without the spiritual sense, would know what is signified by Aaron's garments of holiness,—by his coat, his cloak, his ephod, the Urim and Thummim, the mitre and other things? Who, without the spiritual sense, would know what is signified by all the things which were enjoined concerning burnt-offerings, sacrifices, meat-offerings and drink-offerings? concerning Sabbaths also, and feasts? The truth is, that not the least thing of these was enjoined which did not signify something relating to the Lord, to heaven and to the church. From these few examples it may be clearly seen that there is a spiritual sense in each and all the particulars of the Word."
Swedenborg does not accord precisely the same degree of authority to all the books of the Bible.
"The books of the Word," he says, "are all those that have an internal sense; and those that have not are not of the Word. The books of the Word in the Old Testament are the five books of Moses, the book of Joshua, the book of Judges, the two books of Samuel, the two books of the Kings, the Psalms of David, the Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, the Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi; and in the New Testament, the four Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and the Apocalypse." {A. C., n. 10,325.)
The Book of Genesis, from its beginning to the call of Abram (chapters i.-xl.), says Swedenborg, was not written by Moses, but is a fragment of an older Scripture; neither are those early chapters matter-of-fact history, but compositions, in the form of history, symbolical of things celestial and spiritual.
"They who do not think beyond the sense of the letter, cannot believe otherwise than that the Creation described in the first and second chapters of Genesis means the creation of the universe; and, that within six days heaven and earth and sea, and things therein, and men in the likeness of God, were created; but who, if he ponder deeply, cannot see, that the creation of the universe is not there meant. Common-sense might teach, that the operations there described were impossible; as, that there were days, and light and darkness, and green
