Editing Emanuel Swedenborg

{{Short description|Swedish scientist, philosopher, and theologian (1688–1772)}}
{{Infobox theologian
|name        = Emanuel Swedenborg
|image       = Emanuel Swedenborg.PNG
|caption     = {{longitem|Portrait of Swedenborg {{nowrap|by [[Carl Frederik von Breda]]}}}}
|birth_name  = Emanuel Swedberg
|birth_date  = {{Birth date|1688|01|29|df=yes}}
|birth_place = [[Stockholm]], [[Sweden]]
|death_date  = {{Death date and age|1772|03|29|1688|01|29|df=yes}}
|death_place = {{nowrap|London, England}}
|education   = [[Uppsala University]]
|occupation  = {{hlist|style= padding:0.1em 0;line-height:1.2em; |[[Theologian]] |[[mining engineer]] |[[Anatomy|anatomist]] |[[astronomer]] |[[author]]}}
|notableworks = {{unbulleted list |''[[Arcana Cœlestia]]'' |''True Christian Religion'' |[[Heaven and Hell (Swedenborg)|''Heaven and Hell'']]}}
|era = 18th-century
|tradition_movement = [[Esoteric Christianity]]; inspired the [[The New Church (Swedenborgian)|New Church]]<ref name="Spinks2017"/>
|main_interests = {{hlist|style= white-space:nowrap; |[[Theology]] |[[science]] |[[philosophy]]}}
|notable_ideas = {{unbulleted list |{{nowrap| [[Trinity]] in one person}} |[[Correspondence (theology)|Correspondence]] |{{longitem|{{nowrap|The [[Last Judgment]] and Christ's}} [[Second Coming]] began in 1757}}}}
|signature=Emanuel Swedenborg signature.png
}}
{{Spirituality sidebar |western | width = 23.5em<!-- should match width of infobox above -->}}

'''Emanuel Swedenborg''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|w|iː|d|ən|b|ɔr|g}},<ref>{{Cite web |title=Swedenborg Definition & Meaning |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/swedenborg |access-date=2025-02-17 |website=Dictionary.com |language=en}}</ref> {{IPA|sv|ɛˈmɑ̂ːnʉɛl ˈsvêːdɛnˌbɔrj|lang|sv-Emanuel_Swedenborg.ogg}}; born '''Emanuel Swedberg'''; 29 January 1688{{snd}}29 March 1772)<ref name="enc1911"/> was a Swedish [[polymath]]; a scientist, engineer, astronomer, anatomist, Christian [[theologian]], [[philosopher]], and [[mysticism|mystic]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Swedenborg, Emanuel {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/swedenborg-emanuel-0 |access-date=2024-09-01 |website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref> He became best known for his book on the [[afterlife]], [[Heaven and Hell (Swedenborg)|''Heaven and Hell'']] (1758).<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/contets/HH.html |title = Swedenborg, E. ''Heaven and its Wonders and Hell. From Things Heard and Seen'' (Swedenborg Foundation, 1946) |publisher= Swedenborgdigitallibrary.org |access-date= 2012-08-16}}</ref><ref>Bergquist, Preface (pp. 15–16)</ref>

Swedenborg had a prolific career as an [[inventor]] and [[scientist]]. In 1741, at 53, he entered into a [[Spirituality|spiritual]] phase in which he began to experience dreams and visions, notably on [[Easter]] Weekend, on 6 April<ref>Compare:
[https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=Easter+Sunday+1744 Easter Sunday 1744 = Wednesday, March 25, 1744 (Gregorian calendar)]
</ref>
1744.<ref>
{{cite book
 | last1 = Vardy
 | first1 = Peter
 | author-link1 = Peter Vardy (theologian)
 | last2 = Vardy
 | first2 = Charlotte
 | author-link2 = 
 | title = God Matters
 | date = 31 October 2013
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xfsMAQAAQBAJ
 | edition = reprint
 | location = London
 | publisher = SCM Press
 | publication-date = 2013
 | page = 163
 | isbn = 9780334043928
 | access-date = 23 January 2021
 | quote = Emanuel Swedenborg [...] entered into a spiritual phase of life at the age of 53 in 1741. He had a series of dreams and visions, culminating in an 'awakening' at Easter 1744, after which Swedenborg felt that he was free to visit heaven and hell and to talk with spirits, angels and demons.
}}
</ref>
His experiences culminated in a "spiritual awakening" in which he received a revelation that [[Jesus Christ]] had appointed him to write ''The Heavenly Doctrine'' to reform [[Christianity]].<ref>See Swedenborg, E. [http://www.heavenlydoctrines.org/ ''The Heavenly Doctrine'']</ref> According to ''The Heavenly Doctrine'', the Lord had opened Swedenborg's spiritual eyes so that from then on, he could freely visit [[heaven]] and [[hell]] to converse with angels, demons, and other spirits and that the [[Last Judgment]] had already occurred in 1757, the year before the 1758 publication of ''De Nova Hierosolyma et ejus doctrina coelesti'' (English: ''Concerning the New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine'').<ref>[http://www.swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/contets/LJ.html Swedenborg, E. ''The Last Judgment and Babylon Destroyed. All the Predictions in the Apocalypse are at This Day Fulfilled.'' (Swedenborg Foundation 1952, Paragraphs 1–74)] Retrieved 16 August 2013.</ref>

Over the last 28 years of his life, Swedenborg wrote 18 published theological works—and several more that remained unpublished. He termed himself a "Servant of the Lord Jesus Christ" in ''True Christian Religion'',<ref name="swedenborgdigitallibrary.org">{{cite web | url = http://swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/contets/tcrtc.html |title= The True Christian Religion, Containing the Universal Theology of The New Church Foretold by the Lord in Daniel 7; 13, 14; and in Revelation 21; 1, 2, by Emanuel Swedenborg |publisher= Swedenborgdigitallibrary.org |access-date= 2012-08-16}}</ref> which he published himself.<ref name="swedenborgdigitallibrary1">{{cite web |url= http://swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/contets/books.html |archive-url= https://archive.today/20120717105359/http://swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/contets/books.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= July 17, 2012 |title= Which of Swedenborg's books are Divine revelation? |publisher= Swedenborgdigitallibrary.org |access-date= 2013-08-16 }}</ref> Some followers of ''The Heavenly Doctrine'' believe that of his theological works, only those that were published by Swedenborg himself are fully [[divine revelation|divinely inspired]].<ref>See [http://www.swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/contets/books.html "Which of Swedenborg's books are Divine revelation?"]{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Others have regarded all Swedenborg's theological works as equally inspired, saying for example that the fact that some works were "not written out in a final edited form for publication does not make a single statement less trustworthy than the statements in any of the other works".<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Odhner |first1= Carl Theophilus |title= "Diary" and the Spiritual Body |journal= New Church Life |date= 1912 |page= 298}}</ref> [[The New Church (Swedenborgian)|The New Church]], also known as Swedenborgianism, is a [[Restorationism|Restorationist]] denomination of Christianity originally founded in 1787 and comprising several historically related Christian churches that revere Swedenborg's writings as [[revelation]].<ref name="Spinks2017">{{cite book |last1=Spinks |first1=Bryan D. |title=Reformation and Modern Rituals and Theologies of Baptism: From Luther to Contemporary Practices |date=2 March 2017 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-351-90583-1 |language=en |quote=However, Swedenborg claimed to receive visions and revelations of heavenly things and a 'New Church', and the new church which was founded upon his writings was a Restorationist Church. The three nineteenth-century churches are all examples of Restorationist Churches, which believed they were refounding the Apostolic Church, and preparing for the Second Coming of Christ.}}</ref><ref>
{{Cite book
 |title= Reasons for separating from the old church. : In answer to a letter received from certain persons in Manchester, who profess to believe in the heavenly doctrines of the New Jerusalem Church, as contained in the theological writings of the Late Hon. Emanuel Swedenborg, and yet remain in the external forms of doctrine and worship now in use in old church, not withstanding their direct opposition to the heavenly doctrines of the new church. To which are added, sundry passages from E. Swedenborg, on which the expediency, and even necessity, of a complete separation from the former church, is founded. By the Members of the New Jerusalem Church, who assemble in Great East-Cheap, London
 |author= New Jerusalem Church|date= 1788|publisher= R. Hindmarsh|oclc= 508967814
}}
</ref>

== Early life ==
[[File:Hornsgatan 43 Emanuel Swedenborg Stockholm 2005-06-17 013.jpg|thumb|Memorial plaque at the former location of Swedenborg's house at Hornsgatan on [[Södermalm]], [[Stockholm]].]]

Swedenborg's father, [[Jesper Swedberg]] (1653–1735), descended from a wealthy [[mining]] family, ''bergsfrälse'' (early noble families in the mining sector), the Stjärna family, of the same patrilineal background as the noble family [[Georg Stiernhielm|Stiernhielm]], the earliest known patrilineal member being Olof Nilsson Stjärna of Stora Kopparberg.<ref>{{cite web |title=Adliga ätten SVEDENBORG nr 1598 |url=https://www.adelsvapen.com/genealogi/Svedenborg_nr_1598 |website=Adelsvapen}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Adliga ätten Stiernhielm nr 180 |url=https://www.adelsvapen.com/genealogi/Stiernhielm_nr_180 |website=Adelsvapen}}</ref> He travelled abroad and studied [[theology]], and on returning home, he was eloquent enough to impress the Swedish king, [[Charles XI of Sweden|Charles XI]], with his sermons in [[Stockholm]]. Through the king's influence, he would later become professor of theology at [[Uppsala University]] and Bishop of [[Skara]].<ref name="Ugglan">{{in lang|sv}} [[Nordisk familjebok]], 2nd edition (Ugglan) ''[https://runeberg.org/nfcg/0486.html article Svedberg, Jesper]'' (1918)</ref><ref name="enc1911">{{cite EB1911|first=Alexander James |last=Grieve|wstitle=Swedenborg, Emanuel |volume=26 |page=221}}</ref>

Jesper took an interest in the beliefs of the dissenting [[Lutheran]] [[Pietism|Pietist]] movement, which emphasised the [[virtues]] of communion with [[God]] rather than relying on sheer faith (''[[sola fide]]'').<ref>Svedberg's pietistic interests are described in Bergquist (1999), pp. 230–232.</ref> ''Sola fide'' is a tenet of the [[Lutheran Church]], and Jesper was charged with being a [[pietist]] [[heresy|heretic]]. While controversial, the beliefs were to have a major impact on his son Emanuel's spirituality. Jesper furthermore held the unconventional belief that [[angels]] and spirits were present in everyday life. This also came to have a strong impact on Emanuel.<ref name="Ugglan"/><ref name=enc1911/><ref>Martin Lamm (1978 [1915]; pp.1–19) notes how all Swedenborg biographies at that draw similarities between the beliefs of Jesper and Emanuel. Lamm himself partially agrees with them, but he maintains that there were marked differences between them too.</ref>

In 1703–1709, aged 15–21, Emanuel Swedenborg lived in [[Erik Benzelius the Younger]]'s house. He completed his university course at [[Uppsala]] in 1709, and in 1710, he made his [[grand tour]] through the Netherlands, France and Germany before reaching London, where he would spend the next four years. It was a flourishing centre of scientific ideas and discoveries. He studied [[physics]], [[mechanics]] and [[philosophy]] and read and wrote [[poetry]]. According to the preface of a book by the Swedish critic [[Olof Lagercrantz]], Swedenborg wrote to his benefactor and brother-in-law Benzelius that he believed he might be destined to be a great scientist.<ref>Lagercrantz, preface.</ref><ref name=Delblanc>x</ref>

