, 28, 30, 32, in which the interior of Solomon's temple is said to be covered with pure gold. [SS]
5. Literal interpretations of the Book of Revelation are more common than allegorical or esoteric interpretations of the text. One of the earliest attestations of a literal interpretation can be found in the writings of the church father Justin Martyr (around 100-around 165 C. E.): "A man among us, named John, one of Christ's apostles, received a revelation and foretold that the followers of Christ would dwell in Jerusalem for a thousand years, and that afterward the universal and, in short, everlasting resurrection and judgment would take place" (Justin Martyr Dialogue with Trypho, §81 [= Justin Martyr 2003, 127]). Whether literal or otherwise, interpretations of Revelation have been broadly grouped into three categories: the eschatological, which see the text as dealing explicitly with the end times; the historical, which see it as reflecting current events at the time of the work's composition in the late first century of the Christian era; and the mythological, which view it as a compendium of earlier legendary material (McGinn 1979, 13). Swedenborg's interpretation does not fall into any of these categories. For more discussion, see the introduction, pages 70-72. [RS]
6. The Latin word here translated "in an earthly way" is naturaliter, traditionally translated "naturally. " In Swedenborg's terminology, the concept of "the natural" denotes a range of things from what is purely physical and material to what is earthly in the minds or preoccupations of angels and spirits, who are themselves nonmaterial beings. (On angels and spirits in Swedenborg's works, see note 2 in New Jerusalem 25.) [JSR]
7. By "the Word" Swedenborg generally means the Bible-a terminology that was prominent in the world of his Lutheran upbringing. However, though he does at times use the term in that general sense, especially in his later theological works, his predominant use of it refers to a biblical canon that is a subset of the Protestant canon. His canon is defined and listed in three parallel passages in his earlier theological works: Secrets of Heaven 10325, New Jerusalem266, and White Horse 16. In these passages Swedenborg defines "the Word" as those books of the Bible "that have an inner meaning" (more on this below), and provides a list of the books that qualify. In New Jerusalem 266 the relevant passage reads: "In the Old Testament, the books of the Word are the following: the five books of Moses, the Book of Joshua, the Book of Judges, the two books of Samuel, the two books of Kings, the Psalms of David, and the prophets-Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. In the New Testament: the four Gospels-Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John-and the Book of Revelation. " The books in the Protestant and Catholic canons of the Bible that are not on this list-namely, Ruth, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs (Song of Solomon) in the Old Testament; all the books now included in the Apocrypha; and Acts and the Epistles in the New Testament-are not part of "the Word" as Swedenborg most commonly uses the term. However, in his last theological works and manuscripts, which seem to be addressed more specifically to a traditional Christian audience, he often uses the term "the Word" to refer to the more familiar Protestant canon of Scripture, including Acts and the Epistles; see, for example, True Christianity 158, 176, 601, 675:2, 730:1; Draft for "Coda to True Christianity" (= Swedenborg 1996a) §§2:3, 23:2; Draft Invitation to the New Church (= Swedenborg 1996c) §Draft Invitation to the New Church 47. In one of these passages, for example, he cites a phrase that is "frequently mentioned in the Word of the New Testament, both in the Gospels and in the Acts of the Apostles and their Epistles" ( True Christianity 158). In two other passages, he apparently refers to Acts and the Epistles as "the Apostolic Word" (Draft for "Coda True Christianity" 1, 59:5; compare True Christianity 730:1). By contrast, he never overtly quotes or cites Acts or the Epistles in his earlier works, such as Secrets of Heaven and the works of 1758, although there are allusions to them. The first explicit reference to Acts or the Epistles in his published theological writings occurs in his 1764 work Divine Providence 115, in which he quotes Romans 3:28 and Romans 3:31. However, in his earlier works there are scattered explicit references to several books in the Protestant canon of the Old Testament that are not included in Swedenborg's canon: 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Job, and Song of Solomon. References to the Book of Job, in particular, are occasionally included in lists of references to passages from "the Word" (see, for example, Secrets of Heaven 46, 737, 3901, 9125, 9818), indicating that even in his earlier works Swedenborg sometimes uses that term in its