THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE AND THE LAW OF THE DIVINE SYMBOLS

By Rev. Abiel Silver, 1863

"There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard." (Psalms 19:3)

We are now to take a general glance at the nature, origin, and use of language, and of the law of analogy, or language of correspondences. What then is language? It is any mode of expressing or conveying ideas; whether by words, looks, actions, signs, symbols, fables, metaphors, parables, representatives, or correspondences. Whence is language? In its outward speech it is all from nature. From the things of the universe, and the life which is in them all, speech originates. "There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world."

Let us then take a glance at Nature; see what she is, how she speaks, and what she says. Now, there are two worlds, a spiritual world and a natural world. The spiritual world is the world of mind, and the natural world is the world of matter. Mental things are composed of spiritual substance, and material things of natural substance. The world of mind is the world causes, and the world of matter is the world of effect. And as there can be no effect without its cause; there can be nothing in the world of matter which not its proper correspondent in the world of mind; can there be anything in nature, which does not point for its origin to the spiritual world.

What then do we mean by the science of correspondences? What is it? It is the law of analogy which shows the relation between these two worlds. Correspondence is not a metaphor of speech, nor a trope language, but a universal law of creation and providence. A metaphor, or simile is the mere resemblance which one natural thing may be thought to bear towards another, or towards a spiritual thing. Correspondences are the actual, effective relation which exists between spiritual and natural things. It is higher law than can exist between matter and matter or spirit and spirit on the same plane. It is the union of inner things with outer; or higher thing with lower, and is the great law by which both the spiritual and natural worlds subsist from the Lord. For as an effect cannot exist without a cause, so neither can a cause without an effect. Now, God is the great efficient cause of all things. Therefore, every created thing, whether human, animal, vegetable, or mineral, bears a correspondential relation, either directly or indirectly, to some one of the infinite varieties of the divine principles. For the entire universe is an out-birth from God. It is not God. But it is the effect of God. God is the cause, and He fills the universe with life. And it is because the effect is related to the cause that He can fill it with life. This relation is the law of analogy, and is the means of constantly holding the universe in existence. Suspend this law for one moment, and universal nonentity is the consequence.

Now, the great end and object of the Creator in giving existence to the universe was, the production of His own image and likeness in created intelligences whom He could for ever bless and make happy by His own goodness and truth, whereby they could know Him, and love Him, and thus be filled with heavenly bliss. But how can we know that God's object and effort in producing the universe was to bring forth His own image and likeness? We can know it, because that law obtains throughout the whole universe of things. Everything that has life is in effort to produce its kind. God has imparted that law of His own nature to all created things. And the effort of all nature to carry out that law emphatically bespeaks that principle in God.

Now man, in true order, is in the general image and likeness of God. Any other created thing in true order is only an image of some principle or principles in God or in man.

The order of the outward creation of the world was, from lower things to higher; first minerals, then vegetables, then animals, and finally man: thus orderly and gradually approximating by higher and purer organizations the real divine image, until God finally crowned the creation with man, as the sum total and embodiment of all things below him. When all but man was created, and everything was in readiness to produce man, the vast variety of things scattered all over, and throughout the universe, were but humanity in fragments: every single thing was an image of some principle which was to be in man; and it took then all, combined, to make up the full man. Man could not exist until these things were created; for upon them his body must subsist; and through them his mind is to be educated. And when all these materials were brought harmoniously together, in man, and all was pronounced good, the vast universe corresponded to man, and man to his Maker.

Who cannot see that the things which God creates, must be, in their degree, like Him, so far as a finite thing can be like an infinite? His love desires their creation, His wisdom devises the mode, and His power executes it. And they come forth, not out of nothing, but from Himself; and He is the very life of their existence. The withdrawal of His love from any created object, would at that instant destroy it. It takes the same power to sustain which it does to create. Preservation is perpetual creation.

