Dear Editor:
Because of the increasing materialism of modern thought, we have lost the desire and the ability to know what spiritual good is and what is its truth!And that there are still more innumerable species or genera of good and truth and also that they are conjoined with each other by degrees as it were of consanguinity and affinity.
Another reason for the increasing materialism of our time is that this is one reason why few understand anything about the spiritual sense of “The Word”, which can be the opposite of the literal sense of “The Word”.
Everything that happens is said to result from the Lord’s foresight and providence. There are no accidents!
Even in a literal sense where Esau’s threat against his brother’s life and the consequent necessity of sending Jacob away (which must have been hard for Rebekah and Isaac to bear) were actually the only means for bringing about the ultimate reconciliation of Jacob and Esau and the perpetuation of the line of Abraham in The Land of Canaan.
This is why to some many things in “The Word” seem difficult to understand and this is why it is hard to explain its spiritual sense! The Spiritual sense is explained by Emanuel Swedenborg, 1689-1772, in his many works originally published in Latin.
John Sabol