Page:Swedenborg, Harbinger of the New Age of the Christian Church.djvu/189

 the orderly, gradual course of the Divine providence. Twelve years were devoted by Swedenborg to writing and publishing what was revealed to him in the Scriptures, before the judgment in the world of spirits was seen by him to come to its fulfilment.

Though assured of the Divine sanction and aid in the office intrusted to him, Swedenborg entered upon the task in natural and scientific manner. He procured the best editions of the Scriptures in the original languages, studied them diligently from beginning to end time after time, and then began making short notes—Adversaria—much as do ordinary commentators, together with several Biblical indexes for future use. All this was preliminary study, not for print, occupying nearly two years. In 1747 he was ready for the service required of him and prepared for the press the first volume of his Arcana Cœlestia, in which he unfolds verse by verse the internal content of the first fifteen chapters of Genesis. This was the beginning of the fulfilment of his mission, the nature of which is set forth in the introduction to the volume:—

"I. That the Word of the Old Testament