iliiiiiiitliiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin'ii Hill I niliiiiiiiii in ii CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Cornell University Library BS477 .M68 Scripture symbolism : an introduction to 3 1924 029 273 013 oiin Cornell University Library The original of this bool< is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029273013 Scripture Symbolism AN INTRODUCTION SCIENCE OF CORRESPONDENCES, OR NATURAL AND SPIRITUAL COUNTERPARTS BY THE Rev. EDWARD CRAIG MITCHELL AUTHOR OF "The Parables of the New Testament Spiritually Unfolded ' "The Parables of the Old Testament Explained," &c. WITH A COPIOUS INDEX. PHILADELPHIA WILLIAM H. ALDEN 2129 CHESTNUT STREET 1904 Copyright, i904 By Edward Craig Mitchell Printed by McGill-Waenee Co., St. Paul, Minn. CONTENTS. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF CORRESPONDENCES. Types and Anti-types. Scripture Composition. Rea- son of the Law. Representatives and Signs. Corres- pondences in Nature. Ancients Knew Correspond- ences. Bible Not Generally Understood. GENERAL LAWS AND CLASSIFICATIONS. Two-fold, Natural and Spiritual. Three-fold, Natural, Spiritual and Celestial. .Appearances and Realities. CORRESPONDENCES IN PARTICULAR. Heavens and Earth. Land and Water. Beasts and Birds. Fish. Watei-Animals. Serpent. Insects. Trees and Plants. Mineral Kingdom. Metals. Forms. Dimensions. Spaces. Times. Colors. THE HUMAN BODY. The Body in General. Outward Parts. Inward Parts. CONDITIONS OF THE BODY. Living and Dead. Birth and Death. Health and Sick- ness. Strong and Weak. Wholesome and Poisonous. Order and Disorder. Whole and Broken, or Wounded. Sane and Insane. Awake and Asleep. The Senses in General. Hearing. Sight. Smell. Taste. Touch. Correlation of the Senses. Speaking. Singing. Move- ments of the Body. Stand. Sit. Lie Down. Walk. Swim. Run. Jump. Arise. Fall. Kneel. Dance. Lame. Halt. Gestures. Sizes. Large and Small. Fat and Thin. Full and Empty. Satisfied. Hungry. Thirsty. Warm and Cold. Clean and Unclean. Spot- ted. Sober and Drunken. Young and Old. Clothed and Naked. Free and Captive. PREFACE. All Christian Churches have the literal Bible ; but they differ as to its meaning, and especially as to its figurative sense. The purpose of this book is to help the sincere inquirer to open the seals of the literal Bible, and to recognize its inward spirit ; and thus to present a new language to those needy ones who have ears to hear "what the Spirit saith unto the churches." The system of doctrine herein explained is that made known to the world through Emanuel Swedenborg. There is a "Dictionary of Correspondences, etc," com- piled from the theological writings of Swedenborg; but it is adapted to the use of advanced students. And the undersigned and others have felt the need of a practical elementary work, as an introduction to the great Science of Correspondences ; a hand-book, with which the student may acquire a rational and syste- matic idea of the philosophy, and of the leading facts, of correspondences, representatives and signs, which knowledge he may use in gaining a better understand- ing of the Divine Word. It is not meant that this book will be sufficient to open, to any student, all the spiritual meaning of all parts of the Sacred Scriptures. Such an understand- ing can come to him, only, whose mind is prepared for such insight, not only by a knowledge of the Science of Correspondences, but also by an interior mental state in which a perception of spiritual truth can be enjoyed. The b^est-informed scholars do not depend upon their scholarship, alone, to receive the spiritual sense of the Divine Word ; for they know that every mari sees and hears on the level of his intelligence. "No words, whate'er their meaning, more can tell Than what the hearer's wisdom understands." But each man can hear, if he will, all phases of truth which he would now be willing to use, in his practical daily life. The Science of Correspondences is like an outfit of mechanical tools, very useful to those who can handle the tools properly. The Scripture-texts herein quoted and explained have been selected to emphasize the three great essen- tials of the Christian religion; I, the Divine character of our Lord, Jesus Christ ; 2, the Divine character of the genuine books of the Bible, as the Word of God ; and 3, the necessity of living all our daily life in ac- cordance with the Divine commandments, in both their literal and spiritual meanings. It is thought best, especially for the use of novitiate students of Scripture Symbolism, to present not merely the correspondential meanings of various objects, ac- tivities and conditions, but also many fundamental prin- ciples and facts regarding the various subjects consid- ered. It might be interesting to include many more subjects, or to enter further into details ; but it seems best to keep the book within moderate bulk. E. C. M. St. Paul, Minn., July 21, 1904. Correspondences, OR Natural and Spiritual Counterparts. THE LAW. Our conscious life dawns upon us in this physical world. Here our infantile faculties begin to open ; and here, as we come into contact with the various phe- nomena of the world, we recognize that there are certain known conditions and relations of physical things ; and that towards all these things we bear cer- tain known relations. How small is the infant's stock of knowledge, and yet how great are his undeveloped capacities for learning. How wonderful the memory which he may yet develop, and the knowledge which he may yet attain. Beginning in almost absolute helpless- ness, gradually we grope our way along, under the anxious guidance of our loving parents, but in the un- recognized providence of pur heavenly Father. When we have acquired some knowledge of the things which surround us, and which present them- selves to the cognizance of our natural senses, our parents and teachers whisper to us of the mysteries of another world, a world that lies beyond the jurisdiction of our natural senses, and whose boundaries are, to us, as yet, but shadowy and unreal. Little by little, these whisperings assume, in our youthful minds, the charac- 7 8 Scripture SymbolisrH. ter of reality, as we grope our way into the world of inner life, which, grand and enticing, opens before our wondering minds, as we experience the actuality of spiritual things, in the life of our own thoughts and affections. As, in the beginning, we become gradually conscious of our own identity, as individual beings, so, in our inner experiences, we develop another conscious- ness : we recognize the fact that our being is two- fold, outward and inward, natural and spiritual. As we recognize the life of the soul, we discriminate between our spiritual life and our natural life ; spiritually, we divide "the waters which are under the firmament fromi the waters which are above the firmament." (Gen. I i. 7.) We recognize that there are certain known rela- tions between our innner being and our outer being, between our spirit and our natural body. Gradually we recognize the fact that our spirit is our real man ; and that our spirit lives in an inner world, a world of inward causes, whose outward effects are visible in the outer world of physical nature. Perceiving the direct and inseparable relation be- tween the pleasant affection in our heart and the pleas- ant smile in our face, and between the anger in the heart and the frown in the face, we see that it is not only a fact, but also a law, that "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." We learn that the soul is king over the body. But while we are groping our way into the world of inner life, the ideas of our thought, and the terms and words in which we express our ideas, are all drawn from the experiences of our outward life. Our present knowledge of natural things is based on natural facts, or appearances of facts, demonstrated to our physical senses. And, therefore, to reach our apprehension, all new knowledge which comes to us, must come by means Scripture Symbolism. g of that which we already possess. In reaching us, the new kind of knowledge, the knowledge of spiritual things, must arrange itself in our minds, by its relation to the outward life, in which we are already experi- enced. Hence, as we have knowledge of the relations of natural things to each other, and to ourselves, so, in distinguishing our new ideas of a new kind, naturally we adopt the terms with which we are already familiar. When a spiritual feeling thrills us with energy and joy, we say that it "warms" us. When the opposition of contrary feeling disturbs us, we say that such a feeling is "cold." We call our feelings "pure" or "impure," "sweet" or "bitter," "strong" or "weak." And we rec- ognize the intended idea, because we know what these terms express to us, in regard to our bodily life. Wc say that our thoughts are "high" or "low," "bright" or "dark," "clear" or "obscure." We say that men's minds are "sensitive" or "callous," "fine" or "coarse," and their natural manners "gentle" or "rough." And all these terms we borrow from our experience with physical things. Look out upon the vegetable world, and see ho'\\' many of our terms applied to mental life, we draw from that which we know of the trees and their fruits. We speak of the "root" of a matter ; of the "training" of the youthful mind; of "pruning" off the superfluous feelings and thoughts ; of "sowing" and "planting" the "seeds" of truth ; of "weeding out" false ideas ; of "reaping" the "fruits" of our mental work, etc. All these ideas correspond with our ideas of the vegetable world about us, and with our relations to that world. And, in the mineral kingdom, we find the same law of correspondences, when we speak of men who are as "good as gold," or as "true as steel;" or of men who have too much "brass," as a counterfeit of gold ; or of lo Scripture Symbolism. men whose hearts are "hard as rock;" or of those whose words are as "sharp as swords." And so we speak of "stormy" and "serene" tempers. The more we reflect upon these things, the more we see how many ideas we express by their correspondence with the things of our outward hf e. And, studying the sub- ject, we recognize the fact that all things which relate to our inward life, belong to the life of our spirit, and are spiritual things. And we see that there must be some law which governs the relations of natural and spiritual things, and by which all these things corres- pond. And this is the law of correspondences, the law of natural and spiritual counterparts, the well-defined analogy existing between all inward things, as spirit- ual causes, and all outward things, as the natural effects of those causes. THE TWO WORLDS. There are two worlds, the natural and the spiritual, which are distinct, and different in kind. They are not merely different localities, but, primarily, different con- ditions of life. Substances are of two kinds, natural and spiritual. The spiritual world is all that part of the universe which is composed of spiritual substances. And the natural world is all that part of the universe which is composed of natural substances. Everything which is spiritual in substance, is necessarily in the spiritual world ; and everything which is formed of natural sub- stances is necessarily in the natural world, the material world. These two worlds are not distant from each other in space, but in kind, in quality. In man these two worlds Scripture Symbolism. ti meet ; for, in him, all that is spiritual is in the spiritual world, and all that is natural, or material, is in. the ma- terial world. And so it is as far from the spiritual world to the natural world, as it is from a man's spirit to his own body. The spiritual world is the inward world, which is everywhere within the material world. Investigating our relations to the two worlds in which we dwell, we see that the things of the physical world are the outward