1. The Sacred Scripture, or Word, Is Divine Truth Itself

Everyone says that the Word comes from God, is Divinely inspired, and so is holy. But even so, no one has known before this wherein the Divinity in it lies. For in its letter the Word appears as though written in the ordinary way, in a foreign style, neither as sublime or nor as lucid as writings of the present age seem to be.

As a result, a person who worships nature as God, or in preference to God, and so thinks prompted by self and his own self-interest, and not prompted by heaven in response to the Lord, may easily fall into error regarding the Word, and into scorning it, and when reading it, saying to himself, “What is this? What is that? Is this Divine? Can God, whose wisdom is infinite, speak so? Where is the holiness in it, and what makes it holy, other than some teaching of religion and so conviction?”

45. Truths in the Word’s literal sense are meant by the precious stones in the Garden of Eden in which the King of Tyre is said in Ezekiel to have been. We read in Ezekiel:

...King of Tyre..., “You seal up (your) measure, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: ruby, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, chrysoprase, and emerald, and gold. (Ezekiel 28:12-13)

Tyre in the Word symbolizes concepts of truth and goodness. A king symbolizes the church’s truth. The Garden of Eden symbolizes wisdom and intelligence gained from the Word. Precious stones symbolize truths made translucent by goodness, the kind of truths found in the Word’s literal sense. And because these truths are symbolized by the precious stones, therefore they are called the king’s covering. That the literal sense covers over the inner constituents of the Word may be seen in the preceding section.

54. Doctrine not only makes the Word understandable, but also to shine, so to speak, and that is because the Word is not understood apart from doctrine and is like a lampstand without any light, as we showed above. Doctrine is what makes the Word understandable, therefore, so as to be like a lampstand with its lamp lit. A person then sees much more than he saw before, and also understands what he had not understood before. Dark and conflicting passages he either does not see and passes on by, or sees and explains them so as to be in harmony with the doctrine.

The Word’s being viewed in the light of doctrine, and moreover explained in accordance with it, is something experience in the Christian world attests. For the Protestant Reformed all see the Word in the light of their doctrine and explain the Word in accordance with it. Roman Catholics likewise see the Word in the light of their doctrine and explain it in accordance with that doctrine. Indeed, Jews do the same. Consequently falsities are seen in the light of a false doctrine, and truths in the light of a true doctrine.

It is apparent, therefore, that a true doctrine is like a lamp shining in darkness, and like a signpost pointing the way.

Doctrine, however, must not only be drawn from the Word’s literal sense, but it must also be verified by it. For if not verified by it, doctrinal truth has the appearance of having only man’s intelligence in it, and not the Lord’s Divine wisdom, and in that case doctrine would be like a house in the air and not on the ground, thus one without its foundation.