== Early scientific work and spiritual reflections ==
[[File:Swdbg2.jpg|thumb|[[Swedenborg 1714 Flying Machine|The Flying Machine]], sketched in his notebook from 1714. The operator would sit in the middle and paddle himself through the air.<ref>Söderberg, H. ''Swedenborg's 1714 Airplane: A Machine to Fly in the Air'' (1988)</ref> p.&nbsp;32, or on the video clip at 5:48 on its timeline.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-k6HRf0E0g |title = Splendors of the Spirit: Swedenborg's Quest for Insight, Part 1 |publisher = YouTube |access-date = 2013-07-14}}</ref>]]

In 1715, aged 27, Swedenborg returned to Sweden, where he devoted himself to [[natural science]] and [[engineering]] projects for the next two decades. A first step was his meeting with King [[Charles XII of Sweden]] in the city of [[Lund]], in 1716. The Swedish inventor [[Christopher Polhem]], who became a close friend of Swedenborg, was also present. Swedenborg's purpose was to persuade the king to fund an [[observatory]] in northern Sweden. However, the warlike king did not consider this project important enough, but did appoint Swedenborg to be assessor-extraordinary on the [[Swedish Board of Mines]] (''Bergskollegium'') in [[Stockholm]].<ref>The meeting between the King, Polhelm and Swedenborg is described in detail in Liljegren, Bengt, ''Karl XII i Lund : när Sverige styrdes från Skåne'' (Historiska media, Lund, 1999). {{ISBN|91-88930-51-3}}.</ref>

From 1716 to 1718, aged 30, Swedenborg published a [[scientific periodical]] entitled ''Daedalus Hyperboreus'' (''"The Northern [[Daedalus]]"''), a record of mechanical and mathematical inventions and discoveries. One notable description was that of [[Swedenborg 1714 Flying Machine|a flying machine]], the same he had been sketching a few years earlier.<ref name="Delblanc" />

In 1718, Swedenborg published an article that attempted to explain [[Religious experience|spiritual]] and [[mental events]] in terms of minute vibrations, or "tremulations".

Upon the death of Charles XII, [[Ulrike Eleonora of Sweden|Queen Ulrika Eleonora]] ennobled Swedenborg and his siblings. It was common in Sweden during the 17th and 18th centuries for the children of [[bishops]] to receive that honour, as a recognition of the services of their father. The family name was changed from Swedberg to Swedenborg.<ref>Bergquist (1999), pp.114–115</ref>

In 1724, he was offered the chair of [[mathematics]] at [[Uppsala University]], but he declined and said that he had dealt mainly with [[geometry]], [[chemistry]] and [[metallurgy]] during his career. He also said that he did not have the gift of eloquent speech because of a [[stutter]], as recognized by many of his acquaintances; it forced him to speak slowly and carefully, and there are no known occurrences of his speaking in public.<ref>Berquist (1999), pp. 118–119</ref> The Swedish critic Olof Lagerkrantz proposed that Swedenborg compensated for his impediment by extensive argumentation in writing.<ref>Proposed by Lagercrantz, also mentioned by Bergquist (1999), p. 119.</ref>

== Scientific studies and spiritual reflections in the 1730s ==
During the 1730s, Swedenborg undertook many studies of [[anatomy]] and [[physiology]]. He had the first known anticipation of the [[neuron]] concept<ref>Fodstad, H. The neuron theory ''Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery'' 2001;77:20-4</ref> a century before the full significance of the [[nerve cell]] was realised. He also had prescient ideas about the [[cerebral cortex]], the hierarchical organization of the [[nervous system]], the localization of the [[cerebrospinal fluid]], the functions of the [[pituitary gland]], the [[perivascular space]]s, the [[foramen of Magendie]], the idea of [[somatotopic arrangement|somatotopic organization]], and the association of [[Lobes of the brain#Frontal lobe|frontal brain regions]] with the [[intellect]]. In some cases, his conclusions have been experimentally verified in modern times.<ref>Gordh, E. ''et al.''Swedenborg, Linnaeus and Brain Research and the Roles of Gustaf Retzius and Alfred Stroh in the Rediscovery of Swedenborg's Manuscripts. ''Upsala Journal of Medical Sciences'' 2007; 112:143–164.</ref><ref>Gross C. G. Emanuel Swedenborg: A neuroscientist before his time. ''The Neuroscientist'' 3: 2(1997).</ref><ref>Gross, C. "Three before their time: neuroscientists whose ideas were ignored by their contemporaries ''Experimental Brain Research'' 192:321 2009.</ref><ref>Tubbs RS, Riech S, Verma K, Loukas M, Mortazavi M, Cohen-Gadol A. Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772): pioneer of neuroanatomy. ''Childs Nervous System'' 2011 Aug;27(8):1353-5.</ref><ref>Filley CM. Chapter 35: The frontal lobes. ''Handbook Clinical Neurology'' 2010;95:557-70</ref>

In the 1730s, Swedenborg became increasingly interested in spiritual matters and was determined to find a theory to explain how [[Mind–body problem|matter relates to spirit]]. Swedenborg's desire to understand the order and the purpose of creation first led him to investigate the structure of [[matter]] and the process of creation itself. In the ''[[The Principia (book)|Principia]]'', the first part of his ''Opera Philosophica et Mineralia'', he outlined his philosophical method, which incorporated [[experience]], geometry (the means by which the inner order of the world can be known) and the power of [[reason]]. He also outlined his [[cosmology]], which included the first presentation of his [[nebular hypothesis]]. (There is evidence that Swedenborg may have preceded [[Immanuel Kant]] by as much as 20 years in the development of that hypothesis.<ref>[http://www.newchurchhistory.org/articles/glb2007/baker.pdf Baker, Gregory L. (1983) "Emanuel Swedenborg – An 18th century cosmologist" in ''The Physics Teacher'', October 1983, pp. 441–6] Retrieved 15 July 2013.</ref>) Other inventions by Swedenborg include a submarine, an automatic weapon, a universal musical instrument, a system of sluices that could be used to transport boats across land and several types of water pumps, which were put into use when he was on Sweden's Board of Mines.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-03-24 |title=Swedenborg's Scientific Writings - Swedenborg Foundation |url=https://swedenborg.com/emanuel-swedenborg/scientific-writings/ |access-date=2024-02-18 |website=swedenborg.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 1735, in [[Leipzig]], he published a three-volume work, ''Opera Philosophica et Mineralia'' (''Philosophical and Mineralogical Works''), in which he tried to conjoin philosophy and [[metallurgy]]. The work was mainly appreciated for its chapters on the analysis of the [[smelting]] of [[iron]] and [[copper]], and it was the work that gave Swedenborg his international reputation.<ref>Bergquist (1999), pp. 142–155.</ref> The same year, he also published the small manuscript ''De Infinito'' ("On the Infinite") in which he attempted to explain how the [[Infinity#Logic|finite is related to the infinite]] and how the [[Soul (spirit)|soul]] is [[Philosophy of mind|connected to the body]]. It was the first manuscript in which he touched upon such matters. He knew that it might clash with established theologies since he presented the view that the soul is [[Materialism|based on material substances]].<ref>Lamm (1987), pp. 42–43, notes that by assuming that the soul consists of matter, as Swedenborg did, one becomes a [[materialist]]. He further notes that it was also noted by contemporaries.</ref><ref>Jonsson, Inge, ''Swedenborg och Linné'', in Delblanc & Lönnroth, p. 321.</ref> He also conducted dedicated studies of the fashionable philosophers of the time such as [[John Locke]], [[Christian von Wolff]], [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz]], and [[Descartes]] and earlier thinkers such as [[Plato]], [[Aristotle]], [[Plotinus]] and [[Augustine of Hippo]].<ref>Bergquist (1999), pp. 165–178.</ref>

Swedenborg was a critic of slavery. He was the first prominent Swede to condemn slavery.

In 1743, at the age of 55, Swedenborg requested a leave of absence to go abroad. His purpose was to gather source material for ''Regnum animale'' (''The Animal Kingdom'', or ''Kingdom of Life''), a subject on which books were not readily available in Sweden. The aim of the book was to explain the soul from an anatomical point of view. He had planned to produce a total of 17 volumes.<ref>Jonsson, Inge, ''Swedenborg och Linné'', in Delblanc and Lönnroth, p.325.</ref>

== ''Journal of Dreams'' ==
By 1744, when he was 56, Swedenborg had travelled to the Netherlands. Around the time, he began having strange dreams. Swedenborg carried a travel journal with him on most of his travels and did so on this journey. The whereabouts of the diary were long unknown, but it was discovered in the [[Royal Library of Sweden|Royal Library]] in the 1850s and was published in 1859 as ''Drömboken'', or ''Journal of Dreams''.

Swedenborg experienced many different dreams and visions, some greatly pleasurable, others highly disturbing.<ref>Bergquist, pp. 200–208.</ref> The experiences continued as he traveled to London to progress the publication of ''Regnum animale''. This process, which one biographer has proposed as [[Catharsis|cathartic]] and comparable to the [[Catholic]] concept of [[Purgatory]],<ref>Bergquist, p. 206.</ref> continued for six months. He also proposed that what Swedenborg was recording in his ''Journal of Dreams'' was a battle between the love of himself and the love of God.<ref>Analysis by Bergquist, p. 209. Bergquist has previously published a separate book commenting on the Journal called ''Swedenborgs drömbok : glädjen och det stora kvalet'' (Stockholm, Norstedt, 1988).</ref>

=== Visions and spiritual insights ===
In the last entry of the journal from 26 to 27 October 1744, Swedenborg appears to be clear as to which path to follow. He felt that he should drop his current project and write a new book about the worship of God. He soon began working on ''De cultu et amore Dei'', or ''The Worship and Love of God''. Swedenborg published the one and incomplete version in London in June 1745.<ref>Bergquist (1999), pp. 210–211.</ref>

In 1745, aged 57, Swedenborg was dining in a private room at a tavern in London. By the end of the meal, a darkness fell upon his eyes, and the room shifted character. Suddenly, he saw a person sitting at a corner of the room, telling him: "Do not eat too much!". Swedenborg hurried home, greatly frightened. Later that night, the same man appeared in his dreams. The man told Swedenborg that he was the Lord, that he had appointed Swedenborg to reveal the spiritual meaning of the Bible and would guide Swedenborg in what to write. That same night the spiritual world opened to him.<ref>Swedenborg (1975).</ref><ref>"Small Theological Works and Letters" by Emanuel Swedenborg. Edited and published by the Swedenborg Society (London, 1975)</ref>

== Scriptural commentary and writings ==
[[File:Arcana Caelestia 0001.jpg|left|thumb|upright|''[[Arcana Cœlestia]]'', first edition (1749), title page]]

In June 1747, Swedenborg resigned his post as assessor of the board of mines. He explained that he was obliged to complete a work that he had begun and requested to receive half his salary as a pension.<ref>Bergquist (1999), pp. 286–287.</ref> He took up afresh his study of [[Hebrew]] and began to work on the spiritual interpretation of the Bible with the goal of interpreting the spiritual meaning of every verse. From sometime between 1746 and 1747 and for ten years, he devoted his energy to the task. Usually abbreviated as ''[[Arcana Cœlestia]]'' or under the [[Latin]] variant ''Arcana Caelestia''<ref>Cf. [https://books.google.com/books?id=aRh1P-H8Q7sC&q=swedenborg+Arcana+Caelestia&pg=PA1 Michelle Grier, 'Swedenborg and Kant on Spiritual Intuition'] in ''On the True Philosopher: Essays on Swedenborg'', ed. Stephen McNeilly (London: Swedenborg Society, 2002), p. 1. Accessed 2010-11-11.</ref> (translated as ''Heavenly Arcana'', ''Heavenly Mysteries'', or ''Secrets of Heaven'' depending on modern English-language editions), the book became his ''[[masterpiece|magnum opus]]'' and the basis of his further theological works.<ref name="AC">Bergquist (1999), p. 287.</ref>

The work was anonymous, and Swedenborg was not identified as the author until the late 1750s. It had eight volumes, published between 1749 and 1756. It attracted little attention, as few people could penetrate its meaning.<ref>Bergquist (1999), p. 288.</ref><ref>Jonsson, Inge. ''Swedenborg och Linné'', in Delblanc & Lönnroth, p. 316.</ref>

His writings were filled with symbolism; Swedenborg often used stones to represent truth, snakes for evil, houses for intelligence, and cities for religious systems. He also described the appearance of heaven in great detail, as well as inhabitants from other planets.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mathison |first1=Richard |title=Faiths, Cults, and Sects of America |date=1960 |publisher=The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc. |location=New York |page=55}}</ref>

[[File:Swedenborgs lusthus 2010.jpg|thumb|Emanuel Swedenborg's summer house now in [[Skansen]] which was transplanted from his [[Stockholm]] estate]]
His life from 1747 to his death was spent in [[Stockholm]], the Netherlands, and London. During the 25 years, he wrote another 14 works of a spiritual nature; most were published during his lifetime.

