Excerpt from An Appeal in Behalf of the Views of the Eternal World and State, and the Doctrines of Faith and Life: Held by the Body of Christians Who Believe That a New Church, Is Signified (in the Revelation, Chapter XXI) By the New Jerusalem, Embracing Answers to All Principal Objections Denominations, would immediately admit, that they are worthy at least of deep consideration and serious attention; and we are assured further, that, were such consideration and attention bestowed on them, numbers would rise from the investigation with a conviction of their truth. If they are true, to have just or erroneous conceptions of them cannot be a matter of indif ference: permit then one of those who have not hesitated to stake their salvation upon their certainty, to address a serious Appeal to you in their behalf. Great activity has been used, through a great variety of channels, to possess your minds with totally false and extremely injurious conceptions respecting the illustrious Swedenborg and his writings: allow, therefore, I entreat you, one who has maturely considered both, to disabuse you respecting them, - to disperse, by a fair statement, the clouds of misrepresentation in which the sentiments received by us have been involved, - and to bring to your acquaintance views of Divine Truth, which appear to us to be at once eleva ted and well-founded; views which, we venture to assure you, challenge the strictest scrutiny of Reason, and come supported by the plainest testimony of Scripture. Yes, ye who prize the inestimable gift of Reason! Permit me to say, that never was a more gross deception practised on mankind, than when it has been attempted, by idle tales and false imputations, to make you believe, that Reason, and what is commonly, but impmperly, termed Swedenborgianism, are uncombinable terms. And to. You, ye sincere lovers of the Scriptures! Allow me to declare, that to persuade you that writings and doctrines like those we espouse, which place the truths of Scripture in their own genu ine light, are at variance with the truths of Scripture, and that they originate in delusion, is to impose on you an extravagant delusion indeed. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.