Emanuel Swedenborg

Emanuel Swedenborg was a Swedish scientist, engineer, astronomer, anatomist, theologian, philosopher, and mystic. He was born on January 29, 1688, and passed away on March 29, 1772.

Swedenborg is best known for his book about the afterlife called Heaven and Hell, which he published in 1758.

In 1741, when he was 53 years old, Swedenborg began to have dreams and visions. These experiences led him to what he called a "spiritual awakening." He believed that Jesus Christ had chosen him to write a book called The Heavenly Doctrine to help change Christianity.

For the last 28 years of his life, Swedenborg wrote many theological books. Some people who follow his teachings believe only the books he published himself are fully divinely inspired. Others think all his writings are equally important. The beliefs based on Swedenborg's writings formed a Christian group called The New Church, also known as Swedenborgianism, which began in 1787.

Early life

Emanuel Swedenborg was born in 1688 to Jesper Swedberg, a learned man who later became a professor and bishop. Jesper believed in deep spiritual ideas and thought angels and spirits were part of daily life. These ideas greatly influenced Emanuel.

From 1703 to 1709, Emanuel lived with a university leader and finished his studies. He then traveled through the Netherlands, France, Germany, and finally to London. In London, he spent four years learning about science, mechanics, and philosophy. During this time, he also wrote poetry and dreamed of becoming a great scientist.

Early scientific work and spiritual reflections

In 1715, when he was 27, Emanuel Swedenborg returned to Sweden. For the next 20 years, he worked on projects in natural science and engineering. He met King Charles XII of Sweden in Lund to ask for help building an observatory in northern Sweden, but the king did not think it was important. Instead, the king gave Swedenborg a job on the Swedish Board of Mines in Stockholm.

From 1716 to 1718, Swedenborg published a science magazine called Daedalus Hyperboreus. He shared his ideas for inventions, including plans for a flying machine. In 1718, he also wrote about how spiritual and mental events might be connected to tiny vibrations. After King Charles XII died, Queen Ulrika Eleonora gave Swedenborg and his family a new name, Swedenborg. In 1724, he was asked to teach mathematics at Uppsala University, but he said no. He said he preferred to work with geometry, chemistry, and metallurgy. Some people thought he spoke slowly because of a stutter. He mostly shared his ideas by writing instead of speaking.

Scientific studies and spiritual reflections in the 1730s

In the 1730s, Emanuel Swedenborg studied how the human body works. He had early ideas about the brain and nerves. He also thought about how physical things relate to spiritual ideas.

In 1735, he published a book in Leipzig. He combined his knowledge of philosophy and how metals are worked, like iron and copper. That same year, he wrote about how the soul connects to the body. He was one of the first people from Sweden to speak out against slavery. In 1743, at age 55, he traveled abroad to gather information for a big project about the soul and the body.

Journal of Dreams

In 1744, when he was 56, Emanuel Swedenborg was traveling in the Netherlands when he began having unusual dreams. He kept a travel journal, and this one was found much later in the Royal Library in the 1850s. It was published in 1859 as Drömboken, or Journal of Dreams.

Swedenborg had many different dreams and visions—some were happy, while others were unsettling. These experiences continued as he traveled to London to work on publishing a book. He believed these dreams were a way to understand important ideas about love and faith.

Later, in 1745, Swedenborg had a surprising vision during a meal in London. After eating, his vision changed, and he saw someone who told him something important. That night, the same person appeared in his dream and shared a special message with him. From that night on, Swedenborg felt he could see the spiritual world.

Scriptural commentary and writings

Emanuel Swedenborg stopped working in 1747 to focus on studying the Bible. He wanted to find deeper meanings in its verses. He spent ten years on this task and wrote a major book called Arcana Cœlestia. This book described his ideas about heaven and used symbols in its writing.

The book was published between 1749 and 1756. At first, it did not say who wrote it. Swedenborg lived in Stockholm, the Netherlands, and London, where he wrote more books. He believed he talked with spirits from planets like Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Saturn, Venus, and the Moon.

