thus holy; and yet it has not been known heretofore where in the Word
the Divine is. For the Word appears in the letter like a common writing
in a foreign style, and a style not so sublime or so lucid as appears in
the writings of the present ages. For this reason a man who worships
nature more than God, or in place of God, and thus thinks from himself
and what is his own (proprium), and not from the Lord out of heaven, can
easily fall into error respecting the Word, and into contempt for it,
saying in his heart when he reads it, What is this, or what is that? Is
this Divine? Can God who has infinite wisdom speak in this manner?
Where is its holiness, and from what source, unless from the religion
whose ministers it serves? and other like things. But that it may be
known that the Word is Divine, not only in every meaning but also in
every expression, its internal sense, which is spiritual, and which is
in its external sense, which is natural, as a soul in its body, has now
been revealed. This sense can bear witness to the Divinity and
consequent holiness of the Word; and can convince even the natural man
that the Word is Divine if he is willing to be convinced. (A.E., n.
1065.)

In brief, the Word is Divine truth itself, which gives wisdom to angels
and enlightens men. As Divine truth goes forth from the Lord, and as
what goes forth is Himself out of Himself, the same as light and heat go
forth from the sun and are the sun, that is, are of the sun out of it,
and as the Word is Divine truth, it is therefore the Lord, as it is
called in John (i. 1-3, 14). In as much as Divine truth, which is the
Word, in its descent into the world from the Lord, has passed through
the three heavens, it has become accommodated to each heaven, and lastly
to men also in the world. This is why there are in the Word four
senses, one outside of the other from the highest heaven down to the
world, or one within the other from the world up to the highest heaven.