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The WORD of God has existed from eternity, and in duration is coeval with God himself. It was first made visible in the works of creation, and afterwards transcribed, from that great copy, by the Science of Correspondences, and reduced to the form and system in which we now possess it.

This wonderful science was well known to the most ancient Church, viz. [Adam] who, thereby, could converse with their Maker; but its knowledge was gradually lost and forgotten as this Church fell from the celestial state in which it originally stood. It was still however known to a pious few; was handed down and preserved in the family [or church] of Noah, and thereby reserved from the universal deluge of wickedness and ignorance which at that time pervaded the world. It was known to Moses, David, and the prophets; and was thus retained in the Israelitish Church until the time of our Saviour's appearance on earth. The gospels and Apocalypse were also written on the same wonderful plan; and St. Paul particularly alludes to it where he says, "the visible things of HIM from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead.”

On this subject a learned and celebrated author has observed, that "Correspondence was a subject most familiar to the men of the most ancient times, who esteemed it the SCIENCE OF SCIENCES, and cultivated it so universally, that all their books and tracts were written by Correspondences. The book of Job, which was a book of the ancient Church, is full of Correspondences. The hieroglyphics of the Egyptians, and the fabulous stories of antiquity, were founded on the same science; all the ancient Churches were Churches representative of spiritual things; their ceremonies, and even their statutes, which were rules for the institution of their worship, consisted of mere Correspondences; in like manner every thing in the Israelitish Church, their burnt-offerings, sacrifices, meat-offerings, and drink-offerings, with all the particulars belonging to each, were Correspondences; so also was the tabernacle, with all things contained in it; and likewise their festivals, as the feast of the unleavened bread, the feast of tabernacles, the feast of the first-fruits; also, the priesthood of Aaron and the Levites, and the garments of their holiness; and besides the things above mentioned, all their statutes and judgments, relating to worship and life, were Correspondences. Now, forasmuch as Divine things fix their existence, in outward nature, in Correspondences, therefore

THE WORD OF THE LORD was written by mere Correspondences ; and for the same reason, the Lord, in consequence of speaking from the Divinity, spake by Correspondences; for whatever proceedeth from the Divinity, when it comes into outward nature, manifests itself in such outward things as correspond with what is Divine, which outward things become then the repositories of Divine things, otherwise called celestial and spiritual, that lie contained within them in a hidden and mysterious manner.

"The men of the most ancient Church, which was before the food, were of a nature and genius so Heavenly, that they conversed with angels, and they had the power of holding such converse by means of Correspondences; consequently, the state of their wisdom was such, that the visible objects of this world suggested, not only natural, but also spiritual thoughts and ideas, whereby they had conjunction with the angels of Heaven. ENOCH, who is spoken of in Genesis 5. 21 to 24, together with others connected with him, collected Correspondences from their relation of them, and transmitted the science thereof to posterity, in consequence of which, the Science of Correspondences was not only known, but also cultivated in many kingdoms of Asia, particularly in the Land of Canaan, Egypt, Assyria, Chaldea, Syria, Arabia, in Tyre, Zidon, and Nineveh, and from thence it was conveyed into Greece, where it was changed into fable, as may appear from the works of the most ancient writers in that country.'

How often is it asked by the careless and profane-" Wherein does the word of God differ from the word of man; or wherein does the greatest portion of the Bible differ from a mere human history?" The Science of Correspondences answers this question. Every chapter, verse, and word, in the inspired writings, contains a divine figure, full of spiritual meaning, and relating to subjects altogether distinct and different from those embraced in the letter; and while it gives a history of events which have actually taken place on earth, it gives also, at the same time, a history of things in the spiritual world, or in the soul of man.

The writings of Homer, and other Greek poets, and the whole heathen mythology, were founded on this perversion of the science we are treating of. The same observation will also apply to the vedas and mythology of the East. We shall, hereafter, have occasion to take notice of many instances in ancient literature that will tend to confirm this assertion; particularly sug as Hercules strangling the serpent, cleansing the polluted stables, &c.

The letter of the Word of God, may be compared to a beautiful casket; the spirit within it, to a precious jewel which this casket contains; and the Science of Correspondences, to the key which unlocks it. This science is regular, invariable, and immutable as its author. Pious and wise men, in these latter days, have been enabled, by divine assistance, to reduce it to a beautiful embodied system, and it is now published for the benefit of mankind, in the form of a Dictionary; in which the several words and sentences contained in the holy pages, are arranged in alphabetical order, and their internal or spiritual signification affixed to each. The title of this work is as follows: "A new and comprehensive Dictionary of Correspondences, Representatives, and Significatives, contained in the Word of the Lord; arranged under distinct heads, with proper references; including a full explanation of each Article, or Subject, with the Reason, Cause, and Ground of its Signification. The whole being an Infallible Key to the Internal Sense of the Holy Word, and an Universal System of Evangelical Theology."

