Page:Swedenborg, Harbinger of the New Age of the Christian Church.djvu/134

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EMANUEL SWEDENBORG

truth attained, not for the sake of our own advantage, but for that of the advantage of human society; and neither for the glory of ourselves or of society, but of the Supreme Divinity alone. This is the only way to truths: other things as means, which are infinite, God Omnipotent provides."

Inquiring then into the ends or purposes of the provision by which it is ordained that man should ascend from lowest and outermost to highest and innermost, he unfolds them comprehensively, concluding with these—"that in this ultimate circle of nature we may receive the wonders of the world, and as we ascend the steps and ladders of intelligence receive still greater wonders, in all their significance and with full vision; and that at length we may comprehend by faith those profound miracles that cannot be comprehended by the intellect; and from all these things, in the deep hush of awe and amazement, venerate and adore the omnipotence and providence of the Supreme Creator; and thus in the contemplation of Him regard as vanity everything that we leave behind us. . . . The last end, which also is the first, is that our minds, at length become

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