Ramakrishna
Indian mystic and religious preacher (1836-1886)
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedish 18th century scientist and theologian
Emanuel Swedenborg was a Swedish Christian theologian, scientist, philosopher, and mystic who became known for his book on the afterlife, ‘Heaven and Hell’. He had a spiritual awakening in 1744 and went on to write 18 published theological works over the last 28 years of his life, which are revered by followers of the New Church, also known as Swedenborgianism.
Table of Contents
About the Emanuel Swedenborg
Emanuel Swedenborgwas a Swedish Christian theologian, scientist, philosopher, and mystic. He became best known for his book on the afterlife, Heaven and Hell (1758).
Swedenborg had a prolific career as an inventor and scientist. In 1741, at 53, he entered into a spiritual phase in which he began to experience dreams and visions, notably on Easter Weekend, on 6 April
1744.
His experiences culminated in a “spiritual awakening” in which he received a revelation that Jesus Christ had appointed him to write The Heavenly Doctrine to reform Christianity. According to The Heavenly Doctrine, the Lord had opened Swedenborg’s spiritual eyes so that from then on, he could freely visit heaven and hell to converse with angels, demons and other spirits, and that the Last Judgment had already occurred in 1757, the year before the 1758 publication of De Nova Hierosolyma et ejus doctrina coelesti (English: Concerning the New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine).
Over the last 28 years of his life, Swedenborg wrote 18 published theological works–and several more that remained unpublished. He termed himself a “Servant of the Lord Jesus Christ” in True Christian Religion, which he published himself. Some followers of The Heavenly Doctrine believe that of his theological works, only those that were published by Swedenborg himself are fully divinely inspired. Others have regarded all Swedenborg’s theological works as equally inspired, saying for example that the fact that some works were “not written out in a final edited form for publication does not make a single statement less trustworthy than the statements in any of the other works”. The New Church, also known as Swedenborgianism, is a Restorationist denomination of Christianity originally founded in 1787 and comprising several historically related Christian churches that revere Swedenborg’s writings as revelation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Emanuel Swedenborg was a Swedish Christian theologian, scientist, philosopher, and mystic who lived from 1688 to 1772.
Emanuel Swedenborg’s most famous work was his book on the afterlife, ‘Heaven and Hell’, which was published in 1758.
Emanuel Swedenborg had his spiritual awakening in 1744, during which he began experiencing dreams and visions, and received a revelation that he was appointed to write ‘The Heavenly Doctrine’ to reform Christianity.
Over the last 28 years of his life, Emanuel Swedenborg wrote 18 published theological works, and several more that remained unpublished.
The New Church, also known as Swedenborgianism, is a Restorationist denomination of Christianity originally founded in 1787 that reveres Emanuel Swedenborg’s writings as revelation.
According to ‘The Heavenly Doctrine’, Emanuel Swedenborg claimed that the Last Judgment had already occurred in 1757, the year before the publication of his work ‘Concerning the New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine’.
In his work ‘True Christian Religion’, Emanuel Swedenborg termed himself a ,Servant of the Lord Jesus Christ,.
28 Quotes by Emanuel Swedenborg
- 1.
For the spiritual sense of the Word treats everywhere of the spiritual world, that is, of the state of the church in the heavens, as well as in the earth; hence the Word is spiritual and Divine.
Emanuel SwedenborgSwedish 18th century scientist and theologian
- 2.
I am well aware that many will say that no one can possibly speak with spirits and angels so long as he lives in the body; and many will say that it is all fancy, others that I relate such things in order to gain credence, and others will make other objections.
Emanuel SwedenborgSwedish 18th century scientist and theologian
- 3.
Without such a Life, the Word as to the letter is dead.
Emanuel SwedenborgSwedish 18th century scientist and theologian
- 4.
That all who have ever been born men from the beginning of creation, and are deceased, are either in heaven or in hell, follows from those things which have been said and shown in the preceding article, namely, that Heaven and Hell are from the human race.
Emanuel SwedenborgSwedish 18th century scientist and theologian
- 5.
That every man after the life in the world lives to eternity, is evident from this, that man is then spiritual, and no longer natural, and that the spiritual man, separated from the natural, remains such as he is to eternity, for man’s state cannot be changed after death.
Emanuel SwedenborgSwedish 18th century scientist and theologian
- 6.
The Divine of the Lord in heaven is love, for the reason that love is receptive of all things of heaven, such as peace, intelligence, wisdom and happiness.
Emanuel SwedenborgSwedish 18th century scientist and theologian
- 7.
