Page:The Doctrines of the New Church Briefly Explained.djvu/128

 122 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