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?”

91. Heresies May Be Seized On from the Word’s Literal Sense, But It Is Harmful to Affirm Them

We showed above that the Word cannot be understood apart from doctrine, and that doctrine serves as a lamp in whose light genuine truths may be seen. And the reason is that the Word was written solely in terms of correspondences. As a result, the Word contains many appearances of truth that are not naked truths, and much was accommodated to the comprehension of natural people, even of sensual people, yet at the same time it was written in such a way that simple people can understand it in simplicity, and wise people wisely.

Now because that is the nature of the Word, the appearances of truth, which are truths clothed, may be seized on as naked truths. And when these are affirmed, they become falsities.

People who do this, however, are people who believe themselves wiser than others, even though they are not wise. For it is the part of wisdom to see whether something is true before affirming it, and not to affirm whatever one pleases. People who do the latter are people who possess a talent for defending their affirmations and are caught up in a conceit in their own intelligence. But those who do the former are people who love truths, who are affected by them because they are true, and who apply them to useful life endeavors. For they are enlightened by the Lord and see truths in the light of those truths, in contrast to the first people who create their own enlightenment and see falsities also in the light of those falsities.

9. 2. The presence of the spiritual meaning in each and every particular of the Word. This can best be seen from illustrations, such as the following. In the book of Revelation, John says:

I saw heaven opened, when behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and does combat. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many jewels. He had a name written that no one knew but Himself. He was clothed with a garment stained with blood, and His name is called “The Word of God.” (His) hosts in heaven followed Him on white horses, wearing fine linen, white and clean.... He has on His garment and on His thigh a name written: “King of kings and Lord of lords.”

I saw moreover an angel standing in the sun, who cried with a loud voice..., “Come and gather together for the great supper..., that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of commanders, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.” (Revelation 19:11-18)

No one can see the symbolic meanings of these words apart from the Word’s spiritual sense, and no one can see the spiritual sense apart from a knowledge of correspondences. For the words are all correspondents; no word there is without meaning.

A knowledge of correspondences makes plain the symbolic meaning of the white horse and of Him who sat on the horse, of the eyes that were like a flame of fire, of the jewels on the head, of the garment stained with blood, of the white linen worn by His hosts in heaven, of the angel standing in the sun, of the great supper for which all were to come and gather together, and of the flesh of kings, commanders, and several others that they were to eat.

[2] The symbolic meanings of each of these images may be seen in the short book, The White Horse, where we explained them. We therefore forgo any further explanation of them here. In that short book we showed that the above description is a depiction of the Lord in relation to the Word, that His eyes like a flame of fire, the jewels on His head, and the name that no one knew but Himself mean the Word’s spiritual sense, and that no one knows that sense but the Lord Himself and he to whom the Lord wills to reveal it. We showed as well that the garment stained with blood means the Word’s natural sense, which is its literal sense, to which violence has been done.

That it is the Word which is so described is clearly apparent, for we are told that His name is called “The Word of God.” And that it is the Lord who is meant is also clearly apparent, for we are told that the name written of Him who sat on the horse was “King of kings and Lord of lords.”

That the Word’s spiritual sense will be revealed at the end of the church is symbolically meant not only by what we have now said about the horse and Him who sat on it, but also by the great supper to which the angel standing in the sun summoned people to come and eat the flesh of kings and commanders, of mighty men, of horses and of those who sit on them, and of all people, free and slave.

All of these statements would be meaningless words, devoid of life or spirit, without something spiritual concealed within them, like a soul in its body.