Page:The Other Life.djvu/112

 ethers and abstract states of the soul, which constitute the orthodox heaven?

The glorious things of the life to come which Paul was only permitted to see and hear. Swedenborg, in the fullness of the Lord's time, has been commanded to reveal. Why should Swedenborg do more than Paul? Why should Paul have seen things which the prophets desired in vain to see? Why should the prophets have discerned the mysteries of God more thoroughly than the patriarchs? Because revelation is a progressive work, advancing slowly from the pearl-white glimmer of its dawn to the golden blaze of its perfect day. All things are not done at once. The seed first; afterward the flower; then the fruit! Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, John, Paul, Swedenborg: each had his distinct mission, an essential part of the whole, and each came or was sent at the right time and in the right place.

Every statement of Swedenborg about the other life can be confirmed from the Bible or derived from scriptural statements by a process of logical induction. It is this which separates him entirely from all the spiritualists of modern times. He is pre-eminently the Christian Seer. His feet are immovably planted upon the Word of God. Therefore his