The Doctrines of the New Church Briefly Explained/Chapter13

by Benjamin Fiske Barrett

 

XIII.—Apparent and Real Truths of Scripture.

The Volume of Revelation, like the volume of nature, abounds in the mere appearances of truth. These are very different from the real truths which underlie such appearances, and which require for their discernment the faithful exercise of our best faculties. The most unreasonable and absurd doctrines find some support from the letter of Scripture interpreted without the light of reason, or in the way the natural man is ever inclined to interpret it. All the numerous errors and corruptions which have crept into the church, have sprung from a too literal interpretation of Scripture, or from neglecting to exercise the reason and understanding, and so failing to discover its spirit, or the deeper meaning which lies wrapped up in the letter. Accordingly Swedenborg—after telling us that there is a correspondence between natural and spiritual things like that between body and soul, and that the Sacred Scripture contains a spiritual as well as a natural sense throughout, which cannot be discerned without the exercise of the rational understanding—says:

"Now since the Word [or Sacred Scripture] is of such a nature, the appearances of truth, which are truths clothed, may be taken for naked truths; and such appearances when confirmed, become falsities. Yet this is done by those who believe themselves to be superior to others in wisdom, when yet they are not wise; for wisdom consists in seeing whether a thing be true before it is confirmed, but not in confirming whatever one pleases. . . . The former is the case with those who love truths and are affected by them because they are truths, and who apply them to the purposes of life. Such persons are enlightened of the Lord, and see truths by the light of truth. "All the heresies which ever did or do still exist in Christendom, have sprung from this circumstance: that men have taken appearances of truth [such as are found in the letter of the Word] for genuine truths, and as such have confirmed them. . . . And when a man has confirmed himself in what is false, it is as if he had sworn to maintain it; especially if self-love or the pride of his own understanding be engaged in its favor." (D. S. S. 91, 92.)

It is known to all who read the Bible, that the dispositions, feelings and passions of unregenerate men, are not unfrequently attributed to God in the letter of Scripture. He is said to be angry, jealous and revengeful; to hate, punish, tempt and cast into hell. And such is the apparent but not the real truth. The real truth is quite the reverse of this appearance. It is, that God is love, mercy and forgiveness, and that He cannot hate or punish any one. The reason that He sometimes appears to be and to do as the letter represents, is because of the anger, hatred, revenge, and the like, in unregenerate hearts; for every one sees God from and according to his own state. His appearance, therefore, is in perfect correspondence with the states of those to whom He essays to reveal Himself. To the supremely selfish heart the Divine Being must ever appear the opposite of what He really is. The appearance is a true appearance, resulting from the opposite state in and from which He is viewed.

We have in the realm of nature many such appearances of truth, which are very different from the real truth. Yet we continue to speak according to the appearance, even after it is known that the language we employ does not express the real but only the apparent truth. For example, we say that the sun rises in the morning and goes down in the evening. Yet we know that this is a fallacy, and that such language, literally interpreted, conveys an idea quite foreign to the real truth. Our reason, along with our knowledge of the solar system, enables us to correct this sensuous appearance, and to see that this apparent upward and downward movement of the sun, is caused by our own and not by the sun's motion—that is, by the diurnal revolution of the earth on its axis.

And the universe is full of such fallacious appearances, which are gradually dissipated as the knowledge of its laws increases. But this can be effected only through the faithful exercise of the reason that God has given us. And why should there not be the same fallacious appearances in the Word as in the works of God?—appearances that can only be dissipated by an increase of spiritual knowledge, or a better understanding of spiritual laws, which may be gained from revelation and the faithful exercise of our higher season.