4. Lest people remain in doubt, therefore, that such is the nature of the Word, the Lord has revealed to me the internal meaning of the Word, one that in its essence is spiritual, which is present in the outward, natural meaning, like a soul in its body. That meaning is the spirit which gives life to the letter. Consequently it is that meaning which can testify to the Divinity and holiness of the Word, and convince even the natural man, if he is willing to be convinced.

The Word Contains a Spiritual Meaning, One Previously Unknown

[4 repeated.] This will be discussed according to the following outline:

1. What the spiritual meaning is.

2. The presence of this meaning in each and every particular of the Word.

3. That this is what causes the Word to be Divinely inspired and holy in every word.

4. That this meaning has been previously unknown.

5. And that it is granted after this only to someone who possesses genuine truths from the Lord.

7. Nor can the difference between these levels be known unless one is acquainted with correspondence, for these three levels are each completely distinct from the others, like end, cause and effect, or like something prior, something subsequent, and something terminal. And yet they operate as a unit through correspondences. For something natural corresponds to something spiritual, and also to something celestial.

But what correspondence is may be seen in the book Heaven and Hell, where it is discussed in The Correspondence of Everything in Heaven with Everything in the Human Being, nos. Heaven and Hell, nos. 87-102, and in The Correspondence of Heaven with Everything on Earth, nos. 103-115. It will also be further seen below from illustrations presented from the Word.