images, embodiments and mani- festations of the things of the inner world of the spirit. We recognize that the terms which we apply to the things of our outward life, will apply to the things of our inward life, also, but in a figurative way. And yet they may be applied with exactness, by knowing the exact relation which each object of outward nature bears to the things of the inner world ; and especially b)' knowing what, in the world of the spirit, is the in- ward counterpart, the corresponding thing, to each object of the physical world. But, in this knowledge, we should be lost in a sea of numberless details, if there were no general laws and leading principles, under which the various objects of physical nature, and their spiritual counterparts, are systematically arranged. How confused would be our knowledge of animated nature, had we not the scientific system of dividing and arranging all animated objects under the great divisions and sub-divisions of kingdom, sub-kingdom, class, order, family, genus, species and variety. And, as zoology, botany and mineralogy are' systematized, so, also, our knowledge of spiritual and natural counterparts, or correspondences, can be thor- oughly and systematically arranged, as an exact sci- ence. And, in the providence of our Lord, this great work has already been done, at His call, and under His guid- 12 Scripture Symbolism. ance, by His faithful servant, Emanuel Swedenborg. And, as a preparation for such a duty, Swedenborg had many years of close and thorough study of natural science, which, in middle life, placed him among the leading scientists of his day, a man everywhere cele- brated, loved and respected ; a man who was never a skeptic, but who always "looked through nature up to nature's God." We easily recognize the direct relation between the heart and the afifections, and between the brain and the thoughts ; and so we speak of men's hearts and brains, when we mean to express ideas about their feelings and thoughts. This relation between the spiritual world, as the inward cause, and the natural world, as the out- ward effect, we call cori-espondence. There is, for in- stance, a correspondence between the love which causes the bodily smile, and the smile, which is the outward effect of that love. And so, throughout the whole world of nature, there is a direct correspondence be- tween each outward thing and the inward thing which is. its spiritual counterpart, and which finds expression and embodiment in that outward object. The spiritual world is the real world. It acts into the natural world, as the spirit of man, which is the real man, acts into the body, as in the smile of love, or in the frown of anger. As each part of man's natural body is the counterpart and correspondent of some part of his spirit, so, through the whole body of the physical universe, each object is the counterpart and correspond- ent of some particular thing in the spiritual world, the world of man's inward spirit, which inward world is the soul of the universe, and whose life is from the Lord. Scripture Symbolism. 13 TYPES AND ANTI-TYPES. And why should it not be so? If these things of earth, amid which our minds are opened, and among which we gather our knowledge, bear no fixed relation to the things of the spiritual world, how can this first stage of our life be of any practical use to us, in pre- paring us for the hf e to come ? In the spiritual world, all things are spiritual. But they are not shadowy and unreal. They are, like the soul, substantial, but not material. And if we are to understand them, when we come into full and conscious connection with them, they must bear some definite relation to what we al- ready know, or our experience, hard as it often is, will be of no actual service to us. But, in the perfect econ- omy of our infinite Lord, there is no waste. Do not the little children learn, from their toys and plays, les- sons which are applicable to manhood's work ? And do not the hobby-horses and the doll-babies of childhood bear well-established similitude and relation to the things of maturity? And while, in this world, we are as children in spiritual things, are not all the outward things of our physical life, but the toys, the images, from which we gather lessons to serve us in the world to come ? And how shall we apply these lessons, if, in the future world, there are not the anti-t3'pes, of which physical things are the types; if there are not the reali- ties of which our earthly things are the shadows and the images ; if the things of the two worlds are not, to each other, counterparts and correspondences? Our outward, bodily life is in correspondence with our inward, mental life. And our inward, mental life, even while we are in this world, is in correspondence with the things of the spiritual world, in which we are to live fully, hereafter. And if our mental life stands 14 Scripture Symbolism. between, and corresponds both to the physical world and to the spiritual world, then the spiritual world and the physical world must correspond to each other. See the analogy. As our merely natural life supplies us the ideas and the terms, which, in a figurative way, we can use in understanding the things of the inner life, so does the outward world of the body furnish us the exact counterparts of the spiritual world. In fact, we must understand that the spiritual world is an actual, substantial and active world, a sphere of usefulness. To the extent in which we assign no actuality to the spiritual world, we must lose our consciousness of the actuality of our own spirits, and of our future life. We can have no definite idea of the spiritual world, except as we recognize it to be the inner counterpart of this outer world, as our own spirits are the inner counter- parts of our outward bodies. Inward things differ from outward things, as causes differ from their effects ; as souls differ from their bodies. And the re- lation between them is correspondence. THE LAW OF SCRIPTURE COMPOSITION. Now, this law of correspondences, or natural and spiritual counterparts, is the law according to which the letter of the Sacred Scriptures was written. In the literal sense, natural things are spoken of, but, in the inward meaning, which is alwa)'s spiritual, there are truths expressed about those spiritual things of which the things of the letter are correspondences, or coun- terparts. The literal sense of the Bible is addressed to the senses of the natural man ; but the spiritual mean- ing is addressed to man's inward and rational thougnt, his ability to see and to know spiritual things. The literal sense is read in the light of the natural senses, Scripture Symbolism. 15 but the inward meaning is read in the Hght of the spirit. The hteral sense is largely in the language of appear- ances of truth, before the natural senses, but the spirit- ual sense is in the language of realities. And, in ac- commodating the Scriptures to the minds of men, the same plan is followed by the Lord, as that followed by men, themselves, in gaining a knowledge of spiritual things by means of their knowledge of natural things. And so our Lord teaches us, by using, in His Scrip- tures, the terms and ideas common to our natural thought, and yet by giving them an inner meaning, which is figurative, and yet well-defined and exact, because it is in correspondence with the outer mean- ing, as the inward soul is in correspondence with its outward body. When you say, of a sermon, that you find "food" in it, you mean, of course, food for your mind ; and yet you use the term, "food," which is drawn from your knowledge of bodily things. And, such being the con- stitution and habit of the hiunan mind, everywhere in the inhabited universe, therefore, in givmg the Sacred Scriptures, the Lord composed them according to this law of correspondences. Thus, when, in the Scriptures, He speaks of giving spiritual things to those who desire them. He uses familiar terms, and says, "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." But this is not all : wherever, in the letter of the Scrip- tures, the Lord speaks of natural food and drink, there is, within the letter, as a soul in its body, an inward spiritual meaning, teaching us about the spiritual food which supports our souls. And when He speaks of "water" for the thirst of the body. He speaks, in the inner sense, of the water of truth, which' quenches the thirst of the soul. And when the Lord says, "Except i6 Scripture Symholism. ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, ye have no hfe in you," (John vi. 53), He uses the famihar ideas and terms of bodily life, but He teaches, therein, spiritual truths, about spiritual life, and spir- itual eating and drinking, and spiritual flesh and blood. But there are many other tests, in which it does not so plainly appear that there must be an inner meaning ; and yet, in every such case, and, in fact, in every text in the Scriptures, there is an inner meaning, relating to man's inward life. For instance ; when, in the book of Lamentations, the Jews are made to say, "We have drunk our water for money, and our wood is sold unto us," (v. 4), while these words depict the actual physical condition of the Jews, they also, in the inner meaning, reveal, by correspondences, the spiritual condition of the wicked and rebellious Jews, and also the spiritual condition of all others, in all times and places, who are in the love and practice of similar evils ; and who have to labor very hard to attain any good, or any truth. And in the early chapters of Genesis, where the text apparently treats of the creation of the physical earth, the language is purely figurative and correspondential, using familiar ideas and terms, to convey to minds pre- pared for such knowledge, an exact account of the spir- itual creation, and the re-creation, or regeneration, of the human mind. You say of a man, that his reason is "lame," his thoughts are "blind," his feelings are "dead." But you use the terms of bodily life. And so, in the Bible, when the "lame," the "blind" and the "dead" are spoken of, the spiritual sense treats of the correspond- ing conditions of the soul. And, in fact, at the same time that our Lord, Jesus Christ, was healing men of bodily diseases. He was also healing them of their spiritual infirmities. While He opened the eyes of Scripture Symbolism. 