One of Swedenborg's lesser-known works presents a startling claim: that the Last Judgment had begun in the previous year (1757) and was completed by the end of that year<ref>[http://www.swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/contets/LJ.html ''The Last Judgment and Babylon Destroyed. All the Predictions in the Apocalypse are At this Day Fulfilled from Things Heard and Seen''. From ''De Ultimo Judicio Et De Babylonia Destructa'']</ref> and that he had witnessed it.<ref>''Last Judgment'', No. 60.</ref> According to ''The Heavenly Doctrine'', the Last Judgment took place not in the physical world but in the World of Spirits, halfway between heaven and hell, through which all pass on their way to heaven or hell.<ref>[http://www.swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/contets/HH.html Swedenborg, E. ''Heaven and Its Wonders From Things Heard and Seen''] (Swedenborg Foundation 1946, #421–535).</ref> The Judgment took place because the Christian church had lost its charity and faith, resulting in a loss of spiritual [[free will]] that threatened the equilibrium between heaven and hell in everyone's life.<ref>''Last Judgment'' #33–34.</ref>{{efn|For an extensive explanation of the inner spiritual sense of the book of the ''Apocalypse'', see Swedenborg, E. ''The Apocalypse Revealed Wherein are Disclosed the Arcana Foretold Which Have Hitherto Remained Concealed'' (Swedenborg Foundation, 1928).}}

''The Heavenly Doctrine'' also teaches that the Last Judgment was followed by the [[Second Coming]] of [[Jesus Christ]], which occurred not by Christ in person but by a revelation from him through the inner, spiritual sense of the Word<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/contets/tcrtc.html |title = Swedenborg, E. ''The True Christian Religion: Containing the Universal Theology of The New Church Foretold by the Lord in Daniel 7; 13, 14; and in Revelation 21;1,2'' (Swedenborg Foundation 1952, paragraphs 193–215) |publisher = Swedenborgdigitallibrary.org |access-date = 2013-08-16}}</ref> through Swedenborg.<ref>''True Christian Religion'', paragraphs 753–786</ref>

In another of his theological works, Swedenborg wrote that eating meat, regarded in itself, "is something profane" and was not practised in the early days of the human race. However, he said, it now is a matter of [[conscience]], and no one is condemned for doing it.<ref>Swedenborg, E. [http://smallcanonsearch.com/read.php?book=ac&section=1002 ''Arcana Coelestia'' #1002, 1003] (Swedenborg Foundation, 1956)</ref> Nonetheless, the early-days ideal appears to have given rise to the idea that Swedenborg was a [[vegetarian]]. That conclusion may have been reinforced by the fact that a number of Swedenborg's early followers were part of the vegetarian movement that arose in Britain in the 19th century.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.ivu.org/history/thesis/bible-christian.html|title=The vegetarian movement in England, 1847–1981: A study in the structure of its ideology |last=Twigg |first=Julia |publisher=University of London |year=1981}}</ref> However, the only reports on Swedenborg himself are contradictory. His landlord in London, Shearsmith, said he ate no meat, but his maid, who served Swedenborg, said that he ate eels and [[pigeon pie]].<ref>Sigstedt, C. [http://swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/ES/epictc.htm ''The Swedenborg Epic: The life and works of Emanuel Swedenborg''] Bookman Associates, 1952, p. 476, # 642.</ref>

In ''[[Earths in the Universe]]'', it is stated that he conversed with spirits from [[Jupiter]], [[Mars]], [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]], [[Saturn]], [[Venus]] and the [[Moon]], as well as spirits from planets beyond the [[Solar System]].<ref>Swedenborg, E.[http://www.swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/contets/EU.html ''The Earths in Our Solar System Which are called Planets and the Earths in the Starry Heaven, and Their Inhabitants; Also the Spirits and Angels There From Things Heard and Seen''] 1758. Also Rotch Edition. New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1907, in ''The Divine Revelation of the New Jerusalem'' (2012), n. 9-178.</ref> From the "encounters", he concluded that the planets of the Solar System are inhabited and that such an enormous undertaking as the universe could not have been created for just one race on a planet or one "Heaven" derived from its properties per planet. Many Heavenly societies were also needed to increase the perfection of the angelic Heavens and Heaven to fill in deficiencies and gaps in other societies. He argued: "What would this be to God, Who is infinite, and to whom a thousand or tens of thousands of planets, and all of them full of inhabitants, would be scarcely anything!"<ref>''Arcana Coelestia'' #6698</ref> Swedenborg and the question of life on other planets has been extensively reviewed elsewhere.<ref>Simons K. [http://swedenborgproject.org/2007/09/08/the-life-on-other-planets-question/ The Life on Other Planets Question] The Swedenborg Project 2007</ref>

Swedenborg published his work in London or the Netherlands to escape censorship by the [[Swedish Empire]].<ref>Bergquist (1999), p. 477–478.</ref><ref>Trobridge, G. ''Swedenborg, Life and Teaching'' (Swedenborg Foundation, 1976, p. 272).</ref>

In July 1770, at the age of 82, he travelled to [[Amsterdam]] to complete the publication of his last work. The book, ''Vera Christiana Religio'' (''The True Christian Religion''), was published there in 1771 and was one of the most appreciated of his works. Designed to explain his teachings to [[Lutherans]], it is the most concrete of his works.<ref>Bergquist (1999), p. 464.</ref>

=== Biblical interpretation and theological exegesis ===

Swedenborg's theological corpus includes extensive biblical exegesis, particularly in works such as ''Arcana Coelestia'', ''Apocalypse Explained'', and ''Apocalypse Revealed''. Central to his interpretive method is the doctrine of correspondences, according to which Scripture possesses multiple levels of meaning, including a spiritual sense that underlies and informs the literal text.<ref>Swedenborg, Emanuel. ''Arcana Coelestia'', §§1–27.</ref>

In his exposition of the Book of Revelation, Swedenborg devoted particular attention to Revelation 21:3, which states that “the tabernacle of God is with men.” He noted that the grammatical structure of the passage consistently employs singular forms—“God,” “He,” and “His people”—which, in his interpretation, indicates the presence of one Divine subject rather than a plurality of divine persons. Swedenborg argued that this grammatical unity aligns with the broader theological movement of the Book of Revelation, in which the one God who dwells with humanity is later explicitly identified, in Swedenborg's interpretation, as the Lord Jesus Christ.<ref>Swedenborg, Emanuel. ''Apocalypse Revealed'', §§882–891.</ref>

According to Swedenborg's correspondence-based exegesis, the term ''tabernacle'' does not signify a physical dwelling but represents the Divine Human of the Lord. He interpreted this Divine Human as the means by which Jehovah becomes present and accessible to humanity, asserting that, in his theological framework, the incarnation fulfilled the biblical concept of God dwelling among His people. In this framework, the “tabernacle of God” signifies the Lord's Human nature, understood as fully united with the Divine and functioning as the locus of divine presence.<ref>Swedenborg, Emanuel. ''Apocalypse Explained'', §§799–806.</ref>

Swedenborg consistently maintained that his theological interpretations were intended to affirm and illuminate core principles of Christianity, including the belief in one God, the centrality of Jesus Christ, and the salvific relationship between God and humanity. He presented his exegesis not as a departure from Christian doctrine but as a theological clarification grounded in Scripture and expressed through a distinctive symbolic and spiritual interpretive framework.<ref>Swedenborg, Emanuel. ''True Christian Religion'', §§2–6.</ref>

Modern academic approaches to Revelation 21:3 outside the Swedenborgian tradition generally interpret the passage within the context of Jewish and Christian apocalyptic literature, emphasizing covenantal fulfilment, divine presence, and eschatological hope. These interpretations typically arise from historical-critical and literary methodologies rather than correspondence-based theology.<ref>Beale, G. K. ''The Book of Revelation: A Commentary on the Greek Text''. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999.</ref><ref>Bauckham, Richard. ''The Theology of the Book of Revelation''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.</ref>

Swedenborg's biblical interpretation is not limited to isolated passages but forms a continuous exegetical framework applied across multiple books and thematic units of Scripture. In his theological writings, he extended this interpretive approach to eschatological discourses in the Gospels, Christological passages concerning the incarnation, the symbolic structure of the creation narrative, and the visionary sequences of the Book of Revelation. These interpretations are distributed throughout his major exegetical works and are presented as interconnected elements within a coherent theological system rather than as independent commentaries on individual texts.

==== Scope and continuity of biblical interpretation ====

In addition to his interpretations of the Book of Revelation, Swedenborg applied his exegetical method to a wide range of biblical texts and symbolic themes. These include the eschatological discourse of Matthew 24, passages related to the incarnation in the Gospel of John, the symbolic meaning of the days of creation in Genesis, and the representational significance of visions such as the seven churches and the four horsemen of Revelation. Secondary scholarly discussion of these themes typically examines Swedenborg's use of symbolism, correspondences, and theological synthesis rather than treating each interpretation in isolation.

