Now follows a brief Exposition of the Doctrine of the New Church, meant by the New Jerusalem in the Revelation, chapters xxi and xxii. This Doctrine, which is not only a matter of faith but also of life, will be divided in the major work* into three parts.

THE FIRST PART will treat of:

(1) The Lord God the Saviour, and the Divine Trinity in Him. (2) The Sacred Scripture and its two senses, the Natural and the Spiritual, and its holiness thence. (3) Love to God and love towards the neighbour, and the agreement of these loves with each other. (4) Faith, and its conjunction with those two loves. (5) The Doctrine of Life, from the Commandments of the Decalogue. (6) Reformation and Regeneration. (7) Free-will, and man's co-operation with the Lord by its means. (8) Baptism. (9) The Holy Supper. (10) Heaven and Hell. (11) The conjunction of men therewith, and the state of their life after death according to that conjunction. (12) Eternal life.

THE SECOND PART will treat of:

(1) The Consummation of the of Age, or end of the present Church. (2) The Coming of the Lord. (3) The Last Judgment. (4) The New Church, which New Jerusalem.

THE THIRD PART will point out the disagreements between the tenets of the present Church and those of the New Church. But we will dwell a little upon these now, because it is believed both by the clergy and the laity that the present Church is in the very light of the Gospel and its truths, which cannot possibly be disproved, overturned or assailed, not even by an angel, if one should descend from heaven. Neither does the present Church see otherwise, because it has withdrawn the understanding from faith, and yet has confirmed its tenets by a kind of sight beneath the understanding; for in that sight falsities can be confirmed until they appear as truths, and falsities there confirmed acquire a fallacious light in which the light of truth appears as thick darkness. For this reason, we shall here dwell a little upon this subject, mentioning the disagreements and illustrating them by brief remarks, so that those whose understanding has not been closed by blind faith may see these differences in a kind of twilight, afterwards as in morning light, and at length, in the major work, as in full daylight. The disagreements in general are as follows:-

* The work alluded to is THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, published two years after the present work. In writing the larger work, the author adheres in the main to the plan laid down here, yet more as regards the substance than the form.