1. THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION

Containing THE UNIVERSAL THEOLOGY OF THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW CHURCH

THE FAITH OF THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW CHURCH

This faith is presented at the outset in its general and in its particular form. It is so presented that it may serve as a preface to the whole work which follows, as a gateway, as it were, by which entrance is made to a temple, and as an epitome in which the subsequent details are duly summarized. It is said to be "The Faith of the New Heaven and the New Church" because heaven, where angels are, and the Church, in which men are, act as one like the internal and the external with man. Hence it is that the member of the Church, who is in the good of love from the truths of faith, and in the truths of faith from the good of love, is an angel of heaven as to the interiors of his mind. Thus he enters into heaven after death, and there enjoys happiness according to the degree in which those principles are united in him. It should therefore be known that this faith in its summary form is the index and gateway of the new heaven now being formed by the Lord.

225. V. THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH MUST BE TAKEN FROM THE SENSE OF THE LETTER OF THE WORD, AND BE CONFIRMED BY IT.

It was shown in the previous article that the Word, in the sense of the Letter, is in its fulness, its sanctity and its power, and since the Lord is the Word, and the First and the Last, as He declares in the Revelation 1:17, it follows that He is eminently present in that sense, teaching and enlightening men from it. Proof of this will be given in due order as follows:

(1) Without doctrine, the Word is unintelligible.

(2) Doctrine must be taken from the sense of the Letter of the Word.

(3) But Divine Truth, which is the source of doctrine, is manifest only to those who are enlightened by the Lord.