II

In the Word there is a spiritual sense, hitherto unknown

The following points will be explained in this order:

1. What the spiritual sense is. 2. This sense is in the whole of the Word, and in every part of it. 3. Because of this sense the Word is Divinely inspired, and holy in every word. 4. This sense has hitherto been unknown. 5. Henceforth it will be made known only to those who are in genuine truths from the Lord.

1. WHAT THE SPIRITUAL SENSE IS. The spiritual sense is not that which shines forth from the sense of the Letter of the Word when one searches the Word and explains it to confirm some dogma of the Church: this sense is the literal sense of the Word. The spiritual sense, however, does not appear in the sense of the Letter: it is within it, as the soul is in the body, as the thought is in the eyes, and as affection is in the countenance; and these act together as cause and effect. It is this sense especially that makes the Word spiritual, not only for men but also for angels; and therefore the Word by means of this sense communicates with the heavens.