17 their bodies, and restored their bodily Strength, He opened the eyes of their minds, also, and restored their spiritual strength. REASON FOR THE LAW. And there is good reason why this mode of writing by correspondences should have been used in the Word of the Lord. By this means, the Scriptures could be adapted to all kinds of men. The letter of the Scrip- tures could give, to natural-minded men, a literal idea, while the inner meaning could give, to spiritual-minded men, the corresponding spiritual idea. Every man can thus learn truths, according to his present condition and capacities. And the idea which reaches each man,' is that phase of the truth vvhich, at the present moment, is best adapted to his state of mind, and best adapted to help him to shun evil, and to progress in goodness.' It is not, then, a misfortune that the Bible is under- stood in many ways, but it is necessary that it should be so, as long as men are in- many different states of mind. Even in heaven, there will be different grades' and conditions of life, suitable to different mental con- ditions. "In My Father's house are many mansions." Though there is a heavenly mansion for every one who will love the Lord and the neighbor, and who will keep the Lord's commandments, yet the happiness of all, and of each, will be increased by having "many mansions," suitable to men in many different spiritual conditions. Things which are adapted to one man, are not adapted to another. And so, to reach all, the Divine Word con- tains truth so divinely expressed that it is adapted to every mind. And this fact, alone, is satisfactory evi- dence of the Divine character of the Sacred Scriptures.' No other book contains both inner and outer meanings; in full correspondence, S i8 Scripture Symbolism. In His public ministry, on earth, our Lord taught the multitudes in parables, figures of speech, in which truth was given by the law of correspondences. He did not give the holy things of spiritual truth unto human dogs, nor did' He cast spiritual pearls before human swine. He gave the truth in such a form that each mind could comprehend that truth in the way best fitted for the present progress of that mind. INSTRUCTING CHILDREN. In our instructions to children, we use the law of correspondences. Wishing to teach a child the prin- ciples of human life, we read to him Aesop's Fables. Each fable makes a deep impression upon the opening mind of the child. And afterwards he will see the counterparts of such teachings, in the life of his own mind. While he is a little child, he will receive a little child's idea of the principle illustrated. In his little thought he sees the animals spoken of in the fables. Take, for instance, the fable of the dog in the manger, the dog which could not eat the hay, but would not allow the cattle to eat it. Now, the child readily sees that the dog was mean and selfish. Facts are thus stored up in his memory, which will afterwards serve as a basis for the application of the same principle to his own daily life. The literal idea serves as a ground-work for the spiritual idea. And so our Lord teaches His truth to us, as but children of a larger growth. He gives us the literal sense of the Bible, to allow us to receive a natural idea ; and this will form a basis, upon which, in our more ad- vanced and spiritual states of mind, He can build the corresponding spiritual ideas, which belong to our in- ward lif?r For instance : the history of the journey of Scripture Symbolism. 19 Israel, like the fables told to the children, presents cer- tain natural ideas, and embodies certain priniciples. But, within all this literal history, there is an inner meaning, the deeper history of every human soul, in its journey from selfishness to regeneration. And those whose minds are prepared to receive this inward his- tory, see it within all the things of the literal history, as we, today, in the fables of Aesop, see the principles which apply to our human life. And, in the knowledge of the spiritual sense of the Bible, we rise above all those phases of the letter which appear to be childish. In the fables, the little children are not troubled about the scientific inaccuracies, such as the talking of the animals. To the little children, these things present no question of impossibility, be- cause their little minds are not yet trained to think sci- entifically. And, to the infant mind, everything seems full of life and of power. And so, in untrained and un- reasoning conditions of mind, even fully-grown men pass over many things in the letter of the Scriptures, which, to rationally-thinking men, are manifestly not intended to be statements of actual physical facts. But, in the inner sense of the Scriptures, as in the inner sense of the fable, we pass out of the realm of merely outward facts, and see the principles illustrated by the fictitious facts. And, in the inner meaning of the Scriptures, all the apparent harshness of the letter disappears. Where, in the letter, God appears to be angry and partial, and His commands seem to be vindictive and savage, we see, in the spiritual meaning of these pictures, the real truth, that these angry passions are in the hearts and lives of evil men, and that God is no more chargeable with anger, than the sun is chargeable with corruption, be- cause the dead body of a beast decays under its ardent 20 Scripture Symbolism. rays, the same genial rays which give fife to the living beast. And so the truths of the spiritual sense recon- cile all the apparent inconsistencies and discrepancies of the literal sense of the Scriptures. GOD AND MAN. Throughout all the Scriptures, there are, in the inner meaning, references to the coming, the work and the glorification of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Even in the literal sense, there are prophecies of His coming, and the records of His coming, and of His doings. And while, in the literal sense, we may, like the child with the fable, see only the life and doings of a man, yet, in the spiritual sense, we see, within the man, the life of the in-dwelling God, filling, enlightening and moving the outward man of Christ. And, here, iii the spiritual sense, we have the most abundant proofs of the grand- est doctrine of the Scriptures, the doctrine of the Divin- ity of the Humanity of Jesus Christ. In the inward meaning, there are always two themes, the glorification of the Divine Humanity of Jesus Christ, and the re- generation of men. These correspondences of the Scriptures, divinely adapted to the human mind, carry with them a power which no merely human writing can ever exert. For the sincere mind has an intuitive perception that there is a fixed relation between the outward letter and some hidden truths, some inner sense. And in this lies' the great power of the Bible, felt rather than understood. Correspondences bring to us the laws of our two-fold life, toward which the poets have dreamed, and the philosophers have speculated, but which our Lord of infinite love has now restored to us, in revelations ad- dressed to our rational understanding, and' which we Scripture Symbolism. 21 can receive in spiritual freedom. Correspondences link the poetry of life with the actnal facts of life ; and they pour into our open minds the treasures of beauty, without robbing us of life's realities. They fulfil, to our souls, the promise of our Lord, "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine house; and prove Me, now, herewith, saith Je- hovah of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. (Malachi iii. 10.) NOT POETRY ALONE, BUT SCIENCE, ALSO. The law of correspondences is no mere poetry, or fancy ; it is an exact science, as demonstrable as math- ematics, and as clear as the sun-light, to him who hath eyes to see. Nor is a correspondence merely a com- parison ; it is much more than a comparison. A com- parison is merely a human perception of a similarity, in certain circumstances. But correspondence is the Divine law of unalterable relation between the souls of things, and the bodies of those souls. Correspond- ence is founded on the constitution and nature of the things of creation, and on their relation to th^ir Crea- tor. We readily recognize that man, with his inward life, is in certain fixed relations to nature's outward life; for, in one sense, while man was created in the "image of God, nature was created in the image of man. For man is ari epitome of all nature. And in his life he unites the natural and the spiritual. And when we leave this natural world, and enter fully into the life of the spiritual world, we shall still find the law of correspondences ; for there, more than here, all our outward surroundings will be in full cor- respondence with our inward states. And all the in- 22 Scripture Symbolism. habitants of the spiritual world understand the lan- guage of correspondences. It is the one language of human nature, because it is grounded in those things which are common to all human life. Though lost to mankind, in the confusion of the Babel-building of man's sensuous nature, it is restored to him in the world of spiritual realities. Even on earth, when strangers meet, who do not un- derstand each other in spoken language, signs must take the place of words. And these signs are readily understood, because they are correspondences. They give outward expression to that inner language of the mind, of which every man has some intuitive percep- tion. And this is the language of correspondences. And, in the early days, men wrote, not by words, but by signs and pictures, which were correspondences. Correspondences are the materials of the Divine lan- guage in speaking to men. They were the things of the language in which men were versed, in the early days, when "the whole earth was of one language and of one speech." (Gen. xi. i.) Correspondence is the language which shall be re- stored to men, in these days of the Lord's second com- ing, "For then will I turn to the people a pure lan- guage, that they may all call upon the name of Jeho- vah, to serve Him with one consent." (Zeph. iii. 9.) REPRESENTATIVES AND SIGNS. But correspondences must be carefully distinguished from representatives and signs. Correspondence is a relation between an inward cause and its outward effect, between the soul and its body. It is a relation at once complete, certain and unchangeable. For in- stance, we read, "By the Word [Truth] of Jehovah Scripture Symbolism. 23 were the heavens made, and all the hosts of them by the breath of his mouth." (Ps. xxxiii. 6.) Physical land, or earth, is the outbirth and ultimation of the principle of good ; and water is the outbirth and ultima- tion of the principle of truth. And as, in the mind, we have the two great general principles, good and truth, so, in the physical world, we have the two great divisions, land and water. And there is a corespond- ence of land with good, and of water with truth. But a representative bears a different relation to the thing which it represents. For instance, the king of a country, as its official head, represents the Lord ; i. e., he stands before the people, as the Lord's representative in civil government, to administer the laws. But the king does not correspond to the Lord. The relation is not personal, but official. It is not merely the man, but the royalty, which represents the Lord. So, in the Jewish dispensation, the priest officially rtpresented the Lord. So, among the apostles of Jesus Christ, John officially represented love and its works, and Peter rep- resented faith. But they did not correspond to these principles. In one sense, everything that corresponds also represents ; but many things merely represent, and do not correspond. In representatives, an individual man may be considered personally, or as representing his whole house, or his nation ; as with Abraham, Isaac or Jacob. And the representative meaning varies, ac- cording to the way in which the person is taken. There are also signs, or things which indicate, or witness, or confirm, something else. And these things, while they are signs of some particular event, are also correspondences, or representatives, of the priniciples embodied, or illustrated, in and by that event. For in- stance : a heavy, dark cloud is a sign of a storm ; and it 24 Scripture Symbolism. is also a correspondence of that dark state of mind which precedes a stormy outburst of temper. CORRESPONDENCES IN NATURE. "The principles of correspondences are demonstrated in the phenomena of physical nature. What gives to each beast a form adapted to its kind of life? Why is there a close relation between the beast's form, and its character, and its habits? There is a correspondence between its outward form and its inward life. We cannot reasonably say that a beast desires to do certain things, because it has a form adapted to such things ; but influence operates the other way, from within, out- ,ward, and -the beast is given such a form because that form is adapted to the beast's inward form of life. And then the beast knows what to do, by. instinct, that .is, by Jfnowledge within. Instinct is the inflowing of the spiritual world of, causes into the outward world of effects, and according to the capacity of the beast to re- ceive life. Instinct is a mode in which correspond- ence acts, when the indweUing life shapes and impels the external form. Correspondence is not merely with the form, or sub- stance, of a thing, but rather with its use ; as, for in- stance, the heart, because of its use with the blood, corresponds to the will, with its loves. 