Page:The New View of Hell.djvu/63

 exalted above men and angels, He is said to be above all the earth, above the heavens, the Most High, etc.

Yes:—The Scripture has everywhere a deeper meaning than that of the letter. It was given, not to teach us natural but spiritual truth. And it is by means of the law or rule of correspondence now revealed, that its true spiritual meaning is to be elicited. Space corresponds to state. And the words high and low, therefore, which in their natural sense refer to opposite regions of space, in their spiritual sense denote opposite mental states—opposite kinds of love. The Lord is spiritually the Most High. Therefore those who draw near to Him spiritually, who become like Him in the spirit and temper of their minds, are spiritually exalted. And because all the angels are images and likenesses of Himself—because they resemble Him in their love, wisdom and works—because their affections, thoughts, motives, purposes are all pure, noble and elevated, therefore they are said to dwell on high; or, what is equivalent, in heaven.

And on the other hand those who are spiritually most remote from the Lord, who are most unlike Him in disposition and character, whose aims are altogether selfish, whose affections, thoughts, motives and actions are low and ignoble, and contrary to the nature of the Divine Love, and who are, therefore, in a state the very opposite to that of the angels, are said to dwell in a low place, beneath the earth; or what is the same, in hell.

I have said, moreover, that the Greek word translated