==Later life==
[[File:Grab Emanuel Swedenborg.jpg|thumb|Swedenborg's crypt in [[Uppsala Cathedral]]]]
In the summer of 1771, he travelled to London. Shortly before [[Christmas]], he had a [[stroke]] and was partially paralyzed and confined to bed. His health improved somewhat, but he died in 1772. There are several accounts of his last months, made by those with whom he stayed and by Arvid Ferelius, a pastor of the Swedish Church in London, who visited him several times.<ref>Bergquist (1999), pp. 471–476. Accounts of Swedenborg's last days were collected and published in Tafel II:1, pp. 577 ff, 556 ff, 560 ff.</ref>

There is evidence that Swedenborg wrote a letter to [[John Wesley]], the founder of [[Methodism]], in February. Swedenborg said that he had been told in the world of spirits that Wesley wanted to speak with him.<ref>{{cite book |url = https://archive.org/details/documentsconcer00tafegoog |page = [https://archive.org/details/documentsconcer00tafegoog/page/n134 106] |quote = john wesley swedenborg. |title = Documents concerning the life and character of Emanuel Swedenborg – Johann Friedrich Immanuel Tafel – |year = 1847 |via = [[Internet Archive]] |publisher = J. Allen |access-date = 2012-08-16}}</ref> Wesley, startled since he had not told anyone of his interest in Swedenborg, replied that he was going on a journey for six months and would contact Swedenborg on his return. Swedenborg replied that would be too late since Swedenborg would be going to the spiritual world for the last time on March 29.<ref>''Epic'', pp. 430ff.</ref> (Wesley later read and commented extensively on Swedenborg's work.)<ref>Swedenborg, E. ''True Christianity, Containing a Comprehensive Theology of the New Church That Was Predicted by the Lord in Daniel 7:13–14 and Revelation 21:1, 2'' (Swedenborg Foundation, 2006, Translator's Preface, Vol. 2, p. 36 ff.).</ref> Swedenborg's landlord's servant girl, Elizabeth Reynolds, also said that Swedenborg had predicted the date and that he was as happy about it as if he was "going on holiday or to some merrymaking":<ref>''Epic'', p. 431.</ref>

{{blockquote|In Swedenborg's final hours, his friend, Pastor Ferelius, told him some people thought he had written his theology just to make a name for himself and asked Swedenborg if he would like to recant.  Raising himself up on his bed, his hand on his heart, Swedenborg earnestly replied,

"As truly as you see me before your eyes, so true is everything that I have written; and I could have said more had it been permitted. When you enter eternity you will see everything, and then you and I shall have much to talk about."<ref name="Epic 433">''Epic'', p. 433</ref>

He then died, in the afternoon, on the date he had predicted, March 29.<ref name="Epic 433"/> }}

He was buried in the [[Nordic churches in London#Swedish Church|Swedish Church]] in Princes Square in [[Shadwell]], London. On the 140th anniversary of his death, in 1912/1913, his remains were transferred to [[Uppsala Cathedral]] in Sweden, where they now rest close to the grave of the [[botanist]] [[Carl Linnaeus]]. In 1917, the [[Swedish Church]] in Shadwell was demolished, and the Swedish community that had grown around the parish moved to [[Marylebone]]. In 1938, Princes Square was redeveloped, and in his honour the local road was renamed Swedenborg Gardens. In 1997, a garden, play area and memorial, near the road, were created in his memory.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.ukstreetmap.info/map-london-swedenborg-gardens-street.html |title = Street map Swedenborg Gardens, map London with Swedenborg Gardens |publisher=Ukstreetmap.info |access-date=2012-08-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Ewan-M Ewan Munro+ Add Contact |url = https://www.flickr.com/photos/55935853@N00/3111893982/ |title = Swedenborg Gardens, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, E1 – Flickr – Photo Sharing! |date = 7 December 2008 |publisher=Flickr |access-date=2012-08-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://eastlondonhistory.com/2011/06/16/history-of-swedenborg-gardens/|title=History of Swedenborg Gardens - eastlondonhistory.com}}</ref>

== Veracity ==
Swedenborg's transition from scientist to revelator or mystic has fascinated many people. He has had a variety of both supporting and critical biographers.<ref>[http://www.swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/contets/es.html "Who Was Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772)?"] An article including a list of biographies about Swedenborg, with a brief analysis of each biographer's point of view. Accessed June 2012.</ref> Some propose that he did not have a revelation at all but developed his theological ideas from sources which ranged from his father to earlier figures in the [[intellectual history|history of thought]], notably [[Plotinus]]. That position was first taken by Swedish writer [[Martin Lamm]] who wrote a biography of Swedenborg in 1915.<ref>Bergquist (1999), p. 15.</ref>{{efn|The citation "Bergquist (1999)" is used here repeatedly but appears to contain mislabelled quotations. See the "Talk" section of this page under the heading "Bergquist footnote problem".}} Swedish critic and publicist [[Olof Lagercrantz]] had a similar point of view, calling Swedenborg's theological writing "a poem about a foreign country with peculiar laws and customs".<ref>''en dikt om ett främmande land med sällsamma lagar och seder''. Largercrantz (1996), back page.</ref>

Swedenborg's approach to proving the veracity of his theological teachings was to use voluminous quotations from the [[Old Testament]] and the [[New Testament]] to demonstrate agreement with the Bible, and this is found throughout his theological writings. A Swedish Royal Council considering heresy charges against two Swedish promoters of his theological writings concluded that "there is much that is true and useful in Swedenborg's writings".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Sigstedt|first=Cyriel|date=1952|title=The Swedenborg Epic: The Life and Works of Emanuel Swedenborg|url=http://swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/ES/epic41.htm|website=Swedenborg Digital Library}} [https://archive.org/details/swedenborgepicli0000sigs/page/408/mode/1up Alt URL]</ref> [[Victor Hugo]] suggested in passing, in Chapter 14 of ''[[Les Misérables]]'', that Swedenborg, in company with [[Blaise Pascal]], had "glided into insanity".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hugo|first=Victor|date=1862|title=Les Misérables|url=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/victor-hugo/les-miserables/isabel-f-hapgood/text/chapter-1-1-14|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210721071438/https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/victor-hugo/les-miserables/isabel-f-hapgood/text/chapter-1-1-14|archive-date=21 July 2021|website=Standard Ebooks}} [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.158928/page/n59/mode/1up?q=swedenborg Alt URL]</ref>

==Scientific beliefs==
Swedenborg proposed many scientific ideas during his lifetime. In his youth, he wanted to present a new idea every day, as he wrote to his brother-in-law [[Erik Benzelius the Younger|Erik Benzelius]] in 1718. Around 1730, he had changed his mind, and instead believed that higher knowledge is not something that can be acquired, but that it is based on [[intuition]]. After 1745, he instead considered himself receiving scientific knowledge in a spontaneous manner from angels.<ref>Bergquist (1999), pp. 364–365.</ref>

From 1745, when he considered himself to have entered a spiritual state, he tended to phrase his "experiences" in [[empirical]] terms, to report accurately things he had experienced on his spiritual journeys.

One of his ideas that is considered most crucial for the understanding of his theology is his notion of [[correspondence (theology)|correspondences]]. But, in fact, he first presented the theory of correspondences only in 1744, in the first volume of ''Regnum Animale'' dealing with the human soul.<ref name="Delblanc" />

The basis of the correspondence theory is that there is a relationship among the natural ("physical"), the spiritual, and the divine worlds. The spiritual realm was seen by Swedenborg and believers in the [[The New Church (Swedenborgian)|New Church]] as "more real than the physical" and as a series of divided "[[Celestial spheres|spheres]]" where souls are sent depending on the level of morality they achieved in the physical world or Earth.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Queen II |first1=Edward L. |title=The Encyclopedia of American Religious History |last2=Prothero |first2=Stephen R. |last3=Shattuck Jr. |first3=Gardiner H. |publisher=Proseworks |year=1996 |isbn=0-8160-3545-8 |volume=2 |location=New York |pages=657 |author-link2=Stephen Prothero}}</ref> Souls navigate through the spiritual world and redeem themselves by travelling through it and reaching higher spheres, then encountering "divinity".<ref name=":0" /> The foundations of this theory can be traced to [[Neoplatonism]]<ref name=":0" /> and the philosopher [[Plotinus]] in particular. With the aid of this scenario, Swedenborg now interpreted the Bible in a different light, claiming that even the most apparently trivial sentences could hold a profound spiritual meaning.<ref name=Korr>Lamm (1987 [1915]), dedicates a chapter to the correspondence theories, pp. 85–109.</ref> Swedenborg argued that it is the presence of that spiritual sense which makes the Word divine.<ref>(Swedenborg E, ''The True Christian Religion Containing the Universal Theology of the New Church.'' Swedenborg Foundation 1946, # 200)</ref>

==Prophetic accounts==
Four incidents of purported psychic ability of Swedenborg exist in the literature.<ref>Bergquist (1999), p. 312.</ref> There are several versions of each story.

=== Fire anecdotes ===
On Thursday, 19 July 1759 a great and well-documented fire broke out in [[Stockholm]], Sweden.{{efn|The accounts are fully described in Bergquist, pp. 312–313 and in Chapter 31 of ''The Swedenborg Epic''. The primary source for these accounts is a letter from [[Immanuel Kant]] in 1768 and the Swedenborg collection by Tafel (see [[#Further reading|Further reading]]).}}<ref name="brandhistoriska.org">{{cite web |url = http://www.brandhistoriska.org/olyckor_se.html |title = Årtal och händelser i Jönköping |publisher = Brandhistoriska.org |access-date = 2013-07-14 |archive-date = 2011-09-11 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110911040349/http://www.brandhistoriska.org/olyckor_se.html |url-status = dead }}</ref><ref>Staffan Högberg, ''Stockholms historia'' (Stockholm's history), part 1, p. 342; in Swedish</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=D-IYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR18 For July 19 date see especially Documents 271–273 in ''Documents concerning the Life and Character of Emanuel Swedenborg Collected, Translated and Annotated by Tafel, RL.'' Volume II, Part 1. (Swedenborg Society, British and Foreign. 36 Bloomsbury Street, London, 1877)] Retrieved 15 July 2013.</ref> In the high and increasing wind it spread very fast, consuming about 300 houses and making 2000 people homeless.<ref name="brandhistoriska.org" />

When the fire broke out Swedenborg was at a dinner with friends in [[Gothenburg]], about 400&nbsp;km from Stockholm. He became agitated and told the party at six o'clock that there was a fire in Stockholm, that it had consumed his neighbour's home and was threatening his own. Two hours later, he exclaimed with relief that the fire had stopped three doors from his home. In the excitement following his report, word even reached the ears of the provincial governor, who summoned Swedenborg that same evening and asked for a detailed recounting.

At that time, it took two to three days for news from Stockholm to reach Gothenburg by courier, so that is the shortest duration in which the news of the fire could reach Gothenburg. The first messenger from Stockholm with news of the fire was from the Board of Trade, who arrived Monday evening. The second messenger was a royal courier, who arrived on Tuesday. Both of these reports confirmed every statement to the precise hour that Swedenborg first expressed the information. The accounts are fully described in Bergquist, pp.&nbsp;312–313 and in Chapter 31 of ''The Swedenborg Epic''.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/ES/epic31.htm |title = The Swedenborg Epic: Chapter 31 |publisher=Swedenborgdigitallibrary.org |access-date = 2013-07-14}}</ref><ref>As noted above, primary source for these accounts is a letter from [[Immanuel Kant]] in 1768 and the Swedenborg collection by Tafel (''Documents'' #271–273)</ref> According to Swedenborg's biographer Lars Bergquist, however, this event took place on Sunday, 29 July – ten days after the fire.<ref>Lars Bergquist: Swedenborgs Hemlighet, Stockholm 1999. {{ISBN|91-27-06981-8}}. (in Swedish)</ref>

(Bergquist states, but does not document, that Swedenborg confirmed his vision of the fire incident to his good friend, Consul Christopher Springer, "one of the pillars of the church, ... a man of enviable reputation for virtue and intelligence",<ref>Sigstedt S. [http://www.swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/ES/epic35.html ''The Swedenborg Epic,'' Chapter 35] Bookman 1952</ref> and that Swedenborg's innkeeper, Erik Bergström, heard Swedenborg affirming the story.<ref>Berguist, L. ''Swedenborg's Secret'' Swedenborg Foundation, 2005, p. 270</ref>)

According to Swedenborg's followers, it seems unlikely that the many witnesses to Swedenborg's distress during the fire, and his immediate report of it to the provincial governor,<ref>Bergquist, L, ''Swedenborg's Secret'' (London, The Swedenborg Society, 2005, p. 270).</ref><ref>Johnson, p. 70</ref> would have left room for doubt in the public eye of Swedenborg's report. They further contend that if Swedenborg had only received news of the fire by the normal methods there would have been no issue of psychic perception recorded for history. Instead, "when the news of Swedenborg's extraordinary vision of the fire reached the capital, public curiosity about him was very much aroused."<ref>Sigstedt, Chapter 35</ref>