more generally accepted meaning. Still, he is careful to point out that although Job and the Song of Solomon, in particular, are ancient books containing deeper meanings, they do not have the same kind of inner meaning that is contained in the books he defines more specifically as "the Word" (see, for example, Secrets of Heaven 1756:2, 3540:4, 9942:5; Sacred Scripture 20). The inner meaning of the books he includes in his canon of Scripture, he says, is characterized by a "vertical" series of layers of meaning that extend inward and upward all the way to the Lord, and whose subject is the Lord, his kingdom, and the church, which is the Lord's kingdom on earth (see Secrets of Heaven 1-4, 2343:2, 4442:2, 5275:2, 7417). He also describes that inner meaning as being "horizontally" continuous in the sense of extending seamlessly from one word, verse, and chapter to the next, without break or interruption (see Secrets of Heaven 1659:1-2, 2102:2, 4987, 7933:3, 9022). Without this type of "vertical" and "horizontal" series and continuity of deeper meaning, Swedenborg says, a book is not a book of "the Word" in the fullest and most proper sense of the term-which is the sense in which he most commonly uses that term in his theological writings. [JSR, LSW]
8. The Latin words here translated "good actions done out of love" are bonum amoris, literally, "the good of love," or "the good that arises from love. " The Latin word bonum (literally, "good thing"), as used by Swedenborg, very often has the sense of "goodness, or a good, that arises specifically out of an action performed," or "a good action," or "a good thing done. " See Chadwick and Rose 2008, under bonum, definition 4, and under bonus, definition 6. This use of the word is much in keeping with Swedenborg's focus on the importance of "doing" truth, goodness, and love rather than merely knowing or acknowledging the importance of those things. See, for example, Secrets of Heaven 4538:4-5, 5595:1, 9282; New Jerusalem 23:1 and note 1 in New Jerusalem 23 there. [SS]
9. "What is good" (Latin bonum) and "what is true" (Latin verum) and their respective equivalents "goodness," "good," or "the good," and "truth" are the most frequently occurring terms in Swedenborg's theological works. Echoing ancient philosophical and ethical traditions, in Swedenborg's theology these concepts stand in a complementary relationship to all things: that is, absolutely everything, whether physical, psychological, or spiritual, relates to goodness or truth or to a "marriage" of both (or to their opposites, evil and falsity). Their complementarity is so all-encompassing that in the relevant chapter in this work (New Jerusalem 11-19, with further references to Secrets of Heaven in §§20-27), Swedenborg defines them only in terms of each other. In Swedenborg's system, goodness encompasses affective qualities such as love, affection, desire, and caring, and corresponds to physical heat, while truth encompasses cognitive qualities such as wisdom, thought, perception, and faith, and corresponds to physical light (on "caring," see note 3 in New Jerusalem 2; on "correspondences," see note 12 in New Jerusalem 1). Swedenborg uses these terms almost algebraically to stand in for things ranging from the sublimely abstract to the utterly concrete. [JSR]
10. In Swedenborg's works, "the Lord" (Latin Dominus) generally refers to Jesus Christ as God, though sometimes to God previous to the Incarnation. A core concept in Swedenborg's theology is that there are not three persons in the Trinity; there is one person, whose soul is the unknowable Divine, whose human manifestation is Jesus Christ, and whose operative influence is the Holy Spirit. Of the many names and terms from philosophical and biblical backgrounds that Swedenborg uses to denote God (the Divine Being, the Divine, the Divine-Human One, the One, the Infinite, the First, the Creator, the Redeemer, the Savior, Jehovah, God Shaddai, and many more), "the Lord" is the most frequently met with. It is a title rather than a name, meaning "the one in charge," and referring to Jesus Christ as the manifestation of the one and only God. For Swedenborg's brief explanation of his reasons for using "the Lord," see Secrets of Heaven 14. See also chapter 2 of True Christianity. [JSR]
11. The Latin here translated "divine-human nature" is Divinum Humanum, in which two adjectives are put together to form a noun, meaning "that which is both divine and human. " The Latin is a term of neuter grammatical gender. Swedenborg also uses a parallel phrase made up of two nouns, Deus Homo, "God-Human. " In Swedenborg's theology, the divine-human nature generally refers to God existing and appearing in human form, and more specifically to the Lord (Jesus Christ) when fully "glorified" (see note 113) or made divine. For more on the divine-human nature as compared to the divine nature itself, see New Jerusalem 282-297; Secrets of Heaven 3061, 6280, 6880, 10579; True Christianity 82-84, 92-94, 101-102. See also the extensive references to Secrets of Heaven in New Jerusalem 298-306. [GFD, LSW]
