front cover of Afterlife
Afterlife
A Guided Tour of Heaven and Its Wonders
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2008

What happens to us after we die? What is heaven like? How do angels live? In his classic work Heaven and Hell, Swedish visionary Emanuel Swedenborg gives readers a detailed road map to the afterlife, describing the process that our soul goes through after death, the nature of heaven and hell, angels and demons, all in meticulous detail. Afterlife is an abridged version of Heaven and Hell, with passages specially chosen to highlight the essence of Swedenborg's work.

[more]

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Angels in Action
What Swedenborg Saw and Heard
Robert Kirven
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 1994

Angels live in communities, wear clothes, and have no wings! So said Emanuel Swedenborg, Swedish scientist and seer who, for the last twenty-seven years of his life, visited heaven and hell almost daily and met angels and evil spirits. Swedenborg's visions and the meaning they can have in our lives are explained in this remarkable book. Author Robert H. Kirven also shows how angels work for us from birth through death and how we can be angels on earth.

[more]

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Between Method and Madness
Essays on Swedenborg and Literature
Stephen McNeilly
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2005
Between Method and Madness: Essays on Swedenborg and Literature addresses the question of Emanuel Swedenborg’s (1688–1772) influence on literature of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The collection opens with a seminal essay by William Butler Yeats, a lyrical and critical masterpiece in which the Nobel Prize-winning poet reveals his breadth of lifelong philosophical and theosophical interests, framing them around the significant influence of Swedenborg. The collection also studies Swedenborg’s role in the birth and rise of the Symbolist movement and his influence upon Victorian poetry. The volume closes with an essay by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who views Swedenborg as a founding figure for the Spiritualist circles he himself advocated. This volume, the fourth in the Journal of the Swedenborg Society series, contains the following six essays:
 
• W. B. Yeats, “Swedenborg, Mediums and the Desolate Places”
• Gary Lachman, “The Spiritual Detective: How Baudelaire invented Symbolism, by way of Swedenborg, E. T. A. Hoffmann and Edgar Allan Poe”
• Adelheid Kegler, “Elements of Swedenborgian Thought in Symbolist Landscapes: with reference to Sheridan Le Fanu and George MacDonald”
• Richard Lines, “Eros and the Unknown Victorian: Coventry Patmore and Swedenborg”
• Gary Lachman, “Space: the Final Frontier. O. V. de Lubicz Milosz and Swedenborg”
• Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Story of Swedenborg”
 
Also included are a preface by Stephen McNeilly, a chronology of Swedenborg, biographies of the essay subjects, and an index.
[more]

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A BOOK ABOUT DYING
PREPARING FOR ETERNAL LIFE
Robert Kirven
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 1997

Composed at a time when Robert H. Kirven was coping with the terminal illness of his wife, A Book about Dying affirms that the universal fear of death is eased by knowing what comes after. Using the unique Swedenborgian perspective of the afterlife and his own hard-earned knowledge of the day-to-day realities of caring for a loved one, Kirven writes of the spiritual experiences of the dying and of the survivors; offers practical advice on measure that can lessen the burden on the sick and the caregiver; and convincingly asserts that "for patient and survivor alike, living really does continue after dying."

[more]

front cover of CHARITY
CHARITY
THE PRACTICE OF NEIGHBORLINESS
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 1995

Charity is not only about giving to those in need, but in a broader sense about loving your neighbor and doing good things for other people without thought of reward. So wrote Swedish visionary Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), who believed that charity, along with faith, was part of the foundation of spiritual practice.

This work combines two of Swedenborg's unpublished manuscripts to form a practical, inspirational handbook for applying the principle of doing good to daily life.

[more]

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Conversations with Angels
What Swedenborg Heard in Heaven
DONALD ROSE
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 1996

"...an engaging, fascinating contribution to angelic studies."
---Reviewer's Bookwatch

This fresh translation brings together the most remarkable selections from Swedish visionary Emanuel Swedenborg's works about the wisdom imparted to him by angels. These stories reveal the angels' natures, their spiritual loves, their heavenly education, and the true source of wisdom and beauty. These spirits share their knowledge for the good of those on earth, who are themselves created to become angels.

Look for this book's companion piece, Debates with Devils.

[more]

front cover of The Core of Johnny Appleseed
The Core of Johnny Appleseed
The Unknown Story of a Spiritual Trailblazer
Ray SIlverman
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2012

Recent biographies of John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, have portrayed him as anything from a schizophrenic wandering ascetic to a hedonistic pleasure-seeker. But who was the real man behind the misconceptions?

In this spiritual biography, Ray Silverman explores the stories and the popular misconceptions about Johnny Appleseed as well as the truths behind the legends. As a businessman, Chapman owned nineteen nurseries and twenty other land holdings throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana, brokering deals that belie the popular image of him as a wandering nomad with a tin pot on his head. But it is only once we talk about Chapman’s spiritual convictions that we come to the core of who he was: a thoughtful and also joyful Christian who was deeply moved by the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg.

The picture that emerges is of a lighthearted person whose convictions led him to seek harmony not only in nature but in the spiritual realms also—and to share his bounty with as many people as he could.
[more]

front cover of THE COVERT ENLIGHTENMENT
THE COVERT ENLIGHTENMENT
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY COUNTERCULTURE & ITS AFTERMATH
ALFRED J. GABAY
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2005

The European Enlightenment in the latter half of the eighteenth century heralded a grave conflict between theological and scientific modes of thought, starkly revealing the ancient tensions between spiritual knowledge and rationalism. Yet there was another, lesser-known movement during this time---a "covert" Enlightenment---that sought to bring fresh perspectives on the soul, and by extension, on the human mind and on consciousness. This work examines the influence of Emanuel Swedenborg and Anton Mesmer on the budding movement toward psychology in the late-eighteenth century and also spiritualism and millennialism in the nineteenth century.

[more]

front cover of THE DESIGN OF EXISTENCE
THE DESIGN OF EXISTENCE
EMANATION FROM SOURCE TO CREATION
WILSON VAN DUSEN
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2001

In The Design of Existence, Wilson Van Dusen offers spiritual explorers a guidebook for mystical experience, describing the inner landscape in detail. Though considering himself a scientist, Van Dusen approaches reality as a mystic, using the writings of 18th-century visionary Emanuel Swedenborg as a lens. For Swedenborg and Van Dusen, our interior realm reflects the external cosmos, which makes a mystical sense of oneness possible: "We are in a massive order, far greater than we can see. Yet we are not alien to this order. We are created out of it."

For Van Dusen's mysticism, Swedenborg is the exemplar of universality. A scientist who mastered fields as varied as chemistry, physiology, optics, and metallurgy, Swedenborg turned inward to investigate the psychological and the spiritual. He affirmed the value of other religious cultures and even wrote in gender-inclusive Latin. He had startlingly contemporary insights: he saw that the spiritual must inform everyday experience, that feelings must aid the intellect in seeking the spiritual, that the quest for the soul leads to understanding the cosmos and vice versa.

Van Dusen uses Swedenborg's ideas as the basis for a true universal mysticism. In The Design of Existence, he invites each of us to confront mystical experience as proof that we and the cosmos share a spiritual design, which orders our lives as surely as it orders the universe itself.

[more]

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Divine Love & Wisdom
Portable: The Portable New Century Edition
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2010

Divine Love and Wisdom has been called the most profound work of the Enlightenment scientist and seer Emanuel Swedenborg. It demonstrates how God’s love, wisdom, and humanity are reflected in creation and in ourselves, and suggests that the act of Creation is not a mystery of the past, but a miracle ongoing in every instant of the present. Like a blueprint of things unseen, Divine Love and Wisdom makes visible the hidden design of the universe, as well as the qualities of its Architect. Its vivid depiction of the spiritual mechanism of the world has impressed thinkers such as William Blake, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry James, Sr.

The New Century Edition of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg is a modern-language, scholarly translation of Swedenborg’s theological works. The series’ easy-to-read style retains the dignity, variety, clarity, and gender-inclusive language of Swedenborg’s original Latin, bringing his thought to life.

This portable edition contains the text of the New Century Edition translation, but not the introduction, annotations, or other supplementary materials found in the deluxe edition.

[more]

front cover of Divine Love & Wisdom
Divine Love & Wisdom
Portable: The Portable New Century Edition
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers

Divine Love and Wisdom has been called the most profound work of the Enlightenment scientist and seer Emanuel Swedenborg. It demonstrates how God’s love, wisdom, and humanity are reflected in creation and in ourselves, and suggests that the act of Creation is not a mystery of the past, but a miracle ongoing in every instant of the present. Like a blueprint of things unseen, Divine Love and Wisdom makes visible the hidden design of the universe, as well as the qualities of its Architect. Its vivid depiction of the spiritual mechanism of the world has impressed thinkers such as William Blake, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry James, Sr.

The New Century Edition of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg is a modern-language, scholarly translation of Swedenborg’s theological works. The series’ easy-to-read style retains the dignity, variety, clarity, and gender-inclusive language of Swedenborg’s original Latin, bringing his thought to life.

This portable edition contains the text of the New Century Edition translation, but not the introduction, annotations, or other supplementary materials found in the deluxe edition.

[more]

front cover of Divine Providence
Divine Providence
Portable: The Portable New Century Edition
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2010

Divine Providence is one of the major works of the Enlightenment scientist and religious seer Emanuel Swedenborg. It provides a coherent and satisfying solution to what has been called “the problem of evil”: How are God’s goodness and power reconcilable with evil’s presences in the larger world and in the human mind and heart? By tackling an array of issues that commonly undermine belief in God, including war, suffering, and inequality—and by revealing the wise and loving laws that lie hidden behind these seemingly senseless phenomena—Divine Providence aims to restore our faith in the meaningfulness of the world. Despite its universal focus, Divine Providence is also a highly practical book on the personal level, demonstrating how we can put aside negative attitudes and behaviors and grow into positive thought and action.

The New Century Edition of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg is a modern-language, scholarly translation of Swedenborg’s theological works. The series’ easy-to-read style retains the dignity, variety, clarity, and gender-inclusive language of Swedenborg’s original Latin, bringing his thought to life.

This portable edition contains the text of the New Century Edition translation, but not the introduction, annotations, or other supplementary materials found in the deluxe editions.

[more]

front cover of Divine Providence
Divine Providence
Portable: The Portable New Century Edition
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2010

Divine Providence is one of the major works of the Enlightenment scientist and religious seer Emanuel Swedenborg. It provides a coherent and satisfying solution to what has been called “the problem of evil”: How are God’s goodness and power reconcilable with evil’s presences in the larger world and in the human mind and heart? By tackling an array of issues that commonly undermine belief in God, including war, suffering, and inequality—and by revealing the wise and loving laws that lie hidden behind these seemingly senseless phenomena—Divine Providence aims to restore our faith in the meaningfulness of the world. Despite its universal focus, Divine Providence is also a highly practical book on the personal level, demonstrating how we can put aside negative attitudes and behaviors and grow into positive thought and action.

The New Century Edition of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg is a modern-language, scholarly translation of Swedenborg’s theological works. The series’ easy-to-read style retains the dignity, variety, clarity, and gender-inclusive language of Swedenborg’s original Latin, bringing his thought to life.

This portable edition contains the text of the New Century Edition translation, but not the introduction, annotations, or other supplementary materials found in the deluxe editions.

[more]

front cover of A DRAMA OF CREATION
A DRAMA OF CREATION
SOURCES & INFLUENCES IN SWEDENBORG'S WORSHIP & LOVE OF GOD
INGE JONSSON
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2004

The Worship and Love of God is one of the most unusual writings of Swedish scientist and theologian Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772). A "poetical novel," it dramatizes the Creation and examines the life of Adam and Eve as the first truly united couple. Considered Swedenborg's last work before he embarked on his visionary period, the manuscript was left unfinished by its author and published only after his death.

