the trial, receive them as truth, if they can not and do not endure the test, then reject them as errors, contrary to truth and unworthy of belief. Only let the examination be carried on impartially, without prejudice, and with a sincere desire to acknowledge truth wherever it may be found. "But it may be objected, "was not SWEDENBORG a madman who propagated the most ridiculous fancies? Or, if he was not mad, do not all agree that he was an impostor, who, under the pretence of superior illu mination, deceived and misled the people?" I most willingly grant that such is and has been the belief of thousands, and that their report has prejudiced the minds of thousands more, who, but for this, would have read and examined for themselves. Yet, general reports and the belief of thousands are not always true. When the SAVIOUR himself was upon earth, the "whole multitude" cried out "he hath a devil and is mad." And when the Apostles first preached the Gospel, the whole world rose up against them as deceivers. But the opinion of these thousands was wrong, JESUS was not mad, nor were his disciples impostors; and, as the general belief in these cases was confessedly false, it may, for ought we can tell, be equally false respecting SWEDENBORG. "Let us, however, try this general belief, by the test of sober reason, and see how far it will endure the trial. SWEDENBORG, if he is to be believed, was divinely illuminated, by God himself, to declare his doctrines to the world, and those who ridicule his pretensions, can only account for them on one of the following reasons: either, 1st, he was a deceiver who imposed upon the people; or, 2d, he was himself deceived by the adversary of man; or, 3d, he was insane, and his doctrines are but the ravings of a madman. "We will consider each of these solutions in its proper order. The Author then proceeds to examine these three points, and proves in a masterly manner, that neither of them can, with any propriety, be attached to the character of Swedenborg; and concludes by giving the following brief sketch of the doctrines of the New Jerusalem. "As some may now be ready to enquire what are the doctrines which SWEDENBORG maintained? I will state a few of the principal of them, which he confirms by numerous Scripture testimonies.-1. There is one Everlasting God, the author of all things, and the source of all life, who is in his nature Infinite and Eternal, existing in all space, without space; and throughout all time without time whose essence is Love and Wisdom, or essential goodness and essential truth.-2. That in the Divine Nature there exists a Trinity, not of persons or beings, but of essentials; and that these three essentials are called, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. 3. That the LORD JESUS CHRIST, is truly and properly GOD. And as there is but ONE divine Being, so he is "the one only living and true God," in whose glorified Humanity dwells the FATHER, and from whom proceeds the HOLY SPIRIT.-4. That the LORD JESUS descended from heaven as "the Truth," and that as "the Truth" he combatted with and subdued the powers of darkness, thus effecting the Redemption of man; and by uniting his Humanity to the Divine nature, he continues to keep them in subjection, and thus to impart the benefit of salvation to the world.-5. That Faith and Works, or Truth and Love, are essential to the salvation of all; and that he who believes with his understanding, and works the work of Love will be saved.-6. That the Sacred Scripture is the Word of God in the fullest sense; being inbreathed by the Divine Wisdom, and that hence, in the historical parts, as well as in the prophecies, it contains a spiritual sense, relating to the concerns of Eternity and Salvation.-7. That the second coming of CHRIST is not a coming in person to destroy the world, but a manifestation of his Divine Truth, in a more perfect and glorious manner; and a renovation of his Church on Earth, to a state of purity, holiness, and glory: which renovation has now commenced." Miscellanea. DIALOGUES BETWEEN A MOTHER AND HER SON, &c. [Continued from page 336-1827.] Son. But supposing this poor unhappy man had lifted up his heart to the Lord at his last moments, and said God be merciful to me a sinner, do you not think he might have been saved, even at the eleventh hour, like the thief upon the cross? Mother. Although we are not permitted to judge individually of the future or present states of our fellow creatures, and dare not limit or circumscribe the Holy One of Israel, yet if we believe, that we are daily writing in the book of our hearts, all and whatsoever things we think, will, ́or do; and at the same time, acknowledge this everlasting truth, that this book must and will be opened, and that we shall be judged according to the things which shall be found written therein: and if what shall be found written in this book, be evil, is it not diametrically contrary to the Word of God to suppose that by one act of thought (proceeding perhaps, more from fear than repentance) at the hour of death, we should be able to obliterate and blot out those sins which the Lord himself hath declared to be written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond ?—both which signify eternal duration! and if so be that the evil which is said to be thus written, doth remain engraven upon our spirits, should we, think you, be capable of receiving the pure and holy delights of heaven? and thus partake of the felicities of the blessed angels? Son. Indeed I begin to see, it would be impossible, if it be as my dear Mother has described it, but it is very different to any thing I ever heard before, for our master went one day to pray with a poor woman, who had kept a house of ill fame all her life; a very bad woman indeed she was, and yet master told her, that if she could believe that the Lord Jesus had died for her, he would answer for her being saved! which she said she did believe, and died very happy. Mother. Happy for her! if she did my dear, but I wish to teach you, my beloved child, a more excellent way: which is the language of the Lord himself, who hath declared "the soul that