If your reading of the WORD is not radically transforming your Life, you’re reading it wrong!

A core principle of reading God’s revelation is recognising that the images and representatives, whether men and women, places, objects, or other biblical figures, are not the final reality, but tools pointing us to spiritual truths. When we become more invested in the image within time, place and people, than the spiritual reality, we miss the true purpose of the Word: to lead us inward, to the spiritual marriage of good and truth that brings us into connection with the Lord and heaven.

By always seeking the spiritual meaning behind the representative forms, we fulfil the true use of revelation and invite real transformation, individually and in our relationships.

Error of Focusing on Images Instead of the Realities

One of the greatest errors we can make in reading the Lord’s Word is to treat the representative image, the outward, literal description, as the ultimate reality, rather than seeing it as a window into deeper spiritual truth. The Teachings for the New Church explicitly warn against this. For example, in Arcana Coelestia 5287, it is made clear that “an intelligent and wise man,” in the internal sense, means intelligence and wisdom themselves, not merely a particular person. The same principle applies to all scriptural images and representations.

Why This Matters, particularly in reading a book like Conjugial Love

Representatives are tools for understanding. The images of men, women, husband, wife, marriage, intimacy, and even the details of marital dynamics are all correspondences. They point to the real marriage of love and wisdom (good and truth), which is the foundation of all spiritual life.

If we focus on the external form (gender roles, cultural customs, even the literal details of marriage), we risk misunderstanding revelation and getting bogged down in natural disputes, missing the living spiritual message within.

The marriage of good and truth is universal. It occurs in every regenerate person, every angel, and forms the very structure of heaven and the church. The representative image is transient; the inner meaning is what is truly important and enduring.

The Right Approach to All Revelation

1. See beyond the representative image, whatever it may be: husband and wife, places, trees, stones, water, or bread and wine. The real question should be: What spiritual reality is the Lord communicating through this image?
2. Seek to understand how the union of good and truth (the “conjugial principle”) is to unfold within yourself, in your relationships, your spiritual journey, and your community.
3. Respect the representative form, but always let it lead you deeper into the spiritual reality it signifies. The outer image is “the body”; the inner spiritual reality is “the soul.”