ANSWER

To the Query respecting the appearance of the Dove at the Baptism of our Lord.

In Matthew, iii. 16, 17, it is said, "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water; and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: and, lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." In Mark, i. 10, 11, the words are nearly the same. In Luke, iii. 21, 22, we are told, “ Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape, like a dove, upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased." In John, i. 32, 33, it is said, “And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not, but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost." The Christian world is so much in the mere letter, and their ideas are so material, that a universal notion prevails, that the Holy Ghost is in the form of a dove; whereas, a very little reflection would have enabled them to see that a divine being or person, as they believe the Holy Ghost to be, could not be or exist in the form of a bird. The faith of mankind, heretofore, has been altogether blind and implicit, being founded simply upon authority, and as such wholly of an external nature. They received their religious dogmas, as children in early infancy receive the rudiments of their education, merely into their memory, without elevating them, by a distinct comprehension of the understanding, into the higher faculty of the judgment, No. clear conception, therefore, was formed of what they really believed, but every thing remained in the lower and external faculties of the mind, where all was indistinct and confused. They were incapable of seeing the internal things of the WORD, or of receiving ideas of a spiritual nature: nor could they view the things of religion in a rational light. Indeed, the mind was fast bound in the chains of naturalism; and, had internal things been opened to them, they would have denied or perverted them. "I have many things to tell you, but ye cannot bear them now."

In all ages, and in every dispensation, the Lord, as a wise parent, imparts to his children only the knowledge which they can bear and apply to use. He reveals the things of his internal kingdom only as they can be received. Hence every new dispensation is preceded by the preparation of successive states with the human race. Indeed, we see at present a general disposition, even among Christians, to deny and even scoff at things of a spiritual nature; and they who are commissioned to declare them are called mad. It has even become a maxim, that there is no need of any further revelation, and that of course there will be none. The powers of darkness have thus prevailed upon the human race, and most particularly the church called Christian, to reject all divine messengers, and close every medium of heavenly illumination. It has been so from the beginning: but "he that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh." The Divine Wisdom makes ample provision for the fulfilment of its purposes. Mankind, though as yet little disposed to spiritual things, are becoming enlightened in natural scientifics; and the rational faculty has become minutely inquisitive. The reign of authority and blind faith is at an end. This change, to be sure, is attended with many irregularities: but it will eventually operate as a purger and a refiner. The natural will subside into mere naturalism; and the spiritual, stimulated to attentive inquiry, will be illustrated from higher principles, and see the things that are of God. For the use of those who are willing to be instructed, the rich treasury of the spiritual world is opened, and we may now buy wine, if we are willing to buy it, without money and without price: that is, we may now receive the knowledges of the heavenly kingdom, if we are willing to RECEIVE THEM AS REVELATIONS FROM THE LORD, and to forego the indulgence of our vanity, in supposing that we are instructed by the labours and excellence of our own intelligence.

Already the merely natural man sees that the Holy Spirit cannot be a dove. He is no longer to be kept in the simplicity of the uninquiring faith of past centuries. He must therefore be enlightened to see religious things rationally, or he rejects them entirely. What then is to be done? Already we are instructed, that besides this natural and external world, which is merely a world of effects, there is a spiritual and internal world, which is a world of causes. Man, as to his body and his lower faculties, is in the first, and in that state is conversant with terrestrial things;

as to his spiritual and his higher faculties, he is in the second, and is there conversant with God and spiritual things. In general, these spiritual things come to his apprehension remotely and obscurely. But, as he has external senses which are intimately connected with, and perceive the things of this world, so he has internal senses, which are intimately connected with, and perceive the things of the interior world. In the first ages of our earth, the internal sight of men was frequently opened, and they manifestly saw the spiritual world, its objects and inhabitants. Such, however, is the order at present established, that it rarely happens that the spiritual sight of man is opened. Yet of the divine providence it is sometimes permitted. In natural speech, our oratory furnishes us with nothing more animating than the cold figures of rhetoric. In the spiritual world, are "the thoughts which breathe, and words that burn." The speech and thoughts of its inhabitants are effigied forth in external images, manifest to the sight. Hence the language of correspondences in which the Holy Scriptures are written. It was the common language of ancient times; and, although it has been lost since the age of Job, there is an humble imitation of it in the stile of the Eastern nations, who are descended from the people of the ancient church. We are told by the Herald of the New dispensation, that the ideas of the angels are, in the spiritual world, turned into representatives; and the things which they converse about, are represented by external objects, which correspond to them. In the case of our Lord's baptism, it is not stated that the dove was seen, or the voice heard, by any one but JESUS and JOHN. The baptism of our Lord being peculiarly important as representing the commencement, and the process of his glorification, there was a strong influx from the heavens, and a powerful descent of divine truth, which was effigied forth under the appearance of a dove to JESUS and JOHN. There was no natural or material dove, as any one must see, nor any voice externally audible to the natural ear. But to those whose spiritual sight and hearing were opened, these manifestations were made. Birds in general, correspond to things of the intellect, and the dove in particular, to the innocence of the divine wisdom, the divine wisdom being perfect innocence. Hence, it is said, we must receive the kingdom of heaven as a little child, that is, in innocence. Truth is the great purifier, and the medium of regenera