sinneth it shall die, but if the wicked will turn from all his sins, and do that which is lawful and right keeping all my statutes, he shall surely live he shall not die." Let us be thankful to our Almighty God and Father, that he in the course of his good Providence, hath enabled us to behold superior light in his Holy Word, which informs us, that we shall be judged by the words and works, that shall be found written in the book of our hearts, as I have already explained to you,— Son. And for which, I can never be sufficiently thankful to my dear Mother. Mother. Let me therefore remind you, that as the Lord hath thus caused his divine light to enlighten your understanding, it is your duty as well as your best interest whilst you have light to obey the voice of that light, and thus you will become the child of light; and also of your Heavenly Father. We have a very awful contrast given us in the Revelation, between the evil and the good, in the World of Spirits; where the former are said to have hid themselves in dens, and also to have called to the rocks and to the mountains, to fall on them and hide them from the face of him who sat upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, whilst the righteous were heard to sing, blessing and honour, and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb for ages of ages! Thus, my child, the divine love of the Lord appeared to the defiled and the impure wicked spirits, as wrath and vengeance to them, and instead of singing the New Song, they requested the rocks to fall on them and hide them from Him whose Divine presence alone constituteth the heavens, and the eternal bappiness of the blessed angels, and I am firmly persuaded that the holy spheres of those happy beings would be tormenting to all who were in the love and the delight of evil; and I doubt not but it would be more dreadful to them than hell itself, where they would meet and be associated with those, like unto themselves whose delight would be to curse and not to bless, to afflict and torment and not to add to the delight and happiness of all around them, and of course their love and fellowship would centre in hell, and their deHight would unavoidably be there also; agreeable to the declaration of the Lord, "where your treasure is, there will your heart be also,” and therefore he was graciously pleased to admonish us to lay up our treasure in the kingdom of heaven. Son. But do you not suppose that the spirits in hell suffer great punishment? I cannot conceive how it is, if they are as yon say, in the love of their own delights, that hell can justly be called a place of torment! surely no one can be tormented, with, or by what he loves. Mother. Sin, my child, will ever be inseparable from misery; and is its own punishment, both in this world and also in the next, where the love of evil in the breast of an unhappy spirit, must be productive of sufferings, dreadful beyond all human conception! the infernal and defiled loves of self, of power, revenge, rage, and envy; with hatred towards God, and of all that is God-like, with various evils and lusts, of which we have no knowledge, must form a hell in each breast, of which our finite minds can form no adequate conception, and most probably constitutes what in Scripture is denominated, hell-fire. I have already informed you that fire in the Word of God, represents or signifies, both what is celestial and that which is infernal; and you will also remember, that heaven and hell are both to be considered as states, which are to be found within ourselves, and I hope you will never forget the important truth, that one or the other must, and will be formed in each, and all of us, before we can possibly enter into either of them: but our time is again expired; your father is returned and we must attend him; I intend to visit our dear Friendly immediately after dinner, and if all be well, I hope to morrow, to continue our present subject. (To be continued.] DIALOGUE BETWEEN A MINISTER AND AN ENQUIRER. (Continued from page 56.) Enquirer. You have obliged me by the above quotations, which shew sufficiently that light, evening, and morning, denote spiritual states of life, as well as the light, evening, and morning of this world. Pray proceed with your explanation. Minister. A firmament in the midst of the waters to divide the waters from the waters, denote divine arrangements in the human mind, between things internal and external, and likewise a development of these distinctions to the perception of the person in the progress of regeneration. Man before regeneration does not know these things, and though science may point them out to him, yet he has no permanent discernment of them by the aid of spiritual light. To him all things in the mind appear one confused mass, without any beautiful arrangement into internal and external, superior and inferior, and this in consequence of the immersion of his thoughts and affections into worldly and sensual things. Yet even worldly minded men might perceive that some thoughts and affections, are as it were within, and others on the outside, by reflecting upon their own states when they think, speak, and feel a degree of affection to things of one kind, while concealed from the observations of others they deeply meditate upon, and are more affectionately concerned for other things, All natural men know that they can appear to others in the pursuit of an object in order to conceal the real one in which they are in the pursuit, from which they might be convinced that they had thoughts within those which they allowed to appear. The waters above the firmament are those knowledges which are proper to the internal man; and the waters below the firmament are those which are proper to the external man. Therefore, God called the firmament or expanse, heaven, and the evening and the morning were the second day. Enquirer. It is certainly delightful to find such instruction in this part of the divine Word. Minister. It certainly is, but time would fail to be sufficiently particular upon these matters, so as to render them self-evident to the mind, but they will become so by frequently meditating