Preface

This little volume is prepared for private reading or for use in public worship.

The TEN COMMANDMENTS, also called the DECALOGUE, are a summary of all things of religion (TCR 286). They are explained in their natural and interior meanings in the Divinely inspired Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) written for the use of the New Church which is meant by "the New Jerusalem." In his last published work, The True Christian Religion, a chapter (nos. 282-331) is devoted to this subject. And in the posthumous work The Apocalypse Explained the Ten Commandments are dealt within a series of inserts - especially between paragraphs 948-1028. In the exegetical text The Arcana Coelestia their spiritual meaning is laid clear in the setting of chapter twenty of the book of Exodus (nos. 8860-8912). Further explanations are given in The Doctrine of Life, 53-91 and nos. 108ff., in The Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture 67, and in The Divine Providence nos. 329 ff., etc.

For the sake of completeness a copy of the two versions of the Commandment are prefaced (pages i and iii).

And in order to facilitate the use of these Scripture passages in worship, a selection of lessons from the threefold Word is also given on p. v.

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