Page:Swedenborg, Harbinger of the New Age of the Christian Church.djvu/248

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EMANUEL SWEDENBORG

not interrupt him, and was as it were dumb with astonishment. He then saw a Bible lying on my desk, and while I was thus gazing quietly before me and he could easily see the state of my mind, he took the book and opened it at this passage—1 John v. 20, 21. 'Read these words,' he said, and then closed the book again, 'but that you may not forget them, I will rather put them down for you;' and in saying these words he dipped the pen in order to write the reference on the leaf which is preserved here; his hand however trembled, as may be seen from the figure 1 . This I could not bear, and so I asked him in a friendly manner to mention the passage to me. I then put down the reference myself. As soon as I had done so, he arose. 'The time now approaches,' he said, 'when I must take leave of my other friends.' He then embraced and kissed me most heartily.

"As soon as he had left, I read the passage which he had recommended to me. It read thus: 'But we know that the Son of God has come, and hath given us an understanding that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is

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