A second fire anecdote, similar to the first one, but less cited, is the incident of the mill owner Bolander. Swedenborg warned him, again abruptly, of an incipient fire in one of his mills.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/ES/epic38.htm |title=The Swedenborg Epic: Chapter 38 |publisher=Swedenborgdigitallibrary.org |access-date=2012-08-16}}</ref>

===Queen of Sweden===
The third event was in 1758 when Swedenborg visited Queen [[Louisa Ulrika of Prussia|Louisa Ulrika]] of Sweden, who asked him to tell her something about her deceased brother [[Prince Augustus William of Prussia]]. The next day, Swedenborg whispered something in her ear that turned the Queen pale and she explained that this was something only she and her brother could know about.<ref>''Swedenborg Epic'' pp. 278ff.</ref>{{efn|According to Bergquist (1999), pp. 314–315, There are several different accounts of the events which makes it difficult to conclude the exact details of the event. Carl Robsahm (see [[#Sources|reference]]) reports the story in this way.}}

=== Lost document ===
The fourth incident involved a woman who had lost an important document, and came to Swedenborg asking if a recently deceased person could tell him where it was, which he (in some sources) was said to have done the following night.{{efn|According to Bergquist (1999), p. 316, there are some ten different reports of this event. There are two trustworthy descriptions, one by Robsahm (writing down Swedenborg's own description) and one by a priest who enquired of the woman in a letter fifteen years later.}}

=== Sailing conditions ===

Although not typically cited along with these four episodes, there was one further piece of evidence: Swedenborg was noted by the seamen of the ships that he sailed between Stockholm and London to always have excellent sailing conditions.<ref name="Sigstedt, p. 329">Sigstedt, p. 329.</ref> When asked about this by a friend, Swedenborg played down the matter, saying he was surprised by this experience himself and that he was certainly not able to do miracles.<ref name="Sigstedt, p. 329" />

== Kant's view ==
[[File:Immanuel Kant - Gemaelde 1.jpg |thumb|left|[[Immanuel Kant]] wrote ''Dreams of a Spirit-Seer'', a methodical investigation of Swedenborg's claims.]]
In 1763, [[Immanuel Kant]], then at the beginning of his career, was impressed by accounts of Swedenborg's psychic abilities and made inquiries to find out if they were true. He also ordered all eight volumes of the expensive ''Arcana Cœlestia'' (''Heavenly Arcana'' or ''Heavenly Mysteries''). One Charlotte von Knobloch wrote to Kant asking his opinion of Swedenborg's psychic experiences.<ref>Benz, p. 11.</ref>{{efn|This letter is further discussed in Laywine, A., "Kant's Early Metaphysics". ''North American Kant Society Studies in Philosophy'', volume 3 (Atascadero, California: Ridgeview Publishing Company, 1993), pp. 72–74.}} Kant wrote a very affirmative reply, referring to Swedenborg's "miraculous" gift, and characterizing him as "reasonable, agreeable, remarkable and sincere" and "a scholar", in one of his letters to [[Moses Mendelssohn]],<ref>Johnson 2002. p. 69.</ref> and expressing regret that he (Kant) had never met Swedenborg.<ref>Johnson 202, p. 71.</ref><ref>Benz 2001, p. 13.</ref> [[Joseph Green (merchant)|Joseph Green]], his English friend, who investigated the matter for Kant, including by visiting Swedenborg's home, found Swedenborg to be a "sensible, pleasant and openhearted" man and here again, a scholar.<ref>Johnson, p. 69.</ref>

However, three years later, in 1766, Kant wrote and published anonymously a small book entitled ''Träume eines Geistersehers'' (''Dreams of a Spirit-Seer'')<ref>Johnson, G., Magee, G. E. (Swedenborg Foundation 2002)</ref> that was a scathing critique of Swedenborg and his writings. He termed Swedenborg a "spook hunter"<ref>Benz 2001, p.&nbsp;31.</ref> "without official office or occupation".<ref>Benz, E., Heron, A. (Translator) ''Spiritual Vision and Revelation'', Chapter VI. ''The Mystery of a Date&nbsp;– Fresh light on Kant's Criticism of Swedenborg'', p. 13, reprinted in ''The New Philosophy'' 2001 104:7,</ref> As rationale for his critique, Kant said he wanted to stop "ceaseless questioning"<ref>Johnson 2002, p. 83.</ref> and inquiries about ''Dreams'' from "inquisitive" persons, both known and unknown.<ref>Johnson, G. "Did Kant dissemble his interest in Swedenborg?" ''The New Philosophy'' 1999, 102: 531</ref> Kant's friend Moses Mendelssohn thought there was a "joking pensiveness" in ''Dreams'' that sometimes left the reader in doubt as to whether ''Dreams'' was meant to make "metaphysics laughable or spirit-seeking credible".<ref>Johnson 2002, p. 123.</ref> In one of his letters to Mendelssohn, Kant refers to ''Dreams'' less-than-enthusiastically as a "desultory little essay".<ref>Johnson 2002, p. 85.</ref>

==Theology==
[[File:Emanuel Swedenborg full portrait.jpg|thumb|Swedenborg at the age of 75, holding the soon to be published manuscript of ''Apocalypse Revealed'' (1766)]]
Swedenborg claimed in ''The Heavenly Doctrine'' that the teachings of the [[Second Coming]] of Jesus Christ were revealed to him.<ref>''Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture'' #4, ''True Christian Religion'' #859, 750, 779</ref>

Swedenborg considered his [[theology]] a revelation of the true Christian religion that had become [[obfuscated]] through centuries of theology. However, he did not refer to his writings as theology since he considered it based on actual experiences, unlike theology,<ref name="Delblanc" /> except in the title of his last work. Neither did he wish to compare it to [[philosophy]], a discipline he discarded in 1748 because, he claimed, it "darkens the mind, blinds us, and wholly rejects the faith".<ref>Quoted by Bergquist (1999), p. 178, based on Swedenborg's ''Spiritual Experiences'' (1748), §767. However, ''Spiritual Experiences'' is not among the works Swedenborg published himself, and thus may not be authoritative revelation. See [https://swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/books.html "Which of Swedenborg's books are Divine revelation?"]</ref>

The foundation of Swedenborg's theology was laid down in ''[[Arcana Cœlestia]]'' (''Heavenly Mysteries''), published in eight Latin volumes from 1749 to 1756. In a significant portion of that work, he interprets the Biblical passages of Genesis and Exodus. He reviews what he says is the inner spiritual sense of these two works of the Word of God. (He later made a similar review of the inner sense of the book of Revelation in ''Apocalypse Revealed''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/contets/AR.html |title=The Apocalypse Revealed Wherein are Disclosed the Arcana Foretold Which Have Hitherto Remained Concealed |publisher=Swedenborgdigitallibrary.org |access-date=2012-08-16}}</ref>) Most of all, he was convinced that the Bible describes a human's transformation from a materialistic to a spiritual being, which he calls rebirth or [[Regeneration (theology)|regeneration]]. He begins this work by outlining how the [[creation myth]] was not an account of the creation of Earth, but an account of man's rebirth or regeneration in six steps represented by the six days of creation. Everything related to mankind in the Bible could also be related to [[Jesus Christ]], and how Christ freed himself from materialistic boundaries through the glorification of his human presence by making it Divine. Swedenborg examines this idea in his exposition of [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] and [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]].<ref>Bergquist (1999), pp. 286–309.</ref>

=== Marriage ===
One often discussed aspect of Swedenborg's writing is his ideas on [[marriage]]. Swedenborg himself remained a bachelor all his life, but that did not hinder him from writing voluminously on the subject. His work on ''Marriage Love'' (''Conjugial Love''{{efn|"[[wiktionary:conjugial|conjugial]]" should not be confused with "[[wiktionary:conjugal|conjugal]]", the general term for marriage.}} in older translations; 1768) was dedicated to this purpose.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.smallcanonsearch.com/read.php?book=ml&section=1 |title = ML 1 – Small Canon Search – Reading – The Word of God, The Whole Word of God, and Nothing But the Word of God – Searching the Second Advent Christian Bible – The Second Advent Christian Canon of Scripture |publisher = Small Canon Search |access-date = 2012-08-16}}</ref>

A central question with regard to marriage is whether it stops at death or continues into heaven. The question arises due to a statement attributed to Jesus that there is no marriage in heaven (Luke 20:27–38, Matthew 22:23–32, and Mark 12:18–27). Swedenborg wrote ''The Lord God Jesus Christ on Marriage in Heaven'' as a detailed analysis of what he meant.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.swedenborgproject.org/2011/08/22/the-lord-god-jesus-christ-on-marriage-in-heaven/ |title = The Lord God Jesus Christ on Marriage in Heaven |date = 22 August 2011 |publisher = The Swedenborg Project |access-date = 2013-08-30}}</ref>

The quality of the relationship between husband and wife resumes in the spiritual world in whatever state it was at their death in this world. Thus, a couple in true marriage love remain together in that state in [[heaven]] into eternity. A couple lacking in that love by one or both partners, however, will separate after death and each will be given a compatible new partner if they wish. A partner is also given to a person who loved the ideal of marriage but never found a true partner in this world. The exception in both cases is a person who hates chaste marriage and thus cannot receive such a partner.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.smallcanonsearch.com/read.php?book=ml&section=46 |title=Marriage Love 46–50) |publisher=Smallcanonsearch.com |access-date=2012-08-16}}</ref>

Swedenborg saw creation as a series of pairings, descending from the Divine love and wisdom<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.smallcanonsearch.com/read.php?book=dlw&section=52 |title =Marriage Love No. 52 |publisher=Smallcanonsearch.com |access-date=2012-08-16}}</ref> that define [[God]] and are the basis of creation. This duality can be seen in the pairing of good and truth,<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.smallcanonsearch.com/read.php?book=ml&section=84 |title=Marriage Love No. 84 |publisher=Smallcanonsearch.com |access-date=2012-08-16}}</ref> charity and faith,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smallcanonsearch.com/read.php?book=fa&section=1 |title=Marriage Love No. 1 |publisher=Smallcanonsearch.com |access-date=2012-08-16}}</ref> God and the church,<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.smallcanonsearch.com/read.php?book=ml&section=117 |title = Marriage Love No. 117 |publisher=Smallcanonsearch.com |access-date=2012-08-16}}</ref> and husband and wife.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.smallcanonsearch.com/read.php?book=ml&section=83 |title=Marriage Love No. 83 |publisher=Smallcanonsearch.com |access-date=2012-08-16}}</ref> In each case, the goal for these pairs is to achieve [[wiktionary:conjunction|conjunction]] between the two component parts. In the case of marriage, the object is to bring about the joining of the two partners at the spiritual and physical levels, and the happiness that comes as a consequence.

