shortened his arm as to prevent himself from ever afterwards declaring the wonders of His kingdom, or making known the munificent works of His mercy, through the instrumentality of man. Whenever be may do so, we may rest assured that the condition of mankind will be such as to require it; and it is highly probable that one of the ingredients of that condition will be an inclination to reject the truths which wisdom may reveal. Hence the language of the text may be regarded as an appropriate motto to this discourse, the purpose of which is to set forth some of the claims of the Honourable Emanuel Swedenborg to be received as the Herald of the Second Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It may be proper, at the outset, to state why this subject has been selected for the present exposition. In 1810 a society was instituted in London, for the purpose of printing and publishing the theological writings of that distinguished person. This became requisite in consequence of the very large expense that would necessarily be incurred by the publication of upwards of 30 volumes;[1] particularly as there ex-
- ↑ These works may be arranged into four distinct classes, which, for the information of those unacquainted with them, are here adverted to, and the prices affixed.
The First Class is composed of those works which specifically treat of and set forth the doctrines of the New Church. They are the following:—
1. On the New Jerusalem, and its Heavenly Doctrine, 1 vol., 1s.
2. The Four Leading Doctrines of the New Church, consisting of Doctrines concerning The Lord, The Scriptures, Faith, and Life, 1 vol., 4s.6d, and 3s.
3. Brief Exposition of the Doctrine of the New Church, 1 vol.. 1s.
4. The True Christian Religion, or Universal Theology of the New Church, signified by the New Jerusalem in the Revelation, 1 large vol., 86.
The Second Class consists of
1. Arcana Celestia, 12 vols, and index, £3, 18s.
2. Apocalypse Revealed, 2 vols., 12s.
3. Apocalypse Explained, 6 vols., £1, 18s.
The first work in this class is an explanation of Genesis and Exodus: the other two, as their titles indicate, are explanations of the Book of the Revelation: all as to their spiritual sense, the principles of which are lucidly explained in his work on the Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture: also in a chapter on the same subject in the Universal Theology. Although these are the leading subjects of the works of this Class, they occasionally treat of others of a most interesting and extraordinary nature, and contain besides, an explanation of nearly the whole of the Word of the Lord; thus forming the only lucid and truly spiritual exposition of the Holy Scripture that is extant!
