Critics note that Swedenborg viewed only 36 books in the Bible as divinely inspired. According to them, masquerading as a being of light is a demonic tactic; Swedenborg's allegorical, esoteric interpretations and paranormal encounters (bordering on the occult) contradict the scriptures and make his claims spurious. This criticism ignores the fact that the majority of Swedenborg's writings are based on direct scriptural quotations with numerous cross references. As for the writings of Paul, Swedenborg clarified the distinction between the epistles of Paul with the rest of scripture in his private diary: "...Paul indeed spoke from inspiration, but not in the same way as the prophets, to whom every single word was dictated but that his inspiration was that he received an influx, according to those things which were with him, which is quite a different inspiration, and has no conjunction with heaven by correspondences."