Inge Jonsson, one of the world's leading scholars on Swedenborg's works, offers a scholarly look into a neglected literary achievement. He examines this unique work from the perspective of sources and influences. The literary genre f hexaemeron, ancient and modern philosophy, and scientific discoveries in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries come into play in Swedenborg's richly imagined and beautifully articulated world. Yet The Worship and Love of God also offers an intriguing glimpse into Swedenborg's future as a biblical exegete and revelator.

[more]

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Emanuel Swedenborg
Scientist and Mystic
SIGNE TOKSVIG
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 1983

This classic biography of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772), first published in 1948, gives us a sharp, witty, personal insight into the life of the Swedish scientist and theologian.

Though not a Swedenborgian herself, and somewhat skeptical of Swedenborg’s claims to divine revelation, Toksvig praises Swedenborg’s genius as both a thinker and a man of faith: “Swedenborg in his later phase has as great treasure to bestow as many of those millionaires of the spirit we call mystics, even if one reads him strictly from an ethical point of view. And, apart from an interest in distinctions between good and evil—not an unnecessary interest at the present time, one would think—Swedenborg in his life and works can, if one takes a little trouble to understand him, open travel horizons for us far exceeding all others for beauty and strangeness.”

An introduction by the Reverend Brian Kingslake, added to a 1983 edition, provides a Swedenborgian perspective and retrospective on a work that remains a fascinating, informative look at Swedenborg’s world.

[more]

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Emanuel Swedenborg
The Development of His Thought
MARTIN LAMM
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2000

Available for the first time in English, Martin Lamm's work on the evolution of Emanuel Swedenborg's (1688-1772) philosphical system has stood as the standard humanist interpretation of Swedenborg's writings. First published in Swedish in 1915, the book has influenced generations of European scholars. His detailed investigation of the philosophical and religious background of Swedenborgian thought is an illuminating inquiry into the mystery of how Swedenborg was transformed from a scientist into a seer.

Lamm demonstrates that there is a logical and consisten line of thought developed from Swedenborg's earliest childhood experiences to his most mature theological statements. Backed by scholarly evidence, Lamm shows that Swedenborg's scientifically based worldview was not changed by his religious revelations -- rather, his visions completed and corroborated the picture.

Martin Lamm's analysis of the genesis of Swedenborgian philosophy is a masterful and lively portrait of one of history's most remarkable thinkers.

[more]

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Emanuel Swedenborg--Exploring a "World Memory"
Context, Content, Contribution
Karl Grandin
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2013
In 2010, a scholarly conference on Emanuel Swedenborg’s ideas and influence was held at the Center for the History of Science at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. The conference was a celebration a recently completed digital catalog of the academy’s Swedenborg archive, which in 2006 was designated as part of UNESCO’s World Memory program. This was the first time that an academic conference on Swedenborg was hosted by a non-Swedenborgian institution.

The conference attracted presenters from all over the world, including some top scholars. Papers were divided into three categories. “Content” describes Swedenborg’s thought, from his use of spheres in his scientific writings to his views on sexuality and marriage to analyses of his theological writings. “Context” explores his times, putting Swedenborg in the context of eighteenth-century philosophy and looking at the organization of the earliest Swedenborgian church. “Contribution” looks at Swedenborg’s influence on philosophy and the arts, from Ralph Waldo Emerson and Czeslaw Milocz to Elizabeth Barrett Browning and William James.

These papers present a rare insight into Swedenborg. Although only a limited number of attendees were invited to the conference, now the research is available to all.
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front cover of Enlightenment All the Way to Heaven
Enlightenment All the Way to Heaven
Emanuel Swedenborg in the Context of Eighteenth-Century Theology and Philosophy
Friedemann Stengel
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2023
Enlightenment All the Way to Heaven: Emanuel Swedenborg in the Context of Eighteenth-Century Theology and Philosophy is an English translation of Friedemann Stengel’s 2009 German habilitation (qualifying) thesis, which was published by Mohr Siebeck Tübingen in 2011, Aufklärung bis zum Himmel: Emanuel Swedenborg im Kontext der Theologie und Philosophie des 18. Jahrhunderts. In this volume, Stengel provides a survey of Swedenborg’s philosophical influences, as well as an assessment of Swedenborg’s own influence on the German theology of his time, thereby giving the reader new insight into the nature of the Enlightenment. Exploring Swedenborg’s many inspirations, from Plato to Aristotle, Augustine to Descartes, and Malebranche to Leibniz, just to name a few, Stengel shows the breadth of their impact on Swedenborg and the resultant sophistication of the Swedish prophet’s ideas.

By broadening the conversation surrounding Swedenborg’s source and reception histories, Stengel hopes to counter the reductive lenses through which certain of Swedenborg’s experiences have been filtered. In the author’s own words, “this will serve to highlight the perspectives contained within the historical discourse, tracing their seminal influence on later religious and philosophical discussions that, in turn, gave rise, from the eighteenth century onward, to the psychohistorical interpretations of associated supernatural phenomena such as Swedenborg’s visionary propensity.”

Enlightenment All the Way to Heaven is the twenty-fourth installment in the Swedenborg Studies scholarly series.
[more]

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EPIC OF THE AFTERLIFE
A LITERARY APPROACH TO SWEDENBORG
OLOF LAGERCRANTZ
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2002

As a poet and storyteller, Olaf Lagercrantz approaches the works of Swedish scientist-turned-seer with the eyes of an artist, exploring the complex philosophy of one of Sweden's most famous sons with curiosity and open wonder. Lagercrantz examines Swedenborg's life, his experiences in heaven and hell, and writings about faith, the nature of the universe, and human relationships as works of literature, casting a new light on Swedenborg's ideas that often differs from the usual theological interpretations.

[more]

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The Essential Swedenborg
Basic Religious Teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2023

The Essential Swedenborg summarizes in modern terms the basic features of the theology put forward by Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772), scientist, inventor, statesman, philosopher, and theologian.

The startling concepts of the “Northern Plato” caused the orthodox clergy of the time to consider him a heretic. For more than two hundred years, however, Swedenborg has inspired many of the world’s greatest intellects and contributors to modern culture—Balzac, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Blake, Emerson, Henry James, Sr., Czeslaw Milosz, and Yates among them—with a visionary belief system for all people, regardless of background, that emphasizes good works, personal responsibility, and one’s inner connection to divine love.

This edition provides new translations of selections from Swedenborg’s works on some of his key theological topics, including use, charity, life after death, the destiny of humanity, and divine providence.

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The Five Ages
Swedenborg's View of Spiritual History
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2009
The Five Ages: Swedenborg’s View of Spiritual History presents a compelling spiritual and psychological history of human evolution. It is a compilation of extracts from the works of the eighteenth-century Swedish philosopher and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg on the subject of the “world ages,” a concept that is found in many different cultures and mythologies. The Greeks and Romans called these epochs the Golden, Silver, Bronze and Iron Ages; Hindu mythology talks of the four yugas; Islam, meanwhile, refers to a pattern of the six major prophets. Similar timeframes appear in Norse, Persian, and Aztec mythology, but nowhere is this theme treated with such detail as in the works of Swedenborg. He divides human history into five biblically based ages: that of Adam, Noah, Moses, Jesus Christ, and a fifth one that is just unfolding, one predicted in the book of Revelation.
 
The Five Ages brings together passages from over twenty different works by Swedenborg, neatly linking them with an engaging and informative commentary in which P. L. Johnson compares and contrasts Swedenborg’s ideas with those from other cultures, placing them in the context of historical and archaeological knowledge gathered since Swedenborg’s time.
 
The book is illustrated throughout, featuring thirty helpful and charming black-and-white line drawings. It also contains a bibliography, a subject index, an index of quotations from the works of Swedenborg, and an appendix on “World Age Patterns.”
[more]

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GALLERY OF MIRRORS
REFLECTIONS OF SWEDENBORGIAN THOUGHT
ANDERS HALLENGREN
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 1998

What is the "secret of Great Tartary"? What became of the Swedish clerk Carl Robsahm's original manuscript of his talks with Emanuel Swedenborg? What was Strindberg's reaction to Balzac's novel Seraphita?

These and other provocative questions are answered by Anders Hallengren in a selection of essays. Hallengren's research in various parts of the world brings to light records that were formerly thought to be lost. In addition, Hallengren traces routes of subtle influence that range from the experiences of Swedish soldiers captured in Russia to a chance encounter in a hotel in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, in the Virgin Islands. Hallengren argues that these influences show the profound effect of Swedenborgian thought on celebrated and ordinary people, resulting not only in profound art but in a better world.

[more]

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Heaven and Hell
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2000

What happens to us when we die? Are heaven and hell real? If so, what are they like? Heaven and Hell contains the answers to these questions as seen by Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772).

This new translation of Swedenborg’s most popular work paints a detailed picture of life in the spiritual realms. A Swedish Enlightenment scientist of extraordinary accomplishment, Swedenborg underwent a spiritual crisis that led to an unparalleled series of paranormal experiences. He spent his last twenty-seven years in almost daily experience of heaven and hell, recording his observations and conversations, many of which are reported in Heaven and Hell. This sustained and detailed description of the nonphysical realms has left its impression on the minds of many great thinkers, including Goethe, Blake, Coleridge, Emerson, Borges, and Milosz.

This deluxe edition contains an introduction by religious historian Bernhard Lang setting the volume in the context of its time.

The New Century Edition of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg is a modern-language, scholarly translation of Swedenborg’s theological works. The series’ easy-to-read style retains the dignity, variety, clarity, and gender-inclusive language of Swedenborg’s original Latin, bringing his thought to life. Introductions and annotations by eminent, international scholars place Swedenborg’s writings in their historical context and illuminate obscure references within the text, enabling readers to understand and trace Swedenborg’s influence as never before.
[more]

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Heaven and Hell
Portable: The Portable New Century Edition
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2024

What happens to us when we die? Are heaven and hell real? If so, what are they like? Heaven and Hell contains the answers to these questions as seen by Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772).

This new translation of Swedenborg’s most popular work paints a detailed picture of life in the spiritual realms. A Swedish Enlightenment scientist of extraordinary accomplishment, Swedenborg underwent a spiritual crisis that led to an unparalleled series of paranormal experiences. He spent his last twenty-seven years in almost daily experience of heaven and hell, recording his observations and conversations, many of which are reported in Heaven and Hell. This sustained and detailed description of the nonphysical realms has left its impression on the minds of many great thinkers, including Goethe, Blake, Coleridge, Emerson, Borges, and Milosz.

The New Century Edition of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg is a modern-language, scholarly translation of Swedenborg’s theological works. The series’ easy-to-read style retains the dignity, variety, clarity, and gender-inclusive language of Swedenborg’s original Latin, bringing his thought to life.

This portable edition contains the text of the translation, but not the introduction, annotations, or other supplemental materials found in the deluxe edition.

[more]

front cover of HEAVEN AND HELL
HEAVEN AND HELL
PORTABLE: THE PORTABLE NEW CENTURY EDITION
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2020

What happens to us when we die? Are heaven and hell real? If so, what are they like? Heaven and Hell contains the answers to these questions as seen by Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772).

This new translation of Swedenborg’s most popular work paints a detailed picture of life in the spiritual realms. A Swedish Enlightenment scientist of extraordinary accomplishment, Swedenborg underwent a spiritual crisis that led to an unparalleled series of paranormal experiences. He spent his last twenty-seven years in almost daily experience of heaven and hell, recording his observations and conversations, many of which are reported in Heaven and Hell. This sustained and detailed description of the nonphysical realms has left its impression on the minds of many great thinkers, including Goethe, Blake, Coleridge, Emerson, Borges, and Milosz.