Thus we see, that during the whole process of creation, God was making man. God is the Infinite Man. And all things that He makes must be expressions of Himself as they come from His hands. But He can make nothing infinite. He cannot add to Himself. Infinity is all: everything is involved in it. The creation of lower things is only a finite expression of qualities in the Divine Being.

The highest individual image of God is the wisest and best man, or angel. But even that image is constantly being improved by the reception of further goods and truths for its ever-expanding mind and increasing wants. And the affectionate union of various wise and good minds into a society, imparting to each other what the Lord, gives them, is a higher, and more full image than that of an individual. And this image will be forever improving by the constant advancement of each of its individuals, and by the continual accumulation of more individuals. For no two men are alike. Their various forms and qualities indicate the variety of the divine principles. Every addition, therefore, to the Grand Man, supplies a deficiency in the general image, and makes it more full. But the perfection of the original never can be reached: because Infinity never, can exhaust Itself by giving forth new expressions of its parts, and filling them with life. The reason is, the Fountain is Infinite, and the human beings given off, or created from it, are only various finite expressions from it.

But, to return to the period when in the process of the creation all things were in readiness for the production of man; when the vast variety of human principles lay scattered throughout the mineral, the vegetable and the animal kingdoms, in living, speaking forms; when all nature was a beautiful page of mental symbols in physical robes, without an admirer on earth; with no created rational being to read the expressive characters of that wonderful book, and to love and worship the Author; then it is that we behold Man, making his appearance Man, the sum total of the creation, the connecting link between God above him and nature below him, and thus, the crowning act of the creation.

And as man was made above all other things in the scale of creation, by being endowed with rationality and freedom, and at the same time embracing within himself all the various qualities of life which animated the natural world, therefore, life had thereafter to be supplied to nature through the medium of man. For life ever flows from God, through higher things into lower.

But we have said that correspondence is the relation which an effect bears to a cause; and it may be asked how the lower orders of creation could correspond to man, and yet be the first created. The reason is this: the principles which constitute a true man, always existed in God. He is the Infinite Man, and man is His finite image. In the eternal purposes of God, therefore, man, in potency, and indeed every human being, always existed; not as distinct created individuals, in self-consciousness; but yet, in the divine mind, perfectly distinct and objective; for God is the Infinite Man: and one of the fundamental laws of the spiritual world is the ultimation of internal qualities in objective forms. By this law there always went forth from Jehovah, and was manifest before Him, in substantial human form, His own image. This image was not Himself, but the outgoings of Himself for further ultimation in the actual creation of man. And, in bringing man down into nature as the created image of God, the lower orders of creation were the ultimated effects of those outgoing principles of humanity which constitute man. While, therefore, in point of time, the lower orders of things were first, yet, in spiritual reality, man, in the full image of his Maker, was first, in the divine mind, in outward, substantial, objective form, though not in actual individual creation. And that substantial form was the medium cause, in the power of God through which the various principles of man's nature became ultimated in the world, and clothed with matter.

Man, therefore, is the medium of conjunction and communication between the natural and the spiritual worlds, being in one, as to his soul, and in the other, as to his body. And, being the medium of life from God to lower things, he imparts his qualities to the divine stream, as it flows through him. Consequently, as man fell, the various things below man partook of his depravity, became changed and modified according to the various vicissitudes and changes of man's states and qualities. Thus, nature became corrupted through man's vileness. The earth brought forth thorns and thistles; the wild beasts became quarrelsome and ferocious; serpents and reptiles, became poisonous and troublesome; and hawks and owls, moles and bats, annoyed the human race.

Still, the world corresponded to man; and sad, though faithful, was the tale it told of his conduct and vileness. The book of Nature still spoke to man with her ten thousand tongues, but how changed were many of her accents! To the people of the primeval age, before the fall, all her tones were sweet and harmonious; she spoke the sure Word of the living God. Therein they read the history of their creation, the character and laws of God, and the nature and quality of themselves. There was no truth which men needed to know that this book of nature did not teach or indicate. It was, to them, a medium of infinite wisdom. Upon what page soever their eyes rested, they saw, as by intuition, the true nature and character of the scene in its living aspect. So clearly did they look through nature up to nature's God, that the very names which they gave to the various objects of the creation indicated and expressed the peculiar quality and character of those objects. This book of nature was written in the pure language of analogy. They could read it in that language. It was a universal language, understood and read by all alike: for it spoke from life through qualities clearly indicated by their forms and uses. And it is now, as then, in itself a universal language; and all who truly see it understand it alike.