tion; and the divine truth was the medium of the Lord's glorification. The Lord, in the incarnation, descended as divine truth. Baptism corresponds to regeneration; the baptism of the Lord to the glorification of his divine humanity. Hence, at his baptism, was presented the corresponding effigy of the dove, signifying the glorification of his humanity; the dove representing the divine truth in innocence. As wings are the instruments of elevation, by which birds are raised into the higher regions of the atmosphere, so are the things of the intellect, the means by which the natural mind of man is elevated into higher states of contemplation and illumination. Birds, therefore, are plainly correspondences of truth, which is of the intellect. Thus, the winged horse Pegasus, signified the elevation of the understanding; the horse corresponding to the understanding. And as innocence is the peculiar character of the dove, as a bird, and is most peculiarly the character of the divine wisdom, the dove is the appropriate emblem of the divine truth, or wisdom. The following extract from A. C. 870, is full to the point: "That by dove are signified the truths and goodnesses of faith in one that is about to be regenerated, appears from the signification of dove in the word; especially from the dove which lighted upon JESUS, when he was baptized; as in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, where dove signifies nothing else but the holy [principle] of faith; baptism signifying regeneration. Hence, was signified hereby the truth and goodness of faith, in the New Church about to be established, and which were to be received by regeneration from the Lord. The like was represented and implied by the young doves, or turtles, which were offered in sacrifice, and as burnt offerings, in the Jewish church. That they had such a signification, must be obvious to every one's apprehension solely from this consideration, that they must needs be representative of something, otherwise every injunction concerning them would be void of meaning, and in no respect divine; the external of the Church is somewhat of itself inanimate, but it hath life from what is internal, and what is internal hath life from the Lord. That dove in general signifies the intellectuals of faith, appears also in the prophets, as in Hosea, Ephraim shall be like a silly dove, without heart, they have called Egypt, they have gone to Assyria,' vii. 11. again in the same prophet, Ephraim shall be afraid as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria.' xi. 11. Where

6

Ephraim signifies such as are intelligent, Egypt such as are skilled in the sciences, Assyria such as are rational, and dove the things appertaining to the intellectuals of faith; in this passage also, the subject treated of, is the regeneration of the spiritual church. So in David, Jehovah, give not the soul of thy turtle dove to the wild beast. Ps. lxxiv. 19. where wild beast signifies those who have no charity, and the soul of thy turtle dove signifies the life of faith. See also what was said and shewn above, N. 40. 776. concerning fowls, as denoting things intellectual, the gentle, beautiful, and clean fowls, denoting intellectual truths and goodnesses; but the ravenous, deformed, unclean, and useless, denoting what is opposite thereto, viz. Falses, as the raven, which is in Gen. viii. opposed to the dove."

In the Acts of the Apostles we find the descent of the holy ghost represented by the rushing of a mighty wind, and the appearance of cloven tongues, like as of fire, which sat upon each of the apostles. Hereby was figured the promulgation of the divine truth, by the preaching and teaching of the apostles, who were to go forth as messengers, under the influence of the divine love. Thus, various appearances are manifested to the spiritual sight, corresponding to the subject, which at the time, is intended to be represented. Such appearances were often presented to the prophets, and were figurative of divine and spiritual things. Elisha saw a chariot of fire, and horses of fire. Isaiah saw a live coal taken with tongs from the altar, with which his lips were touched. Jeremiah saw a rod of an almond tree, and a seething pot. Ezekiel saw four living creatures of wonderful forms. Also wheels, burning coals of fire, and the appearance of lamps. He saw also a roll of a book, which he was commanded to eat. He saw coals of fire scattered over the city. He speaks of an eagle with great wings, long winged, full of feathers of divers colours. He saw the resurrection of dry bones. Amos saw a plumb-line. John saw a book sealed with seven seals, and when one of the seals was opened, he saw a white horse; and when the second seal was opened, he saw a red horse; at the opening of the third, a black horse; at the opening of the fourth, a pale horse. All these things are correspondences which are perfectly comprehensible by the spiritual sense, and are fully described in the writings of our great Seer. From these instances it must appear how very weak and unwise are those, who could for a moment