When we think of the Lord’s words, we must conjoin with the thought an idea of the Divine Nature and Attributes. The Lord’s speech being the manifestation of His life, must partake of its every quality, thus of infinity and of independence of time, and consequently of adaptation to every possible condition of mind, for infinity includes all. Bearing these facts in mind, we can easily perceive how true it is that the Word is the Lord Himself. But while the Word in its inmost is the Lord, and is thus infinite, yet as apprehended by man, who is finite, it necessarily wears a finite aspect. It is plain that as man’s ideas become sensualized and bound down to matter, his view of the Divine Truth, or Word, must involve many illusions; true, certainly, in relation to him, but very far removed from the absolute Divine Truth. Now the literal sense of the Word, as we read it in our Bibles, is the presentation, if we may so phrase it, of the aspect of the Lord to the natural man, whose senses constitute his court of appeal. The Jews, to whom the Word in its literal sense was delivered, were just such men. Above this natural state of mind, there are two marked grades of intelligence—the spiritual and celestial. To these, the Lord’s words bear a far wider meaning, and are more fully instinct with the glory of the Divine Wisdom, and the warmth of the Divine Love. It is thus said that the Word of God has three senses—the natural, the spiritual, and the celestial. We attribute these senses to the Word: more correctly we should charge them to the universal human mind, whose capacity of reception they express. To no two men, or angels, does the Lord,—or in fact anything,—bear precisely the same appearance, or suggest the same meaning. These three grades, separated by discrete degrees, make up the universe of humanity; and the enlightened eye of the true philosopher may trace in every object of external creation an image and representation of them. But space forbids further explanation on this head; our author’s reasoning is, moreover, so closely linked as to admit of no curtailment. Suffice to say, that after demonstrating the existence of an internal sense in the Scripture, he proceeds to show the many uses of the literal sense, and, at the same time, the manifold abuses to which it is liable, when the laws by which it is written are not understood. Accepting the sublime philosophy of this treatise, we find in it a perfect refuge from the attacks of the sceptic, and discover a thousand reasons for one we had before, for loving God’s Holy Book, trusting in its wisdom, and committing our lives to its guidance.