===Trinity===
Swedenborg [[Nontrinitarianism|rejected]] the common explanation of the [[Trinity]] as a Trinity of Persons, which he said was not taught in the [[early Christian]] church, as there was, for instance, no mention in the [[Apostles in the New Testament|Apostolic]] writings of any "Son from eternity".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smallcanonsearch.com/read.php?book=tcr&section=175 |title=TCR 175 – Small Canon Search – Reading – The Word of God, The Whole Word of God, and Nothing But the Word of God – Searching the Second Advent Christian Bible – The Second Advent Christian Canon of Scripture |publisher=Small Canon Search |access-date=2012-08-16}}</ref> Instead he explained in his theological writings how the Divine Trinity exists in One Person, in One God, the Lord [[Jesus Christ]], which he said is taught in Colossians 2:9. According to ''The Heavenly Doctrine'', Jesus, the [[Son of God]], came into the world because of the spread of evil here.<ref>Swedenborg, E. [http://swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/contets/tcrtc.html ''The True Christian Religion''], particularly sections 163–184 (New York: Swedenborg Foundation, 1951).</ref><ref>Swedenborg, E. [http://swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/contets/DL.html ''The Doctrine of the Lord''] (New York: Swedenborg Foundation, 1946)</ref><ref>Swedenborg, E. [http://swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/contets/AC.htm ''The Arcana Coelestia''] (New York: Swedenborg Foundation, various dates)</ref><ref>Swedenborg, E. [http://swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/contets/njhd.html ''The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine''], particularly sections 280–310 New York: Swedenborg Foundation, 1951)</ref>

Swedenborg spoke in virtually all his works against what he regarded as the incomprehensible Trinity of Persons concept. He said that people of other religions opposed Christianity because of its doctrine of a Trinity of Persons. He considered the separation of the Trinity into three separate Persons to have originated with the [[First Council of Nicaea]] and the [[Athanasian]] Creed.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}

== Relationship between Exodus and Revelation in Swedenborg's Interpretation of the Decalogue ==

In Emanuel Swedenborg's theology, the [[Decalogue]] presented in [[Exodus 20]] holds a central position as the universal moral foundation of the [[Christianity|Christian]] religion. In his exegetical works, particularly ''Apocalypse Revealed'' and ''Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem'', Swedenborg asserts that the lists of evils excluded from God's kingdom in the [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]] correspond spiritually to the commandments of the Decalogue, even if expressed in different terminology.<ref>Benz, Ernst. ''Emanuel Swedenborg: Visionary Savant in the Age of Reason''. West Chester: Swedenborg Foundation, 2002.</ref>

According to this interpretation, passages such as [[Revelation 21]]:8 and [[Revelation 22]]:15 describe moral categories — murderers, adulterers, idolaters, liars, and others — which reflect, on a spiritual level, the prohibitions already established in Exodus 20. The Swedenborgian interpretation understands this recurrence not as mere literary repetition but as confirmation of the Decalogue's permanence as an eternal divine law, now revealed in an internal and universal sense.<ref>Jonsson, Inge. ''Swedenborgs hemlighet: Om hans andliga utveckling och teologi''. Stockholm: Natur & Kultur, 1969.</ref>

Academic studies on Swedenborg recognize the centrality of the Decalogue in his religious ethics. Scholars note that his moral theology is structured around the idea of correspondence between biblical law, spiritual life, and human regeneration. Similarly, historical analyses indicate that Swedenborg interprets Revelation as a symbolic depiction of the spiritual state of humanity and the Church, in which the exclusion of evils corresponds to the internal observance of the commandments.<ref>Rose, Jonathan S. “Swedenborg's Spiritual Interpretation of Scripture.” ''The New Philosophy'' 104, no. 1 (2001): 1–24.</ref>

Thus, within the field of Swedenborgian studies, the relationship between Exodus 20 and the moral lists in Revelation is understood as a theological continuity between the Old and New Testaments, reinforcing the thesis that true religion consists of avoiding the evils prohibited in the Decalogue, because they are sins against God.[https://swedenborg.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/SF_TheCoreofJohnnyAppleseed.pdf American legend Johnny Appleseed was a Swedenborgianian missionary, handing out leaflets & tracts along with the appleseeds & small apple trees in his travels through colonial PA, OH & IN.]<ref>Odhner, Hugo. ''The Theology of the New Church''. Bryn Athyn: Academy of the New Church, 1952.</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Decalogue]]
* Emanuel Swedenborg
* [[Book of Revelation]]
* [[Christian ethics]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}


===''Sola Fide'' (Faith Alone)===
''The Heavenly Doctrine'' rejects the concept of salvation through [[faith alone]] ({{langx|la|sola fide}}), since he considered both [[faith]] and [[Charity (virtue)|charity]] necessary for [[salvation]], not one without the other, whereas the Reformers taught that faith alone procured justification, although it must be a faith which resulted in obedience. The purpose of faith, according to ''The Heavenly Doctrine'', is to lead a person to a life according to the truths of faith, which is charity, as is taught in 1 Corinthians 13:13 and James 2:20.

In other words, Swedenborg spoke sharply against the ''sola fide'' doctrine of Luther and others. He held that justification before God was not based solely upon some imputed righteousness before God, and was not achievable merely by a gift of God's grace ({{langx|la|sola gratia|lit=by grace alone}}), granted without any basis in a person's actual behaviour in life. ''Sola fide'' was a doctrine averred by Martin Luther, [[John Calvin]], [[Ulrich Zwingli]] and others during the Protestant Reformation, and was a core belief especially in the theology of the Lutheran reformers [[Martin Luther]] and [[Philip Melanchthon]].

Although the ''sola fide'' doctrine of the Reformers also emphasized that saving faith was one that effected works<ref>{{cite web |url=http://peacebyjesus.org/Reformation_faith_works.html |title=Reformation Faith + Works |publisher=Peacebyjesus.org |access-date=2022-12-28 |archive-date=2022-12-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221201192334/https://peacebyjesus.org/reformation_faith_works.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> (by faith alone, but not by a faith which is alone), Swedenborg protested against ''sola fide'' being the instrument of justification, and held that salvation is only possible through the conjunction of faith and charity in a person, and that the purpose of faith is to lead a person to live according to the truths of faith, which is [[Charity (virtue)|charity]]. He further states that faith and charity must be exercised by doing good out of willing good whenever possible, which are good works or good uses or the conjunction perishes. In one section he wrote:

{{blockquote|It is very evident from their [[Epistles]] that it never entered the mind of any of the [[Apostles in the New Testament|apostles]] that the church of this day would separate faith from charity by teaching that [[Sola fide|faith alone]] justifies and saves apart from the works of the law, and that charity therefore cannot be conjoined with faith, since faith is from God, and charity, so far as it is expressed in works, is from man. But this separation and division were introduced into the Christian church when it divided God into three persons, and ascribed to each equal Divinity.|True Christian Religion, section 355<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblemeanings.info/books/tcr/sect-336ff.html#TCR355 |title=''The True Christian Religion'', sections 336ff |publisher=Biblemeanings.info |access-date=2011-03-06}}</ref>}}

== Later history ==
[[File:Wayfarers Chapel, also known as "The Glass Church" is located in Rancho Palos Verdes, California LCCN2013634638.tif|thumb|[[Wayfarers Chapel]], located in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, is one of the gathering places where believers fellowship.]]
Swedenborg made no attempt to found a church.<ref>Block, M.B [https://archive.org/details/newchurchinthene028276mbp ''The New Church in the New World. A Study of Swedenborgianism in America''] (Holt 1932; reprint Octagan 1968), Chapter 3.</ref><ref>Benz, E. ''Emanuel Swedenborg. Visionary Savant in The Age of Reason'' (translated by Goodrick-Clarke (Swedenborg Foundation, 2002, p. 487).</ref> ''Circa'' 1787, some 15 years after his death,<ref>Crompton, S. ''Emanuel Swedenborg'' (Chelsea House, 2005, p. 76).</ref> small reading groups were formed, mostly in England, to study his teachings.<ref>Block, Chapter 3.</ref> As one scholar states, ''The Heavenly Doctrine'' particularly appealed to the various dissenting groups that sprang up in the first half of the 18th century who were "surfeited with revivalism and narrow-mindedness" and found his optimism and comprehensive explanations appealing.<ref>Ahlstrom, S. E. ''A Religious History of the American People'' (Yale 1972, p. 483).</ref>

A variety of important cultural figures, both writers and artists, were influenced by Swedenborg's writings, including [[Johnny Appleseed]], [[William Blake]], [[Jorge Luis Borges]], [[Daniel Burnham]], [[Charles Baudelaire]], [[Arthur Conan Doyle]],<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.classic-literature.co.uk/scottish-authors/arthur-conan-doyle/the-history-of-spiritualism-vol-i/ebook-page-02.asp |title = Arthur Conan Doyle – The History of Spiritualism Vol I Page 02 |publisher=Classic-literature.co.uk |access-date=2012-08-16}}</ref> [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]],<ref>{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Ondb2uKhq_YC |title=Representative men: seven lectures – Ralph Waldo Emerson – Google Boeken |access-date=2012-08-16|last1=Emerson |first1=Ralph Waldo |year=1907 }}</ref> [[John Flaxman]], [[Robert Frost]],<ref>Myers, Jeffrey, ''Robert Frost: A Biography'', Houghton Mifflin, 1996, p. 4.</ref> [[George Inness]], [[Henry James Sr.]], [[Carl Jung]],<ref>{{cite web|last=Harrison |first=Kathryn |url = http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/j/carl_gustav_jung/index.html |title = Carl Gustav Jung News – The New York Times |publisher=Topics.nytimes.com |date=2009-09-23 |access-date=2013-07-14}}</ref> [[Immanuel Kant]], [[Honoré de Balzac]], [[Helen Keller]], [[Czesław Miłosz]], [[August Strindberg]], [[D. T. Suzuki]], [[W. B. Yeats]], [[Tomislav Vlašić]], and [[Mother Teresa]]. Some have suggested [[Joseph Smith]] was influenced by Swedenborg in his 1832 [[Degrees of glory|Vision of the Degrees of Glory]], although it there is little evidence that Smith was aware of Swedenborg's writings before 1839.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Joseph Smith, Emanuel Swedenborg, and Section 76: Importance of the Bible in Latter-day Revelation {{!}} Religious Studies Center |url=https://rsc.byu.edu/doctrine-covenants-revelations-context/joseph-smith-emanuel-swedenborg-section-76-importance-bible-latter-day-revelation |access-date=2025-03-23 |website=rsc.byu.edu}}</ref> Swedenborg's philosophy had a great impact on the Duke of [[Södermanland]], later King [[Carl XIII]], who as the [[Grand Master (Masonic)|Grand Master]] of Swedish [[Freemasonry]] (''Svenska Frimurare Orden'') built its unique system of degrees and wrote its rituals. In contrast, one of the most prominent Swedish authors of Swedenborg's day, [[Johan Henric Kellgren]], called Swedenborg "nothing but a fool".{{efn|name=johan|[[Johan Henrik Kellgren]] published an often quoted satirical poem entitled ''Man äger ej snille för det man är galen'' ("''You Own Not Genius For That You are Mad''") in 1787. See Jonsson, Inge, ''Swedenborg och Linné'', in Delblanc & Lönnroth (1999). (''[[wikisource:sv:Man äger ej snille för det man är galen|Link to the full poem, in Swedish]]'')}} A [[heresy]] trial was initiated in Sweden in 1768 against Swedenborg writings and two men who promoted them.{{efn|The trial in 1768 was against Gabrial Beyer and Johan Rosén and was essentially concerned whether Swedenborg's theological writings were consistent with Christian doctrine. A royal ordinance in 1770 declared that writings were "clearly mistaken" and should not be taught. Swedenborg then begged the King for grace and protection in a letter from Amsterdam. A new investigation against Swedenborg stalled and was eventually dropped in 1778.<ref>Bergquist (1999), pp. 453–463.</ref>}}

