he
sense of the [Greek: saemeion], which the Jews would have tempted our
Saviour to shew,--namely, the signal for revolt by openly declaring
himself their king, and leading them against the Romans. The
foreknowledge that this superstition would shortly hurry them into utter
ruin caused the deep sigh,--as on another occasion, the bitter tears.
Again, by the [Greek: sophia] of the Greeks their disputatious [Greek:
sophistikae] is meant. The sophists pretended to teach wisdom as an art:
and 'sophistae' may be literally rendered, wisdom-mongers, as we say,
iron-mongers.

Ib. p. 350.

Some probably will say, "What argument can induce us to believe a man
in a concern of this nature who gives no visible credentials to his
authority?" * * * But let us ask in return, "Is it worthy of a being
wearing the figure of a man to require such proofs as these to
determine his judgment?" * * * "The beasts act from the impulse of
their bodily senses, but are utterly incapable of seeing from reason
why they should so act: and it might easily be shewn, that while a man
thinks and acts under the influence of a miracle, he is as much
incapable of perceiving from any rational ground why he should thus
think and act, as a beast is." "What!" our opponents will perhaps
reply, * * * "Was it not by miracles that the prophets (some of them)
testified their authority? Do you not believe these facts?" Yes, my
friends, I do most entirely believe them, &c.

There is so much of truth in all this reasoning on miracles, that I feel
pain in the thought that the result is false,--because it was not the
whole truth. But this is the grounding, and at the same time pervading,
error of the Swedenborgians;--that they overlook the distinction between
congruity with reason, truth of consistency, or internal possibility of
this or that being objectively real, and the objective reality as fact.
Miracles, 'quoad' miracles, can never supply the place of subjective
evidence, that is, of insight. But neither can subjective insight supply
the place of objective sight. The certainty of the truth of a
mathematical arch can never prove the fact of its existence. I
anticipate the answers; but know that they likewise proceed from the
want of distinguishing between ideas, such as God, Eternity, the
responsible Will, the Good, and the like,--the actuality of which is
absolutely subjective, and includes both the relatively subjective and
the relativ