Editing Swedenborgianism (section)

== Biblical canon ==
New Church adherents believe that the word of God is in the Bible, which has a symbolic, hidden spiritual meaning. Swedenborg's visions told him how (and why) the Bible is divinely inspired and are described in his multi-volume {{lang|la|[[Arcana Coelestia]]}} (''Heavenly Secrets''). He called its symbolic language, where passages follow each other coherently and logically, [[Correspondence (theology)|correspondence]]. This inner meaning was kept hidden, and was revealed when humanity was ready. This hidden meaning distinguishes the Bible from other books, and Swedenborg supports his statements with biblical passages. The books with this inner, spiritual meaning forms the New Church [[biblical canon]].

=== Old Testament ===
According to Swedenborg, the original text of the [[Old Testament]] is preserved in the Hebrew [[Masoretic Text]], where letters were counted by the [[Masoretes]] to ensure that the text remained accurate.<ref>DS, n. 13.</ref> Like Judaism does, he divides the Old Testament into three parts: the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms. The Old Testament books with an internal spiritual sense (and, thus, divinely inspired) include:<ref>AC, n. 2606, 10325.</ref>

*The Law of Moses
{{columnslist|colwidth=10em|
:*[[Book of Genesis|Genesis]]
:*[[Book of Exodus|Exodus]]
:*[[Book of Leviticus|Leviticus]]
:*[[Book of Numbers|Numbers]]
:*[[Book of Deuteronomy|Deuteronomy]]
:*[[Book of Joshua|Joshua]]
:*[[Book of Judges|Judges]]
:*[[Books of Samuel|Samuel]]
:*[[Books of Kings|Kings]]
}}

*The Prophets
{{columnslist|colwidth=10em|
:*[[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]]
:*[[Book of Jeremiah|Jeremiah]]
:*[[Book of Lamentations|Lamentations]]
:*[[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]]
:*[[Book of Daniel|Daniel]]
:*[[Book of Hosea|Hosea]]
:*[[Book of Joel|Joel]]
:*[[Book of Amos|Amos]]
:*[[Book of Obadiah|Obadiah]]
:*[[Book of Jonah|Jonah]]
:*[[Book of Micah|Micah]]
:*[[Book of Nahum|Nahum]]
:*[[Book of Habakkuk|Habakkuk]]
:*[[Book of Zephaniah|Zephaniah]]
:*[[Book of Haggai|Haggai]]
:*[[Book of Zechariah|Zechariah]]
:*[[Book of Malachi|Malachi]]
}}

*The [[Psalms]]

Swedenborg's grouping differs from Judaism's; he assigned Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings to the Law of Moses, but according to the Jewish biblical canon the Law of Moses (the [[Torah]]) refers to the first five books{{snd}}Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings belong to the Prophets ([[Nevi'im]]). Elsewhere, however, Swedenborg says that [[Moses]] and [[Elijah]] represent the Law and the Prophets respectively.<ref>AC, n. 2135, 5922(5), 5922(8).</ref>

The other books of the Old Testament (which are not generally believed to be divinely inspired) include those grouped by the Jews as "Writings" ([[Ketuvim]]). The Greek [[Septuagint]] incorporated other writings into the Hebrew texts, which [[Martin Luther]] placed in the intertestamental section titled [[Biblical apocrypha|Apocrypha]], located between the Old Testament and New Testament. Although the Jews included Lamentations, Daniel and the Psalms in the Ketuvim, New Church adherents consider them divinely inspired.<ref>AC, n. 1756(2), 3540(2), 3942(2), 9942(5).</ref>

=== New Testament ===
The New Church regards the words of Jesus as divinely inspired, and considers the [[New Testament]] Gospels of [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]], [[Gospel of Mark|Mark]], [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]], [[Gospel of John|John]] and the [[Book of Revelation]] as sacred scripture.<ref>AC, n. 10325.</ref> The church holds the [[Acts of the Apostles]] and the [[epistle]]s in esteem, similar to the Jewish regard for the Old Testament writings. Swedenborg wrote that these books were included as an act of [[divine providence]], since books for the general public explaining Christian doctrine were needed.<ref>Swedenborg, Emanuel. ''The Spiritual Diary'', 1747–65 (SD). Trans. by George Bush, John H. Smithson and Buss, 1883–9, n. 4824.</ref> He believed that although Paul's letters did not contain a word-for-word symbolic correspondence, they were still divinely influenced: "Paul indeed spoke from inspiration, but not in the same way as the prophets, to whom every single word was dictated but that his inspiration was that he received an influx, according to those things which were with him, which is quite a different inspiration, and has no conjunction with heaven by correspondences."<ref>SD, n. 6062.</ref>

=== {{anchor|Pre-Biblical texts}}Pre-biblical texts ===
Swedenborg believed that sacred texts of an "Ancient Church" in the Middle East preceded Judaism, but the texts have been lost. Some, such as [[Book of the Wars of the Lord|''The Wars of Jehovah'']] (mentioned in Numbers 21:14–15)<ref>{{bibleverse|Numbers|21:14–15}}</ref> and another book similar to those in the Prophets (mentioned in Numbers 21:27–30),<ref>{{bibleverse|Numbers|21:27–30}}</ref> are quoted in the Bible (see [[non-canonical books referenced in the Bible]]).<ref>AC, n. 1664(12), 2686, 9942(5); DS, n. 102.</ref> Another work that Swedenborg believed belonged to the ancient church was [[Book of Jasher (Biblical references)|the Book of Jasher]], which is also quoted in the Bible (Joshua 10:12–13,<ref>{{bibleverse|Joshua|10:12–13}}</ref> 2 Samuel 1:17–18);<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Samuel|1:17–18}}</ref> according to him, this book still existed in [[Tartary]].<ref>AR, n. 11, and TCR, 266.</ref>

A Hebrew [[midrash]], {{transliteration|he|[[Sefer haYashar (midrash)|Sefer haYashar]]}} was published in Venice in 1625; an English translation was published in 1840. The Hebrew text was examined by the 19th-century biblical scholar [[George Bush (biblical scholar)|George Bush]] (a relative of the [[Bush family]]), who later became a Swedenborgian minister. Although the New Church has no official position on this Hebrew text, Swedenborg said that the first parts of Genesis were taken from the "Ancient Word"<ref>TCR, Index to Memorable Relations, 32.</ref> and are found in the book of Jasher.<ref>Swedenborg, Emanuel. ''The Divine Revelation of the New Jerusalem'', ed. by Theodore Webber, 2012, preface. {{ISBN|978-0-9857796-0-3}}.</ref>