'origin of correspondences. Correspondences originated in the Lord, in the rela- tion of- His qualities, to the spiritual world, created by Him, .from Himself. And. such correspondences were extended from the, spiritual world into the material world; and, thus the material universe was created by means of correspondences. . Scripture Symbolism,. 25 And the Word of God in its letter was formed by means of correspondences. The Bible was written ac- cording to the law of correspondences, because. that is the law by which the Divine Man speaks to finite man. And it is the law by which the human mind speaks in the world of the body. It is a law which is the same in all ages, and among all peoples, but differently seen and understood by different men, each on his own mental level. Correspondences serve to conjoin the church on earth with the Lord, because the men of the church are in the understanding of truths in the letter of the Scriptures, and these truths are the external recepta- cles of spiritual truths and of Divine truths ; and thus, by means of correspondences, the men of the church may be enlightened to know spiritual truths, and may have their hearts opened to love the Lord, and thus to come into closer relations with Him. ULTIMATIONS. In correspondences we have a relation between a spiritual thing and its natural equivalent, the natural thing in which the spiritual thing is brought out into the material world ; th at is, in which the spiritual thing is materjaii ^pd T ove is materialized in a smile, and anger in a frown. And so, in the material creation, water is one kind of truth, materialized. It is not enough to understand correspondences to mean that water is like truth ; but it should be seen that truth, which is spiritual, comes into the material world, in the form of water. Water is as much a material em- bodiment of truth, as your smile is a material embodi- ment of your love. And so the manna, given to Israel in the wilderness, was spiritual food ultimated, materialized, by the Di- 26 Scripture Symbolism. vine Power, and adapted to the necessities of the case. And so the tables of stone, on which the Ten Com- mandments were written by the finger of God, were of spiritual substances, materialized in the form of stone, by the power of the Lord, operating more rapidly than in ordinary creation of stone. And we can see that the original creation of the material universe must have been by materializing spiritual substances. The ma- terial universe was not made out of nothing, as the grasp of our hand was not made out of nothing ; it was made out of love, materialized. The word "material- ized" is here used in its scientific and philosophic sense, and not in the special sense employed in some of the modern cults. The Bible is the Word of God, holy in every word and syllable of those books which are properly included in the Scriptures. It is plenarily inspired, in every jot and tittle, as it was dictated to the inward ears of the writers, by the Spirit of God. The Word of God is -a revelation from the spiritual world.; and, as such, it reaches downward and outward into the material world, and it forms a mental highway, by which men may spiritually journey to the spiritual world. How do you know what is operating in a man's spirit, but by its corresponding action in his body? And so, in reading the Bible, we -must expect to understand its spiritual meaning through the correspondences exhib- ited in the literal sense. But the Bible is not like a treatise on mathematics, in which you can take any separate statement, and see it to be a scientific fact. .The Bible is not natural science, nor is it formulated doctrine; just as physical nature is not science, nor doctrine; but it is the source whence true doctrine is to be drawn, in the light of intelligent knowledge. The Divine character of the Bible is not Scripture Symbolism. 27 merely in the fact that it was revealed by the Lord, nor in the fact that it is true ; but it is in the fact that it was written in the Divine way, by correspondences.! An absolutely accurate literal history of America, even if dictated by the Lord, would not be a Word of God. The true test, as to which are the genuine and canon- ical books of the Bible, is not to be found in the votes of councils, but in the fact of whether such books were written in the Divine way, with an internal meaning, according to correspondences: The fact is, if we are to receive any real satisfaction from the Bible, it must be read as a record of man's spiritual experience. *' In interpreting correspondences, we must remember that, when we pass into the spiritual sense, the scene is always laid in the mind ; and that all natural ideas of quantity, then pass into spiritual ideas of quality. As to the many wonderful things said, in the Bible, about human life, what are they? Are they merely loose figures of speech, without any definite system, or meaning ? Are they merely idealistic, and not intended to convey any definite principles, applicable to life ? Or are they symbolic and correspondential, and expressed according to general and known laws of human thought, and yielding,' to the open-minded reader, a profound inward and spiritual meaning, applicable to all men, each on his mental level? If these things are indefinite, they exert little influence. If they are merely fanciful, they are not worth our serious atten- tion. But if the letter of the Bible speaks to our nat- ural thought in language which carries within it a spir- itual meaning, which speaks to our spirit, then it car- ries to us a profound message from our Divine Father ; and we have every reason to make an effort to under- stand it, and to appreciate its meaning. 28 Scripture Symi ANCIENTS KNEW CORRESPONDENCES. The most ancient peoples perceived the spiritual counterparts of all material things. But the ancient peoples of a later age, and of less interior genius, knew such things from tradition, and from collected mater- ials handed down to them. And among more degene- rate men, in later ages, correspondences were changed into fables, as in Greece, and into magic in Asia; and finally they were lost. It is known that the ancients were in the habit of writing their secular stories and histories in the form of allegory ; as, for instance, the story of the twelve labors of Hercules, one of which was the cleansing of the enormous Augean stables, in one day, which he ac- complished by turning the course of a river to flow throu'gh the stables. Hercules, or Herakles, "the strong man," represented the sun. And his twelve labors were the works of nature in the twelve months of the year. The stable of Augeus was the earth, especially its northern part. The three thousand oxen in the stable were the clouds,- the cattle which Apollo cared for, in the "sky-meadow." Hercules, cleansing the great stables, by using the river, represented the sun, in spring, clearing ofl: the accumulated winter's snow an-d ice, by turning upon them the great stream of the sun's heat. But, in the Divine allegories of the Scriptures, natural things represent spiritual counterparts, and not merely other natural things. Correspondences account for many things, which otherwise would be regarded as mysteries ; as for in- stance, the teachings of heathen mythology, which, in fact, are the corrupted remains of correspondences, perverted in transmission through ages of degenerating Scripture Symbolism. 29 human conditions. The theory of Transmigration of Souls, by which men are said to become certain beasts, in the future world, is the corrupted form of the ancient doctrine that certain beasts correspond to men of certain qualities of character. When our Lord said of Herod, "Go ye, and tell that fox," (Luke xiii. 32,) He spoke by correspondence, as Herod was exercising the cunning quality which characterizes the fox. The centaur, part man and part horse ; the satyr, part man and part goat;- and the sphynx, part woman and part lioness, all symbolize man, in his double nature, part distinctively human, and part in common with the beasts. The law of correspondences explains the action of intuition in man, and of instinct in beasts. In each case, the inward desire impels the person,- or the beast, to do the thing which corresponds with the de- sire ; the difference being that, in man, as a rational being, intuition is intelligent, while, with the beast, instinct is a blind impulse. LITERAL REFERENCES. Even in the letter of the Scriptures there are refer- ences to the use of correspondences. In Psalm Ixxxviii. 2, 3, it is said: "I will open my mouth in a parable : I will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us." Also in Hosea, xii. 9, 10; 'T, Jehovah, thy God, have also spoken by the prophets, and have mul- tiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets." Reference is made to correspondences, and to the representative character of the letter of the Scriptures, when, in Isaiah xxviii. 2, it is said. 30 Scripture Symbolism. "Vyith stammering lips, and another tongue, will He speak to this people." Our Lord said, "The words that I speak unto you are spirit and are life," (John vi. 63.) And, as this cannot cannot be said of the merely literal words, there must be some other meaning- in them, some inward sense which applies to spiritual things, and to man's experience as a spiritual being. The spiritual sense is not merely a meaning which relates to spiritual things, but it is truth of a spiritual quality, about all things. It is a message spoken from a spiritual standpoint, and addressed to man's spiritual consciousness. The natural-minded man thinks about spiritual things ; but he does not think in spiritual truths, because he is not open to truth on the spiritual plane. Spiritual thoughts are formed in the light of the spirit. When the spirit- ual-minded man reads the Scriptures, his mind does not dwell in the mere letter, but he sees the spirit through the letter, comparatively as we understand each other, not merely according to the words used, but rather to our knowledge of their meaning. For instance, if one calls another a lamb, we do not think of the mere animal, but of the quality of innocence which the lamb represents, and to which it corres- ponds. In Revelation xi. 8, it is said, "the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified." Here is a recog- nition of the difference between natural and spiritual meanings; for, literally, that great city was called Jerusalem, as is evident from the statement that it was "where also our Lord was crucified." But, spirit- ually, Jerusalem was called Sodom and Egypt, be- Scripture Symbolism. 