The only other misapplication of Scripture on this part of the subject that we shall here notice, is one of very common occurrence, viz., "May they glorify God in the fires." Here there is an evident allusion to Isaiah xxiv. 15-"Wherefore glorify ye Jehovah in the fires, the name of Jehovah the God of Israel in the isles of the sea." But any person who is in the habit of consulting the Scriptures in the original, ought to know that the word here rendered "fires" is Urim, a term which, in connection with the term Thummim, was applied to the effect produced on the breast-plate of judgment worn by the high priest, by which he was enabled to understand the divine responses. Writers in general inform us that these two words signify lights and perfections; their full import, however, is, we think, much better expressed by Swedenborg, who says, in his explanation of Exod. xxviii. 30-"That hereby is signified the shining forth of Divine Truth from the Lord in ultimates, appears from the signification of the breast-plate of judgment, as denoting Divine Truth shining forth from the Divine Good of the Lord; and from the signification of Urim and Thummim, as denoting light and the shining forth [explendescentia] thence. The reason why the Urim and Thummim denote light and explendescence is, because by the stones in the breastplate the light of heaven shone forth with variety according to the responses which were given by them; therefore also they were of different colours; for the Divine Truth proceeding from the Divine Good of the Lord, appears before the angels as light, hence is all the light of heaven," &c. A. C. n. 9905. In quoting the passage in question in his two works on the Apocalypse, Swedenborg has left the word Urim untranslated; but from the connection in which he quotes the passage, from the explanation he gives of the word isle, and especially from the very luminous remarks which run throughout the n. just quoted from the A. C., there can be no doubt that "he considered it as referring to the promulgation of Divine Truth among the inhabitants of the remote coasts of the sea." (Apoc. Ex. n. 50.) The passage itself, indeed, to the mere English reader, may at once be seen to be perfectly parallel to Isaiah xlii. 4, 10, 12, and therefore to have no reference whatever to the use commonly made of it. ΙΑΚΩΒΟΣ. ON HUMAN FREEDOM. THE following remarks are intended as an attempt to remove a certain difficulty concerning Free Will as it exists, rather than to prove its existence, for proof upon such a subject must indeed be a difficult, if all was to be joy, festivity, and rejoicing; but let the reader remark the ground of this joy and rejoicing,—the people wept for joy: joy for what? Was it for that which "drowns in tears our modern congregations? It was because they heard the words of the LAW,-because they understood the words declared unto them;-thus the joy of the Lord became their strength. The bare reading of this passage shews us how unthinkingly it is turned, by way of accommodation, into a prayer for the sick. Something, too, might be here said on the expression,-"from our midst," but it would swell our remarks to too great an extent to shew that the blessings of the omnipresent God are not sent from certain chapels in certain streets, in any city or town under heaven, but from a far Higher source. Nor is the following forced accommodation of the language of Scripture less liable to objection :66 :- Make all their bed in their sickness." These words are evidently intended as a quotation from Psalm xli. 3., but, as we have just hinted, they are a forced accommodation; for even supposing that they refer to bodily indisposition, which they do not, they contain, as they stand in their connection in the psalm, a positive promise of aid, and not a prayer for it. The whole of this psalm, with the two psalms immediately following, contain a most vivid description of the grievous temptations which the Lord endured in the glorification of his Humanity; and the language of these psalms can be applicable to Christians in general only in as far as they are the subjects of regeneration. They who are acquainted with the copious, the luminous, the unprecedented expositions of this subject, to be found in the writings of Swedenborg, can alone appreciate the precious, the consoling assurance, conveyed in the words referred to, of the divine support in every state of temptation; and perhaps we could not do better than refer the reader to the declaration of the apostle Paul, when speaking of the Lord Jesus as the Great, the High Priest of the Christian profession, a Priest who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; who was in all points tempted like as we are; and who is, in consequence thereof, able to succour them that are tempted. The same apostle told the Corinthians that God would not suffer them to be tempted above that which they were able to bear; but would, with the temptation, also make a way to escape, that they might be able to bear it. We might dilate on this interesting subject to the extent of a goodly volume, but we decidedly prefer a reference to Swedenborg's Summary Exposition of the Internal Sense of the Prophecies, and the Psalms, in which we are informed, in few words, that verses 1 to 4, of Psalm xli. teach, that "he who is in temptations, and thence in affliction, is always supported, and thereby vivified." The only other misapplication of Scripture on this part of the subject that we shall here notice, is one of very common occurrence, viz., "May they glorify God in the fires." Here there is an evident allusion to Isaiah xxiv. 15-"Wherefore glorify ye Jehovah in the fires, the name of Jehovah the God of Israel in the isles of the sea." But any person who is in the habit of consulting the Scriptures in the original, ought to know that the word here rendered "fires" is Urim, a term which, in connection with the term Thummim, was applied to the effect produced on the breast-plate of judgment worn by the high priest, by which he was enabled to understand the divine responses. Writers in general inform us that these two words signify lights and perfections; their full import, however, is, we think, much better expressed by Swedenborg, who says, in his explanation of Exod. xxviii. 