Doc. of Sacred Scripture (Dick) n. 65

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65. I will now also state in a few words how the unfolding of these senses is effected. In order that this may be understood it is necessary to recall what was said above in Nos. 6 and 38 concerning successive order and simultaneous order. It was there explained that the Celestial, the Spiritual and the Natural follow one after another in successive order from the highest things which are in heaven to the lowest or ultimate things which are in the world; that these are in the lowest degree, namely, the natural, in simultaneous order, one side by side with another, from what is inmost to what is outmost; and that in like manner the successive senses of the Word, the celestial and the spiritual, are simultaneously in the natural. When these things are comprehended, it may in some measure be explained to the understanding how the two senses, the spiritual and the celestial, are unfolded from the natural sense, when a man is reading the Word. For the spiritual angel then calls forth what is spiritual, and the celestial angel calls forth what is celestial; nor can they do otherwise, for the things are essentially the same, and in harmony with their own essential nature.


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