31 cause the character of its people was like the character of the Sodomites and the Egyptians. And Paul, in his Epistle to the Galatians, recognizes the double meaning of the Scriptures, when he says : "Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bond-maid, the other by a free woman. But he who was of the bond-woman, was born after the flesh ; but he of the free woman was by promise ; which things are an allegory ; for these are the two covenants ; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar [Hagar] . For this Agar [Hagar] is Mount Sinai, in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.'' (Gal. iv. 21-26.) Many Christian writers have acknowledged that, in a large part of the Scriptures, the language is figura- tive and symbolic. And many have suggested figura- tive interpretations of certain parts of the Bible text. But they have applied the figurative rrieaning to other material things, thus failing to grasp the great facli that the figurative language of the Bible always re- fers to spiritual things, to mental conditions and phenomena, as the corresponding counterparts ; for correspondence is a' relation existing between an inter- ior and spiritual thing and its outward counterpart in natural things. And so there has been no general system of inter-' pretation suggested, until the principles and facts were made plain to the opened mind of Swedenborg, in order that he might publish them to the world. And this system brings symbolism into the form of an exact science, applicable to all parts of the Scrip- 32 Scripture Symbolism. tures ; and also, in fact, applicable to all the phenomena of the natural world. But, outside of the teachings of the New Jerusalem Church, every interpreter of Bible prophecies offers his own notions of the mean- ing, without any principle of interpretation, and with- out agreement among interpreters. BIBLE NOT GENERALLY UNDERSTOOD. The church claims that the Bible is the Word of God ; and yet there are few who have any satisfactory understanding of the Bible. "And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is learned, say- ing. Read this, I pray thee : and he saith, I can not, for it is sealed. And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying. Read this, I pray thee : and he saith, I am not learned." (Isaiah xxxix. ii, 12.) And these are the conditions in the general church to- day. Many men and women do not expect to under- stand the Bible. Many declare that a large part of the Bible relates to ancient things and conditions, and is not applicable to our modern life. Others assert that the teachings of the Old Testament are "sealed" in ancient Orientalisms, which no one now can inter- pret practically. Intelligence is the capacity to distinguish differ- ences. And intelligence differs, not only in quantity but also in quality. There are differences in kind, be- tween natural intelligence and spiritual intelligeiice. Natural intelligence distinguishes the qualities and quantities of things belonging to our natural life. But spiritual intelligence distinguishes the principles and the phenomena of our spiritual hfe. The merely nat-- ural-minded man does not believe that there is any Scripture Symbolism. 33 difference between natural and spiritual things, because he fails to distinguish any such difference. Paul, the apostle, recognized the fact that "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God ; for they are foolishness unto him ; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth [discerneth] all things." (I Cor. ii. 14, 15.) To the spiritual-minded man, spiritual things are matters of experience. And no sane man will deny the existerice of a world in which he has consciously lived. And when his mental eyes are opened to spiritual things, he says, as did the blind man whose eyes Jesus opened, "Whereas I was blind, now I see." (John ix. 25.) But the natural man, on earth, lives, unconsciously in the spiritual world, as the blind man lives unconsciously in the world of light, and the deaf man in the world of sound; and the color-blind man recognizes no beauty in the rainbow, or in the sunset, or in the gay birds and gorgeous flowers ; and the music-deaf man hears no charm in the harmonies and melodies of the world of music. THE BIBLE SPEAKING PLAINLY. Superficial minds have demanded that the Bible should speak plainly, and say exactly what it means, before it could properly claim Divine character. They say, "If God should speak, He would speak so that every one could understand Him, plainly. If you have to search for the meaning of anything, it can- not be from God." But there are several facts for such persons to remember : first, that God does speak plainly, in the Bible, when He gives man rules of con- duct. The Ten Commandments are plain enough, even in their literal sense. Second, that spiritual 34 Scripture Symbolism. truths are expressed in imagery, so that those men who can not profit by seeing spiritual truths, shall not see them plainly, and sin against them, and thus in- crease their condemnation. It is merciful, in the Lord, to hide the spiritual truth from those who are not yet able to use it without abuse. Third, nothing is plain,' except to the one who is prepared to understand it. To the unscientific savage, the earth is a flat plain, and the sun revolves around the earth. He thinks that these facts are plain, and that any sane man must see and believe them. But the scientific white man knows that the earth is a globe, and that it rotates on its own axis, and also revolves about the sun. And these facts are plain to him, after he has learned them. If the Lord, as a Spirit, wishes to speak to men, He will speak to them' in the same way in which they speak to each other, when they speak as spiritual beings. And when you read what pur Lord says to men, you are to interpret'. His sayings by the same laws which you must use in interpreting the inward meaning of what men say to each other. Although there is a spiritual sense in the Scriptures, we are not to lose sight of. their literal sense, because the letter is the body of the Scriptui-es, and it con- tains the laws of conduct, which apply to" the actions of man's body, which should be in correspondence with his regenerate affections and thoughts. GENERAL LAWS AND CLASSIFICATIONS. In this Science of Correspondences, there are gen- eral laws and classifications, as there are in natural sciences. And for the laws of correspondences we must look to'the constitution of the human mind. God Scripture Symbolism. 35 is a Divine Man : in Him are Divine Love, Divine Wisdom ard Divine Power; or we may say, Divine Good, Divine Truth and Divine Activity. For Love is Goodness, and Wisdom is Truth, and Power is ac- tivity. Love, or Good, is the inmost principle of the Divine Life. And Wisdom, or Truth, is the expres- sion of Love, as Hght is the expression of heat. And Power, or Activity, is the operation of Love, by means of Wisdom, or Truth. All things in the created uni- verse are the products ancl emanations of the Divine Love, operating by means of the Divine Wisdom. Therefore, all things in the outward universe of mat- ter, and in the inward universe of mind, refer to the two great principles of the Divine Life which created them. And man, the highest of creation, is the nearest to the Creator, being made in the image of his Maker; that is, man has a will, receptive of love, or good, from the Divine Love, and an intellect, receptive of Wisdom, or Truth, from the Divine Wisdom. TWO-FOLD ; LOVE AND WISDOM. Hence, the most general division of all correspond- ences is into two great classes, those relating to love, or goodness, and those relating to wisdom, or truth. In the human body, the heart corresponds to the will, with its good, or love; and the lungs correspond to the understanding, with its truth, or wisdom. And the right side of the body refers to the things of love, while the left side refers to the things of wisdom. And so, in the body of the earth, the land corresponds to love, or good, and the water corresponds to truth, or wisdom. Land ancl water are the two great divis- ions of the earth, as love and wisdom are the two great elements in the human mind. Where solids and 36 Scripture Symbolism. fluids are contrasted, solids refer to love, or good, and fluids relate to wisdom, or truth. So, in the animals of the earth, the beasts correspond to our af- fections ; and the birds correspond to our thoughts, our intellectual life. So, in the dimensions of objects, the length represents the measure as to the goodness, and the width represents the measure as to the truth, of the spiritual thing treated of in the inward meaning. For instance, "Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out naif their days" (Ps. iv. 23), means that the life of the wicked man has no spiritual extension to ful- ness, but is dwarfed and cramped. Here we have the means of arranging all things under the two general divisions, relating respectively to good, or love, and to truth, or wisdom. We are thus able to see which department of our spiritual life, the affectional, or the intellectual, is treated of in the spiritual meaning, or correspondence. And so we find the phrases of the Scriptures are very often two-fold ; and, in such cases, one phrase re- lates to the life of man's will, or heart, and the other relates to the life of his understanding, or intellect. For instance, in Psalm (xix. 7-9), "The law of Jeho- vah is perfect, converting the soul ; the testimony of Jehovah is sure, making wise the simple. The pre- cepts of Jehovah are right, rejoicing the heart : the commandm.ent of Jehovah is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of Jehovah is clean, enduring for ever : the judgments of Jehovah are truth ; they are right- eous altogether." Here, in each case, two things are said of each of the objects, or qualities, mentioned. And, in the inward meaning, one assertion, in each case, refers to man's will, or heart, and its affectional life, and the other refers to man's understanding and its intellectual life. For instance, this is very clearly. Scripture Symbolism. 37 seen to be the case in the phrase, "The commandment of Jehovah is pure, enhghtening the eyes," for purity clearly relates to the state of man's heart, and enlight- enment relates to the state of his intellect. And this is the case in thousands of texts in the Scriptures, where the differences are not so plainly shown on the surface, but where study soon displays them, by the law of correspondences. SPIRITUAL AND NATURAL. Secondly. There is another general division of ail things into inward and outward, or spiritual and nat- ural. In man, we have the spirit, as the inward, or spiritual part, and the physical body, as the outward, or natural part. And, in the mind, we have the spirit- ual mind and the natural mind. And, in the body, those organs which are inward correspond to the in- ward principles of man's mind. And, as in the mind, so in the body, the inward organs and parts are the most vital and important. Thus, the heart and lungs, and the brain, are much more vital than the skin. And, in vegetable life, the same rule applies. The inward parts of the fruit are more vital than the outward parts, the skin, the husks, etc. And the inward parts correspond to inward things, in man, while the out- ward parts correspond to outward things. We all recognize this principle, in common conversation, when we say of a thing that is fraudulent, that it is merely an "empty shell," or that it is mere "chaff," that is, an outside without an inside. And thus we have an- other method of arranging correspondences, that is, ac- cording to their conditions and relations, as outward things or inward things, relating to outward or inward life. And this distinction runs throughout the Scrip- tures, in their inward meaning. 38 Scripture Symbolism. THREE-FOLD. NATURAL, SPIRITUAL, CELESTIAL. And thirdly, there is another general division of correspondences into a three-fold arrangement. The Lord is Love, Wisdom and Power, or Good, Truth and Activity, which are the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. So, in everything, there are three principles, the end, the cause and the effect. In man's mental life, love, or good, is the inmost end, from which all thought and action proceed. Wisdom, or truth, is the cause, the middle or intermediate, between the inmost end and the outward effect, or result. As there is, in the Lord, a divine trinity of principles, infinite Love, Wisdom and Power, so, in man, there is a human trin- ity of principles, finite love, wisdom and power, re- ceived from the Lord. In man's inward life, these three principles, love, wisdom and power, or good, truth and activity, bear to each other the relation of end, cause and effect. When our affections are in- terested, our intellect becomes active. Thus there are, in man's life three degrees, three kinds of life ; viz. : the life of love, the life of thought, and the life of outward action ; or we may say, the life of good, the life bf truth, and the life of application, or obedience to law. These three degrees of life are called celestial, spir- itual and natural. Every man begins his life upon the natural plane, or in the natural degree. He does not comprehend the inmost ends of human life, which are in the will, nor the inward causes, which are in the in- tellect ; ■ but he understands only the life of action, which is the life of effects, or results. He does right because he is commanded to do so ; and he regards it as right to obey. As to spiritual things, his mind is Scripture Symbolism. 