But the people of that golden age read not this language in the light of their own wisdom; nor did they have to learn it, as we do, by the light of the Word through the study of the law of analogy. They had never sinned, they were the open and willing recipients of wisdom from their heavenly Father; and, in that state, they could not mistake His teachings through nature, nor the language in which He spoke: for it was divine language, unchangeable and universal. It is the only language used in the spiritual world; and in the full millennial day it will be universal again upon the earth, as it was before the fall. It is alike, the language of nature and of Revelation.

The Holy Word, if correctly translated into all the various languages of the earth, would still have the one universal language of analogy pervading the whole work; and in that light it would be read and understood alike by all. The various languages of men would be lost in the glory and beauty of the one divine speech.

The reason why men, before the fall, saw the language of analogy by intuition is, because their wills and understandings were in harmony with the divine love and wisdom, and acted with them. Men had then but a mere shade of will and thought of their own. They had a self-hood, and were free; and it appeared to them as though they saw and felt from their own knowledge and desire. They had not learned to exercise that self-hood against the divine order. Therefore they saw and enjoyed the divine light as though it were their own. And, for a long time, the language of correspondences was the only language of the earth.

It was the first written language. When men first began to put their thoughts upon the barks and leaves of the trees, arid the skins of beasts, they did it in the hieroglyphics of nature. They had no other language. Pictures of the objects in nature instead of the living originals became the expressive symbols of men's ideas. And there was no thought, feeling, passion, or propensity of the mind, which this language could not delineate to the life, and much more correctly than any other language could do it; because man's spiritual qualities had given the very forms to the objects in nature which would be selected to represent those qualities in man. The written language therefore could not possibly be mistaken by any one who understood the science of correspondences, even at the present day. Did the people of that age wish to express upon parchment, any attribute or character of their Creator; in the book of nature they saw Him in living lines, and any expression of His character could be delineated therefrom. Then, in very act and deed, "The invisible things of God, from the creation of the world, were clearly seen, being understood by tin things that were made; even His eternal power and Godhead." And did they wish to correspond with their friends at a distance, or narrate a history of events, this mode of writing was amply sufficient.

But, in the process of inventions, the period arrived when a new language from the use of sounds expressed by means of letters and words was invented and introduced into use. But even in this language men still conveyed their ideas, as before, by natural symbols: for though they did not paint any longer the objects of nature, yet they spelled and used the names of those objects, and therefore continued to look by correspondences, through the objects themselves for the quality of the ideas. For example: they had been accustomed to paint the lamb for innocence, the serpent for subtlety, the hand for power, the eye for the understanding, the heart for the will, the ear for obedience, the stars for knowledges, the moon for faith, the sun for love and sometimes for the Lord; and so on. But now they used the names of these things, which conveyed the same ideas. For the names of things always indicate their qualities. Indeed when these things received their names, such names were given to them as signified, by analogy, their quality. So that the change in the mode of writing, did not change in the least, the character of the language. It was still the language of correspondences the language of God. And the names of the natural things, just mentioned, now signify in the Word what is stated.

This is the true original language. And in this language of correspondences, Moses, a man skilled in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, wrote the Pentateuch, in the Hebrew language, a language peculiar for the expression of the qualities of things by their names. In no other language than that of correspondences could the Bible possibly contain the Word of God; for no other language can have, in itself, "Spirit and life."