The New Century Edition of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg is a modern-language, scholarly translation of Swedenborg’s theological works. The series’ easy-to-read style retains the dignity, variety, clarity, and gender-inclusive language of Swedenborg’s original Latin, bringing his thought to life.

This portable edition contains the text of the translation, but not the introduction, annotations, or other supplemental materials found in the deluxe edition.

[more]

front cover of Heaven and Hell
Heaven and Hell
Portable: The Portable New Century Edition
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2020

What happens to us when we die? Are heaven and hell real? If so, what are they like? Heaven and Hell contains the answers to these questions as seen by Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772).

This new translation of Swedenborg’s most popular work paints a detailed picture of life in the spiritual realms. A Swedish Enlightenment scientist of extraordinary accomplishment, Swedenborg underwent a spiritual crisis that led to an unparalleled series of paranormal experiences. He spent his last twenty-seven years in almost daily experience of heaven and hell, recording his observations and conversations, many of which are reported in Heaven and Hell. This sustained and detailed description of the nonphysical realms has left its impression on the minds of many great thinkers, including Goethe, Blake, Coleridge, Emerson, Borges, and Milosz.

The New Century Edition of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg is a modern-language, scholarly translation of Swedenborg’s theological works. The series’ easy-to-read style retains the dignity, variety, clarity, and gender-inclusive language of Swedenborg’s original Latin, bringing his thought to life.

This portable edition contains the text of the translation, but not the introduction, annotations, or other supplemental materials found in the deluxe edition.

[more]

front cover of Heaven and Hell
Heaven and Hell
Portable: The Portable New Century Edition
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2010

What happens to us when we die? Are heaven and hell real? If so, what are they like? Heaven and Hell contains the answers to these questions as seen by Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772).

This new translation of Swedenborg’s most popular work paints a detailed picture of life in the spiritual realms. A Swedish Enlightenment scientist of extraordinary accomplishment, Swedenborg underwent a spiritual crisis that led to an unparalleled series of paranormal experiences. He spent his last twenty-seven years in almost daily experience of heaven and hell, recording his observations and conversations, many of which are reported in Heaven and Hell. This sustained and detailed description of the nonphysical realms has left its impression on the minds of many great thinkers, including Goethe, Blake, Coleridge, Emerson, Borges, and Milosz.

The New Century Edition of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg is a modern-language, scholarly translation of Swedenborg’s theological works. The series’ easy-to-read style retains the dignity, variety, clarity, and gender-inclusive language of Swedenborg’s original Latin, bringing his thought to life.

This portable edition contains the text of the translation, but not the introduction, annotations, or other supplemental materials found in the deluxe edition.

[more]

front cover of The Heavenly City
The Heavenly City
A Spiritual Guidebook
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 1993

This new translation of De Novo Hierosolyma Et Ejus Doctrina Coelesti (alternatively translated The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine) by Emanuel Swedenborg presents the ideas of this Swedish visionary in simple, modern English. In the short work, Swedenborg discusses our motivations and inner natures, love and selfishness, and ways in which we can develop ourselves as spiritual people. He also covers different aspects of religion, such as the Bible, observances like baptism and the Holy Supper (Eucharist), the nature of heaven and hell, and how we can apply all these ideas to our daily lives.

[more]

front cover of The Hidden Levels of the Mind
The Hidden Levels of the Mind
Swedenborg's Theory of Consciousness
DOUGLAS TAYLOR
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2011

At the core of Swedenborg’s thought is the understanding that our purpose in this life is to progress spiritually—to learn, to grow, to do good works, and, ultimately, to allow as much of God’s love as possible to enter into us and manifest through us.

Scattered throughout his works are descriptions of our mind and how it relates to both the physical and spiritual worlds. In this book, Taylor pulls these loose threads together and weaves them into a simple, coherent whole, presenting Swedenborg’s teachings as a system that anyone can follow. Taylor describes the external or natural mind as primarily concerned with material things, and the inner mind, in its essence, as love. As we elevate our thoughts toward higher and higher types of love and wisdom, we draw closer to God and begin the process of regeneration, or rebirth as spiritual beings.

This is the first time in many decades that a book has been published on Swedenborg’s philosophy of the mind. Taylor’s straightforward commentary gives readers a rare insight into this crucial aspect of Swedenborg’s theology.

[more]

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How I Would Help the World
HELEN KELLER
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2011

Swedenborg’s books are an inexhaustible well-spring of satisfaction to those who live the life of the mind. I plunge my hands into my large Braille volumes containing his teachings, and withdraw them full of the secrets of the spiritual world.

— Helen Keller, How I Would Help the World

This essay by Helen Keller expresses her deep gratitude to Emanuel Swedenborg, the Swedish seer, who had a profound influence on her spiritual life. In it she talks about the importance of love and truth in a world filled with materialism and selfishness, and the joy that comes from true understanding.

Her great advice on how she would help the world is to have people read Swedenborg’s writings and thereby overcome the many problems of the human condition. She states, “It would be such a joy to me if I might be the instrument of bringing Swedenborg to a world that is spiritually deaf and blind.” She further states that reading Swedenborg and understanding his words “has been my strongest incitement to overcome limitations.”

Her words are interwoven with photographs of her life and quotes from Swedenborg on spiritual topics. This book will be a treasure for readers who already know and respect Helen Keller and an inspiration for those who do not.

[more]

front cover of In the Presence of Angels
In the Presence of Angels
Andrea R. Garrison
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2013

In October 2004, Andrea Garrison’s mother, Mattie Pearl, passed into the spiritual world. The weeks leading up to her crossing were a powerful time for Andrea and the rest of her family as Mattie Pearl shared her love, her insights, and her visions of heaven with those around her.

Andrea knew from the time she was a little girl that there was a spiritual reality beyond what we could see, and her mother encouraged her to explore different understandings of the Divine. As an adult, Andrea encountered the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg and was struck by the similarities between his theology and her experiences. Her quest to find others who knew about the Swedish mystic led her to new friends and, ultimately, a deeper exploration of her family history.

Originally published as The Crossing Over of Mattie Pearl, this expanded edition tells more about Andrea’s family history, including the role her father played in her life, as well as her reflections on Emanuel Swedenborg. Anyone who has mourned the loss of a loved one or been curious about the other side will be inspired and uplifted by this true story of a remarkable woman.

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Last Judgment / Supplements
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2018
One of the unique facets of Swedenborg’s theology is his assertion that the Last Judgment as foretold in the book of Revelation has already happened—that it took place in the spiritual world and would have lasting effects on earth.

This volume comprises two short works, originally published separately, which describe the Last Judgment as Swedenborg claims to have witnessed it over the course of many months in 1757. In Last Judgment, first published in 1758, Swedenborg lays out how and why the Last Judgment occurred, explaining that history can be divided into a series of spiritual ages or churches. At the end of each age, evil threatens to overwhelm both the physical and the spiritual worlds, and the Lord restores balance between good and evil with a “Last Judgment.” Thus the 1757 Last Judgment, Swedenborg says, applied only to the souls of people who had lived since the time of Christ, and the reformation of the spiritual world allowed humanity to enter the next age with a new understanding of religion. In the second half of Last Judgment, Swedenborg describes how various types of people were judged, a theme he continues in the 1763 short work Supplements.

The new spiritual age that Swedenborg saw emerging during his lifetime is one of the foundational themes in his theology (a theme he explores more deeply in his later work, Revelation Unveiled, which is a commentary on the book of Revelation). In Supplements, Swedenborg succinctly introduces his understanding of the connection between heaven and earth and of how that connection plays out over the course of human history.
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front cover of A Lexicon to the Latin Text of the Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772)
A Lexicon to the Latin Text of the Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772)
John Chadwick
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2008
A Lexicon to the Latin Textof the Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772) by Dr. John Chadwick and Dr. Jonathan S. Rose is a unique specialist dictionary of fourteen thousand Neo-Latin words and their usages as contained in eighteenth-century theological works of Emanuel Swedenborg.
 
Beyond its use for scholars of Swedenborg, the Lexicon is also of great assistance to students and academics of history, philosophy, theology and science, and anyone who encounters texts written in Neo-Latin (the branch of Latin that was in use by learned writers and thinkers from the Renaissance period through to the Enlightenment and beyond). The Lexicon is beautifully and simply designed and easy to navigate. In addition to a preface by editor John Chadwick, this edition also features a new introduction by Jonathan S. Rose containing an important section on the morphology of Swedenborg’s Neo-Latin (as distinct from the morphology of classical Latin); an appreciation of the life of John Chadwick by John Elliott; an appendix with a detailed listing of the various Latin editions of Swedenborg’s theological works; and an appendix on Swedenborg’s use of the Latin Bible of Sebastian Schmidt.
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Life / Faith
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2014
Swedenborg originally published the two short works Life and Faith separately, but in the text he makes it clear the two title topics are closely intertwined: one cannot truly understand one apart from the other.
     Life refers not to the life force that sustains us but to the way we live our lives. This short piece focuses on the concept of regeneration, or spiritual rebirth, as a process of consciously rejecting our own destructive impulses and internalizing love and goodness. It argues that the choices we make and the reasons we make them have everything to do with our salvation. Swedenborg includes a brief overview of the inner sense of the Ten Commandments as a way to understand the nature of the choice between good and evil.
     In Faith, Swedenborg rejects the notion that faith can be a choice to believe things that make no rational sense. Instead, he defines faith as an inner recognition of what is actually true. He explores the complex relationship between faith and knowledge, and emphasizes that true faith can occur only in people who love others and treat them well.
     Life / Faith is part of the New Century Edition of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg (NCE), an ongoing translation series. The NCE series incorporates the latest scholarship and translation standards for a more accurate and accessible rendering of Swedenborg’s works. Traditionally titled The Doctrine of Life and The Doctrine of Faith, these short works are often published together with two others—The Lord and Sacred Scripture—under the title The Four Doctrines. These four titles will be published together in the forthcoming NCE hardcover annotated volume The Shorter Works of 1763.
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Light in My Darkness
HELEN KELLER
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2000

One of Time's women of the century, Helen Keller, reveals her mystical side in this best-selling spiritual autobiography. Writing that her first reading of Emanuel Swedenborg at age fourteen gave her truths that were "to my faculties what light, color and music are to the eye and ear," she explains how Swedenborg's works sustained her throughout her life.

This new edition includes a foreword by Dorothy Herrmann, author of the acclaimed Helen Keller: A Life, and a new chapter, "Epilogue: My Luminous Universe."

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The Lives of Angels
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2013
Until his mid-fifties, Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772) was merely a genius. As a young man, he traveled extensively throughout Europe to study the cutting-edge science of his time. Upon returning to his native Sweden, he went to work for the board of mines, where he introduced technical advances and gained an international reputation for his understanding of mechanics and metallurgy. In his spare time, he published studies in mathematics, astronomy, economic theory, and anatomy.

As his professional career was winding to a close, a remarkable spiritual awakening changed the course of his life. He believed that God allowed him to journey in spirit form to the afterlife and talk to angels, devils, and the spirits of the departed—not just once, but continuously, for decades—and he spent the rest of his life recording what he saw.

