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?”

114. Without the Word No One Would Have Any Knowledge of God, of Heaven and Hell, of Life after Death, and Still Less of the Lord

This follows as a general conclusion from everything we have already said and shown: That the Word is Divine truth itself (nos. 1-4). That the Word is the means of conjunction with angels in heaven (nos. 62-69). That the Word throughout contains a marriage of the Lord and the church and so a marriage of goodness and truth (nos. 80-89). That the character of a church is such as its understanding of the Word (nos. 76-79). That the Word exists also in the heavens and is the source from which angels have their wisdom (nos. 70-75). That it is by means of the Word that nations and peoples not in the church have spiritual light (nos. 104-113). And more as well.

One may conclude from this that without the Word no one would have any spiritual intelligence, which consists in having knowledge of God, of heaven and hell, and of life after death. And no one would have any knowledge at all of the Lord, and of faith in and love for Him, thus nothing of redemption, even though it is the means of salvation.

The Lord also says to His disciples, “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

And John [the Baptist] says, “A man can gain nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven” (John 3:27).

38. We find in heaven and in the world sequential order and concurrent order. In sequential order one element follows and succeeds another, from the highest of them to the lowest. In concurrent order, however, one element is adjacent to another, from the inmost of them to the outmost.

Sequential order is like a column with vertical elements from highest to lowest, while concurrent order is like a coherent whole with concentric rings from the center to the surface.

We will now say how sequential order becomes, in the lowest element, concurrent order. It happens in this way: The highest elements in sequential order become the inmost ones in concurrent order, and the lowest elements in sequential order become the outmost ones in concurrent order. It is comparatively like a sinking column of vertical elements becoming a unified mass on a single plane.

[2] In this way concurrent order is formed from a sequential one, and this is the case in each and every constituent of the natural world, and in each and every constituent of the spiritual world. For everywhere we find a first element, an intermediate element, and a final element. And the first element proceeds and progresses through the intermediate element to its final element.

Now in application to the Word: Its celestial, spiritual and natural constituents emanate from the Lord in sequential order, and in the final ones are present in concurrent order. Thus the Word’s celestial and spiritual senses are then present at the same time in its natural sense.

When this is understood, it can be seen how the Word’s natural sense, namely its literal sense, is the foundation, containing vessel, and buttress of its spiritual and celestial senses. It can be seen, too, how Divine goodness and Divine truth are present in the Word’s literal sense in their fullness, in their holiness, and in their power.