Swedenborg Arcana Caelestia Vol. III (1750)

From whom comes Faith; by the Rock original: "Petram" mentioned there is understood that Faith, as it is everywhere else in the Word; upon that Faith the Church is built, and against it the gates of hell shall not prevail. To that Faith belong the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven; it shuts heaven so that evils and falsehoods may not enter, and it opens heaven for what is good and true. This is the Internal Sense of these words. The Twelve Apostles, like the Twelve Tribes of Israel, represent nothing other than all aspects of such a Faith (see numbers 577, 2889, 2129, 2130). Peter represents Faith itself, James represents charity, and John represents the goods of charity (see the Preface to Chapter 18 of Genesis). This is similar to Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, the firstborn of Jacob in the Representative Jewish and Israelite Church, as is evident from a thousand places in the Word. Because Peter related to Faith, those words were spoken to him. From this it is clear into what darkness they cast themselves, and others with them, who explain everything according to the literal letter—such as those who apply those words to Peter personally, by which they take away from the Lord and claim for themselves the power of saving the human race original: "Genus humanum".

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