The Lives of Angels is a collection of Swedenborg’s most striking insights about life in heaven, with vivid descriptions of angels’ homes, their language, their communities, and even their romantic relationships. He tells us that angels are with us throughout our lives, guiding and supporting us, and that any person on earth can become an angel after death if he or she is loving and selfless. The introduction by Grant Schnarr gives readers a modern framework for understanding Swedenborg’s compelling vision of the spiritual world.
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The Lord
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2014
Since the dawn of Christianity, there has been debate about the true nature of Jesus Christ. Was he a divinely inspired person or the incarnation of God on earth?
     In his short work The Lord, Swedenborg presents an answer to the time-honored question of how Jesus and God are related: he argues that they became in every way one and the same. Throughout his works Swedenborg uses the term “Lord” to refer to Jesus as the embodiment of God. In this work he emphasizes that the traditional trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit should be thought of not as three separate divine Persons that have always coexisted but as three aspects now present within one divine Person—Jesus in his resurrection.
     The Lord also touches upon key themes in Swedenborg’s theology: the spiritual reasons why the Lord came to earth; the significance of the death and resurrection of his human form; and the ways in which his coming was foretold in the Old Testament. Throughout the book, Swedenborg provides extensive biblical references to support his arguments. He concludes with a brief chapter describing the New Jerusalem, a reference to both the city described in the book of Revelation and the new spiritual age that is now unfolding.
     The Lord is part of the New Century Edition of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg (NCE), an ongoing translation series. The NCE series incorporates the latest scholarship and translation standards for a more accurate and accessible rendering of Swedenborg’s works. Traditionally titled The Doctrine of the Lord, this short work is often published together with three other short works—Life, Faith, and Sacred Scripture—under the title The Four Doctrines. The Swedenborg Foundation will publish these four titles together in the forthcoming NCE hardcover annotated volume The Shorter Works of 1763.
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Love in Marriage
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 1992
Love in Marriage (also translated under the titles Marriage Love and Conjugial Love) is one of the most challenging works written by Swedish scientist and visionary Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772). It is not only about marriage as a social institution—both in the ways that it works and the ways that it can be a source of strife—but about the spiritual implications of marriage and the ways that two human beings can form, continue, and deepen their emotional and spiritual connection in this world and the next. While much of the commentary about marriage and romantic relationships is best understood in the context of eighteenth-century Swedish culture, the spiritual commentary sheds important light on the dualism that pervades Swedenborg’s theology and his stress on the importance of love for others. David Gladish’s contemporary translation, originally published in 1992, remains one of the most vibrant renditions of this work in the English language.
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front cover of Memoirs of Swedenborg and Other Documents
Memoirs of Swedenborg and Other Documents
Carl Robsahm
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2011
Written in 1782, Memoirs of Swedenborg by Carl Robsahm is without doubt the most compelling eyewitness account of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772) to be published in any language. Drawing on reminiscences from his own long-standing friendship with and years as a neighbor to Swedenborg, Robsahm offers a fascinating picture of the Swedish philosopher and mystic as a man of gentleness and integrity.
 
Rich in detail and generosity, this memoir is a classic in its own right and a primary resource for all subsequent biographies. This edition has been selected and edited by Stephen McNeilly featuring revised translations, an introduction, and annotations by the renowned Swedish scholar Anders Hallengren. It also contains eight other historical documents concerning Swedenborg’s day-to-day life, three of which are from the hand of Swedenborg himself.
 
The volume includes:
 
• “Memoirs of Swedenborg” by Carl Robsahm
• “Reply to a Letter from a Friend” by Emanuel Swedenborg
• “A Truthful Account of the Late Queen Dowager at Haga in 1774” by Anders von Hopken
• Extract from the Proceedings of the Exegetic and Philanthropic Society in Stockholm
• “Memoranda in the Notebook of 1747–48” by Emanuel Swedenborg
• “Description of the Late Assessor, Mr. Emanuel Swedenborg’s Estate at Södermalm”
• “A List of Valuables of 1770” by Emanuel Swedenborg
• “A Visit to Swedenborg’s Home” by Carl Christoffer Gjörwell
• Testimony by Christian de Tuxen
 
Each document is accompanied by its own individual contextual introduction and annotations by Anders Hallengren. Also included in the volume are a general foreword and introduction by Anders Hallengren, a chronology of Swedenborg’s life and works, and an index.
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New Jerusalem
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2016

Emanuel Swedenborg understood the city of New Jerusalem--as described in the book of Revelation--to mean not a physical city but an epoch of history, a new spiritual age that was just beginning to take shape during his lifetime in the eighteenth century.

This short work, presented as a series of teachings that characterize this spiritual age to come, is also one of Swedenborg's most concise and readable summaries of his own theology. Building on fundamental concepts such as good, truth, will, and understanding, he describes the importance of love and usefulness in spiritual growth. In the second half of the volume he focuses on how this new theology relates to the church of his day and to church teachings about the Bible, the Lord's incarnation on earth, and rites such as baptism and the Holy Supper. Each short chapter is followed by extensive references back to his theological magnum opus, Secrets of Heaven.

This volume is an excellent starting point for those who want an overview of Swedenborg's theology presented in his own words. 


[more]

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A New Key to the Bible
Unlock Its Inner Meaning and Open the Door to Your Spirit
BRUCE HENDERSON
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2018
If the Bible is a divinely-inspired moral guide for personal and social good, why does it contain so many stories that seem to glorify violence and the mistreatment of others? Why does God sometimes seem so angry and cruel? And what about the parts of the Bible that just don’t make sense?
 
In his vast writings, eighteenth-century spiritual teacher Emanuel Swedenborg offers clarification: beneath the often-confusing literal text of the Bible is a clear inner meaning that directly points to an inclusive, always-loving, always-present God. In A New Key to the Bible: Unlock Its Inner Meaning and Open the Door to Your Spirit, author Bruce Henderson guides the reader through Swedenborg’s interpretation of the Bible, offering up a thought-provoking yet digestible way to understand the Creation story, as well as other famous parables such as Adam and Eve, Noah’s Ark, Abraham and Sarah, Moses, the life of Jesus, and the apocalyptic imagery of Revelation. At each step of the way, Henderson shows how these Scripture stories written thousands of years ago reflect our own spiritual paths and give meaning to the challenges we face along our journey in the present day.
 
For readers new to Swedenborg, A New Key to the Bible serves as an overview of the thousands of pages Swedenborg wrote about the inner meaning of the Bible. For spiritual seekers who feel a connection to the Bible but are sometimes troubled by its contents, Swedenborg reassures with a transcendent level of understanding about how God wants to inspire us through sacred text.
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Observing Spirit
Evaluating Your Daily Progress on the Path to Heaven with Gurdjieff & Swedenborg
PETER RHODES
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2005

Based on the teachings of G.I. Gurdjieff, P.D. Ouspensky, Maurice Nicoll, and Emanuel Swedenborg, Peter Rhodes presents a practical guide to spiritual progress. Stressing personal responsibility for overcoming negative traits, each chapter explains how we can realize our true spiritual potential by cultivating awareness of our baser reactions and by applying the tools of Gurdjieff's spiritual method, "The Work," to our everyday existence.


Rhodes joins "The Work" with the spiritual philosophy of Emanuel Swedenborg to enhance our understanding of how the world of spirit intersects our lives on the earthly level. At the conclusion of each chapter, tools for measuring the reader's progress are provided in the form of weekly tasks and meditations. This book can be used in group workshops or by the individual.

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Other Planets
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2018
In Other Planets, Emanuel Swedenborg offers us a panorama of a unified and purposeful universe based on his visionary journeys through the unimaginably vast reaches of the spiritual world.

Cast in the form of a travelogue, Swedenborg describes having contact with the spirits of people who had lived on Mercury, Jupiter, and other planets and satellites in our solar system and beyond. This may present a challenge for those who interpret it literally, but just as it is with other of Swedenborg’s “memorable occurrences” in the spiritual world, the goal is to consider and explore the deeper insights that he reveals regarding the universal principles that unite the human with the Divine. The discussions of faith in Other Planets are framed by Swedenborg’s own Christian beliefs; however, a key takeaway for readers will certainly be the feeling that there are multiple ways of approaching belief and religious practice that can all lead to heaven.
 
Also published under the titles Earths in the Universe, The Worlds in Space, and Life on Other Planets, this work provides seasoned students of Swedenborg with a renewed take on the fundamentals of his theology. At the same time, this short piece opens a window onto how the people of the eighteenth century sought to integrate science and religion in ways that are still relevant and meaningful today.
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Our Life after Death
A Firsthand Account from an 18th-Century Scientist and Seer
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2013

In his classic Heaven and Hell, Swedenborg takes the reader on a journey through the afterlife, describing the spiritual world in intricate detail. Our Life after Death is a collection of writings from that volume that focus specifically on what happens to us as we cross over and what we experience as new souls in the world of spirits, where we prepare to find our soul’s permanent home.

Swedenborg tells us that it is not God who judges people and send them to either heaven or hell, but rather it is we who judge ourselves. In this book Swedenborg reveals the process by which people confront who they were on earth, discover their true selves, and use that self-knowledge to discover their final home in the afterlife.

An introduction by near-death researcher Dr. Kenneth Ring draws parallels between Swedenborg’s experiences and those of millions of modern people who have had near-death experiences. This book provides a brief but thought-provoking introduction to Swedenborg’s afterlife for those who want to delve deeper into this fascinating subject.

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Overcoming Divisiveness
Lessons from Emanuel Swedenborg
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2021
As long as there have been groups of people, there have been divisions between them personal, ideological, racial, religious, ethnic, and more. The ideological divisions in society, particularly those in American society, have been the subject of a lot of discussion in recent years, and at times the divide between the various camps seems insurmountable.

If you’ve been troubled by the broader divides in society, or if there’s a conflict within your own life that’s been a source of pain and anxiety, some spiritually focused thoughts on how to create harmony between those opposing sides may be just what you need. But be warned: as Emanuel Swedenborg tells us, the first step to overcoming a conflict is to look within yourself.

Overcoming Divisiveness contains passages from Swedenborg’s works that give not only insights into the roots of interpersonal conflicts but also perspectives on how to overcome them. Each chapter begins with a brief introduction to a group of related passages. Following each passage, you’ll find the core idea expressed in that passage along with a short description of what it entails, as well as questions for discussion or reflection that are intended to help illustrate how that concept can be directly and meaningfully applied to daily life. You are invited to read the passages from Swedenborg when you need inspiration, use the quotes and reflections as a starting point for a group discussion, or simply enjoy the material as food for your own spiritual journey. You might also find the passages to be inspiration for your own prayers, meditations, creative works, or other techniques for connecting with the Divine.
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front cover of The Presence of Other Worlds
The Presence of Other Worlds
The Psychological and Spiritual Findings of Emanuel Swedenborg
WILSON VAN DUSEN
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2004

In 1974, Wilson Van Dusen published a groundbreaking study on the findings of Emanuel Swedenborg, a book that has inspired thousands to look more closely into Swedenborg's works and to consider the implications of living a useful and thoughtfully directed life. This updated second edition, published on the thirtieth anniversary of the book's original publication, includes a new introduction to this bestselling work.

An account of the monumental journey of an eighteenth-century scientist and philosopher into the depths of his own mind and to spiritual worlds beyond, The Presence of Other Worlds shows how Swedenborg's personal experiences radiate with insights about psychological and spiritual develpments that are relevant to modern-day seekers. It has been hailed since its first publication as a passport for all spiritual voyagers into the human psyche and the innter sanctum of the afterlife.

Dr. Raymond Moody, author of Life After Life, provides a foreword that explains the importance of Swedenborg's mystical experiences in connection with the near-death experience. Dr. James Lawrence presents a tribute to Wilson Van Dusen and his enduring legacy in an afterword.

[more]

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A Psychology of Spiritual Healing
EUGENE TAYLOR
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 1997

In this comprehensive work, Eugene Taylor uses the tenets of modern psychology, concepts from the world's religions, and a lifetime of spiritual experiences and interior exploration to show how true healing comes from within. Taylor asserts that "consciousness and healing are linked and this connection can best be understood within the context of a growth-oriented psychology of self-realization." Everyone has the capacity to develop a healing personality.