But as man, by sinful habits, became less and less spiritually-minded, and gradually sank into sensuality and naturalism, so this sublime language lost its beauty and glory, until its gold became as dross and passed away; but not without leaving its expressive memorandums upon the pyramids of Egypt; in the records of the Druids, in Oriental literature, in the fabulous stories of antiquity, in the idolatrous worship of the Gentiles, in Heathen Mythology, in German superstitions, in the poetry of all ages, and, even, faintly, in the present profane languages of the earth.

But, from all these remains the spirit and life have departed; and the consequence of the loss of this science is, "Confusion of tongues" all over the earth. Men cannot now, certainly understand each other; their words have no definite meaning. They quarrel from the want of a sure way of expressing their idea. The hottest mental combats often end in the perception of the fact, that the parties both meant the same thing but misunderstood each other's words. Now, there can be no other sure and certain language than that of analogy. It is the language, because God's language. The confusion of tongues, at the building of the tower of Babel, was from the loss of this language; for that confusion was spiritual. It was confusion of thought as well as of words. Although that history appears short, yet it embraces a long period of time, during which men forsook the Lord's language or words of truth and the true way of life, and undertook to build up a tower of their own self-hood, which could give them heaven in the light of their self-derived intelligence. And by this course, they finally lost the science of correspondences, and the true meaning of God's words. And then, as a matter of course, they misunderstood each other. They had no standard to go by. They contended among themselves about the truth of the Word, and consequently divided into parties and factions, and scattered abroad. And hence, the innumerable variety of languages, and of religious sects and conflicting creeds; and even of divers opinions among individuals of the same sect, upon the meaning of God's Word.

It is therefore from false, and not from true views of the Word, that men are divided. Truths are eternal verities. They are ever and unchangeably the same.

And all truths are in harmony, and sustain each other. About them, when seen, men cannot differ. It is about falsities, altogether, that the Christian world is contending. Falsities are all dark, unstable, deceptive, and mysterious; fit grounds for contention and strife, and for the proud display of self-wisdom; and constant changes of opinion are and must be taking place among those who build upon such grounds: while those who build on the "Rock of ages" the spiritual truth of the Word rationally seen in the light of analogy, never can change their views, nor disagree in their doctrines, unless by sin they lose their language. When this light is seen in the study of the Holy Word, it will as inevitably lead all sincere students of divinity to the same conclusions in every jot and tittle of the Word, so far as it is seen, as the light leads to the sun from which it flows. The reason is, the investigation is carried on by a scientific law, and that law is divine. The reason, therefore, why men who read the Word in the science of correspondences, differ not in its doctrines, is the very reason why men differ not in mathematics; it is because, in both instances, the truths are indisputable. If, as we believe, there are no two persons who, without the light of this science, agree as to the doctrines of the Word, and no two, who have it, that disagree, the question, as to its truth, becomes a startling one.

Now we wish it distinctly understood, that this language or science was once universal; that it has been lost, and is now revealed; that the revelation has been made by the Lord himself in fulfillment of prophecy,

and not by any man; that "The Lion of the tribe of Judah . . . hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof," and has evolved this science from nature and the Holy Word, and not from the mind of any man; and has caused its general elements and rules to be recorded in the works entitled the Arcana Celestia, the Apocalypse Revealed, and the Apocalypse Explained; and that when we read these works, and learn this science, and behold its light, we obtain both the science and the light from the Holy Word, and from nature, and not from those works except as the light shines in them from the Word.

As we read those wonderful books with an humble and teachable disposition, the Holy Word comes up constantly before us with newly shining pages, which grow brighter and brighter as we progress, until the heavenly harmony and beauty of the Word become so absorbing to the mind that we lose all sight of the writings we are reading, and the Word itself becomes its own interpreter its own revealer of the divine law in which it is written. One passage throws its light upon another, and receives back the other's lustre in blending beauty, and their united blaze is responded to by a third, and all these are embraced by a fourth, and so on, till every sacred text we see becomes an evidence of the truth of all the rest, and the whole blessed Word, so far as we behold it, stands before us in symmetrical glory and beauty, a perfect whole, in an infinitude of parts, all in harmony. And though we are lost in the depth and immensity of its wisdom, yet, we are lost in light and not in darkness. And every advance we make in the regenerate life enables us to drink still deeper at this inexhaustible fountain of the water of life.

