Who was Swedenborg? What did he teach? What did he have to say about human nature, individual development, personal choice, human destiny, innocent suffering, God, and Christ?
Swedenborg on spirituality.
Category: Emanuel Swedenborg
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Below we explore spiritual questions from the perspective of Emanuel Swedenborg.
Who was he? What did he have to say? Why does he get mentioned so much? Who are his readers?
His life and influence
Swedenborg has had a variety of both supporting and critical biographers. However, his development from scientist to mystic has greatly interested many people ever since it had occurred in the eighteenth century.
From 1745, when he considered himself to have entered a spiritual state, he applied his scientific methodology by meticulously describing his inner experiences, reporting accurately things he had subjectively noticed on his visionary journeys.
Swedenborg was able to learn his profound ideas by reflecting carefully on the words of sacred writing.
He came to believe that there is a relationship among the physical, the spiritual, and the divine and this can be seen in nature and in inspired sacred writing of the Bible.
With the aid of this scenario, he interpreted much of the Bible in a new light. He claimed that even the most apparently trivial sentences could hold a profound deeper meaning. He argued that it is the presence of this inner sense that makes the Word divine.
The relationship is shown in the vast and consistent use of Biblical confirmations in his books for his psychospiritual and theological ideas.
Some information is available below on who Swedenborg was in terms of his job, studies, vocation, inner experiences, and publications. Also his influence on other writers and the application of his ideas today for philosophy, spiritual education, and therapy.
Swedenborg’s ideas
Also available are articles that set out Swedenborg’s main spiritual principles. Included is what he said about human nature, potential inner growth of the individual, individual human destiny, the problem of innocent people suffering, his pre-Freudian account of dreams, his conscious experiences of a realm of spirit, the process of dying and what happens afterwards, his visionary experience of the universe of planets, his take on supernatural reality, an inner meaning of stories in the Bible and reasons for inconsistences, and why the Divine Being seems to be absent from the world.
Swedenborg’s ideas
For me, Swedenborg is the grandfather of today’s new spiritual consciousness. The Divine revelation he received back in the 18C is concerned with our awareness of the inner process of spiritual awakening and connecting to God. Swedenborg’s books contain a wonderland of ideas which help me to understand God, truth and the purpose of my life here.
Here are his current top 3 ideas ……
Swedenborg’s God
Swedenborg’s writings are a deep and rich treasure trove of spiritual insights into human nature, spiritual development and the constant presence of the Divine who is always loving, creating and providing for the created. To gain anything of real value the searcher is drawn and challenged to understand deep concepts. But an openness to be … Continue reading Swedenborg’s God
The Five Ages
Swedenborg’s View of Spiritual History
Extracts from Emanuel Swedenborg with commentary by P L Johnson. Swedenborg Society, 2008; ISBN 978-0-85448-154-5; xv + 243 pp; £11.95 + p&p.
This intriguing book is a selection of quotations from Swedenborg’s writings that relate to his view of different spiritual ages of the world in human history. In bringing together this material, nowhere found in one place in Swedenborg’s voluminous writings, Patrick Johnson has provided a useful service. His added comments are helpful in giving continuity and relevant recent historical knowledge, as well as some of his own suggestions.
Swedenborg can give us little guidance on dating these past ages, for his account is derived from an interpretation of the Bible as to its religious meaning. Despite this, The Five Ages shows how current ways of speaking might relate to both ecclesiastical terminology and biblical figures and events. The claim is that this holistic approach helps us to understand mankind’s psycho-spiritual development across different epochs, despite
Heart, Head and Hands
An Interpretation of Swedenborg’s Writings in Relation to Psychological and Spiritual Well-being
by Stephen Russell-Lacy. Seminar Books, 2008. 978 0 907295 36 5. (paperback) 180pp £10
“A fine little work … that will warm the hearts of the general public and all practicing Swedenborgians who are of a non-technical bent. …We find ourselves understanding a text while feeling that, at the same time, we are liberated by just reading it. This happens in many places in the narrative. Traditionalists will love the book, as it preaches the straight and narrow with regard to doctrine, but in places it almost unconsciously breaks out into a kind of semi-restrained wildness that reminds us of Swedenborg’s own mind – rational but also inward, intuitive, deep, creative, and as our British cousins are wont to say, spot on.”
“It’s a pretty comprehensive attempt to offer aid in meeting life’s many challenges. On Time Magazine’s ‘read, skim or toss’, scale for books, this is definitely a read – and keep handy for future reference.”