Imanuel Swedenborg

[MichaelPA]

For the last several weeks, I've been reading my way through the writings of Imanuel Swedenborg. I am finding he brings an entirely new perspective on Heaven, Hell, sin, and salvation. I heartily recommend his writings. Has anyone else read any of Swedenborg's writings?

[Fidelio]

Emanuel Swedenborg has some strange doctrines according to a Wikipedia article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuel_Swedenborg

Such as,

a "spiritual awakening" in which he received a revelation that he was appointed by Jesus Christ to write The Heavenly Doctrine to reform Christianity.[6] 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 the Last Judgment had already occurred the year before, in 1757.[7] According to Swedenborg, we leave the physical world once, but then go through several lives in the spiritual world — a kind of hybrid of Christian tradition and the popular view of reincarnation.[8]

I read a great book about Heaven, not saying I agreed 100%, but much of it made a lot of sense. Heaven, by Randy Alcorn.

In the most comprehensive and definitive book on Heaven to date, Randy invites you to picture Heaven the way Scripture describes it—a bright, vibrant, and physical New Earth, free from sin, suffering, and death, and brimming with Christ's presence, wondrous natural beauty, and the richness of human culture as God intended it.

God has put eternity in our hearts. Now, Randy Alcorn brings eternity to light in a way that will surprise you, spark your imagination, and change how you live today.

If you've always thought of Heaven as a realm of disembodied spirits, clouds, and eternal harp strumming, you're in for a wonderful surprise.

https://store.epm.org/product/heaven

[Judas Maccabeus]

For the last several weeks, I've been reading my way through the writings of Imanuel Swedenborg. I am finding he brings an entirely new perspective on Heaven, Hell, sin, and salvation. I heartily recommend his writings. Has anyone else read any of Swedenborg's writings?

He is the founder of a cult, "The Church of New Jerusalem." He believed that the Bible had an "internal" mystical sense that he came to understand through the revelation he received. His writing is seen as the key to unlocking the true meaning of the Bible. Kinda like the founder of other cults.

My advice-RUN.

J.M.

[MichaelPA]

For the last several weeks, I've been reading my way through the writings of Imanuel Swedenborg. I am finding he brings an entirely new perspective on Heaven, Hell, sin, and salvation. I heartily recommend his writings. Has anyone else read any of Swedenborg's writings?

He is the founder of a cult, "The Church of New Jerusalem." He believed that the Bible had an "internal" mystical sense that he came to understand through the revelation he received. His writing is seen as the key to unlocking the true meaning of the Bible. Kinda like the founder of other cults.

My advice-RUN.

J.M.

Swedenborg never attempted to organize a church while he was alive, unlike leaders of real cults.
Sadhu Sundar Singh, the Indian mystic famous in the early 20th century, said he spoke with Swedenborg in Heaven and that he had a very high position there. Sundar Singh wholeheartedly endorsed the writings of Swedenborg. Even the likes of John Wesley studied the writings of Swedenborg. Helen Keller was a believer.
Also, Raymond Moody, the author of Life After Life, the first popular book on near death experiences, included a section on Swedenborg since his writings on the afterlife were so similar to the average near death experience. I myself have read very many accounts of near death experiences and there is much accord with what Swedenborg writes.
While I am skeptical of some of the things he writes, there is much that resonates with me.
I think people should be open-minded to the possibility that he was genuine.

[MichaelPA]

Emanuel Swedenborg has some strange doctrines according to a Wikipedia article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuel_Swedenborg

Such as,

a "spiritual awakening" in which he received a revelation that he was appointed by Jesus Christ to write The Heavenly Doctrine to reform Christianity.[6] 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 the Last Judgment had already occurred the year before, in 1757.[7] According to Swedenborg, we leave the physical world once, but then go through several lives in the spiritual world — a kind of hybrid of Christian tradition and the popular view of reincarnation.[8]

I read a great book about Heaven, not saying I agreed 100%, but much of it made a lot of sense. Heaven, by Randy Alcorn.

In the most comprehensive and definitive book on Heaven to date, Randy invites you to picture Heaven the way Scripture describes it—a bright, vibrant, and physical New Earth, free from sin, suffering, and death, and brimming with Christ's presence, wondrous natural beauty, and the richness of human culture as God intended it.

God has put eternity in our hearts. Now, Randy Alcorn brings eternity to light in a way that will surprise you, spark your imagination, and change how you live today.

If you've always thought of Heaven as a realm of disembodied spirits, clouds, and eternal harp strumming, you're in for a wonderful surprise.

https://store.epm.org/product/heaven

Thanks for the book recommendation. Does Randy Alcorn have first hand knowledge of the afterlife, or is he guessing from reading the Bible? There are many who have actually seen and been to Heaven, by which I mean those that have had near death experiences and some Christian mystics like Swedenborg and Sadhu Sundar Singh. Why not see what they have to say about the afterlife from their first hand experiences.

[Szdfan]

I haven’t read Swedenborg, but it’s my understanding that he provided really vivid descriptions of Hell. Is that true?

[MichaelPA]

I haven’t read Swedenborg, but it’s my understanding that he provided really vivid descriptions of Hell. Is that true?

He did describe Hell vividly, particularly in his book Heaven and Hell. From his description and what he says, it is clear that the fires of Hell are only metaphorical. He also says the inhabitants of Hell willingly choose to be there, God doesn't force them to be there. God, or Jesus Christ, is portrayed as absolute Goodness and He doesnt damn anyone to Hell, people put themselves in Hell by the bad desires and perverted pleasures they have.

[queserasera_2]

Based on what I'm reading here, he might spend more time reading Scripture and be the better for it...

[Szdfan]

My favorite reference to Swedenborg comes from an essay called "The Red Angel" by GK Chesterton in which he defends telling fairy tales to children.

I find that there really are human beings who think fairy tales bad for children...All this kind of talk is based on that complete forgetting of what a child is like which has been the firm foundation of so many educational schemes. If you keep bogies and goblins away from children they would make them up for themselves. One small child in the dark can invent more hells than Swedenborg. One small child can imagine monsters too big and black to get into any picture, and give them names too unearthly and cacophonous to have occurred in the cries of any lunatic. The child, to begin with, commonly likes horrors, and he continues to indulge in them even when he does not like them. There is just as much difficulty in saying exactly where pure pain begins in his case, as there is in ours when we walk of our own free will into the torture-chamber of a great tragedy. The fear does not come from fairy tales; the fear comes from the universe of the soul.

I don't mean to distract from this thread and I'm happy to discuss this essay elsewhere (because I know there are a lot of people who will disagree with Chesterton), but I think that he's right here -- we do have the ability to imagine worse horrors than we might find in Scripture or theological writings.

[silentreader]

Based on what I'm reading here, he might spend more time reading Scripture and be the better for it...

That's probably true for all of us.