In the two and a half centuries since Swedenborg's death, various [[The New Church (Swedenborgian)|interpretations]] of his theology have been made, and he has also been scrutinized in biographies and psychological studies.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/contets/es.html |title = Who was Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772)? |publisher = Swedenborgdigitallibrary.org |date = 2006-11-19 |access-date = 2012-08-16}}</ref>{{efn|See "[[#Sources|Sources]]" and "[[#Further reading|Further reading]]" sections, below.}} Swedenborg, with his claimed new [[Dispensation (period)|dispensation]], has been considered by some to have a [[mental illness]].{{efn|name=johan}}<ref>{{cite web |url = http://sv.wikisource.org/wiki/Man_%C3%A4ger_ej_snille_f%C3%B6r_det_man_%C3%A4r_galen |title = Man äger ej snille för det man är galen – Wikisource |language = sv |publisher = Sv.wikisource.org |access-date = 2012-08-16}}</ref>{{efn |1 = This subject is touched on in the preface of Bergquist (1999), who mentions the biography by Martin Lamm (originally published in 1917) and its focus on the similarities of Swedenborg's scientific and theological lives. He mentions an earlier biography by the Swedish physician Emil Kleen who concluded that Swedenborg was blatantly mad, suffering "[[paranoia]] and [[hallucinations]]. A similar conclusion was proposed more recently by [[psychiatrist]] John Johnson in "Henry Maudsley on Swedenborg's messianic psychosis", ''British Journal of Psychiatry'' 165:690–691 (1994), who wrote that Swedenborg had hallucinations of "acute [[schizophrenia]] or epileptic [[psychosis]]". Another contemporary critique, Foote-Smith E, Smith TJ. Emanuel Swedenborg. ''Epilepsia'' 1996 Feb; 37(2):211-8, proposed that Swedenborg had had [[Temporal Lobe Epilepsy]]. For a detailed review of these two articles, see the special issue of the academic journal ''The New Philosophy'' ''The Madness Hypothesis''.)}}
While the insanity explanation was not uncommon during Swedenborg's own time, it is mitigated by his activity in the Swedish [[Riddarhuset]] (the House of the Nobility), the [[Parliament of Sweden|Riksdag]] (the Swedish parliament), and the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]]. Additionally, the system of thought in his theological writings is considered by some to be remarkably coherent.<ref>Bergquist (1999), p. 474.</ref> Furthermore, he was characterized by his contemporaries as a "kind and warm-hearted man", "amiable in his meeting with the public", speaking "easily and naturally of his spiritual experiences",<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/ES/epic37.htm |title = The Swedenborg Epic: Chapter 37 |publisher = Swedenborgdigitallibrary.org |access-date = 2012-08-16}}</ref><ref>Trobridge, G.''Swedenborg, Life and Teaching'' (Swedenborg Foundation, 1976, p. 202.).</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = https://archive.org/details/emanuelswedenbor00trobuoft |title = Emanuel Swedenborg : his life, teachings and influence : Trobridge, George, 1851–1909 : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive |access-date = 2012-08-16}}</ref> with pleasant and interesting conversation. An English friend of Kant's who visited Swedenborg at Kant's behest described Swedenborg as a "reasonable, pleasant and candid man and scholar".<ref>Benz, E. ''Emanuel Swedenborg. Visionary Savant in the Age of Reason''. Swedenborg Foundation, 2002, pp. 226, 227.</ref> Of note here is Swedenborg's statement that he was commanded by the Lord to publish his writings and "Do not believe that without this express command I would have thought of publishing things which I knew in advance would make me look ridiculous and many people would think lies".<ref>Block, p. 14</ref>

Possibility that Swedenborg had syphilis induced hallucinations. He was known to have mistresses. Lars Bergquist, his biographer, claimed that Swedenborg contracted syphilis from a prostitute.

==In popular culture==
The song ''The Dreams of Swedenborg'', from symphonic metal band [[Therion (band)|Therion]]'s 2004 album ''[[Lemuria (album)|Lemuria]]'', talks about Swedenborg's revelations.

Swedenborg and his spiritual philosophy are prominently featured in the 1835 [[Honoré de Balzac]] novel, ''[[Seraphita]]''.

Swedenborg's book ''Heaven and its Wonders and Hell From Things Heard and Seen'' is a major contributor to the plot of the movie ''[[Things Heard & Seen]]'', which premiered on [[Netflix]] in 2021.

In [[Olga Tokarczuk]]'s 2018 novel ''[[Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead]]'', the main character, Janina Duszejko, makes a reference to Swedenborg's work in astrology.

==Posthumous honours==
The mineral [[swedenborgite]], discovered in [[Långban]], Sweden in 1924, is named in his honor.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Aminoff |first1=Gregori |title=Ueber ein nettes mineral von Langban |journal=Zeitschrift für Kristallographie, Mineralogie und Petrographie |date=1924 |volume=60 |pages=262–274}}</ref>

=== UNESCO Memory of the World Register ===

In 2005, the extensive collection of manuscripts by Emanuel Swedenborg was officially inscribed in the [[Memory of the World Programme|UNESCO Memory of the World International Register]], a distinction reserved for documentary heritage of outstanding universal value to humanity. This recognition followed a submission by Sweden in 2004. The archive, preserved by the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]] (Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) since 1772, comprises approximately 20,000 pages of original autograph manuscripts, making it one of the largest and most complete 18th-century manuscript collections preserved in its entirety.<ref name="unesco.se">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=Emanuel Swedenborg's archive included in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register |url=https://unesco.se/varldsminnesutnamning-har-okat-arkivets-status/ |website=Swedish National Commission for UNESCO |publisher=UNESCO.se |access-date=29 October 2025 |language=sv |quote=Emanuel Swedenborgs arkiv ingår i den internationella förteckningen över världsminnen.}}</ref>

The collection is one of only six Swedish entries in the international register, alongside the archives of [[Astrid Lindgren]], [[Ingmar Bergman]], and [[Alfred Nobel]], as well as the [[Codex Argenteus]] (the “Silver Bible”) and historical architectural drawings of Stockholm.<ref name="unesco.se" />

==Works==
[[File:Swedenborg, Emanuel – Principia rerum naturalium, 1734 – BEIC 12838559.jpg|thumb|''Principia rerum naturalium'', 1734]]
[[File:Swedenborg House.jpg|thumb|[[Swedenborg House]], a publishing house in London of works by Swedenborg]]
Copies of the original Latin version in which Swedenborg wrote his revelation are available from the following sources.<ref>[http://www.heavenlydoctrines.org/Writings%20Latin_title.html ''Online text from the Heavenly Doctrines database''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130924163247/http://heavenlydoctrines.org/Writings%20Latin_title.html |date=2013-09-24}}, From Heavenly Doctrine database.</ref><ref>[http://www.baysidechurch.org/writings/ ''Online photocopy of first Latin edition published by Swedenborg''] From Bayside Church image database.</ref><ref>The original title, and year of publication is based on Bergquist (1999), ''Litteraturförteckning'' (pp.525–534).</ref><ref>[http://emanuelswedenborg.org/ The Works of Emanuel Swedenborg in Chronological Order], Emanuel Swedenborg Studies, accessed February 3, 2011 .</ref>

The common names used in a New Church listing are given parenthetically,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newchurch.org/about/swedenborg/bibliography.html|title=A Swedenborg Bibliography|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130403032241/http://www.newchurch.org/about/swedenborg/bibliography.html|archive-date=2013-04-03}}</ref> followed by the titles in the original. All the titles listed were published by Swedenborg except ''The Spiritual Diary.''<ref>[https://archive.today/20120717105359/http://swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/contets/books.html ''Which of Swedenborg's books are Divine revelation?''] The Swedenborg canon</ref> Various minor reports and tracts have been omitted from the list.

* 1716–1718, (Daedalus Hyperboreus, The Northern Inventor, or Some New Experiments in Mathematics and Physics) Swedish: ''Daedalus Hyperboreus, eller några nya mathematiska och physicaliska försök''
* 1721, (Principles of Chemistry) Latin: ''Prodromus principiorum rerum naturalium: sive novorum tentaminum chymiam et physicam experimenta geometrice explicandi''
* 1722, (Miscellaneous Observations) Latin: ''Miscellanea de Rebus Naturalibus''
* 1734, (Philosophical and Mineralogical Works) Latin: ''Opera Philosophica et Mineralia'', three volumes
** (Principia, Volume I) Latin: ''Tomus I. Principia rerum naturlium sive novorum tentaminum phaenomena mundi elementaris philosophice explicandi''
** (Principia, Volume II) Latin: ''Tomus II. Regnum subterraneum sive minerale de ferro''
** (Principia, Volume III) Latin: ''Tomus III. Regnum subterraneum sive minerale de cupro et orichalco''
* 1734, (The Infinite and Final Cause of Creation) Latin: ''Prodromus Philosophiz Ratiocinantis de Infinito, et Causa Finali Creationis; deque Mechanismo Operationis Animae et Corporis.''
* {{Cite book|title=Principia rerum naturalium|volume=|publisher=Friedrich Heckel|location=Leipzig|year=1734|language=la|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=12838559}}
*1742, (The Soul, or Rational Psychology)
* 1744–1745, (The Animal Kingdom) Latin: ''Regnum animale'', 3 volumes
* 1745, (The Worship and Love of God) Latin: ''De Cultu et Amore Dei'', 2 volumes
* 1749–1756, (Heavenly Mysteries) Latin: ''[[Arcana Cœlestia]], quae in Scriptura Sacra seu Verbo Domini sunt, detecta'', 8 volumes
* 1758, ([[Heaven and Hell (Swedenborg)|Heaven and Hell]]) Latin: ''De Caelo et Ejus Mirabilibus et de inferno. Ex Auditis et Visis.''
* 1758, ([https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/exposition/translation/last-judgment-chadwick The Last Judgment]) Latin: ''De Ultimo Judicio''
* 1758, ([https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/exposition/translation/white-horse-ryder The White Horse]) Latin: ''De Equo Albo de quo in Apocalypsi Cap. XIX.''
* 1758, ([[De Telluribus in Mundo Nostro Solari|Earths in the Universe]]) Latin: ''De Telluribus in Mundo Nostro Solari, quæ vocantur planetæ: et de telluribus in coelo astrifero: deque illarum incolis; tum de spiritibus & angelis ibi; ex auditis & visis'' – [https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/exposition/translation/earths-in-the-universe-chadwick English translation]
* 1758, ([https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/exposition/translation/new-jerusalem-and-heavenly-doctrine-whitehead The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine]) Latin: ''De Nova Hierosolyma et Ejus Doctrina Coelesti''
* 1763, ([https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/exposition/translation/doctrine-of-the-lord-dole Doctrine of the Lord]) Latin: ''Doctrina Novæ Hierosolymæ de Domino.''
* 1763, ([https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/exposition/translation/doctrine-of-sacred-scripture-dole Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture]) Latin: ''Doctrina Novæ Hierosolymæ de Scriptura Sacra. ''
* 1763, ([https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/exposition/translation/doctrine-of-life-dole Doctrine of Life]) Latin: ''Doctrina Vitæ pro Nova Hierosolyma ex præceptis Decalogi.''
* 1763, ([https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/exposition/translation/faith-nce Doctrine of Faith]) Latin: ''Doctrina Novæ Hierosolymæ de Fide.''
* 1763, ([https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/exposition/translation/continuation-of-the-last-judgment-chadwick Continuation of The Last Judgement]) Latin: ''Continuatio De Ultimo Judicio: et de mundo spirituali.''
* 1763, ([https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/exposition/translation/divine-love-and-wisdom-dole Divine Love and Wisdom]) Latin: ''Sapientia Angelica de Divino Amore et de Divina Sapientia. Sapientia Angelica de Divina Providentia.''
* 1764, ([https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/exposition/translation/divine-providence-dole Divine Providence]) Latin: ''Sapientia Angelica de Divina Providentia. ''
* 1766, ([https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/exposition/translation/apocalypse-revealed-rogers Apocalypse Revealed]) Latin: ''Apocalypsis Revelata, in quae detegunter Arcana quae ibi preedicta sunt.''
* 1768, ([https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/exposition/translation/conjugial-love-rogers Conjugial Love, or Marriage Love]) Latin: ''Deliciae Sapientiae de Amore Conjugiali; post quas sequumtur voluptates insaniae de amore scortatorio.''
* 1769, ([https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/exposition/translation/brief-exposition-stanley Brief Exposition]) Latin: ''Summaria Expositio Doctrinæ Novæ Ecclesiæ, quæ per Novam Hierosolymam in Apocalypsi intelligitur.''
* 1769, ([https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/exposition/translation/interaction-of-the-soul-and-body-vickers Interaction of the Soul and the Body]) Latin: ''De Commercio Animæ & Corporis.''
* 1771, ([https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/exposition/translation/true-christian-religion-rose True Christian Religion]) Latin: ''Vera Christiana Religio, continens Universam Theologiam Novae Ecclesiae''
* 1859, [http://www.theisticpsychology.org/books/dreams/journal-of-dreams.htm (Journal of Dreams)] ''Drömboken: journalanteckningar'', 1743–1744
* {{Cite book|title=Geologica et epistolae|volume=|publisher=Officina Aftonbladet|location=Stockholm|year=1907|language=la|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=3921566}}
* {{Cite book|title=Cosmologica|volume=|publisher=Officina Aftonbladet|location=Stockholm|year=1908|language=la|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=3922381}}
* {{Cite book|title=Miscellanea de rebus naturalibus|volume=|publisher=Officina Aftonbladet|location=Stockholm|year=1911|language=la|url=https://gutenberg.beic.it/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=3923216}}
* 1983–1997, [http://www.e-swedenborg.com/writings/static/d9216/0.htm (Spiritual Diary)] Latin: ''Diarum, Ubi Memorantur Experientiae Spirituales''.

