Page:The Doctrines of the New Church Briefly Explained.djvu/225

Rh. We are inevitably shut up to one or the other of these conclusions.

But we presume not many intelligent people nowadays accept the second theory; for the seer's biography has been written—the latest and most complete, by Benjamin Worcester, because compiled from amplest and authentic documents—and is accessible to all.—And do the passages quoted from his writings in the previous pages of this work, read like the teachings of one who was unable to distinguish facts from fancies?—of one who knew not the difference between subjective states and objective realities?—of one who could not even tell the difference between his own lively fancies, and the sights and sounds that he actually saw and heard? Yet this third theory is the one generally accepted by the philosophers (?) and scientists (?) and reputed sages of our times!—No: The first, which admits the seer's claim and the truth of his diclosures, is clearly the only rational and sensible theory. Admit this, and straightway all difficulties vanish.

Let us look, now, at some of the things which have been revealed through Swedenborg concerning heaven, and see how far these justify the seer's claim. But we can scarcely do more than give mere outline of these sublime revealings.