In Swedenborg's works, “enlightenment” means an ordering and linking of truths in our minds by the Lord, so that we understand them more clearly and deeply than before. Perhaps because of his intense awareness of spiritual world influences on us, Swedenborg does not advocate us seeking our own enlightenment on what is true, but instead to acquire it through hearing and obeying what the Lord reveals to us through the Word.

When people read the Word as a holy book in order to know what’s true, and think about what they are reading, they are inviting the Lord to flow into their minds, and carry out this ordering and linking process.

When someone then tries to put those truths into the acts of his or her life, the order and enlightenment are much increased. Note that the Lord doesn’t reveal new truths this way, but simply casts new light on the truths that the person has freely acquired.

Such enlightenment can go on through this life on earth and on to eternity in heaven. Some translators of Swedenborg's Latin have used the word “illustration” instead of “enlightenment.”

(参照: Arcana Coelestia 8211, 9424, 10551, Arcana Coelestia 10551 [2]; The Word 13; The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture 57; The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding Faith 5)

53. 2. Doctrine must be drawn from the Word’s literal sense and verified by it. That is because there and nowhere else is the Lord present with a person so as to enlighten him and teach him the church’s truths. The Lord also never does anything except in fullness, and the Word is in its fullness in its literal sense, as we showed above. It is because of this that doctrine must be drawn from the literal sense.