Page:A brief discussion of some of the claims of the Hon. E. Swedenborg.pdf/15

 the Spirit of God descending like a dove, is believed to be true, without the aid of miracles to confirm it. It is evident that a miracle would not prove a falsehood true: it is equally plain that a thousand miracles would not make a truth more true; the reason is, because there is no necessary connexion between the two things. In these days, the chief of all miracles is the promulgation of theological truth; and this we believe the Lord to have put the world in possession of, through the instrumentality of Swedenborg. No one has yet ever doubted this fact after he has thoroughly investigated the matter!

But what authority is there for supposing that the Lord would vouchsafe additional information to his church and people? There is the authority of the Scriptures. It is no unexampled circumstance for the Lord, during the progress and decline of a dispensation, to raise up persons for the purpose of declaring its corruptions, and restoring information which had been thoughtlessly abandoned. The Jewish economy existed only about the same period that the Christian church has already done; yet how numerous were the prophets which were raised up, at various times, with the express design of correcting its abuses. If the Jews had uniformly acted upon the principle of rejecting, after the death of Moses, all the communications made to them by the prophets, on the ground that no further revelations were to be made, what would have become of a very large proportion of the Bible, and thus of the means of Christian edification? The degeneracy predicted of the Christian church is such, that, whensoever it may arrive, it is plain that a divine interference must take place to preserve it from extinction. Delay would be dangerous to its continuation; and a refusal to rescue it from the embraces of perversion would not agree with the unwearied benevolence of God. Moreover, the statement, that false prophets would arise, will allow of the inference, that a genuine teacher would be provided to counteract their influence by the proclamation of truth. The laws of the divine providence do not allow wickedness to have an uninterrupted sway. To refuse the testimony of Swedenborg, on the ground, that no information is to be granted, beyond that which is now possessed by the church, is an act of inconsideration which will be repudiated by intelligent men.