Drawing from such diverse interpreters of transcendental and psychological experiences as William James, Emanuel Swedenborg, Mircea Eliade, Carl Jung, Victor Frankl, and Abraham Maslow, Taylor explores the divisions between science and religious traditions; presents his own personal experiences, including his meetings with the Dalai Lama and Tenzin Norgay; and provides glimpses into the spiritual lives of others who have shared their experiences with him. The function of belief in the alleviation of suffering, the development of self-awareness, and the importance of human relationships form the basis for Taylor's psychology of spiritual healing. This cogent work both provides answers and raises questions for the spiritual seeker.

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Regeneration
Spiritual Growth and How It Works
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2014
Centuries before popular Western culture embraced meditation, positive thinking, and the quest for enlightenment, Swedish scientist-turned-seer Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772) developed a simple formula for achieving personal spiritual growth.
      In his works, Swedenborg describes the two parts of our mind: the intellectual side that wrestles with questions of right and wrong, and the emotional side that drives us toward what we truly love. We are born with selfish impulses and desires, and while we may learn to act ethically, we don’t start growing as spiritual people until we transform our emotional side. That transformation, he says, happens from the outside in: first we decide intellectually to be more loving, and that decision leads us to choose consciously to act for the good of others. These external thoughts and actions gradually open us to a higher love, one that transforms our desires and ultimately our fundamental being. He calls this process regeneration.
      Swedenborg discusses regeneration in many places throughout his prolific theological writings. This book brings his key teachings on this topic together in one volume, illustrating the process of becoming a spiritual being and discussing how and why that process works.
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Sacred Scripture / White Horse
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2015
Throughout his theological writings, Emanuel Swedenborg devotes more pages to discussing the inner, spiritual meaning of the Bible than to any other topic. In the two short works Sacred Scripture and White Horse, he provides the spiritual theory behind the verse-by-verse analysis found in his multivolume works Secrets of Heaven and Revelation Unveiled.
     In Sacred Scripture, Swedenborg explains how the inner meaning of the Bible relates to its outer (literal) meaning, and he cites numerous biblical passages to show how similar themes emerge again and again. He describes two distinct layers of inner meaning—the heavenly and the spiritual—and shows how an understanding of that inner meaning strengthens a person’s connection with Deity and with heaven.
     White Horse begins with a short summary of the spiritual meaning of the white horse described in Revelation 19:11. In form, what then follows is a series of statements about the inner meaning of the Bible with references to explanatory passages in Secrets of Heaven. However, when read in sequence, those statements are also a concise summary of Swedenborg’s theology of biblical interpretation.
     The perspective provided by these two short works allows the reader to see through the Bible’s clouds of baffling, obscure, and seemingly inconsistent details to the power and unity of divine love and wisdom within the text. Students or seekers interested in Swedenborg’s teachings about the interrelationship between the spiritual world and the physical one will find this volume a helpful guide. Sacred Scripture / White Horse is part of the New Century Edition of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg (NCE), an ongoing translation series. The NCE series incorporates the latest scholarship and translation standards for a more accurate and accessible rendering of Swedenborg’s works.
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SCHELLING & SWEDENBORG
MYSTICISM & GERMAN IDEALISM
FRIEDEMANN HORN
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 1997

In this groundbreaking study, Friedemann Horn documents Friedrich Schelling's intense personal engagement with Emanuel Swedenborg's theological works, an engagement fueled to a considerable extent by the untimely death of two women whom Schelling loved. In Swedenborg's vision of the spiritual realm, Schelling found an invaluable resource that supplied an underpinning for his own romantic idealism. Horn details the linguistic similarities in the writings of the two philosophers and shows how, particularly in Clara and the Stuttgart Lectures, Schelling employs the ideas of the "seer of the North."

The scholar will find suggestive contacts with Goethe, Wagner, and Franz von Baader, and with a theosophical tradition whose importance may have been overshadowed by Kant's scathing criticism of Swedenborg. In giving access to that undercurrent, Horn provides a unique and neglected view of nineteenth-century thought.

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Secrets of Heaven 1
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2008

The first major theological work of the Swedish scientist-turned-seer Emanuel Swedenborg, Secrets of Heaven is in one sense a traveler's account. It reveals the unseen realms that await beyond death--the light, the warmth, and harmony of the angelic heavens and the varied darkness of the multitudinous hells. But in addition, the work offers a detailed examination of Genesis and Exodus, providing a model for a new way to understand the entire Bible. Prized for both the simplicity of its explanation and the breadth and depth of its vision, Swedenborg's reading of Scripture discloses layer upon layer of inner meaning, all without undermining the power and import of the literal word.

This first of the multivolume work contains an introduction by Wouter J. Hanegraaff, professor of History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents at the University of Amsterdam, and a reader's guide by Swedenborgian scholar William Ross Woofenden and New Century Edition Series Editor Jonathan S. Rose.

The New Century Edition of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg is a modern-language, scholarly translation of Swedenborg’s theological works. The series’ easy-to-read style retains the dignity, variety, clarity, and gender-inclusive language of Swedenborg’s original Latin, bringing his thought to life. Introductions and annotations by eminent, international scholars place Swedenborg’s writings in their historical context and illuminate obscure references within the text, enabling readers to understand and trace Swedenborg’s influence as never before.

[more]

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Secrets of Heaven 1
The Portable New Century Edition
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2023

The first major theological work of the Swedish scientist-turned-seer Emanuel Swedenborg, Secrets of Heaven is in one sense a traveler's account. It reveals the unseen realms that await beyond death--the light, the warmth, and harmony of the angelic heavens and the varied darkness of the multitudinous hells. But in addition, the work offers a detailed examination of Genesis and Exodus, providing a model for a new way to understand the entire Bible. Prized for both the simplicity of its explanation and the breadth and depth of its vision, Swedenborg's reading of Scripture discloses layer upon layer of inner meaning, all without undermining the power and import of the literal word.


The New Century Edition of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg is a modern-language, scholarly translation of Swedenborg’s theological works. The series’ easy-to-read style retains the dignity, variety, clarity, and gender-inclusive language of Swedenborg’s original Latin, bringing his thought to life.


This portable edition of Secrets of Heaven vol. 1 includes the text of the New Century Edition without the introduction, annotations, and other supplementary of the deluxe hardcover and paperback editions.

[more]

front cover of Secrets of Heaven 1
Secrets of Heaven 1
The Portable New Century Edition
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2010

The first major theological work of the Swedish scientist-turned-seer Emanuel Swedenborg, Secrets of Heaven is in one sense a traveler's account. It reveals the unseen realms that await beyond death--the light, the warmth, and harmony of the angelic heavens and the varied darkness of the multitudinous hells. But in addition, the work offers a detailed examination of Genesis and Exodus, providing a model for a new way to understand the entire Bible. Prized for both the simplicity of its explanation and the breadth and depth of its vision, Swedenborg's reading of Scripture discloses layer upon layer of inner meaning, all without undermining the power and import of the literal word.


The New Century Edition of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg is a modern-language, scholarly translation of Swedenborg’s theological works. The series’ easy-to-read style retains the dignity, variety, clarity, and gender-inclusive language of Swedenborg’s original Latin, bringing his thought to life.


This portable edition of Secrets of Heaven vol. 1 includes the text of the New Century Edition without the introduction, annotations, and other supplementary of the deluxe hardcover and paperback editions.

[more]

front cover of Secrets of Heaven 2
Secrets of Heaven 2
The Portable New Century Edition
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2012

Secrets of Heaven is Emanuel Swedenborg’s magnum opus, a fifteen-volume work that delves into the inner, spiritual meaning of the Bible. Starting from the first verse, Swedenborg goes through Genesis and Exodus verse by verse, sometimes word by word, uncovering the fascinating teachings behind the literal account. By doing careful comparison of passages and tracing individual images and motifs through the Bible, he demonstrates that it contains a profound, coherent, and unified inner meaning.

The second volume covers Genesis 9–15, beginning with God’s covenant with Noah following the Flood and then following the familiar story of the patriarch Abraham. In the process, Swedenborg discusses the concept of regeneration, or spiritual rebirth, and describes the way the people act before and after rebirth. He also talks about an epoch of human history that he calls the ancient church and the spiritual state of the people in that church. Interspersed with the biblical commentary are chapters on related topics such as the lives of angels in heaven, how distance and time work in the spiritual world, and the nature of hell.

Secrets of Heaven provides essential insight into Swedenborg’s theology and lays the groundwork for the rest of his writings. This new translation, part of the New Century Edition series, makes his insights into Scripture and his accounts of his spiritual experiences more accessible than ever before.

[more]

front cover of Secrets of Heaven 3
Secrets of Heaven 3
Portable New Century Edition
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2022
Secrets of Heaven is Emanuel Swedenborg’s magnum opus, a fifteen-volume work that delves into the inner, spiritual meaning of the Bible. Starting from the first verse, Swedenborg goes through Genesis and Exodus verse by verse, sometimes word by word, uncovering the fascinating teachings behind the literal account. By doing careful comparison of passages and tracing individual images and motifs through the Bible, he demonstrates that it contains a profound, coherent, and unified inner meaning.

This third volume covers the inner meaning of Genesis 16–21, giving an account of the early stages of Jesus’ inward development, including the interactions of his human side and his divine side. It additionally addresses other topics, and in particular the true nature of the Last Judgment.

This new translation, part of the New Century Edition series, makes Swedenborg’s insights into Scripture and his accounts of his spiritual experiences more accessible than ever before.
[more]

front cover of Secrets of Heaven 4
Secrets of Heaven 4
Portable New Century Edition
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2022
Secrets of Heaven is Emanuel Swedenborg’s magnum opus, a fifteen-volume work that delves into the inner, spiritual meaning of the Bible. Starting from the first verse, Swedenborg goes through Genesis and Exodus verse by verse, sometimes word by word, uncovering the fascinating teachings behind the literal account. By doing careful comparison of passages and tracing individual images and motifs through the Bible, he demonstrates that it contains a profound, coherent, and unified inner meaning.

This fourth volume covers the inner meaning of Genesis 22–26, which on the surface recount God’s testing of Abraham and the generational shift that occurs as Sarah and Abraham die, Isaac and Rebekah marry, and Jacob and Esau are born. The intricacies of this narrative are interpreted as the processes Jesus went through inwardly as he united his human and divine natures and established a new religious culture on earth. Much of this volume also explores the concepts of correspondence and representation as underlying realities present in the natural and spiritual worlds and in the Bible.

This new translation, part of the New Century Edition series, makes Swedenborg’s insights into Scripture and his accounts of his spiritual experiences more accessible than ever before.
[more]

front cover of Secrets of Heaven 5
Secrets of Heaven 5
Portable New Century Edition
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2023

Secrets of Heaven is Emanuel Swedenborg’s magnum opus, a fifteen-volume work that delves into the inner, spiritual meaning of the Bible. Starting from the first verse, Swedenborg goes through Genesis and Exodus verse by verse, sometimes word by word, uncovering the fascinating teachings behind the literal account. By doing careful comparison of passages and tracing individual images and motifs through the Bible, he demonstrates that it contains a profound, coherent, and unified inner meaning.

This fifth volume continues the exposition with an examination of Jacob’s story, as found in Genesis 27–30. Jacob’s flight to his uncle Laban’s house, where he initially labors for the right to marry, then weds Leah and Rachel, and eventually rises to great prosperity, parallels the stage of Jesus’ transformation in which his earthly self (represented by Jacob) had to climb from attachment to outer truth (Leah) to a love of inner truth (Rachel) so that his earthly self could become fully divine. Within each chapter, Swedenborg also addresses the decline of the Christian church and unfolds his foundational premise that heaven, as a whole and in detail, is in God’s image and can therefore be called the “universal human.”

