The New Church (Swedenborgian) among the books of the New Testament includes only the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) and the Book of Revelation. Only these books contain an internal symbolism in a series, and are thus divinely inspired. Although this leaves out the Book of Acts and the letters of the apostles, the New Church holds them in esteem similar to that of the Jews for the Writings of the Old Testament. Swedenborg stated that these books were included as an act of divine providence, as books explaining Christian doctrine were needed for the general public. Paul's letters, although not containing a
Matthew 3:2 Matthew 3:2 Matthew 3:2 is the second verse of the third chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. John the Baptist has just been introduced and this verse describes the message that he is preaching. In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads: The New International Version translates the passage as: For a collection of other versions see BibRef Matthew 3:2 Clarke notes that this is the first of twenty-nine references to the Kingdom of Heaven in the Gospel of Matthew. Luke and Mark tend to prefer the term "kingdom of God." That Matthew