1. THE FAITH OF THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW CHURCH

A statement of faith, set out in both universal and particular terms, is placed at the beginning to serve as a preface to the book which follows, to be like a doorway leading into a church, and a summary presenting in a short compass what follows at more length. It is called the faith of the new heaven and the new church, because heaven, where the angels are, and the church among men form a single unit, just as the internal and external sides of the personality make up a single individual. This is why a member of the church who possesses the good of love which arises from the truths of faith, and possesses the truths of faith which arise from the good of love, is, so far as the interiors of his mind are concerned, an angel of heaven. Therefore too after dying he comes into heaven, and there enjoys happiness depending upon how far the good and truth are linked. It should be known that in the new heaven, which is at the present time being established by the Lord, this statement of faith serves as its preface, doorway and summary.

667. CHAPTER TWELVE

BAPTISM

I. Without knowledge of the spiritual sense of the Word no-one can know what is involved in and effected by the two sacraments, baptism and the Holy Supper.

I showed in the chapter on the Sacred Scripture [Chapter 4] that every single detail of the Word contained a spiritual sense, a sense that has up to now been unknown, but is now revealed for the sake of the new church which the Lord is to inaugurate. What that sense is like can be seen not only in that chapter, but also in that on the Ten Commandments [Chapter 5], which were explained in accordance with that sense. Had that sense not been revealed, who would think of these two sacraments, baptism and the Holy Supper, except as the natural sense, the literal sense, indicates? So he would say, or mutter to himself: 'What is baptism but the pouring of water over a child's head? And what use is that for salvation?' Or again: 'What is the Holy Supper but the taking of bread and wine? And what use is that for salvation?' He might go on: 'Where is the sanctity in them, apart from the fact that they have been accepted and ordered by the clergy as holy and divine?' He would say that in themselves they are nothing but ceremonies, which the churches claim become sacraments when the Word of God is added to those elements.

[2] I challenge the laity as well as the clergy to say whether in spirit and at heart they have perceived anything else in these two sacraments, but have worshipped them as divine for various causes and reasons. Yet these two sacraments looked at in the light of the spiritual sense are the holiest part of worship, as will be evident from what follows, where I shall deal with their purposes. But since there is no way that the purposes of these sacraments can occur to anyone's mind, unless the spiritual meaning uncovers and discloses them, it follows that without that sense no one could know otherwise than that they are ceremonies, which are holy because they were commanded to be instituted.