This new translation, part of the New Century Edition series, makes Swedenborg’s insights into Scripture and his accounts of his spiritual experiences more accessible than ever before.

[more]

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Secrets of Heaven 6
Portable New Century Edition
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2023
The sixth volume of Swedenborg's monumental exploration of the Bible, its themes, and meaning.

Secrets of Heaven is Emanuel Swedenborg’s magnum opus, a fifteen-volume work that delves into the inner, spiritual meaning of the Bible. Starting from the first verse, Swedenborg goes through Genesis and Exodus verse by verse, sometimes word by word, uncovering the fascinating teachings behind the literal account. By engaging in a careful comparison of passages and tracing individual images and motifs through the Bible, he shows that it contains a profound, coherent, and unified inner meaning.

This sixth volume interprets the inner narrative of Genesis 31–35, in which Jacob leaves Laban’s house, wrestles with God, and reunites with Esau. These acts, Swedenborg argues, are each symbolic of the inner separations, struggles, and unifications that Jesus accomplished on his path to divinity. Swedenborg continues to explore two themes found in previous volumes: the Last Judgment as the ending of an old church and the beginning of a new church, and the correlation between human individuals and the “universal human.”

This new translation, part of the New Century Edition series, makes Swedenborg’s insights into Scripture and his accounts of his spiritual experiences more accessible than ever before.
[more]

front cover of Secrets of Heaven 7
Secrets of Heaven 7
Portable New Century Edition
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2024
The seventh volume of Swedenborg's monumental exploration of the Bible, its themes, and meaning.

Secrets of Heaven is Emanuel Swedenborg’s magnum opus, a fifteen-volume work that delves into the inner, spiritual meaning of the Bible. Starting from the first verse, Swedenborg goes through Genesis and Exodus verse by verse, sometimes word by word, uncovering the fascinating teachings behind the literal account. By engaging in a careful comparison of passages and tracing individual images and motifs through the Bible, he demonstrates that it contains a profound, coherent, and unified inner meaning.

In this seventh volume, covering Genesis 36–40, Joseph’s story begins. The literal narrative describes how after dreaming of greatness Joseph is sold into slavery by his jealous brothers and wrongfully imprisoned. The inner narrative, Swedenborg explains, describes the trials and opposition endured by the Lord’s divine humanity, which is represented by Joseph. In this volume Swedenborg also interprets a number of parables in Matthew, relating their meaning to the Lord’s Second Coming. His exploration of the correspondences of the various parts and functions of the body is also continued from the previous volume.

This new translation, part of the New Century Edition series, makes Swedenborg’s insights into Scripture and his accounts of his spiritual experiences more accessible than ever before. 
[more]

front cover of Secrets of Heaven 8
Secrets of Heaven 8
Portable New Century Edition
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2023
The eighth volume in Swedenborg's monumental study of the Bible, its meaning, and themes.

Secrets of Heaven is Emanuel Swedenborg’s magnum opus, a fifteen-volume work that delves into the inner, spiritual meaning of the Bible. Starting from the first verse, Swedenborg goes through Genesis and Exodus verse by verse, sometimes word by word, uncovering the fascinating teachings behind the literal account. By engaging in a careful comparison of passages and tracing individual images and motifs through the Bible, he demonstrates that it contains a profound, coherent, and unified inner meaning.

In this eighth volume, covering Genesis 41–44, the explication of the deeper meaning behind Joseph’s story continues. Joseph’s rise to power in Egypt and the aid he gives his brothers during the famine are presented by Swedenborg as symbolizing the strengthening of Jesus’ inner self and the benefit it provided to his outer self during his process of transformation to divine humanity. Swedenborg also completes his survey of the correspondence of the human body with some attention to the correspondence of disease. He then begins a new theme in which he describes the influence that the spiritual world has on human beings through angels and spirits.

This new translation, part of the New Century Edition series, makes Swedenborg’s insights into Scripture and his accounts of his spiritual experiences more accessible than ever before.
[more]

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The Shorter Works of 1758
New Jerusalem Last Judgment White Horse Other Planets
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2018

This volume contains four shorter works by the influential eighteenth-century mystic Emanuel Swedenborg. Translators George F. Dole and Jonathan S. Rose have produced an accessible rendering of these important yet easily overlooked works. 

New Jerusalem: In this work Swedenborg outlines his theology in twenty-three brief chapters on major Christian topics such as love, faith, regeneration, the inner self and outer self, and the nature of the Bible. Nearly every chapter ends with what is in effect an index to that topic as it appears in his much larger study Secrets of Heaven.

Last Judgment: This work on the “end times” asserts that the Last Judgment foretold in the Bible does not involve the end of the physical world. Rather, the Last Judgment was an event of tremendous upheaval in the spiritual world, a nonmaterial apocalypse which has already occurred and which Swedenborg himself witnessed.

White Horse: This brief work is divided into two parts. The first presents the inner meaning of the white horse mentioned in chapter 19 of the book of Revelation. The second is effectively an index to passages concerning the Bible and its inner meaning in Swedenborg’s much larger work Secrets of Heaven. This work is a good short introduction to Swedenborg’s principle of correspondences between the spiritual and physical worlds, as well as to his unique view of the nature of the Bible.

Other Planets: Building on the eighteenth-century fascination with the possibility of life on other worlds and with traveler’s tales of other cultures, this work describes life on other planets in our solar system and elsewhere in the universe. Swedenborg undertook this work specifically to demonstrate that Jesus is God not just of planet Earth but also of the universe as a whole.

[more]

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The Shorter Works of 1763
The Lord Sacred Scripture Life Faith Supplements
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2020

The four main short works in this volume by Swedish theologian Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772) form the basic foundation of his thought. Although originally printed as if they were stand-alone volumes, they have nearly always been published together, generally under the collective title “The Four Doctrines.” 
 
The Lord discusses the nature of the man known as Jesus Christ, his divine nature, and the meaning of his crucifixion. For Swedenborg, Jesus was not simply a man, but the eternal divine that came to earth for the salvation of humanity.

Sacred Scripture is about the Word, by which Swedenborg means the parts of the Bible that he feels reflect a deep spiritual teaching. Swedenborg believes that study of the Word—which contains a wisdom that predates the written Bible and also transcends it—is the key to humanity’s spiritual development and its eventual union with the Lord.
 
Life discusses the nature of good and evil and the necessity of shunning sin and evil in order to experience true faith and become a spiritual person. In other words, this work is about how we ought to live. 

Faith talks about faith as an acknowledgment of inner truth and the necessity of expressing such faith through good actions rather than simply holding beliefs. Swedenborg also delves into the true nature of charity and the way that it interweaves with faith to produce true goodness.

In addition to these short works, the volume includes a fifth work, which consists of two supplements to previous works by Swedenborg: a brief addition to Last Judgment and a longer addition to Heaven and Hell.

[more]

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Spiritual Recovery
A Twelve-Step Guide
Grant Schnarr
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 1998

Twelve-step programs, which are based on psychological and spiritual growth, serve all who desire a path to freedom from destructive tendencies and consequent suffering. Using a twelve-step approach, Grant Schnarr presents readers with the tools needed to live a life guided by a greater awareness of both others and self. Filled with practical advice for incorporating these twelve principles into one’s life, Spiritual Recovery provides a road map for developing a deeper relationship with God and experiencing greater joy.

[more]

front cover of SPIRITUALITY THAT MAKES SENSE
SPIRITUALITY THAT MAKES SENSE
DOUGLAS TAYLOR
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2000

As a young schoolteacher, Douglas Taylor turned to the teachings of Swedish visionary Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) because Swedenborg's language of symbol made perfect sense to him as a way to understand the Bible. Taylor's book is an easily understood overview of Swedenborgian thought -- a theology that "makes sense." Developing a clear idea of God, Taylor says, "is of supreme importance and has consequences to eternity."

This book explores the concepts of the Creator as Redeemer, the spiritual world, redemption, and the Trinity. Taylor looks at personal morality in Swedenborgian terms, addressing such concerns as the nature of evil, how to escape from evil feelings, and why we must take responsibility for our actions.

[more]

front cover of Survey / Soul-Body Interaction
Survey / Soul-Body Interaction
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2022

These two shorter works by Swedish theologian Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772), originally published separately and very different in content, both represent Swedenborg’s own effort to summarize complex areas of his thought.

Published toward the end of Swedenborg’s life, Survey of Teachings of the New Church was a forerunner to his final theological work, True Christianity. In Survey, Swedenborg discusses some key tenets of Christian doctrine, both Catholic and Protestant, and describes how his own theology differs from it. He focuses on key concepts such as the Trinity, the nature of faith and charity, and the spiritual nature of the Last Judgment described in the book of Revelation. Taken as a whole, the piece is a brief summation of the doctrines that Swedenborg felt were critical for the coming spiritual age.

Soul-Body Interaction addresses a crucial area of Swedenborg’s thought: the way that life flows from the transcendent God into all living things. Swedenborg describes the nature and structure of the spiritual world, including heaven, hell, and the intermediate world of spirits, and describes how the higher levels of being reflect a more perfect conjunction with God. He also traces the flow of the Lord’s love and wisdom into the soul of all living people, showing how it gives life regardless of their current spiritual state.

[more]

front cover of Swedenborg and Esoteric Islam
Swedenborg and Esoteric Islam
HENRY CORBIN
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 1995

This volume makes two essays by Henry Corbin, the eminent French scholar of Islam, available in English for the first time. Although his primary interest was the esoteric tradition of Islam, Corbin was also a lifelong student of the theological works of Emanuel Swedenborg. The first essay, "Mundus Imaginalis, or The Imaginary and the Imaginal," clarifies Corbin's use of the term he coined, mundus imaginalis, or "the imaginal world." This important concept appears in both Swedenborgian and esoteric Islamic spirituality. The second piece, "Comparative Spiritual Hermeneutics," compares the revelation of the internal sense of the sacred boks of two distinct religions, Christianity and Islam.

[more]

front cover of SWEDENBORG AND NEW PARADIGM SCIENCE
SWEDENBORG AND NEW PARADIGM SCIENCE
URSULA GROLL
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2000

Ursula Groll relates the metaphysical thought of Emanuel Swedenborg to current New Paradigm science, especially to the interface of science and spirituality. By providing extensive excerpts from Swedenborg's works and drawing parallels between his visionary insights and the works of philosophers and physicists such as David Bohm, Fritjof Capra, Rupert Sheldrake, and Albert Einstein, Groll shows how Swedenborg's voyage of discovery led him increasingly from the great to the small, from the outer to the inner, until he discovered the mirror of the universe, the seat of the Divine as the source of truth.

[more]

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Swedenborg
Buddha of the North
D.T. SUZUKI
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 1996

"…important for anyone who is concerned with inter-religious dialogue and the meaning of… visionary mysticism."
--The Reader's Review

This first complete English translation of two works by Zen scholar D.T. Suzuki introduces Emanuel Swedenborg and compares Swedenborgian thought to Buddhism. The first work stresses Swedenborg's message that true spirituality demands an engagement in this world; the second compares Swedenborg's description of heaven to the paradise of Pure Land Buddhism.