It is our intention to introduce this Dictionary, by convenient portions, into this Magazine, when our readers will have a fair opportunity of judging of its merit, truth, and utility, and be enabled, with the utmost ease and facility, to unlock the most difficult passage in the inspired writings, and behold the wonderful connexion, consistency, and beauty, contained in its internal or spiritual sense. In the letter there are some appearances of contradiction. Not so in the spirit: there may be seen a regular chain or series, the harmony and beauty of which it is impossible to describe all relating to spiritual things, the internals of the Church in general, and the regeneration of the soul of man as an individual.

But, previous to commencing the publication of the Dictionary, we shall, by way of introduction to so singular, extensive, and important a work, endeavor to give our readers a clear, just, and comprehensive idea of the Science of Correspondences, which it is expressly intended to explain and demonstrate, and according to the laws and rules whereof it is uniformly written. After which, we shall make such observations on the execution and utility of the work, as shall appear best adapted to render the whole as acceptable as possible.

What is meant by Correspondence between heavenly and earthly things is scarcely known at this time, and that through various causes; but principally, because man has so far alienated himself VOL. I. No. 1.

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from Heaven by the love of self and the world: and they who give themselves up to these, direct all their views and pursuits to worldly. things, as more agreeable to nature and their external senses, without attending to those that are spiritual, and suited to the entertainment of the mind and inner senses; wherefore they reject these, calling them abstruse, and too high for them. But the ancients were otherwise minded, for they accounted the knowledge of Correspondences as the most exalted of all sciences, as the fountain from whence they drew their understanding and wisdom; and as to those who were of the Church of God, it was by means hereof that they held communication with Heaven, for the knowledge of Correspondences is the knowledge of angels. The most ancient formed their minds by the doctrines and laws of Correspondence, and thought according thereto, like the angels, and conversed with them; and hence it was, that the Lord often vouchsafed to appear to them, and give them divine instructions. But this kind of knowledge is so far lost among us at this day, that it is scarcely any longer known by the term Correspondence as here used. Nevertheless, without some knowledge of what is meant by Correspondence, nothing relating to the spiritual world can clearly be under`stood, neither concerning its influx into the natural world, nor of the distinction between what is spiritual and what is natural, nor yet any thing with clearness of the spirit of man, called the soul and its operation on the body; nor, lastly, of the state of man after death.

Now the whole natural world corresponds to the spiritual world, both in the whole, and likewise in its several parts; and what exists and subsists in the natural from the spiritual, is called Correspondence; now the whole natural world exists and subsists from the spiritual, as an effect from its efficient cause: therefore there is a correspondent relation between them. By the natural world is meant the whole expanse under the sun, and whatever therein receives light and heat from it, belongs to that world; by the spiritual world is meant Heaven, and all that is therein.

As man is an image both of Heaven and of this world, in the least form, therefore he stands here both in the spiritual and natural world; the things within [those of the mind and spirit] which respect the intellect and will, constitute his spiritual world; but those of the body, which respect his external senses and actions, constitute his natural world: whatsoever therefore in his natural world, [or body, senses, and actions] derives its existence from his spiri

tual world, [or mind, intellect, and will] that is called correspondent.

This doctrine is exemplified in the human countenance; thus, in the face of any one who is not practised in the art of dissimulation, we may read the affections and passions of his mind, as in their type or natural form; hence it is common to say, that the face is the index of the mind, or in other words, the spiritual world of such, or such a one, is conspicuous in his natural world. In like manner, the things of the intellect are represented in the speech; and those of the will, in the gestures and movements of the body: now, all that is thus expressed in the body, whether by the face, speech, or gesture, is called Correspondence.

Hence may be understood, what is meant by the internal, and what by the external man, and that the former is called the spiritual, and the latter the natural man; and also, that the one is as distinct from the other as Heaven is from this world; and, moreover, that all that is formed in, or done by the latter, is from the former.

The universal Heaven resembles one man, or is in a human form, and is so called the grand [or greatest] man, from the divine hu man of the Lord, who is the All in All of Heaven and the Church; and the angelical societies, of which Heaven consists, have accord-ingly their order and situation like the members, organs and viscera of the human body, so that some of them occupy the place of the head; some that of the breast; others that of the arms, and ⚫thers also different parts of these; consequently, such societies as are in any particular member there, correspond to the like member in man here: as, for example, they who are in the head there correspond to the head in man here; they who are in the breast, to the breast; they who are in the arms, to the arms, and so of the rest. It is from this Correspondence that man subsists, his sube sistence, or continued existence, being from Heaven only.

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