30-"That hereby is signified the shining forth of Divine Truth from the Lord in ultimates, appears from the signification of the breast-plate of judgment, as denoting Divine Truth shining forth from the Divine Good of the Lord; and from the signification of Urim and Thummim, as denoting light and the shining forth [explendescentia] thence. The reason why the Urim and Thummim denote light and explendescence is, because by the stones in the breastplate the light of heaven shone forth with variety according to the responses which were given by them; therefore also they were of different colours; for the Divine Truth proceeding from the Divine Good of the Lord, appears before the angels as light, hence is all the light of heaven," &c. A. C. n. 9905. In quoting the passage in question in his two works on the Apocalypse, Swedenborg has left the word Urim untranslated; but from the connection in which he quotes the passage, from the explanation he gives of the word isle, and especially from the very luminous remarks which run throughout the n. just quoted from the A. C., there can be no doubt that "he considered it as referring to the promulgation of Divine Truth among the inhabitants of the remote coasts of the sea." (Apoc. Ex. n. 50.) The passage itself, indeed, to the mere English reader, may at once be seen to be perfectly parallel to Isaiah xlii. 4, 10, 12, and therefore to have no reference whatever to the use commonly made of it. ΙΑΚΩΒΟΣ. ON HUMAN FREEDOM. THE following remarks are intended as an attempt to remove a certain difficulty concerning Free Will as it exists, rather than to prove its existence, for proof upon such a subject must indeed be a difficult, if not impossible task; since it is one of those truths which rest more immediately upon internal than upon external evidence, and every attempt to accommodate it to the intellectual apprehension will, as a consequence, render complex and obscure that which is distinctly felt and practically acknowledged by every man, independently of outward demonstration. Human Freedom is the capability of choosing and acting freely, and is an effect of the presence of the immediate influx of life into man. Man is a recipient of two kinds of life-immediate and mediate. By immediate life he is formed in the womb, brought up to maturity, and will be continued in existence for ever. It is the source of all involuntary motion, and from it also the voluntary powers exist, viz., willing, thinking, speaking, and acting. Over this life man has no control; it enters without his consciousness or concurrence, being a continuation of that power by which he was brought into existence, and by virtue of which he must live for ever. Mediate life is received through attendant spirits, and is the source of that voluntary life over which man has control, consisting of all the affections and thoughts which are brought involuntarily to his perceptions. These are the real objects of his choice, concerning which he is engaged while concealed from the gaze of the world, and when admitted into the will, become his voluntary life. Man cannot prevent the presence of these things, but he can prevent their entrance into his will and life; for all things of mediate life are without, and though present, make no part of the man until he voluntarily gives them admission. They are as distinct from him as are the other external things around him, and equally with them are indispensable to his existence. Thus, in order to the exercise of his will, it is necessary there should be objects to be willed-on the one hand, he cannot exist without objects of choice, and on the other, he cannot exist without choosing-they are the very activities of his life; before he has chosen, they are activities out of himself-after he has chosen, they become activities in himself, in his mind, and in his life, giving quality to the one, and constituting the character of the other. Thus mediate life, before it enters man's voluntary part, consists of the objects of choice; but after it has been willed and received by the voluntary part, it is identified with him, and becomes his voluntary life. Besides immediate and mediate life, and a form or receptacle into which they can flow, it is necessary to the existence of free will, that there should be powers of acting, means of acting, and objects to which those powers should be directed, and on which they should terminate, The powers are those of willing, thinking, and acting, which, as already stated, are inherent in the human form by virtue of the immediate influx of life, and are made conscious existences by conjunction with external objects. Means are of two kinds-internal and external: internal means consist of the truths received through instruction, and the acquired principle in general-these are active, especially with regard to the objects of choice, as presented by associate spirits, both good and evil, and in their aggregate constitute mediate life. Internal means are those by which the qualities of things are perceived, and enable man rationally to choose between them; thus they are the real means by which human freedom operates. External means may be properly called the means of acting, for they have nothing to do with the choice of principles, but only with the objects through which those principles can be brought into effect-thus the internal are the means of choosing, and the external are the means of acting. Of course free-will must not be understood as unlimited or absolute freedom. It has already been defined as "the capability of choosing and acting freely," and when applied to any creature, thus to man, it merely indicates that capability co-equal with his powers and means. Absolute freedom can, therefore, have reference only to the infinite and human freedom as necessarily limited to human powers and human means. Now the difficulty to which we alluded at the outset, is the appearance that man is sometimes led or impelled irresistibly to the performance of particular actions, either good or evil. For instance, he is at one time strongly inclined to the practice of evil, and appears to possess scarcely any power to resist, while at another time he feels a pleasure in the practice of goodness, with scarcely any inclination to evil. Experiencing these different states, some are led to suppose that they are overruled by an unseen agency, or that their feelings and thoughts, prompted and guided by external circumstances, are the involuntary sources of their actions. That man is at one time disposed towards the practice of evil, and at another towards good, is a truth which, perhaps, all can testify; but it will easily appear that this constitutes an argument rather in favour of, than, as has been supposed, in opposition to the freedom of the human soul. Every act of the will is internal, and consists in the determination towards good or evil, whether that determination be embodied in deed or not, and it is cherished in thought and affection until it becomes confirmed. This chosen object becomes at once the ruling principle, both |