Correspondence (theology)


Correspondence is a relationship between two levels of existence. The term was coined by the 18th-century theologian Emanuel Swedenborg in his Arcana Cœlestia, Heaven and Hell and other works.

Swedenborg

Definition

In the terminology of Swedenborg's revelation, “correspondence” is a basic relationship found between two levels of existence.
Correspondences
Spiritual Plane of the MindNatural Plane of the Mind
God CreatorWorld Created
Mind/SpiritBody
Spiritual Sense of the WordLiteral Sense of the Word
IntentionAction

Thus, for instance, light corresponds to wisdom because wisdom enlightens the mind as light enlightens the eye. Warmth corresponds to love because love warms the mind as heat does the body. Swedenborg says that the Word was written by God entirely according to correspondences so that within its natural laws and histories every detail describes the spiritual realities relating to God and man, these being the true subject of the Word. Swedenborg's 12-volume Arcana Coelestia provides verse-by-verse details of the inner meaning of Genesis and part of Exodus; the work Apocalypse Revealed does the same for the Book of Revelation. The Arcana Coelestia, for example, explains how the creation and development of the human mind corresponds to the seven days of creation in Genesis.

The Ancient Word

According to Swedenborg angels speak to each other in correspondences and in the early days of the Golden Age people on this earth also could speak in correspondences so that they could communicate directly with the angels. They had a holy book, the Ancient Word, written in correspondences, which is still used in heaven. As the human race fell into evil the ability to understand correspondences was lost, as was most of the Ancient Word. What was preserved of the Ancient Word, according to Swedenborg, are the first eleven chapters of Genesis. The first seven of these chapters were copied verbatim. The Bible also refers to various books of the Ancient Church now lost, including the “Wars of Jehovah”, “Enunciators” or “Prophetic Enunciations” and the “Book of Jashar” or “Book of the Upright”.
Of note is that the stories from the Ancient Word were all made-up history, written in correspondences. That is thus true for the first 11 chapters of Genesis as well. Making up such stories was an accepted custom in churches of antiquity and spread widely. In fact, the actual history recorded in the Word was chosen because it had correspondence to an internal sense. Psalm 78 tells the history of Israel and actually says it is a parable.
When the Lord was in the world he spoke by correspondences, and thus both spiritually and naturally at the same time. This is apparent from His parables, in which every single expression contains a spiritual sense. However people of Jesus’ time only understood the natural literal level of His teaching. Correspondences were not disclosed to the primitive early Christians because they were too simple to understand them. Thus Jesus said, “There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now.”.

Idolatry

The people of the Golden Age loved correspondences, and made small images to remind themselves of heavenly things. But as the human race declined into evil and the knowledge of correspondences was almost lost, people began to worship the images themselves, in other words they began to practice idolatry.

The Wise Men

The knowledge of correspondences of the Ancient and Israelitish Words spread widely in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. In Greece the correspondences were turned into the myths of antiquity. There were people, notably those referred to as wise ones, diviners or magi, who still had some knowledge of correspondences until the time of the Lord's advent. This is evident from the Wise Men who came to the Lord at His birth; and this was why a star went before them, and why they brought gifts gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The star corresponded to knowledge from heaven, gold to celestial goodness, frankincense to spiritual goodness, and myrrh to natural goodness. These three components are the correspondential basis for all worship.

Correspondences and Church Doctrine

Scripture will not be properly understood without doctrine, and doctrines of the church should be confirmed from scripture. True doctrine can only be known to those who are in enlightenment from the Lord, and those who are not can derive heresies from it. The literal sense of scripture contains the Divine truth in all of its fullness and power, thus a person becomes conjoined with the Lord and His angels when reading it.

Correspondence and esotericism

posits four fundamental elements, necessary conditions for a document, group, or movement to be eligible for consideration by scholars as esoteric. The first one is Correspondence:
According to Riffard,