The Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1822-1829, 1823-08-15
BON ruI fInaIS1As.
TO THE RTv. ROBERT HlnI
IEITIR, 40 N


continuation al my answer 10 y"nr letter
addressed to mt through the medium ol the
Nugint N relative ta!the heavenly dacifues
of ia, New Jerusalem, ~ Tie Lord : New
Chnch I'll fr-t objection which yon
bune against ~ -, thai YOU call yourself
"a, mrmbrr OF the New Jerusalem Church, y
which you suppose wrong, from tho 'den
Nau entertain. that the Holy City, New
Jerusalem, whah John saw descending
from Heaven, was not ia come naiil alter
the destruction Of thr orld by fire; aud,
IA this has not occurred, therefore, The
New Jerusalem has moi descended. But
4au appear willing to.brheve, that this may
he done according 10 0ur views ul the Ia
.prnal sense Of the Notd aud find but one,
stumbling block, which, Al renewed, rs
understand YOU you will agree To our ex
.planation. iou sag, does his Sweden
.bnrg's) internal sense explain the apostle
Peters expressions ~ relation 10 the de
lage Whereby, The world that thenHas
btiug 0tet1uncd with water, peslahed, but
the heavens and The earth which art nov,
by the same word kept ia store, reserved
unto fire against III. day of judgment aud
perdition Ut ungodly msn." Before tins
question Is answered, II would be praperto
enquire what Peter mrant by the world
pershng . the world which then Was p
Tor If that world persisted, then Ris world
came, be hat which hcn ,pas /; and there
must have bren neu creation. Bni you
will hardly agree To this. Then il follows,
that that world WAS moi literally destroyed
Now, if you would here splrltualizc, you
II. l.a
ing the text IN lis literal aeceptatlon. ! Oh
may say, that world signifies The people Of
the world but, il the people make the
world, thea il vas not destroyed by water,
since =" eight souls We're saved Ii, then,
Shr destruction by water, ouly slgniIied the
pcrshng OF certain men, then, rs You say,
the destruction by Gre is parallel case IT
does aot PROVE that his globe OF earth
shall be destroyed but that there shall
come a Judgment aud perdllion upon un-
gudly men. So IA The letter, the text does
not prove what You wish. Bat You ask
fur The Internal sense rs given 10y Sweden
borg This We cannot furnish from the
pen of Our illuminated herald nut we can
81 ourselves, by the hey which tue Lord
has given Us. Water, Ia the true and gen
uine sense OF the word, signifies truth, rs is
manifest by The saying Of Isaiah, lilo
every one that tbifsteth cemc tn the ira-
ffrs :" whereby the thirsty are understood,
those Who desire truths and by The waters,
the truths themselves. 81 The Lord him
self, Who IS the ieofd ~ DIVINE tith, says,
!" whusnetr thfsteth, let him come umo
nc aud drink nul a. true and flsc are
here blended together, 10 every correspon-
denny las an oppuslie meaning. Thus,
water, when taken ~ an opposite sense sig
mites fuses, rs Is evident here, by the Hood
otwattrs destroying, whereas truth SartS
Now, Il WAS by such aood as this, that the
world which Peter speaks Of persisted and
80 complete was the dcluae of Gtses. that
even the ,cotR which the ancient church
were mpossession of, persisted = and Mar
Jo-Hsaiem had afterwards 10 be given 10
Moses. Nov, If we understand Tins, we
see what PeIer meant by The world not
heng reserved unto n drluge Of tedter, but
thai the heavens and the earth were rrser-
'ed unto hre, against the day Of Judgment
aud pctdiuun of ungodiy men, Fire, when
taken ~ d tue or good SENSE, signifies ioue
or chdruy--but VII, IN an opposite SENSE, il
signifies hdfrcd aud evils. The heaven and
The earth signify the internal aud external
OF the church, the day Of Judgment, the
contamination of the az, or state Of that
church and the perditon OF ungndly men,
The destruction of those " hn are aut in Tore
10 the Lord. Now, Tins Is taking place
the old heavens aud The old earth. the
church intraaliy and ,r'e,Ndlty is PERISH.
ing by reason of the want of charity, aud
The IRE OF selfish and worldly lusts is con
Stunning them. Thus we behold the hea-
fehS aud the earth burning; lnot literally,
Tor this eaHant he;) the ii, me truihis,cnmp
second time in spirit 10 Judge the world
aud, aneodly men shall - the end of then
day approaching net BY the rolingnfthe
natural heavens together, and the passing
away OF this material ghhe-uo-bu the
Corruptions of The church must fall. and
then there will be IL aud NO piece for them.
But, beloved be the Lord, this obstruction
comes not by food of eaters ? for the
teord IS not destroyed there Is left foun-
dttion rock for a neH heaven and new
earth--a new internal aud new external
eaureh. This Is the general view given by
the doctrine OF correspondence. As this
tue passage which You imagined could
mol be explained according To the internal
sense by US, you have now, from your lam
6uage, no cause to object To our spiritual
zIng the whole of the circumstances rela-
ting TO the New Jerusalem. But | would
ask yon, what you understand by the New
Jerusalem Is tia literal city, composed
OF houses made vi brick, or stone, orwaod
u 80, truly you must believe what Swe-
"denborgians, so called, are accused of en-.
tertaIningl that there are natural empiog-
meats IN the other world, yea, that it is. a
material state |! ! would ask, now, can
city be said TO be adorned as a bride for
her husband Yea, how can it be called
the bride, the Lambs u}s ? Now, il Won
havrto spiritualize these words, what tight
hA'eJou to take Others literally You