00.3. Preface.

Preface. This volume Is Intended to be a plain, practical application of the New Testament Parables to our daily life, from the standpoint of the New-Jerusalem Church. And it is published, because there seems to be need of such a work: and the field is unoccupied. No single work on the Parables can well be exhaustive of the subject. There are several aspects in which each parable maybe viewed and interpreted: and, in each case, the author has selected that aspect which seemed best adapted to practical use. As it seems best to have the explanation of each parable complete in itself, considerable repetition is unavoidable.

Regarded from a literary standpoint, the author is indebted to the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg for the general method of interpretation, and for the principles and facts of correspondences and representatives. And in several instances, the author has also adopted suggestions of other commentators. The texts of the parables, and the citations of other texts, have been omitted, in deference to the suggestion of the Publishers, to make the bulk of the volume as small as possible. The author contemplates, in the future, a companion-volume on the Parables of the Old Testament.

E. C. M.

ST. PAUL, MINN. October, 1887.