[more]

front cover of SWEDENBORG EXPLORER'S GUIDEBOOK
SWEDENBORG EXPLORER'S GUIDEBOOK
A RESEARCH MANUAL
WILLIAM ROSS WOOFENDEN
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2008

For more than 250 years, followers of scientist and visionary Emanuel Swedenborg have been translating and commenting on his writings, and for those unfamiliar with Swedenborg's works, it can be a difficult field to navigate. This revised and expanded edition of the Swedenborg Explorer's Guidebook offers:

* An annotated bibliography of all primary works by Emanuel Swedenborg -- including scientific, literary, and theological writings as well as personal letters and journals -- containing the latest information on holdings, publication dates, and available translations.

* An extensive annotated bibliography of secondary literature, including major biographies, bibliographies, analyses of Swedenborg's works, dissertations and theses, historical writings about the New Church, and works on and by prominent figures in the Swedenborgian community.

* Easy-to-use listings of Swedenborg's works by date, by subject, and by title, with cross-references to each title's bibliographic information.

* A glossary of special terms used in Swedenborg's writings.

* A listing of major documentary collections in the United States and Europe.

* A chronology of Swedenborg's life and works

* An expanded index

[more]

front cover of Swedenborg, Oetinger, Kant
Swedenborg, Oetinger, Kant
Three Perspectives on the Secrets of Heaven
WOUTER J. HANEGRAAFF
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2007

In this meticulous study, Wouter Hanegraaff examines the structure, themes, and development of Emanuel Swedenborg's massive work Secrets of Heaven (Arcana Coelestia), published between 1749 and 1756. Written as a work of biblical exegesis (of Genesis and Exodus), Swedenborg also interpolated material on his visionary experiences, which have long fascinated readers.

In the second part of the study, Dr. Hanegraaff examines the contemporary reception of the multi-volume work, particularly the critical reactions of Immanuel Kant and Friedrich Christoph Oetinger. He finds that Swedenborg's biblical exegesis, so important in his divine calling, was largely ignored in favor of the mystical experiences.

[more]

front cover of A Swedenborg Perpetual Calendar
A Swedenborg Perpetual Calendar
Thoughts for the Day to Return to Year after Year
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2023
A daily book of insights from Emanuel Swedenborg.

A Swedenborg Perpetual Calendar, originally published in 1902 by the Swedenborg Publishing Association, is a daily devotional calendar consisting of thought-provoking quotes by Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772), an Enlightenment-era philosopher, scientist, and mystic whose ideas have inspired generations of religious thinkers and literary figures alike. The Swedenborg Foundation’s new edition of this insightful collection not only includes modern translations of excerpts from the most up-to-date editions and translations of his works but it also provides a fresh perspective on a variety of Swedenborg’s spiritual themes, such as divine love and wisdom, regeneration, divine providence, correspondences, and the afterlife. A useful tool for anyone in search of daily inspiration, A Swedenborg Perpetual Calendar is a timeless treasure that will help guide readers at each step of their spiritual journey.
[more]

front cover of A Swedenborg Sampler
A Swedenborg Sampler
Selections from Heaven and Hell, Divine Love and Wisdom, Divine Providence, True Christianity, and Secrets of Heaven
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2011

Swedish scientist and theologian Emanuel Swedenborg wrote volumes upon volumes based on the understanding he gained through visits to the spiritual world and from conversations with its inhabitants. For new readers of Swedenborg, knowing where to start and what to read can present an insurmountable task. This volume is a good starting point and provides samples of some of his most powerful writings, now available in new, contemporary translations.

What happens to our souls after we die? What is the afterlife like? What is the nature of God? Of evil? What can we do during our lives to help guide us to heaven? What kinds of answers can we find in the Bible? Selections from some of Swedenborg’s most popular works—Heaven and Hell, Divine Love and Wisdom, Divine Providence, Secrets of Heaven, and True Christianity—answer these questions and more.

Ideal for those new to Swedenborg’s theology, A Swedenborg Sampler offers tastes from a rich smorgasbord of spiritual insight.

[more]

front cover of SWEDENBORG'S 1714 AIRPLANE
SWEDENBORG'S 1714 AIRPLANE
A MACHINE TO FLY IN THE AIR
HENRY SODERBERG
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 1988

Though better known for his theological writings, Swedish scientist and visionary Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) was also an inventor who was extraordinarily ahead of his time. One of his early designs, circa 1714, was "a machine to fly in the air" -- anticipating the modern airplane by more than 150 years. With its oval, fixed "sail," Swedenborg's contribution soars above its predecessors with its simple, workable design.

Henry Soderberg encountered this remarkable invention while research for a book on the history of flight. In this account Soderberg offers an overview on the dream of flight through the centuries and places Swedenborg at a pivotal point in aviation history.

[more]

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Swedenborg's Dream Diary
LARS BERGQUIST
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2001

Swedish man of letters Lars Bergquist explains the often enigmatic but always fascinating dream journal kept by Emanuel Swedenborg from 1743 to 1744. A scientist, Swedenborg meticulously recorded his dreams and visions, adding interpretations that foreshadowed modern dream analysis. After an Easter vision in 1745, Swedenborg abandoned his scientific studies and dedicated his life to studying the inner meaning of Sacred Scripture. In his diary, he reveals his daily life and the reflections that are a key to understanding his later spiritual works.

"The book enables us to follow Swedenborg...from dismal gloom to inner splendor."
--Gunnar Bronerg, Upsala Nya Tidning

[more]

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Swedenborg's Garden of Theology
An Introduction to Emanuel Swedenborg's Published Theological Works
Jonathan S. Rose
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2010

When he entered the visionary phase of his life, Swedish theologian Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) set out on a journey to document all that he had seen, heard, and learned while in contact with the spirits of heaven and hell. Before his death, he wrote eighteen different works published in twenty-five volumes, totaling about three and a half million words.

Navigating that rich garden of thought has been a challenge even for scholars of Swedenborg, let alone those new to his work. In this compact guide, Jonathan S. Rose introduces readers to the basic concepts of Swedenborg’s thought, including Swedenborg’s view of God and the afterlife and his description of humanity’s spiritual history. Rose also examines how Swedenborg’s theology relates to other Christian denominations, both in his time and ours, and takes a side trip into some of Swedenborg’s more unusual ideas.

Swedenborg’s Garden of Theology provides an ideal introduction for anyone seeking a starting point to delve into Swedenborg’s religious thought.

[more]

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Swedenborg's Principles of Usefulness
Social Reform Thought from the Enlightenment to American Pragmatism
JOHN S. HALLER
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2020
Swedenborg’s Principles of Usefulness highlights Emanuel Swedenborg’s (1688–1772) widespread influence on an impressive host of historical figures—from poets and artists to philosophers and statesmen—and reform movements whose contributions to the evolution of self and society have resonated throughout time and into the present.

As evidenced in the self-reliance of the great Ralph Waldo Emerson, who went so far as to refer to the early part of the nineteenth century as the age of Swedenborg, the socialist tendencies of Henry James, Sr., and the pragmatic philosophy of his highly esteemed son William James, Swedenborg has had a powerful impact on a number of prominent individual thinkers and their lasting traditions.

With love for one’s neighbor sharing pride of place among his ideas, it comes as no surprise that Swedenborg’s outlook on human interaction worked its way into the various social reform movements that vitalized the American landscape during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. From the more politically oriented single-tax movement of Henry George to the utopian aspirations of Charles Fourier and the more spiritually inclined social gospel and pastoral clinical movements, those who took Swedenborg’s principles of usefulness to heart sought ways to reflect the divine design in human society.

John Haller’s treatment of the era draws a magnifying glass to those intellectual titans whose fortitude in the face of psychological and social adversities stands as a testament to the robustness of Swedenborg’s concept of usefulness. As James F. Lawrence, Dean of the Center for Swedenborgian Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, so aptly states in his foreword, “this book tells stories and builds perspectives that will prove without a doubt to be very useful.
[more]

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The Swedish Prophet
Reflections on the Visionary Philosophy of Emanuel Swedenborg
Jose Antonio Anton-Pacheco
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2012

José Antonio Antón-Pacheco exercises his expertise in philosophy in this meditation on the ideas of Emanuel Swedenborg.

In this book he tackles subjects as diverse as the nature of unity and the way that the Divine manifests in the world; the nature of human beings as they relate to the higher realms, and specifically Swedenborg’s concept of the Grand Man or Universal Human; the mystical nature of Swedenborg’s interpretation of the Bible; and the nature of time and space in the spiritual world. Alongside his exploration of Swedenborg’s thought are examinations of Swedenborg’s influence on a variety of different thinkers and authors, from Jorge Luis Borges to Ibn ’Arabi.

This book was originally published in Spanish as El profeta del norte: Un libro sobre Swedenborg. Perfect for scholars and serious students of Swedenborg’s thought, Antón Pacheco’s powerful writing casts a new light on the Swedish prophet.

[more]

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Ten Commandments
The Secrets of Spiritual Growth Found in God's Principles for Living
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2016

Swedish scientist and visionary Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772) writes that the Ten Commandments are the most important part of the Bible. They encapsulate what we need to do to grow as spiritual people, with a meaning that penetrates far beyond the surface level of words and deeds.

One of the fundamentals of Swedenborg’s theology is the concept that underlying the literal text of the Bible is an inner spiritual meaning. Using this method of interpretation, Swedenborg peels back the layers of the Ten Commandments to reveal a cohesive set of teachings with both practical applications and far-reaching spiritual implications.

Although Swedenborg discusses the Ten Commandments in many places throughout his writings, he wrote four extended commentaries on the subject in four separate volumes: Secrets of Heaven (volume 7, published in 1754), True Christianity (1771), the short work Life (1763), and the posthumously published Revelation Explained (1758–1759). Those four commentaries are now being combined in a single volume for the first time, allowing the reader to compare and contrast Swedenborg’s approach across a seventeen-year span.

This book offers new insights for spiritual seekers and students of Swedenborg alike, illuminating what is at once a familiar set of biblical teachings and one of the cornerstones of Swedenborg’s system of personal growth.

[more]

front cover of TESTIMONY TO THE INVISIBLE
TESTIMONY TO THE INVISIBLE
ESSAYS ON SWEDENBORG
JAMES LAWRENCE
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 1995

This collection of essays highlights the influence of Swedish visionary Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) on art, spirituality, and culture. Opening with an essay by Spanish-language writer and metaphysician Jorge Luis Borges, from which the collection draws its name, the volume includes a description of Swedenborg's influence on Fyodor Dosteovsky by Czleslaw Mloscz; a look at Swedenborg from a mystical perspective from Wilson Van Dusen; the transcendentalist connection with Ralph Waldo Emerson in an essay by Eugene Taylor; and Buddhist scholar D. T. Suzuki's describes similarities between Swedenborg's philosophy and Buddhism. Essays by Kathleen Raine on Swedenborg's poetic influence and Colin Wilson on the psychological perspective on Swedenborg's visions round out the collection.

[more]

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True Christianity 1
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2006

True Christianity presents a satisfying and sensible alternative to mainstream Christianity. The last book published by Swedish scientist-turned-seer Emanuel Swedenborg, it serves as both the keystone in the architecture of his theology and the summary of his far-reaching psychological insights. This volume, the first of two, provides unique answers to humankind’s perennial questions about the nature of God and about Jesus—not only what his purpose was and how he fulfilled it, but why his life and death are still relevant to us now.

This volume features an introduction by R. Guy Erwin of California Lutheran University setting the work in its theological and historical context.

The New Century Edition of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg is a modern-language, scholarly translation of Swedenborg’s theological works. The series’ easy-to-read style retains the dignity, variety, clarity, and gender-inclusive language of Swedenborg’s original Latin, bringing his thought to life. Introductions and annotations by eminent, international scholars place Swedenborg’s writings in their historical context and illuminate obscure references within the text, enabling readers to understand and trace Swedenborg’s influence as never before.
[more]

front cover of True Christianity 1
True Christianity 1
Portable: The Portable New Century Edition
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2010

True Christianity presents a satisfying and sensible alternative to mainstream Christianity. The last book published by Swedish scientist-turned-seer Emanuel Swedenborg, it serves as both the keystone in the architecture of his theology and the summary of his far-reaching psychological insights. This volume, the first of two, provides unique answers to humankind’s perennial questions about the nature of God and about Jesus—not only what his purpose was and how he fulfilled it, but why his life and death are still relevant to us now.


