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“the truth relative to the spiritual world, it is because God enabled him "to do it. It is a truth entirely transcending the reach of the native "faculties of man; and it is a truth imparted not for his own sake, but "for the common benefit of the race. It was designed for propagation. "It must be proclaimed in order to be available to the ends for which it was given. If, then, this truth has come to me, and throned itself in "the central convictions of my soul, it brings with it the most sacred obligations on the score of announcing it to the world. The trust is "holy, and through the grace of Heaven I hope to prove faithful to it. "The Relations which I propose to give are taken principally from the Arcana Calestia. These are indeed most of them, for substance, embodied in the "Heaven and Hell" of Swedenborg, but they are "found in more minute detail in the Arcana. Their truth can only be "made apparent by their intrinsic character, and their character must be thoroughly studied in order to be understood. I shall not, therefore, "waste time in the attempt to make out the proof of Swedenborg's mis"sion by a labored array of external testimony. The truth of the mission "is to be established by the truth of the message, and by that only. It would be easy indeed to cite a multitude of outward considerations strongly corroborative, though not demonstrative, of the grand claim. "For demonstration we must rely upon internal evidence, and this can "be duly appreciated only by a somewhat extensive converse with the system as a whole. Resting upon a truly philosophical basis of "psychology, every part is so intimately connected and blended with "every other part, that an adequate view of the whole is indispensable "to a just estimate of the minor portions. Taken up by fragments, it "must appear broken, incoherent, and frequently absurd. Surveyed "entire, it is consistent, harmonious, and grand beyond description.

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It is proper however to remark, that these relations are usually "given by way of illustration of some important doctrine or truth which he had previously treated in a more abstract and didactic form. In Swedenborg's own estimate, the development of the Internal Sense of "the Word, as the grand instrumentality for promoting the ends of the Divine Wisdom and Love in the regeneration and the salvation of men, formed the paramount purpose of his illumination. The relations accordingly are entirely subservient to this. They are not given simply "to minister to curiosity, but as the realization of great moral truths. It is only in this aspect that they can be adequately appreciated." Here the Professor states a number of subjects, chiefly from the Arcana Calestia, from which extracts will be given.

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"The above (he continues) are a few of the many momentous points on

" which Swedenborg professes to give information to the world-informa"tion divinely imparted and infallibly certain. The inquiry will indeed

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spontaneously arise, whether the alleged revelations are anything more than the mere embodied visionings of a disordered brain. Our answer is, Read and weigh-consult consciousness and give scope to reasonand the conviction will bear down with overwhelming force, that if "man's nature here be what we know it is, his state hereafter must be "what Swedenborg says it will be. The profoundest philosophy lies at "the basis of all his revelations. Miracles might compel attention, but "Truth must shine in upon the soul by its own light. To be led rationally and in freedom' in matters of religion, is the grand pre'rogative of man. Upon no subject is Swedenborg more emphatic than "in regard to the intrinsic insufficiency of mere visions, revelations, and converse with the dead, to work a regenerating change in the human "mind. He therefore says in effect, 'Do not believe me simply because "I have seen Heaven and Hell-have discoursed with angels-and been admitted to the precincts of the Divine Presence. Believe me 'because I tell you what your consciousness and intuitions will tell you, ""if you listen calmly to their voice. Enter into the sanctuary of your 'own soul. You will there recognise the principles which, from their 'very nature, must result in just such eternal actualities as I disclose ""to you. I have been permitted to behold the realizations simply in "'order that light might be reflected more powerfully back upon the ele“mental principles out of which they spring. The objective has been “‘to me a handmaid to the subjective. If you do not see the truth of "my developments authenticated by the oracles of your own mind, “'reject them. I have no miracles to offer as proof, and if I had they "'would be unavailing, in the lack of internal evidence.'

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"Such is the virtual claim of Emanuel Swedenborg. Can anything "be more fair, more meet, more rational! Is he not entitled to a hearing? Granting once the possibility of the disclosure in any case, " is it not reasonable to weigh its evidence in his case? Does not the "counsel of the scribes in regard to Paul indicate the true line of policy "in respect to the Swedish seer: 'We find no evil in this man; but if "‘a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God.""

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THE PARTING AND MEETING AGAIN OF FOUR OF THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES.

SIR,

To the Editor of the INTELLECTUAL REPOSITORY.

I am aware that the strangeness of the title which I have chosen for the following remarks must sound harshly on the ear of any one accustomed to read the pages of the Intellectual Repository, and especially on the ear of the man who is acquainted with, and can duly appreciate, the inimitable and invaluable writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. Startling and incongruous, however, as it may seem, it is no invention of mine; nor is it any distorted representation of the opinions of those who differ from me on the great and fundamental truths of the unity and immutability of Jehovah, but the openly declared and reiterated opinion of doctors of modern divinity, as the sequel will make manifest.

Whatever may be said in defence of the popular system of belief, no one, we presume, who is really acquainted with it, will venture to assert that it maintains either the unity or the immutability of God, except in words only; for it divides the Deity into three separate and distinct divinities, and represents the attributes of these three as having been, once at least, and that too for a period of four thousand years, at variance with each other.