12. The concept of correspondence is briefly defined in Divine Love and Wisdom 71as "the mutual relationship between spiritual and earthly things. " In its full formulation, it holds that there are two separate "universes" or worlds, one spiritual and one material, that are related to each other through similarity but not through any shared matter or direct continuity. The material world is caused by God through the spiritual world and therefore reflects that constantly changing world; physical phenomena and events offer images of-that is, are "responsive to" or "correspond to"-spiritual phenomena and events. Swedenborg sees his canon of "the Word" (see note 7 in New Jerusalem 1) as "written in pure correspondences" (Heaven and Hell 114), and so understands the earthly circumstances, characters, and events it describes as reflections or images of spiritual ones. [JSR, SS, GFD]
13. Secrets of Heaven was published by Swedenborg in London in eight volumes between 1749 and 1756. [Editors]
14. In this edition, the work Swedenborg mentions here is referred to by the short title Last Judgment. It was published by Swedenborg in London in 1758. [Editors]
15. The Latin word here translated "representing" is a form of the verb repraesentare; the Latin word translated "symbolizing" is a form of the verb significare. These terms are heavily used in Swedenborg's theology, and they have related but distinguishable meanings. Both indicate the presence of an inner meaning in an object, person, name, or action, but symbolism directs our attention to the meaning itself (especially as communicated by words), whereas representation generally directs our attention to the living enactment of that meaning (especially by persons). A typical example occurs in Secrets of Heaven 3131, which expounds a phrase in Genesis 24:29, "And Laban ran to the man outside at the spring. " Swedenborg describes this as symbolizing the predisposition that goodness has toward truth; running symbolizes predisposition, and a man symbolizes truth, as does a spring, but Laban represents a desire for what is good. These distinctions apply only where Swedenborg is using the word symbolize in a technical sense. Often he uses it much more broadly. For more on these distinctions in inner meaning in relation to various modes of biblical writing, see Secrets of Heaven 66. On representations in general, see Secrets of Heaven 4044. [LHC, GHO]
16. "Urim" and "Thummim" are transliterations of two plural Hebrew words, אוּרִים ('ûrîm) and תּוּמִּים (tummîm), meaning "the lights" and "the perfections," respectively. (Swedenborg adds that Thummim means "radiance" in the language of angels; see True Christianity 218.) The Urim and Thummim were associated with the breastplate of the high priest of the Israelites (Exodus 28:30; Leviticus 8:8). Their exact nature and function are unknown. Swedenborg equates them with the breastplate itself (as seems to be the case here), and also with the stones in it (see Secrets of Heaven 3858:9, 3862, 6335:2, 9905; True Christianity 218; Revelation Explained [= Swedenborg 1994-1997a] §431:3, 15). The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (37 or 38-after 93 C. E.) states: "God declared beforehand, by those twelve stones which the high priest bare on his breast, and which were inserted into his breastplate, when [the Israelites] should be victorious in battle; for so great a splendor shone forth from [the stones] before the army began to march, that all the people were sensible of God's being present for their assistance" (Flavius Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 3. 8. 9 = Josephus 1997, 105). Hence the common view that the Urim and Thummim were themselves the twelve stones and grew bright or dimmed in response to questions. This view is reflected in Swedenborg's discussions of them, as seen in the references above, and in Secrets of Heaven 6640:2. A comprehensive recent study (Van Dam 1997) does conclude that "Urim and Thummim" should be translated as "perfect light" and that they were believed to authenticate inspired prophecy. According to Van Dam's reconstruction of Jewish belief about their usage, military or political questions with existential significance for the kingdom of Israel would be ritually posed to the high priest; the high priest would then respond in the form of an ecstatic or prophetic utterance, and the Urim and Thummim on his breastplate would shine with "perfect light" if his words had been sent by Jehovah. Nevertheless, 1 Samuel 14:41-42, the most specific description of their use, suggests that they were a kind of lot. Other references in the Hebrew Bible give little indication of what they were or how they were used: Numbers 27:21; Deuteronomy 33:8; 1 Samuel 28:6; Ezra 2:63; Nehemiah 7:65. [LHC, RS, JSR, DNG, LSW]
