1. The Sacred Scripture, or Word, Is Divine Truth Itself

Everyone says that the Word comes from God, is Divinely inspired, and so is holy. But even so, no one has known before this wherein the Divinity in it lies. For in its letter the Word appears as though written in the ordinary way, in a foreign style, neither as sublime or nor as lucid as writings of the present age seem to be.

As a result, a person who worships nature as God, or in preference to God, and so thinks prompted by self and his own self-interest, and not prompted by heaven in response to the Lord, may easily fall into error regarding the Word, and into scorning it, and when reading it, saying to himself, “What is this? What is that? Is this Divine? Can God, whose wisdom is infinite, speak so? Where is the holiness in it, and what makes it holy, other than some teaching of religion and so conviction?”

72. Marvelously, the Word in the heavens is so written that simple folk understand it in a simple way, and the wise wisely. For there are diacritical points and marks over the letters, which, as we said, enhance the meaning. Simple folk pay no attention to these, neither do they know their meaning. But the wise attend to them, each in accordance with his wisdom, including those with the greatest wisdom.

A copy of the Word, transcribed by angels inspired by the Lord, is kept in a sacred repository in each of the larger societies in heaven, to keep it from being altered in some point elsewhere.

Our Word, indeed, is like the Word in heaven in this, that simple folk understand it in a simple way, and the wise wisely. But such is the case for another reason.