Swedenborg frequently states that it is the inability of the natural man to think above time and space, or, in other words, his bondage to sensuous appearances, which causes his mental darkness, and compels him to construe the Word of God in a literal manner, against which the educated reason must finally revolt.
The Word of God is an imperishable record of the states of the human heart and intellect in their relations to the Supreme Being. These states cannot be comprehended by the mind which rests in the contemplation of the times, places, numbers and persons mentioned in the Bible. Those times, places, numbers and persons are representative of spiritual states, and nothing but a knowledge of those states can lead us to a true perception of the spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom.
To prepare the way for the comprehension of the spiritual sense, which he was commissioned to unfold. Swedenborg reveals to us the laws and phenomena of the other life, enabling us, in a great measure, to think spiritually and above nature; involving, also, a positive philosophy of the human soul which must supersede the dreamy metaphysics of all the ancient and modern schools.