39 in a state of simplicity. He lives in the outward degree of human life, the natural degree. But another degree of life may be opened within his mind, the degree of truth, in which a man loves truth as truth, and does right because he sees and knows it to be true in principle. He compels himself to do what he knows is true, and should be done. This is a great step beyond the outward degree of life ; for he who loves truth, and works from truth, and for truth, reaches beyond mere natural effects, or results, and comprehends the intermediate things, the causes, on the spiritual plane or degree of life. In his mind, everything is seen from the standpoint of truth. But even this is not the highest, or inmost, degree of human life. Those who, by a highly regenerate life, are prepared for still higher progress, may have the third, the highest, the inmost conscious degree, the celestial degree, opened within their minds. This is the degree of goodness, or of love, as distinguished from truth, or wisdom. In this degree of life, a man rises even beyond the knowledge of- causes, and com- prehends the inmost ends of hUman life, the loves which prompt all his desires, and the desires which lead his mind to spiritual plans, and to outward appli- cation of his plans. In this degree, or on this plane, of life, a man regards everything from the standpoint of good, rather than from that of truth. And good, as a principle, is higher, more interior, than truth. These three degrees are called the discrete degrees ; because they are different, or discrete, from each other, in kind, that is, in quality, and not merely in quantity. Things which differ from each other in quantity are in continuous degrees, degrees which grow into each other, by increase, or shrink, by decrease;, as, for in- stance, light and shade, and heat and cold. 40 Scripture Symbolism. It is readily seen that these three discrete degrees of human Hfe are very different in their experiences. Each degree forms a mental world of its own. The higher degrees include the lower, but the lower does not comprehend the higher; as the man includes the boy, but the boy fails to comprehend the life of the man. The characteristic principle which governs men who are in the celestial degree, the inmost or highest degree, is a supreme love to the Lord, as the Divine Love, or Divine Good. The celestial man loves the principle of good, as the highest principle. He loves to be good, and to do good. But, coming a step downward and outward, the characteristic love of the spiritual man, the man who is in the middle, or spiritual degree of life, is charity, or love to the neighbor. He knows the Lord as the Di- vine Truth. He sees God through his fellow men. He loves the principle of truth, as the highest princi- ple. He loves to be true, and to do what is true. And he compels himself to do so, against his outward in- clinations to the contrary. But the man who is in the lowest, or outmost, degree of human life, the natural degree, sees God as Divine Power, the Almighty ; and he obeys God from a desire to obey what is commanded, without comprehending the celestial ends, or the spiritual causes, of things. His characteristic love is a love of simple obedience. Each man understands the truth which is on his level. God flows into all degrees of man, beginning at the inmost, arid flowing outward, because the inmost is nearest to God, and must first receive His influence. But each man first recognizes the truth when it reaches the plane on which his mind is open and conscious. This is the third way of dividing correspondences, i. e., according to discrete degrees, celestial, spiritual Scripture Symbolism. 41 and natural. In the human mind, we have the three degrees of good, truth and obedience ; or love, wisdom and activity ; or end, cause and effect. And, in the human body, we have the corresponding parts, in the head, the trunk, or main body, and the extremities. In correspondences, the head relates to celestial things, the principle of love, or inmost good ; the trunk, or main body, relates to spiritual things, the principle of truth, or wisdom; and the extremities, the arms and lower limbs, relate to natural things, the principle of obedience, the application of good and truth to the conduct. ILLUSTRATIONS. These distinctions of discrete degrees run through- 'out the Scriptures. See, for instance, the iinage of a man, seen by Nebuchadnezzar, mentioned in Daniel ii. 31-35, and in which different metals are mentioned, because these metals correspond to the different prin- ciples in human life. Gold corresponds to the highest or inmost principle, that of celestial love, or good. Sil- ver corresponds to the principle of truth, in the spirit- ual degree. Brass, iron, and other base metals, corres- pond to the things of the natural, or outmost, degree. And so, in Nebuchadezzar's dream, the head, or high- est part, of the image, was of gold ; the middle part was of silver ; and lower parts of brass and iron. And, on the surface of the earth, high points, mountains,, represent the celestial things of love ; hills represent the spiritual things of truth; and plains and valleys represent the natural things of the mind. And, going up to the vegetable world, we find cor- respondences arranging themselves into the discrete de- 42 Scripture Symbolism. grees. The three plants most frequently mentioned in the Scriptures, especially in connection with each other, are the olive, the grape-vine, and the fig tree. And these are representative trees. The olive, from its na- ture, and from its fruit and its warm oil, corresponds to the celestial things of love. The grape-vine and its fruit correspond to the spiritual things of truth. The fig and its fruit correspond to the natural things of obedience in outward life. And, in the animal creation, the various living things arrange themselves, as correspondences, under the va- rious classes, according to their character. The higher and warm-blooded animals correspond to the higher principles, and the lower and cold-blooded animals cor- respond to the lower and outward things of human life. Good and bad animals correspond to good and bad qualities in men. For instance, the Lord called some men sheep, some goats, some dogs, and some swine. And, to any careful reader, even without a knowledge of the science of correspondences, it is not difficult to gather a general idea of the meaning of these things. The difference between sheep and swine is very evident, and it leads us to recognize the differ- ence between our own mental sheep and swine. All the animals and birds used in the Jewish sacrifices cor- responded to particular principles, in the human mind. And for that reason, the Lord gave many minute direc- tions as to what animals should be used, and how, and when they should be prepared. All these things are arranged under the doctrine of discrete degrees, the three different planes of human life. When the things of the thi'ee great kingdoms of nature, the animals, vegetables and minerals are contrasted, as to their fulness of life, they represent the things of the three Scripture Symbolism. 43 discrete degrees, the celestial, the spiritual and the natural. THRBE-FOLD STATEMENTS IN SCRIPTURES. In the Scriptures, we often find three assertions, or statements, coupled together. In this case, they re- late to these three discrete degrees of man's life. For instance, in Psalm xv. 1-3, "Jehovah, who shall abide in Thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in Thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh right- eousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that back-biteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor, nor bringeth reproach upon his neighbor." In the first verse, there are two parts, relating to man's heart and to his intellect. And, in each of the second and third verses, there are three parts, one relating to good in the heart, one to truth in the intellect, and one to purity in the life. Again, in Psalm Ixxxvi. 16, "Have mercy upon me ; give Thy strength unto Thy servant ; and save the son of Thine handmaid." In Psalm c, there are several. cases of three parts: "Make a joyful noise unto Jehovah, all ye lands. Serve Jeho- vah with gladness : come before His presence with singing." (Verses i, 2.) "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving. Into His courts with praise. Be thankful unto Him, and bless His name." (4) "For Jehovah is good ; His mercy is everlasting; And His truth endureth to all generations." (5) And, in Psalm Ixxvii. 19, "Thy way is in the sea ; Thy path in the great waters ; and Thy footsteps are not known." In Isaiah Ixi. 1-3, it is said : "He hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted. To proclaim liberty to the captives. 44 Scripture Symbolism. And the opening of the prison to them that are bound ; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion ; To give unto them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning." The same distinctions occur in representatives. We read, in Isaiah xlviii. I : "Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, That are called by the name of Israel, And art come forth out of the waters of Judah." Judah and Zion always represent the things of the celestial degree : Israel and Jerusalem represent the things of the spiritual degree ; and Jacob represents the things of the natural degree. In their good feelings, thoughts and actions, they represent these inward things in their order and true life ; but, in their evil feelings, false thoughts, and wicked actions, they re- present the perversion of these inward things. For this is another general point in correspondences, that nearly everything has two sides, good and bad; and its correspondence changes, according to charac- ter. While every useful thing, in its order and life, relates either to goodness, or to truth, the two grand attributes of life from the Lord ; so, in its abuse, or its perversion, or its deadness, everything changes its cor- respondence to the opposite quality. Good, abused and corrupted, becomes evil ; and truth abused and per- verted, becomes falsity. Therefore, the same thing, at one time, and when, in order, and uncorrupted, may be the correspondent of good, and yet, when disorderly and corrupted, it will be the correspondent of evil. As a man may be either good or evil, true or false, accord- ing to his mental condition, so everything in the life and surroundings of a man may be, in correspond- ences, either good or evil, true or false. Scripture Symbolism. 