ciples of the GOOD and the TRUE above adverted to, and is in continual connexion with it. As a rule of doctrine therefore it teaches, first and principally, that the LORD and SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST, in His GLORIFIED or DIVINE HUMANITY, is the SUPREME and ONLY GOD, since when this SAVIOUR says, My words are SPIRIT and are LIFE;" and again, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life," John xiv. 6, He must of necessity be understood to mean that He is the SUPREME GOOD and SUPREME TRUTH in indissoluble union. For that He is the SUPREME TRUTH, is evident from His own words, and that He is also the SUPREME GOOD, is equally evident from His calling His words Life, and Himself the Life, inasmuch as the life, on this occasion, as applied by the INCARNATE GOD, must of course involve in it all that is good, merciful, compassionate, and benevolent in the divine mind. But if JESUS CHRIST be indeed the SUPREME GOOD, and SUPREME TRUTH in indissoluble union, then it must follow as a sure and indisputable conclusion, that He is the GREAT and ONLY GOD, otherwise it must be maintained that two divine Beings exist, who are each of them the SUPREME GOOD and SUPREME TRUTH, which is the same thing as to insist that there are two independent Gods; for what is GOD, but the SUPREME GOOD and SUPREME TRUTH?

Having thus then established this essential point of Christian doctrine, and this by an evidence as manifold as it is incontrovertible, which no sophistry of man can elude, because grounded in and confirmed by the sure testimony of the inspired oracles throughout, the enlightened author of the Extracts next proceeds to show, from the same distinction between the GOOD and the TRUE, what that rule of life is, which is obligatory on all Christians, as being alone condusive to purification, regeneration, and final salvation. Nothing can exceed the simplicity and consistency of this rule, except its admirable adaptation to the being for whose use it is intended. For what shall we say is this being, and what is his proper quality and character? Is he not born into evil and error of every kind, loving himself and the world more than GOD and his neighbour, and calling nothing good or true but what tends to confirm him in such polluted love? How then is such a being to be reformed, purified, and finally saved? In other words, how is such a being to be made a lover of GOD and of his neighbour? How, (says the enlightened author of the Extracts,) but by first receiving heavenly truth from the Word of God in his understanding, and by next suffering the light of this truth to conduct him to the purity

of heavenly good in his will, that so he also, like his DIVINE Lord, may attain, in his measure, the conjunction of those two divine principles in his mind and life, and may thus become a living image and likeness of his GREAT CREATOR, as by creation he was intended to be?

Behold here then the short, but sure and infallible rule of life, pointed out in the following extracts, as the direct path to holiness and to bliss! Man, it is there insisted on, can never become either holy or happy, but by conjunction of life and love with the adorable fountain of life and love, the Lord and SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST. "But conjunction of life and love with Jesus Christ implies, first, that man knows what is good and true; and secondly, that he loves it; and thirdly, that from knowledge and love conjoined he performs, or practices it." It is necessary then that every man, who is desirous of obtaining that blessed conjunction, "should in the first place read diligently the Word of God, until his understanding is enlightened by the light of the Eternal Truth, and in the next place should suffer that truth to enter into his will or love, where it changes its name, and becomes the Supreme Good. But with this blessed view it is essentially necessary that he should suffer the truth to make manifest his natural evils, and when they are manifested, that he should enter manfully into the combat against them, otherwise the truth remains alone and unproductive, not being conjoined with its good, inasmuch as good cannot enter until evil is first removed." It is further necessary that he should acknowledge, humbly and gratefully, that all truth and good "are from Jesus Christ alone, and given to man for the blessed purpose of effecting eternal conjunction with that Great and Holy God. And lastly it is necessary, that he should give full and free operation to those heavenly principles, by fulfilling all the duties of his station in life, according to their just and reasonable requirements." Thus it will be seen, that man's justification and salvation "are not of himself but of the Great Saviour, because they are not of faith alone, nor of charity alone, nor of good works alone, but of all united, and not of all united, unless they are also united with Jesus Christ, by the humble and grateful acknowledgment, that all faith, which is of truth, and all charity which is of good, and all good works which are the operation of faith and charity united, are from Him alone, whilst man is merely a receiver of His Divine Spirit and Life, or of His Divine Truth and Good, and co-operates with Him in the formation and fruitfulness of those heavenly principles, by ceasing to do

evil, and learning to do good. Thus, too, it will be further seen how groundless, and therefore how dangerous, "is the modern doctrine of salvation by faith alone, which is the same thing as salvation by knowledge alone without the life of knowledge, or by light in the understanding whilst the will, or love, remains unchanged, and consequently defiled with every uncleanliness and abomination."

Having thus then pointed out the design of the following pages both generally and particularly, it only remains for the translator to make a few remarks on his new translation of the Gospel from the original Greek, and also on the internal sense as it is given in a series. And first, in regard to the translation, the translator thinks it proper here to repeat what he some years ago observed concerning his translation of the Gospel according to Matthew-viz. "that he has endeavoured to make it as literal as possible, consistent with the different idioms of the two languages, and therefore the English reader will not be surprised at finding some deviations in this respect from the common version, especially where a regard to the internal sense made it necessary to adhere closely to the letter of the original. Nevertheless, the translator must still lament the imperfection of his translation, arising in some cases from the want of English terms to express the Greek ones, and in other cases from the undefined and indistinct sense of the English terms, which on that account are inadequate to express the distinct ideas suggested in the original Greek. Secondly, as to the internal sense in a series, the translator has only to add on the occasion, that in giving the internal sense in the present translation, he has thought it his duty to be guided by the enlightened author of the Extracts, so far as his particular views were immediately discoverable, and in every other case to be directed by his general mode of interpreting the Sacred Scriptures. It now only remains for him to offer up his most devout prayers to the GoD of the church, that He will be pleased to give His divine blessing to every part of the following publication, that so it may tend to the building of the walls of His New Jerusalem, and add to the number of its blessed inhabitants, by announcing that the LORD JESUS CHRIST, in His DIVINE HUMANITY, is the true BRIDEGROOM and HUSBAND of the church, the ALPHA and OMEGA, the BEGINNING and the END, the FIRST and the LAST, and that "blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Rev. xxii. 13, 14. AMEN.

ADVERTISEMENT TO THE THIRD EDITION.

In presenting this New Edition to the Public, the Editors have to state, that they have carefully revised the text, collating it with the original Greek; they have also pruned the Exposition of many repetitions, and have added no fewer than 233 new extracts from the voluminous writings of Swedenborg. The Exposition of the Spiritual Sense of this Divine Gospel is, therefore, much more complete than in former editions, and will consequently be more useful to the devout reader who desires to be enlightened and edified by the "Spirit and Life" of the Word of God.

They have likewise prepared and appended an Index of the various terms, subjects and correspondences, which are more or less explained in the Exposition; this, they trust, will prove useful as a means of general as well as special refer

ence.

Manchester, 1853.

**For an explanation of the abreviated titles of the works referred to in the following pages, see page 424,

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO

JOHN.

CHAPTER I.