Now, are there any persons present who are unacquainted with this science? let me affectionately invite you to turn aside and see this great sight, how the bush burns and is not consumed. Would you have a view of the light of the sun of righteousness, as it shines from the interior of the Word, removing every obscurity from the letter, and reconciling all apparent contradictions? come and take a scientific view of the divine language. Does infidelity at times trouble you with doubts, and would you see those doubts flee before the light of the Gospel like the fogs of the morning before the rising sun? would you see the Holy Word in a light which will prove to you, beyond the possibility of a doubt, that it is the Word of the great Jehovah? look at it in the light of correspondences. It is not a foreign light, brought to the Holy Word to enable us to see its teachings. It is its own scientific light, beaming from its own pages. Would you be able to close the mouth of the skeptic by truths irresistible, when he scoffs at the serpent's tempting Eve and talking with her; or at the woman's being made of the rib; or asks you how long the seventh day was on which the infinite God rested; or who was Cain's wife, and where he found her? stop not at the surface of the word, but look within. Would you see the ladder which Jacob saw extending from, earth to heaven, and would you hold communion with God thereon? you may find it in the Holy Word; it is the relation between cause and effect; it is that sublime way which leads through nature up to nature's God. Would you see the wonderful vesture of our Lord, woven without scan from the top throughout? you must see the spiritual sense of the Word in its perfect harmony and oneness , while the letter, or outward garments, are parted among so many sects. Would you see the burning bush unconsumed? you must see the literal sense of the Word shining with inward fire, or brilliant with spiritual truths from the love of God. Would you, like Moses, turn aside to see this great sight, how the bush burns and is not consumed? Come not to gratify idle curiosity, come with an humble and teachable disposition, desirous to know what God says to you, that you may obey Him; for like that venerable lawgiver, you may spiritually hear God call unto you " Out of the midst of the bush," saying, "Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." (Ex. 3:4, 5) The shoes, which are the clothing for the feet, denote the lowest and most outward things of the mind our carnal proprium. This must be put off before we can truly appreciate the internal sublimity and beauty of the Word.

The spiritual sense is the sanctum sanctorum of the Word, where we may hold communion with Him who is "Of purer eyes than to behold iniquity." We may see something of the natural philosophy of this sense by the science of correspondences while we are in a natural and selfish state of mind; but, to feel it in our hearts, and see its inner glories, we should approach it with a suitable sense of the great distance between our own state and the purity of its teachings. We should come then, with humility and meekness, praying to the Lord that He will open our understandings, that we may behold the wonderful things written in the Law. And, if we have truly sincere desires, a lively faith and ardent hope, and look into the Law of analogy with elevated understandings, rationally opened to receive instruction in a reasonable way, we shall behold, and understand the wonder which St. John saw "A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:" or, in other words, we shall see "The holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband:" or, in still other words, The church of God, with its doctrines shining in spiritual light; for the Lord God and the Lamb are the light thereof.

Doubting not that this New Church is the very thing now needed and designed to prevent the universal reign of skepticism, to restore reverence for the Holy Word, to open, elevate and enlighten the human mind, that it may overcome and put away the love of self and the world which now so universally reign, and become filled with the love of God and the neighbor, and be happy; I appeal to you, as you value order, light, love, peace, purity, and heaven, to examine these things. O, turn not away from this call; for it is a call to a true "Feast of reason and flow of soul." We call you to no instantaneous reception, in a way you will not know how, of something you will not know what. We invite you to look at nothing unreasonable, and to believe nothing you cannot understand. Come, then, to Fountain of Wisdom, and drink the truth into your souls understandingly. Come willingly, come cheerfully, come inquiringly. "The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. A let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (Rev. 22)