In heaven there are two distinct loves, love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor, in the inmost or third heaven love to the Lord, in the second or middle heaven love towards the neighbor.
Emanuel SwedenborgSwedish 18th century scientist and theologian
- 8.
For the judgment was accomplished not only upon all the men of the Christian church, but also upon all who are called Mohammedans, and, moreover, upon all the Gentiles in the whole world.
Emanuel SwedenborgSwedish 18th century scientist and theologian
- 9.
This Divine truth flows into heaven from the Lord from His Divine love.
Emanuel SwedenborgSwedish 18th century scientist and theologian
- 10.
But by all this I am not deterred, for I have seen, I have heard, I have felt.
Emanuel SwedenborgSwedish 18th century scientist and theologian
- 11.
The quality of the Lord’s church on earth, cannot be seen by any man, so long as he lives in the world, still less how the church in process of time has turned aside from good to evil.
Emanuel SwedenborgSwedish 18th century scientist and theologian
- 12.
True charity is the desire to be useful to others with no thought of recompense.
Emanuel SwedenborgSwedish 18th century scientist and theologian
- 13.
There are angels that receive more interiorly the Divine that goes forth from the Lord, and others that receive it less interiorly; the former are called celestial angels, and the latter spiritual angels.
Emanuel SwedenborgSwedish 18th century scientist and theologian
- 14.
Man was so created by the Lord as to be able while living in the body to speak with spirits and angels, as in fact was done in the most ancient times; for, being a spirit clothed with a body, he is one with them.
Emanuel SwedenborgSwedish 18th century scientist and theologian
- 15.
First of all it must be known who the God of heaven is, since upon that all the other things depend.
Emanuel SwedenborgSwedish 18th century scientist and theologian
- 16.
The angels taken collectively are called heaven, for they constitute heaven; and yet that which makes heaven in general and in particular is the Divine that goes forth from the Lord and flows into the angels and is received by them.
Emanuel SwedenborgSwedish 18th century scientist and theologian
- 17.
He who is in evil, is also in the punishment of evil.
Emanuel SwedenborgSwedish 18th century scientist and theologian
- 18.
To have dominion by religion, is to have dominion over men’s souls, thus over their very spiritual life, and to use the Divine things, which are in their religion, as the means.
Emanuel SwedenborgSwedish 18th century scientist and theologian
- 19.
In the spiritual body moreover, man appears such as he is with respect to love and faith, for everyone in the spiritual world is the effigy of his own love, not only as to the face and the body, but also as to the speech and the actions.
Emanuel SwedenborgSwedish 18th century scientist and theologian
- 20.
Destruction was effected after visitation, for visitation always precedes.
Emanuel SwedenborgSwedish 18th century scientist and theologian
- 21.
For in every particular of the Word there is an internal sense which treats of things spiritual and heavenly, not of things natural and worldly, such as are treated of in the sense of the letter.
Emanuel SwedenborgSwedish 18th century scientist and theologian
- 22.
And as the Divine that goes forth from the Lord is the good of love and the truth of faith, the angels are angels and are heaven in the measure in which they receive good and truth from the Lord.
Emanuel SwedenborgSwedish 18th century scientist and theologian
- 23.
Moreover, no one is judged from the natural man, thus not so long as he lives in the natural world, for man is then in a natural body; but everyone is judged in the spiritual man, and therefore when he comes into the spiritual world, for man is then in a spiritual body.
Emanuel SwedenborgSwedish 18th century scientist and theologian
- 24.
I have often talked with angels on this subject, and they have invariably declared that in heaven they are unable to divide the Divine into three, because they know and perceive that the Divine is One and this One is in the Lord.
Emanuel SwedenborgSwedish 18th century scientist and theologian
- 25.
The human race is the basis on which heaven is founded, is because man was last created, and that which is last created is the basis of all that precedes.
Emanuel SwedenborgSwedish 18th century scientist and theologian
- 26.
The act of exploring what the men are, and moreover the separation of the good from the evil, is visitation; and the good are then removed, and the evil are left behind.
Emanuel SwedenborgSwedish 18th century scientist and theologian
- 27.
Love consists in desiring to give what is our own to another and feeling his delight as our own.
Emanuel SwedenborgSwedish 18th century scientist and theologian
- 28.
In the Christian world… it is believed that angels were created at the beginning, and that heaven was formed of them; and that the Devil or Satan was an angel of light, who, becoming rebellions, was cast down with his crew, and that this was the origin of hell.
Emanuel SwedenborgSwedish 18th century scientist and theologian