upon them under the influence of that illumination which the Lord loves to give to the serious enquirer, who is seeking truth on its own account. But to proceed: the waters under the firmament being gathered together in one place, and the dry land appearing, which God called earth, and the waters seas, which he saw to be good, denotes the knowledges contained in the external man, which is denoted by the earth or dry land. In attempting spiritually to understand the above in the spiritual sense, it may assist to inform you, that the world in which man must have his everlasting abode, is a spiritual world, wherein all things which appear, and affect his spiritual senses, are spiritual. Thus the heavens above, and the earth on which he treads, and great waters, as well as small, are spiritual, and have their origin in, and perfect correspondence with the spirits, whose abode is in it. In all the appearances of that world there is an image of the interior and exterior states of the mind of all who dwell there, and spirits illuminated by divine light are enabled to see in them, as to many minute particulars, images of themselves. The true meaning of such appearances is now revealed for the establishment of the New Church, signified by the New Jerusalem in the Revelation, which meaning will be found a key that will unlock many, if not all the difficult passages in the divine Word, on which their inward treasures will be discovered to him who is so happy as to use it as the Lord has appointed. According to this revealed sense of the divine Word, nearly all" liquids relate to the things of the understanding." Water, in particular, denotes natural Truth, and the seas that which is most common, or general, as sensual or scientific truth. For all men know through the medium of their senses, innumerable things relating to the present world; but few comparatively understand even natural causes, which the senses, skilfully exercised, may ascertain; and much fewer have any knowledge of spiritual causes for natural existences. As all the juices of the world are supplied by waters, by being variously modified, by being incorporated in all its productions, so in like manner from common, or general truths, or impressions received by the mind through the medium of the senses, are drawn forth all truths which relate to things abstracted from the senses, and effected by divine revelation. · Enquirer. Can you give any other passages of the Word to corroborate the sense you have given to this? Minister. It will be very easy to do so to a very considerable extent, but a few shall suffice. "The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Isaiah xi. 9. Where the earth denotes the mind as to its externals of thought and memory, containing all knowledges respecting the Lord and his kingdom. "The Lord despiseth not his prisoners, let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas and every thing that moveth therein." Psalm Ixix. 33, 34, denoting that man shall be delivered from all temptations, and imprisonment by evil and false principles, when all things in the internal mind, which are heaven; and all things in the external mind which are earth and seas, and the things that move therein shall praise the Lord for deliverance. It is therefore said, “The Lord stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him." Zech. xii. 1. Our blessed Lord saith, "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." John iv. 14. "Jesus stood, and cried, saying, if any man thirst let him come to me and drink. He that believeth in me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water; but this spake he of the spirit, which they that believe in him should receive." John vii. 57, 58, 59. "And he saith unto me, the waters which thou sawest where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues." Rev. xvii. 15. Here is full evidence that waters are to be understood in a spiritual sense. Enquirer. This is quite satisfactory; please to proceed. NEW JERUSALEM TEMPLE, WATERLOO ROAD, LONDON. We stated in our last that the Minister in this place was engaged in delivering on the Sunday evenings a Course of Lectures on very interesting subjects. The Lectures are well attended, and we hope some good will result from the delivery of them. The following subjects are to be lectured upon in the present month, which will finish the Course, viz. March 2. The Rainbow'; or Bow in the Cloud, a Token of God's Co venant. 9. Jacob's Subtilty, and Esau's sale of his Birthright. 16. The Feast of the Fowls and Beasts upon the mountains of -23. The Distinction set forth in the Scriptures between God the WOODFORD SCHOOL. We understand that about 40 children have already been admitted into this excellent Establishment. This is but a very small number, but perhaps, in this its infant state, it is as great as could be expected. The members of the New Church at large, will, no doubt, feel an interest in the welfare of this Seminary. It is an honour and credit to the Church, and we do hope will meet with that support and encouragement which it so deservedly merits. NORWICH. The members of the small society of the New Church in this city, have recently commenced a weekly subscription among themselves of one penny and upwards according to the ability of each subscriber, for the purpose of providing a more eligible place of Worship than they now possess. About 40 persons have become subscribers, many of whom pay 2d. and some 3d. per week. These kind of small weekly subscriptions will essentially assist the Church. Small sums can be paid without any difficulty, and the united efforts of a few in the good cause, be they ever so feeble, will in time produce great things. SUNDAY SCHOOLS. BIBLES AND TESTAMENTS FOR SUNDAY SCHOOLS. For the information of those who have the management of Sunday Schools in the New Church connexion, we insert the following extract from the last Report of the British and Foreign Bible Society; by which it appears that bibles and testaments may be had at a very low price, for the exclusive use of Sunday Schools, without any distinction as to what sect or denomination they may be attached to: |