Who that has for any length of time listened to an orthodox preacher, or that has read an evangelical sermon, can be ignorant of the favourite expression which passes current as the language of inspiration, viz., “That he might be Just, and yet the Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus"? People in general suppose that these are the words of the Apostle Paul in his epistle to the Romans; (chap. iii. 26.) but let any one consult any version of that epistle, and he will soon discover this reading to be a most unwarrantable and vicious interpolation, the only tendency of which is to support the idea conveyed by the title prefixed to the present article.*

Accustomed as my eye and ear have long been to this perversion of the language of the Apostle Paul, its grating effects are still as harsh and discordant to me as was the sound of the trumpet to young Mozart. I can only excuse it on the ground of that easy negligence which leads one man to say after" another, instead of thinking and saying from

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* See a series of able papers on the Protestant doctrine of Justification, in the Intellectual Repository" for 1828, commencing at page 79.

the authority of which he may always avail himself by having recourse to his Greek New Testament, or, as in the present case, to the English version alone.

In a former paper I took occasion to shew how little genuine information the Biblical student is likely to obtain from the most elaborate productions of modern critics, who avail themselves of the labours of their predecessors or of their cotemporaries, at the expense of original investigation; with the same intent I beg to submit to your readers another quotation from the notes which accompany the text of Dr. Bloomfield's Greek Testament. On the passage above referred to (Rom. iii. 26.) Dr. B. thus writes:

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On the exact sense of dikalov, no little difference of opinion exists. Some interpret it merciful; others, 'faithful to his promise.' But, however these two significations, especially the latter, may be permitted by the usus loquendi, yet neither is here allowed by the context and the course of reasoning. It is therefore better to retain the sense commonly assigned, Just; meaning, that he might be (i. e. appeared to be) Just in requiring this satisfaction for our sins, and yet be the Justifier,' &c.; perhaps said in contrast with the idea of God under the Law, where (as Bengel remarks) he is represented as Just and Justly condemning; while under the Gospel he is Just and the Justifier, or Absolver, &c. In the clause is rò elvai-'Inσoû, the apostle (says Stuart) looks back to the whole sentiment proposed in verses 21-24; which is, that all men are sinners, and that a regard merely to the Law, i. e. a sense of Justice merely on the part of God, or he being dikatos merely, does not in itself permit Justification by overlooking or setting aside the penalty of the Law; but the death of Christ is an expedient of infinite wisdom, by which the full claims of the Law may be admitted, and yet the penalty avoided, because a moral compensation or equivalent has been provided, by the suffering of him who died in the sinner's stead.' Thus the satisfaction of the Redeemer has made the exercise of God's mercy consistent with his justice. And so, with reference to the four Divine attributes parted at the fall of man, having met at the birth of Christ, it is said (Psalm lxxxv. 10), "Mercy and Truth are met together; Righteousness and Peace have kissed each other."

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In the above quotation we have presented for our contemplation, in a condensed form, the very marrow of modern divinity," and the picture is truly a painful one for the mind to dwell upon for one moment. Were it not that we have it actually before our eyes, it would be difficult to persuade us that men who have passed through the rigorous course of a University education; men skilled in the ancient and modern

languages; men who have, we doubt not, demonstrated the most difficult problems in mathematical science; men who consider themselves qualified to decide on the correct rendering of the sacred text, and are so considered by others, should string together such a mass of absurdities, call them the Gospel, and tell men that they reject them at the peril of their salvation.

Dr. Bloomfield thinks that the meaning of dikalos (Just) is neither "merciful" nor "faithful to his promise," such signification being disallowed by the context and the course of reasoning; he prefers retaining the sense commonly assigned Just;—meaning that he might be (i. e appear to be) Just in requiring this satisfaction for our sins, and yet (still, or notwithstanding) be the Justifier, &c. The reader need scarcely be told that the conjunction yet, which is here put into the Apostle's lips by his learned commentators, is used by them in what grammarians call the adversative sense. To this meaning Dr. B. is inclined to give the preference on the authority of Bengel, who, with himself, seems to find a perfect contrast between the conduct of God under the old dispensation, and his conduct under the new. Under the Law God was Just, and Justly condemning; but the state of things is now changed. God is no longer Just and Justly condemning, but, on the contrary, Just and the Justifier or Absolver. If such language does not fairly and unequivocally imply mutability in Him who is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever," we confess we do not know what it means.

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To substantiate his opinion, Dr. B. calls in the aid of Professor Moses Stuart, of America, who, we find from the preface to the third edition of the Greek New Testament, superintended an extensive stereotype reprint of the second edition of that work. And what is the testimony of the Transatlantic Professor? It is this:-"The Apostle looks back to the sentiment that all men are sinners, and that a regard merely to the Law, i. e. a sense of Justice merely on the part of God, or he being Just merely, does not in itself permit Justification by overlooking or setting aside the penalty of the Law." The term " merely" is evidently here used by Professor Stuart to intimate that if God is simply or only Just, that is, only good, such goodness does not, in itself, admit of or permit Justification to take place; something else is necessary,—something more than mere goodness on the part of God; something above and beyond all Law, as some have expressed it ;they might with equal truth have said,-something out of, something contrary to, all Divine order.

Here let the reader take breath for a few moments; he has got into

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