CONCLUSION.

We have now, in however imperfect a manner, completed the task which we have assigned ourselves in this work. Setting out with a brief statement of the peculiarities of style, language and structure of the Historical Books of the Old and New Testaments, as they are described in the works of modern Biblical critics, we have proceeded to present, in as faithful and complete a manner as our limits would allow, the various theories which have been advanced in explanation of these peculiarities; with a criticism of the same, for the most part in the words of other writers of different and opposing schools, showing their untenability as theories, and the inadequacy and incapability of them all alike to account for all the phenomena of the sacred histories, or to furnish a satisfactory explanation of their difficulties. We next, in our second and concluding Part, after, in the opening chapter, vindicating the character of Emanuel Swedenborg as a Biblical scholar and critic, and showing his relations to the different modern schools of Biblical criticism, presented the view of Swedenborg and the New Church upon the sacred histories, and, in our last chapter, adduced numerous examples in illustration of the adaptability of this view to solve all the problems and clear up all the difficulties which these histories afford.

If, therefore, we would ask in conclusion, the true test of any theory, and the proper measure of its worthiness to be received as the law and recognized principle for the explanation of any class of phenomena, be its applica

enomena, -a rule commonly received, we believe, in departments of physical science;-then may we not e appeal to our readers) fairly lay claim to the possesn, in the principles and teachings of the New Church, the true theory and the genuine system of interpretasion, of the historical portions of our sacred records; d since, as might easily be shown, the Word of God is e and the same in all its parts, and written upon one iform principle, the principle, namely, of the reprentation of spiritual ideas by means of outward and senle objects and images: and this by an invariable law analogy and correspondence between the two, of the etical and prophetical portions, also, and thus of the tire Sacred Scripture or Word of the Lord, from the st chapter of Genesis to the last chapter of the Revecion? Whatever, kind reader, may be the impression on this subject left upon your mind, by the perusal of is work, we cannot but believe that the more deeply e principles here propounded are studied, especially in e works of our illustrious author, so frequently referred in these pages, the more will they be found to comend themselves to the thoughtful and the candid, both nong the learned and among the unlearned, and to vincate their pretensions to be the only true and divinelyven principles for the perfect elucidation of the letter o less than of the spirit of the Word of Divine Truth.

APPENDIX.

NOTE A. (p. 137).

I THE CORRUPTIONS AND VARIOUS READINGS IN THE TEXT OF THE SACRED WRITINGS.

It is observed in the text that the Word of God is divinely d plenarily inspired as to every word and syllable in the iginal languages; and the question naturally arises as to w, upon this hypothesis, the corruptions in the Hebrew and reek texts, and the various readings arising from the comrison of ancient MSS., are to be regarded, and in what ht this question is viewed in the New Church; since, as is ident, the subject of Inspiration, and even of a spiritual nse in the Scriptures, based, as this latter confessedly is, on the text of the letter as its only sure foundation, must gravely affected by whatever views are entertained upon this int. In reference to this question, therefore, we observe, in e first place, that the ideas of the New Church respecting spiration, &c., are not so much affected by the results of odern criticism in this field as might, at first sight, be supsed, by far the greatest corruptions in the text, and the gest number of various readings, being found in those oks which, according to our views, do not properly belong the Word; especially the Books of Chronicles in the Old stament, and that of the Acts in the New, the text of which, are assured by Biblical scholars, is extremely corrupt.1 en, as to the Books of the Word, properly so called, many the alleged corruptions, as for example in the matter of num

Vide Smith, sub vocibus.

the second Part of this work.

As respects various readings, on the other hand, while their existence, to a considerable extent, cannot be denied, even in those books which contain, as we believe, the spiritual sense, it is, we think, the prevailing opinion among New Church scholars, held, if we mistake not, upon the authority of Swedenborg himself, in some of his letters, or unpublished Manuscripts, that what is commonly called the Textus Receptus, or Received Text, contains, on the whole, the true version of the Divine Word, and that which Swedenborg himself has adopted in his expositions of the spiritual sense.1 The same Providence which, in its care for mankind, and for the Church, as the centre and source of spiritual illumination and knowledge to the entire human family, has bestowed the inestimable treasure of a Divine Revelation for the guidance and comfort of the human soul in the dark and thorny mazes of this earthly existence, has also watched over this precious gift of the Divine Bounty, and provided that amid all the revolutions of empires and fluctuations of opinions, both religious and social, through which the world has passed, the Word of Divine Truth should yet be preserved in its integrity, and a comparatively pure text of its sacred contents be handed down for the use of the men of these latter times, when the revelation of the spiritual meaning of the sacred oracles has been made, and when, by its means, with the aid of the other resources of science placed within the reach of scholars in these days, all the necessary corrections and revisions of the Word in its original tongues may be effected, and the text of Holy Scripture be finally permanently fixed for all time to

1 See, for some remarks upon this subject. the Preface (p. vi.) to “A New Translation of the prophet Isaiah," &c.. by the late Rev. J. H. Smithson. (London. Longmans & Co.); in which it is shewn that the version of the Hebrew text preferred by Swedenborg, was that of Van der Hooght, published at Leipsic, 1740, 4to.