45 APPEARANCES AND REALITIES. Some persons have objected to the idea that the Bible does not always mean what it sa3's, in its most obvious sense. And they infer that, in suggesting further interpretation, we are assigning to the Scrip- tures a peculiar and objectionable character. But, in fact, the Bible does not, in this, differ from other things. For instance, physical nature does not mean what she seems to say, in her most obvious statements. To our natural senses, Nature appears to state, plainly, that the earth is a level plain, and stationary, and that the sun revolves around the earth. But intelligent study reveals the facts of the earth's globular form, and its rotation, and its revolution around the sun. This is the inward story of nature, when read intelli- gently. Nature is not natural science, formulated, but it is the aggregate of phenomena from which natural science can be drawn by competent inquirers. And so, a large part of the letter of the Bible is not formu- lated doctrine, but it is a statement of phenomena from which doctrine can be drawn by competent minds, which "have ears to hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." And, in fact, much of our own language, used in our common intercourse, needs interpreting beyond its most obvious and literal sense. The Bible does not present an ejJceptional case of abrupt departure from the ordinary methods of human communication. On the contrary, in the Bible the Lord speaks to men in accordance with the most profound laws of human life ; laws which are at the very centre of man's being ; laws which control man in all his doings ; laws which are his hidden mainsprings, giving force and direction to ?11 Ms ar-tivities, and operating within all his •cr.'^'i 46 Scripture Symbolism. superficial mental machinery, employed in his outward life. While the unimaginative, matter-of-fact European, and the white American, are regarding the ancients as very odd, because of their love of symbols and repre- sentatives, the great fact is plain to him who has eyes to see, that the man of symbols is the man who knows many things which the literalist does not know : and that the odd man is not the symbolist, but the ignor- ant literalist, who does not understand the methods of Divine revelation ; and who, therefore, is an anomaly in humanity. Look over the field of human literature, and you will find many of the very best and highest things have come to men in the way of imagery, sym- bols and representatives. It was so with the words of Jesus : "And with many such parables spake He the Word unto them, [the multitude] , as they were able to hear. But without a parable spake He not unto them ; and when they were alone He expounded all things to His disciples." (Mk. iv. 33, 34.) The spiritual sense of the Scriptures is what Jesus taught to the two disci- ples, on the way to Emmaus, after His resurrection : "And beginning at Moses, and all the prophets, He expounded unto them, in all the Scriptures, the things concerning Himself." (Lk. xxiv. 27.) CORRESPONDENCES IN PARTICUL.AR — HEAVEN AND EARTH. Heaven and earth are terms which have a well- known literal meaning, and which do not show on the surface, that they have any other meaning than the literal one; and, therefore, they well illustrate the de- velopment of the inner meaning of the Scriptures, even where the literal meaning is clear. The first verse of Scripture Symbolism. 47 the first book of the Bible, Genesis, reads thus : "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth." Here, in the Hteral sense, the apparent subject is the creation of the material universe, the outward heavens and the outward earth. But, if this first chapter of Genesis is merely an account of the geology and phys- ics of the material creation, what bearing has it upon the life of man's soul? And how can its words be "spirit and life?" Mere records of material facts do not teach us spiritual truths. But, remembering that the holy Word of the holy God always inwardly treats of holy things, we shall expect to find, within all these literal statements, certain corresponding spiritttal facts and principles, adapted to the life of our inward spirit. As, in the material creation, there are two great di- visions, the heavens and the earth, the higher and the lower, so, in the world of man's mind, there are two great divisions, the higher mind and the lower mind, the spiritual mind and the natural mind, the inner mind and the outer mind. Or, we may describe them as the two parts of the mind, the inward or spiritual part, which regards the inward things of spiritual life, and the outward or natural part, which looks to the out- ward things of natural life. In correspondences the heavens denote the spiritual mind, that part of man's mind which regards heavenly things; and the earth corresponds to the natural mind, that part which re- gards earthly things. The inward, or spiritual mind of man is his mental heaven, and the outward or nat- ural mind is his mental earth. And with these inward meanings, the terms heaven, or heavens, and earth, as applied to man, are always used in the letter of the- Scriptures. And see what a flood of light this knowl- edge lets in upon the mind. See how much additional meaning we find in the first verse of the first chapter 48 Scripture Symbolism. of Genesis : "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth." God's greatest creation is man, who is the epitome of all the creation, the microcosm, or lit- tle world, the counterpart of the macrocosm, or great world, of the universe. In the beginning of the spirit- ual creation of every man, God creates the spiritual heaven, the inward and spiritual man, or mind, and the spiritual earth, the outward man, or mind. God cre- ates man as a two-fold being, having both inward life and outward life, a life in the heaven of his spiritual mind, and a life in the earth of his natural mind. And also, in full correspondence with these truths, there is an additional spiritual meaning in this first verse of Genesis, a meaning which relate-s to the re- creation, the regeneration, of man, when, by the Divine power, he is lifted out of the deadness of sin. In this sense, the creation of the heaven is the re-generation of the inward mind of man ; and the creation of the earth is the regeneration of his outward mind. In the dead- ness of evil and sin, it is spiritually true that "the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep." (Genesis i. 2.) That is, the natural mind, the mental earth, the earthly part of man's mind, when in sin, is without regenerate form and fulness : it is not spiritually formed ; and it is empty of good and truth ; it is in the darkness of ignor- ance. THE lord's prayer. And in the Lord's Prayer, see how the inward sense adds fulness of meaning to the phrase, "Thy will be done, as in heaven, so also upon the earth." Literally, these words suggest that the will of the Lord should be done, by those persons who remain on earth, as, or in like manner as, it is done by those who are in Scripture Symbolism. 49 heaven; that is, fully and cheerfully. But, a pro- founder meaning- is added to this, when we remember that every man has his individual mental heaven and earth, his inward mind and his outward mind. In his inward mind, he learns and sees the will of the Lord, and knows how to apply it to his life. Then, the prayer teaches him that, as, inwardly he loves and un- derstands the will of the Lord, and does it in his in- ward affections and thoughts, his mental heaven, so he must do it in his mental earth, his outward, natural mind and life. He must bring down, and out, the holy feelings and thoughts of his spirit, and make them control and mould his every-day practical feelings, thoughts and doings, even in the earth of his outward mind and life. And this additional meaning adds great force to the prayer. Practically it shows us how to carry out our prayers. It teaches us to pray, not merely in words, but also in practical life. The relation between the material heavens and the earth, is an exact parallel, and is in exact correspond- ence with the relation between man's spiritual mind and his natural mind. The life of the physical earth comes down from the sun, in the heavens, whose heat and light produce vegetation, and induce the falling of the rain and the dew, and the action of the atmosphere. But all actual fruitfulness of life takes place on the earth, but from the sources of material life which are in and from the heavens. So, in man's mind, all life comes from the spiritual and inward side, from the love and wisdom which are the spiritual heat and light of the Lord's spiritual sun, His Divine love. And yet, although all life comes to man from within and above, by what the Lord pours into a man's spirit, his mental heaven, yet all the actual fruitfulness and progress in man's life must be produced in the earth of his natural 50 Scripture Symbolism. mind and life. For, in his outward life are summed up, and embodied, all the principles of his life; and, hence, our Lord teaches us that men are known by their fruits. TEXTS NOT LITERAL. In reading the Scriptures, we find many things said about the heavens and the earth, which cannot be meant to apply literally to the material heavens and earth, but which can be clearly seen to apply to the inward heavens and earth of man's mind. "The earth trembled, and the heavens dropped." (Judg. v. 4.) "The earth is utterly broken down ; the earth is clean dissolved ; the earth moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be re- moved like a cottage ; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it ; and it shall fall and not rise again." (Isaiah xxiv. 19, 20.) The material earth does not do these things, but the earth of man's natural mind spiritually does these things.. The earth does not transgress, but the natural mind of man does trans- gress. And see how the meaning is shown by the connec- tion : "My people is foolish, they have not known Me ; they are sottish children, and they have none under- staliding; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void ; and the heavens, and they had no light." (Jer. iv. 23.) Here the subject is the con- dition of man's natural mind and life. While in sin, man's natural life is "without form, and void ;" that is, not formed by good, nor filled with truth. And, when the regenerate state of the natural mind is referred to, it is said, "The earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters cover the sea." (Isai, xi. 9.) Scripture Symbolism. 51 "They know not, neither will they understand ; they walk on in darkness : all the foundations of the earth are out of course." (Ps. Ixxxii. 5.) Here, too, the words evidently refer to men's minds. The earth is often called upon to hear the words of the Lord. (See Deut. xxxii. i; Isa. i. 2.) And, in Hosea ii, 21, 22, ■ we read, "Iwill hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth ; and the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil ; and they shall hear Jezreel." So, the earth is commanded to "be |pyful," (Isa. xlix. 13), to "be glad" (Ps. xcvi. 11) ; and the heavens are com- manded to "rejoice" (Rev. xii. 12) ; to "praise" the Lord (Ps. Ixix. 39); to "sing," etc., (Isa. xlix. 13; Rev. xviii. 20). All the destructive storms of lightning, thunder," floods and so forth, which come upon the eai-th, appear to come down from the heavens ; and yet they are the results of the earth's own conditions. The atmosphere- is a part of the earth. So, in the natural mind, all the mental storms which seem to come down to it, are emanations and results of its own disorderly condi- tions. So, for. instance, when, in Gen. vi. 12, it is said, "And God looked upon the earth, and, behold it was corrupt ; for all flesh had corrupted His way upon the earth," we see the direct application. It was not merely the material earth that was corrupt, but it was the nat- ural mind of man which had corrupted, or perverted, God's way, upon the earth. And when, in Genesis iii. 17, we read that God said to Adam, "Cursed is the ground for thy sake," we see that man's inward earth, his natural mind, was cursed by its own evils and falsi- ties. And yet, as the material earth is in correspond- ence with man's natural mind, the evils of men react upon the material earth ; and, in one sense, they curse the earth, 52 Scripture Symbolism. These correspondences show us, also, that many things, in the letter of the Scriptures, about the de- struction of the earth, are not intended to be under- stood as literal facts in natural history, but that they refer to the life of the natural mind of man. When we read, in Matt. xxiv. 35, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away," and, in Rev. xxi. I, '■'And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away ;" it appears that the material heavens and earth shall be destroyed. But,' on the other hand, we read, in Ps. Ixxviii. 