==See also==
{{Portal|Christianity|Philosophy|Science}}
* [[List of Christian thinkers in science]]
* [[Lord's New Church Which Is Nova Hierosolyma]]
* [[The New Church (Swedenborgian)]]
* [[General Church of the New Jerusalem]]
* [[Swedenborgian Church of North America]]
* [[Swedenborg Rite]]
* [[Wayfarers Chapel]]
* [[Daniil Andreyev]]
* [[Swedenborg Society]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== Sources ==
* Ahlstrom, S.E. ''A Religious History of the American People'' (Yale 1972) Includes section on Swedenborg by this scholar.
* Benz, Ernst, ''Emanuel Swedenborg: Visionary Savant in the Age of Reason'' (Swedenborg Foundation, 2002) {{ISBN|0-87785-195-6}}, a translation of the thorough [[German language]] study on life and work of Swedenborg, ''Emanuel Swedenborg: Naturforscher und Seher'' by the noted religious scholar Ernst Benz, published in Munich in 1948.
* Bergquist, Lars, ''Swedenborg's Secret'' (London, The Swedenborg Society, 2005) {{ISBN|0-85448-143-5}}, a translation of the [[Swedish language]] biography of Swedenborg, ''Swedenborgs Hemlighet'', published in Stockholm in 1999. {{ISBN|91-27-06981-8}}
* Block, M. B. ''The New Church in the New World. A study of Swedenborgianism in America'' (Holt 1932; Octagon reprint 1968) A detailed history of the ideational and social development of the organized churches based on Swedenborg's works.
* Crompton, S. ''Emanuel Swedenborg'' (Chelsea House, 2005) Recent biography of Swedenborg.
* Johnson, G., ed. ''Kant on Swedenborg. Dreams of a Spirit-Seer and Other Writings''. Translation by Johnson, G., Magee, G.E. (Swedenborg Foundation 2002) New translation and extensive set of supplementary texts.
* Lamm, Martin, ''Swedenborg: En studie'' (1987; first ed. 1915). A popular biography that is still read and quoted. It is also available in English: ''Emanuel Swedenborg: The Development of His Thought'', Martin Lamm (Swedenborg Studies, No. 9, 2001), {{ISBN|0-87785-194-8}}
* Lagercrantz, Olof, ''Dikten om livet på den andra sidan'' (Wahlström & Widstrand 1996), {{ISBN|91-46-16932-6}}. In Swedish.
* Leon, James, [https://web.archive.org/web/20050114132548/http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/LEONJ/leonj/leonpsy/instructor/np98.html ''Overcoming Objections to Swedenborg's Writings Through the Development of Scientific Dualism''] An examination of Swedenborg's discoveries. The author is a professor of psychology (1998; published in New Philosophy, 2001)
* Moody, R. A. ''Life after Life'' (Bantam 1975) Reports correlation of near-death experience with Swedenborg's reports of life after death.
* Price, ''R. Johnny Appleseed. Man and Myth'' (Indiana 1954) Definitive study of this legendary man. Includes details of his interest in Swedenborg and the organizational New Church
* Robsahm, Carl, Hallengren, Anders (translation and comments), ''Anteckningar om Swedenborg'' (Föreningen Swedenborgs Minne: Stockholm 1989), {{ISBN|91-87856-00-X}}. Hallengren writes that the first complete publication of the Robsam manuscript was in R. L. Tafel's ''Documents'', Vol. I, 1875 (see section "[[#Further reading|Further reading]]")
* Schuchard, Marsha Keith. 2011. ''[https://brill.com/view/title/20552 Emanuel Swedenborg, Secret Agent on Earth and in Heaven: Jacobites, Jews and Freemasons in Early Modern Sweden]''. Brill.
*Sigstedt, C.,[http://www.swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/ES/epicfor.htm ''The Swedenborg Epic. The Life and Works of Emanuel Swedenborg''] (New York: Bookman Associates, 1952). The whole book is available online at [http://www.swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/ Swedenborg Digital Library].
* {{cite wikisource |title=Emanuel Swedenborg, Scientist and Mystic |wslink=Emanuel Swedenborg, Scientist and Mystic |last=Toksvig |first=Signe |authorlink=Signe Toksvig |year=1948 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven |isbn=0-87785-171-9}}

== Further reading ==
{{Further reading cleanup|date=July 2023}}
'''Newer material'''
* ''The Arms of Morpheus—Essays on Swedenborg and Mysticism'', ed. Stephen McNeilly (London: Swedenborg Society, 2007), {{ISBN|978-0-85448-150-7}}.
* ''Between Method and Madness—Essays on Swedenborg and Literature'', ed. Stephen McNeilly (London: Swedenborg Society, 2005), {{ISBN|978-0-85448-145-3}}.
* ''In Search of the Absolute—Essays on Swedenborg and Literature'', ed. Stephen McNeilly (London: Swedenborg Society, 2005), {{ISBN|978-0-85448-141-5}}.
* ''On the True Philosopher and the True Philosophy—Essays on Swedenborg'', ed. Stephen McNeilly (London: Swedenborg Society, 2005), {{ISBN|978-0-85448-134-7}}.
* ''Swedenborg and His Influence'', ed. Erland J. Brock (Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania: The Academy of the New Church, 1988), {{ISBN|0-910557-23-3}}.
* Jonathan S. Rose, ed. ''Emanuel Swedenborg: Essays for the New Century Edition on His Life, Work, and Impact'' (West Chester, Pennsylvania: Swedenborg Foundation, 2002), {{ISBN|0-87785-473-4}}. 580 pages. Multiple scholars contributed to this collection of information on Swedenborg, his manuscripts, and his cultural influence. Republished in 2004 under new title, ''Scribe of Heaven: Swedenborg's Life, Work, and Impact'' {{ISBN|0-87785-474-2}}.
* Wilson van Dusen, ''The Presence of Other Worlds'', Swedenborg Foundation, Inc., New York, Harper & Row, 1974. {{ISBN|0-87785-166-2}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110321164919/http://swedenborg-philosophy.org/journal/article.php?issue=sanity&page=1000 "The Madness Hypothesis,"] a special issue of ''The New Philosophy'' (1998;101: whole number), a journal produced by the Swedenborg Scientific Association, reviews the question of Swedenborg's sanity in scholarly detail, making the case that he was in fact quite sane.
* Donald L. Rose, ed., ''Afterlife: A Guided Tour of Heaven and Its Wonders.'' Swedenborg Foundation, 2006. (abridged version of ''Heaven and Hell'')
* [[D. T. Suzuki]], translated by Andrew Bernstein, Afterword by David Loy, ''Swedenborg: Buddha of the North.'' Swedenborg Foundation, 1996. (Brilliantly shows relevance of Swedenborg's ideas to Buddhist thought.)
* Nemitz, K., "[http://swedenborg-philosophy.org/swedenborg/swedenborg-the-man-and-his-work-a-brief-biography/ The Man and His Work] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117221006/http://swedenborg-philosophy.org/swedenborg/swedenborg-the-man-and-his-work-a-brief-biography/ |date=2021-01-17 }}".
* Larsen, T, Larsen, Lawrence, JF, Woofenden WR. ''Emanuel Swedenborg. A Continuing Vision.'' Swedenborg Foundation, 1988
* Sig Synnestvedt, ed., ''The Essential Swedenborg: Basic Religious Teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg.'' Swedenborg Foundation, 1970.

'''Older material of importance (some of it not in print)'''
* {{Citation |url = https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/en/view/bsb10067272?page=5 |title = Emanuel Swedenborg: A Biography |access-date = December 2, 2014 |publisher = William Newbery |location = London |year = 1849 |author = [[James John Garth Wilkinson]]}}
* The most extensive work is: RL Tafel, ''Documents concerning the Life and Character of Swedenborg, collected, translated and annotated'' (3 vols., Swedenborg Society, 1875–1877);
* J. Hyde, ''A Bibliography of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg'' (Swedenborg Society).
* Kant's ''Träume eines Geistersehers'' (1766; the most recent edition in English is from 1975, {{ISBN|3-7873-0311-1}} );
* [[Johann Gottfried von Herder|J. G. Herder]]'s "Emanuel Swedenborg," in his ''Adrastea'' (''Werke zur Phil. und Gesch.'', xii. 110–125).
* ''Transactions of the International Swedenborg Congress'' (London, 1910), summarized in ''The New Church Magazine'' (August 1910).
* ''Swedenborg and Esoteric Islam'' (Swedenborg Studies, No 4) by [[Henry Corbin]], Leonard Fox
* [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]], "Swedenborg; or, the Mystic", in ''Emerson: Essays and Lectures'' (New York, New York: The Library of America, 1983), {{ISBN|978-0-940450-15-8}}.
* {{cite EB9 |wstitle = Swedenborg, Emanuel |volume= XXII  |last= Smith |first= John Frederick  |author-link= John Frederick Smith| pages=758-760 |short=1 }}
* William White, ''Emmanuel Swedenborg, His Life and Writings'', 2nd Ed., Rev. (xx, 767 p.; London, Simpkin, Marshall, and Co., 1868) – This is the second of White's two biographies of Swedenborg, the first one published in 1856 (White, W. ''Swedenborg: his life and writings'' Bath : I. Pitman, Phonetic Institution, 1856) and this second one in 1867. White worked for the Swedenborg Society in London and wrote an affirmative biography of Swedenborg. However, he was fired for publishing spiritist books and selling them at the Society's store, as well as otherwise interfering with the Society's function. White's response was the 1867 biography, in which he, in Tafel's words, "turn[ed] a complete somersault in his convictions," and wrote a highly derogatory biography of Swedenborg and his teachings. (''The Swedenborg Epic'' footnote #769 – R. Tafel, ''Documents Concerning the Life and Character of Emanuel Swedenborg'', Vol. 3, p.&nbsp;1284. London. Swedenborg Society 1890)

== External links ==
{{Commons|Emanuel Swedenborg|Emanuel Swedenborg}}
{{wikisource|works=or}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{Gutenberg author |id=3899| name=Emanuel Swedenborg}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Emanuel Swedenborg}}
* {{Librivox author |id=10726}}
* [https://swedenborg.com/ Swedenborg Foundation Nonprofit Publishers]

{{Emanuel Swedenborg}}
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