The New Century Edition of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg is a modern-language, scholarly translation of Swedenborg’s theological works. The series’ easy-to-read style retains the dignity, variety, clarity, and gender-inclusive language of Swedenborg’s original Latin, bringing his thought to life.

This portable edition contains the full text of the New Century Edition translation, but not the introduction, annotations, or other supplemental materials found in the deluxe edition.

[more]

front cover of True Christianity 1
True Christianity 1
Portable: The Portable New Century Edition
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2010

True Christianity presents a satisfying and sensible alternative to mainstream Christianity. The last book published by Swedish scientist-turned-seer Emanuel Swedenborg, it serves as both the keystone in the architecture of his theology and the summary of his far-reaching psychological insights. This volume, the first of two, provides unique answers to humankind’s perennial questions about the nature of God and about Jesus—not only what his purpose was and how he fulfilled it, but why his life and death are still relevant to us now.


The New Century Edition of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg is a modern-language, scholarly translation of Swedenborg’s theological works. The series’ easy-to-read style retains the dignity, variety, clarity, and gender-inclusive language of Swedenborg’s original Latin, bringing his thought to life.

This portable edition contains the full text of the New Century Edition translation, but not the introduction, annotations, or other supplemental materials found in the deluxe edition.

[more]

front cover of True Christianity, vol. 2
True Christianity, vol. 2
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2012

In the final years of his life, Emanuel Swedenborg wrote True Christianity, an opus that served both to contextualize his theology within contemporary Christianity and to serve as a road map for the new spiritual age that would follow. This second volume covers topics such as freedom of choice, repentance, the transformation of a person’s inner being during spiritual awakening, the rites of baptism and the Holy Supper (communion), and the second coming of the Lord.

This new translation is part of the New Century Edition of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg, an ongoing project to render Swedenborg’s theological works in clear, contemporary language that reflects the simple and engaging style of the original Latin. The deluxe hardcover and paperback editions include extensive notes on historical aspects of the text and reference tables; they also have an index to both volumes.

[more]

front cover of True Christianity, vol. 2
True Christianity, vol. 2
The Portable New Century Edition
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2011

In the final years of his life, Emanuel Swedenborg wrote True Christianity, an opus that served both to contextualize his theology within contemporary Christianity and to serve as a road map for the new spiritual age that would follow. This second volume covers topics such as freedom of choice, repentance, the transformation of a person’s inner being during spiritual awakening, the rites of baptism and the Holy Supper (communion), and the second coming of the Lord.

This new translation is part of the New Century Edition of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg, an ongoing project to render Swedenborg’s theological works in clear, contemporary language that reflects the simple and engaging style of the original Latin. The portable edition contains the text of the New Century Edition translation, but not the annotations or other supplementary materials found in the deluxe edition.

[more]

front cover of True Christianity, vol. 2
True Christianity, vol. 2
The Portable New Century Edition
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers

In the final years of his life, Emanuel Swedenborg wrote True Christianity, an opus that served both to contextualize his theology within contemporary Christianity and to serve as a road map for the new spiritual age that would follow. This second volume covers topics such as freedom of choice, repentance, the transformation of a person’s inner being during spiritual awakening, the rites of baptism and the Holy Supper (communion), and the second coming of the Lord.

This new translation is part of the New Century Edition of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg, an ongoing project to render Swedenborg’s theological works in clear, contemporary language that reflects the simple and engaging style of the original Latin. The portable edition contains the text of the New Century Edition translation, but not the annotations or other supplementary materials found in the deluxe edition.

[more]

front cover of Tunnel to Eternity
Tunnel to Eternity
Beyond Near-Death
LEON RHODES
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 1997

From the experience of dying to awakening to tunnels, bright lights, unfamiliar realms, life reviews, and different levels of consciousness, Leon Rhodes takes the reader on a great adventure into the unknown. An officer in the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS), Rhodes recounts the stories of near-death experiences (NDEs) that people have shared with him over the years. Chronicled as a source of inspiration are the profound changes that occurred in their lives after the discoveries they made.

In addition, the fascinating parallels between NDEs and the spiritual world described more than two hundred years ago by Emanuel Swedenborg provide many insights into the transition from this life to the next world. Rhodes’s unique Swedenborgian perspective broadens the discussion over the significance of the near-death phenomenon.

[more]

front cover of Un recorrido por los cielos y sus maravillas
Un recorrido por los cielos y sus maravillas
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2010

This Spanish edition of the English-language Afterlife takes the essence of Emanuel Swedenborg’s classic Heaven and Hell and presents it chronologically, starting with the process of awakening after death and then taking the reader on a journey through both heaven and hell. This shorter format provides an eye-opening introduction to Swedenborg’s philosophy.

“A través de mucha experiencia, se me ha demostrado que cuando somos trasladados del mundo natural al espiritual, lo cual ocurre al morirnos, nos llevamos todo lo que pertenece a nuestro carácter menos el cuerpo terrenal.  Lo que es más, cuando entramos en el mundo espiritual o en nuestra vida después de la muerte, estamos en un cuerpo como cuando estábamos en este mundo.  No parece haber ninguna diferencia, puesto que no sentimos ni vemos que nada haya cambiado. . . . Entonces, cuando nos hemos convertido en espíritus, no tenemos la sensación de que ya no estamos en el cuerpo que habitamos en el mundo, y por consiguiente, no nos damos cuenta de que hemos muerto.”

– Emanuel Swedenborg, Un recorrido por los cielos y sus maravillas

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The Universe and I
Where Science & Spirituality Meet
George F. Dole
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2018
The Universe and I: Where Science & Spirituality Meet offers scholar and theologian George F. Dole’s thought-provoking insights on the dynamic nature of the ongoing science and religion debate. Why are we here? Where are we headed? Dole argues that to understand these questions, we need not only the grounding of science but also the insights of spirit. 
 
As experts continue to work out the relationship between cosmology and human evolution, Dole, who has spent a lifetime making sense of the spiritual world, joins the conversation with a clarity that only he can provide. Shaped primarily as a response to the scientific community, he engages with a wide spectrum of thinkers, including Stephen Hawking, Richard Dawkins, and eighteenth-century polymath Emanuel Swedenborg, just to name a few.

Accessing a wealth of knowledge from across a wide variety of disciplines—philosophy, religion, biology, physics, and more—Dole presents his own model for our physical and spiritual existence. Starting with what we don’t know and what we can observe about the fundamentals of existence, Dole explores “the creative tension between differentiation and integration”—the drive to be individual and yet be united to a greater whole, a tension whose persistent progress since the Big Bang has brought about such gifts as the emergence of life and consciousness.
 
Dole not only presents us with the empirical evidence of science but also provides us with a first-person understanding of the spiritual dimension and how it might inform the way we consider those grand speculations on the meaning of the universe and of life. Reflecting on how life began leads to questions of how we will continue to advance humanity and goodwill for all—both as a species and as individuals striving for personal growth. 
 
Asking the question “How can I, infinitesimal I, have the gall to regard myself as significant in the context of the universe?”, Dole embarks on a journey that spans the life of the universe itself, making every effort along the way to answer this question—for all of us.
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VISIONARY SCIENTIST
THE EFFECTS OF SCIENCE & PHILOSOPHY ON SWEDENBORG'S COSMOLOGY
INGE JONSSON
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 1999

Most of the books written on eighteenth-century theologian and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg analyze his theology, detail his remarkable mystical travels, or investigate his influence on philosophers and artists who succeeded him. Distinguished Swedish scholar Inge Jonsson approaches Swedenborg’s oeuvre from the standpoint of the history of ideas and relates it to the intellectual milieu of the time. From the impact of Cartesian philosophy on eighteenth-century thinkers to the effect of Leibniz and his disciples on Swedenborg’s emerging views of science and spirit, Jonsson recreates the debates that electrified the Enlightenment.

Despite Swedenborg’s enduring fame as a mystic, his early reputation was firmly based on scientific treatises that he wrote during years when new theories of life were exploding through microscopic and anatomical research. In the first part of this study, Jonsson examines Swedenborg’s philosophy of nature, his cosmology, and physiological and psychological theories and shows how Swedenborg’s unique spiritual perspective was rooted in his early scientific endeavors and in agreement with contemporary science.

However, after a spiritual crisis in the years 1744-1745, detailed in the remarkable document The Journal of Dreams, Swedenborg turned his intellectual energies and scientific precision toward biblical exegesis and examination of spiritual nature. In the second half of this work, Jonsson investigates Swedenborg’s detailed and sensitive rendering of spiritual life in such works as Arcana Coelestia, Heaven and Hell, and Conjugial Love.

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Why Does God Let It Happen?
BRUCE HENDERSON
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2010

In the wake of life-changing events—whether as global in reach as the terrorist attacks on September 11 or as personal as the death of a child—the first question that springs to mind is “Why?” Why do good people suffer pain and loss? Why does God allow these things to happen?

In this simple, straightforward book, Bruce Henderson tackles some of the most difficult questions that people of faith face in their lives. Drawing from the wisdom of visionary Emanuel Swedenborg, who wrestled with these same questions more than two hundred years ago, Henderson describes a universe in which God allows us free will and choice, subtly guiding the course of our lives with an insight no mortal can comprehend. Pain and suffering ultimately lead to good, and as we walk the path, we draw ever closer to heaven.

In the end, the question is not why these things happen, but what good can come of them, and how we can use our gift of free will to create a better world for ourselves and others. In this, Henderson says, God is our partner and guiding hand, turning pain to hope and trust.

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Window to Eternity
BRUCE HENDERSON
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2010

What happens to us when we die? Is there really a heaven and hell? Are there angels watching over us? These questions follow us from early childhood to old age, particularly in moments when we’re confronted with the loss of a loved one.

In Window to Eternity, Bruce Henderson draws from the teachings of visionary Emanuel Swedenborg to paint a vivid picture of heaven and hell, where the souls of the departed become angels and demons and indescribable wonders await. But far from being a distant destination, Henderson shows that heaven is a choice that each of us makes every day—ours to have or to turn away from, regardless of our background or religious upbringing.

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The Worship and Love of God
Emanuel Swedenborg
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2020

This allegorical retelling of the biblical creation story blends science, poetic understanding, and the spiritual revelations of Swedish visionary Emanuel Swedenborg (16881772). Starting with the creation of the earth from the substance of the universe, Swedenborg takes the reader through the formation of plants, animals, and finally human beings. He puts particular emphasis on the spiritual nature of Adam and Adam’s marriage to Eve. Although not considered one of Swedenborg’s theological works, this book was written just prior to his visionary period and contains the seeds of many of his later ideas, particularly the biblical commentary in Secrets of Heaven. This edition is a reprint of a 1914 English translation by Alfred H. Stroh and Frank Sewall.

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You Can Believe!
An Introduction to the New Christianity
Grant Schnarr
Swedenborg Foundation Publishers, 2006

Does God love and care for each individual? Should the Bible be interpreted literally? Why are we here? Questions such as these persist for many people today. Grant Schnarr presents "the new Christianity," based on the Bible and the teachings of the eighteenth-century theologian Emanuel Swedenborg. Schnarr examines the underlying reasons that prevent people from truly believing and provides logical and positive answers to life's questions. The result is a solid foundation for building faith and embracing a relationship with God.

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