69, "He built His sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth, which He hath established for ever;" and in Ps. cxxv. i, "They that trust in Je- hovah shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be re- moved, but abideth forever;" and in Ps. civ. i, 5, "Bless Jehovah, O my soul, . . . who laid the ioundation of the earth, that it should not be removed forever." Here we are met with apparent contradic- tions. But, in the light of correspondences, these con- tradictions disappear. These words of the Lord are correspondential, not literal ; they do not apply to the material earth and heavens, but to the inward earth and heavens of man's mind. In one sense, these shall be destroyed, or changed, by regeneration, when the old states, the unregenerate conditions, of the inward and outward mind pass away, and man's mind is made new in regeneration. Then he receives a new heaven and a new earth, a new condition of his inward, or heavenly mind, and of his outward or natural mind. And yet, in another sense, the inward and outward minds of man are established forever ; their conditions change, their character undergoes an entire change, but they remain. And, in another sense, they abide forever, when they are regenerated, for whatever is re- Scripture Symbolism. 53 generate is in the reception of eternal life from the Lord, and it can not die. Some texts can be applied to the heavens and the earth, both literally and spiritually, but others can be applied to man's inward and mental heaven and earth, only. The earth of which it ig said, in Ps. Ixxxv. 2, "Truth shall spring out of the earth," is not the ma- terial earth, but the natural mind of man, when regen- erate. The heaven of which the Lord said to Nathan- iel, "Hereafter, ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man" (John i. 51), is the heaven of man's regenerate spiritual mind, open to the Lord, and to the ministering angels, and. also open to heavenly truths, which are mental angels, descending from heaven, upon men. The heaven in which the Lord counsels us to lay up treasure (Matt. vi. 19), is the heaven of the regenerate spiritual mind, whose treasures are spiritual and etern- al goodness and truth. And the earth on which He counsels us not to lay up our treasure, is the merely natural mind, whose treasures of knowledge are often corrupted by the moth of natural evil, and the rust of natural falsity, and are stolen away by the thief of self- ishness. The unprofitable servant, who received one talent, and "went and digged in the earth, and hid nis Lord's money," represents, very vividly, the man who, having the knowledge of truth, without the love of truth, the one talent without any other, digs down into the sensuous things of his natural mind and memory, and hides away the Lord's truth, and prevents it from growing and increasing in his mind by application to practical life. (Matt. xxv. 18, 24-30.) When the Lord says, "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth ; I came not to send peace, but a sword," (Matt. X. 34), He teaches us that He came, not to 54 Scripture Symbolism. bring a sensuous peace to the evil natural mind of man, in sin, but to bring the sword of truth against man's natural evils and falsities, and thus to conquer a peace for man's soul. Our Lord says to us, "I have put My words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of Mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou are My people" (Isa. li. i6) ; that is, the Lord will build up our spiritual and natural minds. When the word "heaven" is used as applying to the Lord, rather than to man, it relates, in the inward meaning, to the heavenly principles, the Divine Good and Truth of the Lord. And, as men become regen- erate by the reception of good and truth from the Lord, so the two ways of interpreting the word "heaven" are one, but their application is two-fold, that is, to God, or to men. THE CHURCH. The earth is sometimes named in the Scriptures, to represent the natural mind as to the church on earth, which is built up in the natural mind ; for the state of any man's natural mind, at any time, is the state of the church in his mind. In Genesis ix. 19, it is said, con- cerning Shem, Ham and Japheth, "These are the three sons of Noah ; and of them was the whole earth over- spread." These three sons represent three general doctrines, or systems of doctrine, in the Ancient Church, from which all the particular doctrines in men's minds were derived. LAND AND WATER. The earth, which corresponds to our natural mind, or the natural part of our mind, presents two. grand Scripture Symbolism. 55 divisions, land and water. And, in our natural minds, there are two grand principles, goodness and truth. Land, in general, corresponds to natural goodness, and water. corresponds to natural truth. Therefore, when, in the letter of the Scriptures, land is mentioned as good, or as in order, or as tiseful and productive, it corresponds to natural good, or goodness ; good in the natural mind and life, in harmony with inward good in the soul. But, when land is mentioned as bad land, or in disorder, or abused, or barren, and so forth, it cor- responds to natural good when abused and corrupted into evil; that is, it corresponds to natural evil. And whe.n water is mentioned as pure, clear, living, useful, refreshing or cleansing, it corresponds to nat- ural truth. But when water is mentioned as filthy, or stagnant, or destructive, it corresponds to truth per- verted into falsity ; that is, it denotes natural falsity. In -each case, in reading the inward meaning of the text, we are to regard all the circumstances, conditions and relations, and thus to gather the exact meaning. The land may be in any place, or m any position ; and it may be high, as in mountains, or lower^ as in hills, or level as in plains, or below the level, as in deep val- leys ; and yet its meaning is always some form of the principle of good, or of its perversion into evil. And water may be in small or large quantities, in any loca- tion, or in the form of rain, or dew, or snow, or hail, or other ice; and yet it always corresponds to some form of truth, or of its perversion into falsity. CHARACTERISTICS. To understand the correspondences of land and water, it will be well to view some of their distinctive characteristics. Land and water are entirely distinct and different things. And neither of t-hem can be 56 Scripture Symbolism. changed into the other. And yet each is needed by the other. And so, correspondingly, there is an entire and eternal difference between good and truth ; they are distinctly different things ; and one cannot be changed into the other. And they -should not be confused, in our minds. In physical nature, land is solid and water is fluid. Land upholds water, as its base. So good- ness is the base which upholds truth. Truth, like water, cannot stand alone, but must be based on good, and upheld by good. Yet the land needs the influence of water, especially as rain. So good needs the re- freshing influence of truth. Without truth, the good' would become hard, dry and unproductive. Both land and water support life in its three king- doms, animal, vegetable and mineral. So, natural good is the base, the support, the feedfng-ground of the higher forms of good, the spiritual and celestial, the good of inward truth, and the good of inmost love. And so natural truth is the means of support, the feed- ing-ground, of all forms of truth, scientific, rational, spiritual and celestial. In order that any inward prin- ciple may be made our own, we must have it brought down and out, and fixed in the corresponding feelings and thoughts of our natural minds, and in the corres- ponding deeds and words of our natural life. This is doing our Lord's will, on the earth of our natural mind and life, as we love it, see it, and do it, in the heaven of our spiritual mind. Men live on the land ; and they make journeys over the water, for purposes of communication and traffic. So, natural good is that principle in which men live, on which they build their mental homes ; and truth is also a means of mental communication, and of traffic in the necessities and enjoyments of the mind. Good, like the land,- is firm and fixed ; while truth, like water, Scripture Symbolism. 57 is fluid, easily adapting itself to every position and condition of feeling, thought and action. The things which grow on the land, and in the water, and are used for human food, correspond to the things of good, which feed our heart, or will, with its affections, and the things of truth, which feed our intellect, or under- standing, with its thoughts. On the surface of our earth, water covers about three-fourths of the space, and the land covers one-fourth. And yet, everywhere, the water is upheld by land, at the bottom. And so, contrary to the outward appearance, there is much more land than water. So, before the natural senses of the mind, truth seems to be more abundant, and more far-reaching, than good ; and yet this is an ap- pearance, only ; for, at the bottom of all truth, there is good, holding and upholding the truth. As the water is mainly used for transporting the products of the land, so the chief use of truth is to carry good, so that we may use it in all its forms, and in all our different mental conditions and positions. Water cleanses, puri- fies, and nourishes. Water, by means of its fluid form, penetrates between particles, and carries off the un- cleanness. So truth enters the mind, and, by its adapt- ability to all states of mind, it penetrates the mind, and cleanses it. CLEANSING AND NOURISHING. And, as water cleanses, so it is used in baptism, be- cause the baptism of the body represents the cleansing of the mind and Hfe. To be "born of water" is to be mentally reborn, regenerated, by means of the truth. And to be "born of the spirit" is to be reborn spirit- ually, as to the spirit which we put into our life. The Lord's commandments and precepts of life are the waters which cleanse our natural minds and lives. 58 Scripture Symbolisni.. . Water nourishes animal and vegetable life, by en- tering into objects, and forming a part of them, and refreshing them. So truth, when we mentally drink it, enters into the composition of our minds, and re- freshes and nourishes them. "Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness ; for they shall be filled." (Matt. v. 6.) Every good affection needs to he kept supplied with the refreshing moisture of its corrresponding truth. Water, in its clean state, is transparent, disclosing the forms and colors of the things which are in it. So, natural truth does not possess, in itself, great dis^ tinctness of character, but it adapts itself to, and sur- rounds, the things and circumstances of our life. Water is not organized in form. So, natural truth comes to us in the distinct and individual facts of men- tal life, adapting itself to all our states or conditions, and fitting in, whenever there is an opening. As scenery is most beautiful when it combines both land and water, and thus gives completeness and har- mony in variety, so our mental life-pictures are most beautiful, when, in them, good and truth are harmo- niously blended, giving activity to both the heart and the intellect. In the Scriptures, land and water are very frequently mentioned in their various forms. Land is spoken of as good, or bad, fruitful or barren, a garden or a wil- derness ; and as high, or low, and so forth. Water is spoken of as pure, or filthy, flowing or stagnant, useful or destructive, peaceful or in floods ;• and in rain, dew, snow, or ice and hail ; and as fountains, springs, streams, brooks, rivers, lal