His last book, Vera Christiana Religio, was published in 1771 in Amsterdam. It explained his teachings clearly for Lutherans.

Later life

In the summer of 1771, Emanuel Swedenborg went to London. Before Christmas, he had a stroke and could not move well. He had to stay in bed. Even though he got a little better, he died in 1772.

There are stories about his last months from people who were with him and from Arvid Ferelius, a pastor of the Swedish Church in London. He visited Swedenborg often.

Swedenborg was buried in the Swedish Church in Princes Square in Shadwell, London. Many years later, his remains were moved to Uppsala Cathedral in Sweden. They rest today near the grave of the botanist Carl Linnaeus. The Swedish Church in Shadwell was torn down, and the area where he was buried was renamed Swedenborg Gardens for him.

Veracity

Emanuel Swedenborg's change from a scientist to a mystic has interested many people. Some think he did not really have a revelation but took ideas from older thinkers and his father. This idea was first shared by Swedish writer Martin Lamm in 1915. Later, critic Olof Lagercrantz called Swedenborg's theology "a poem about a foreign country with strange rules and traditions."

Swedenborg often used quotes from the Old Testament and the New Testament to show his teachings matched the Bible. A Swedish Royal Council checked claims about people sharing his ideas and found "much that is true and helpful in Swedenborg's writings." Famous writer Victor Hugo once wrote in his book Les Misérables that Swedenborg, along with Blaise Pascal, might have "lost touch with reality."

Scientific beliefs

Emanuel Swedenborg had many scientific ideas. He tried to think of one new idea every day. Later, he believed that real knowledge comes from feeling and sensing things deeply. After 1745, he felt he got scientific ideas in a special way, like from angels.

One of his big ideas was about links between the natural world, the spiritual world, and the divine. He thought the spiritual world was even more real than what we see. Souls move through this world, getting better by reaching higher levels. He used these ideas to explain the Bible in new ways, finding deep meanings even in simple phrases.

Prophetic accounts

Emanuel Swedenborg was known for several stories about his special abilities. One famous story happened during a big fire in Stockholm, Sweden. Even though Swedenborg was having dinner far away in Gothenburg, he suddenly told his friends that a fire had started in Stockholm and was getting close to his home. Later, messages from Stockholm confirmed exactly what he said, even though it usually took days for news to travel that far.

Another story involved a mill owner named Bolander, whom Swedenborg warned suddenly about a fire starting in his mill. There was also a time when Swedenborg visited Queen Louisa Ulrika of Sweden. She asked him about her brother who had passed away, and he whispered something that only she and her brother would know. Lastly, sailors noticed that the trips Swedenborg took between Stockholm and London always had calm and good weather, which surprised even Swedenborg himself.

Kant's view

In 1763, Immanuel Kant began his work and heard about Emanuel Swedenborg's special abilities. Kant was very interested and bought all eight big books Swedenborg wrote called Arcana Cœlestia. A woman named Charlotte von Knobloch asked Kant what he thought, and Kant spoke well of Swedenborg.

Later, in 1766, Kant wrote a book called Träume eines Geistersehers, where he questioned Swedenborg's ideas. He wanted to stop people from always asking about these things. Kant’s friend Moses Mendelssohn thought the book was written in a way that made it hard to tell if Kant was joking about the ideas or if he believed them.

Theology

Emanuel Swedenborg believed that Jesus Christ showed him important religious messages. He thought his ideas were special because they came from his own experiences.

He wrote a big book called Heavenly Mysteries. In it, he talked about Bible stories like Genesis and Exodus. He believed these stories were not just about creating Earth, but about how people can become more spiritual. He also believed everything in the Bible was connected to Jesus Christ.

Swedenborg had ideas about marriage. Even though he never married, he wrote about it a lot. He believed that if a couple truly loved each other, they would stay together in heaven forever. If they didn’t love each other, they would be separated and find new partners in heaven.

He also had unique thoughts about the Trinity. He believed the Divine Trinity was one person—Jesus Christ. He thought this idea was closer to early Christian teachings.

Later history

After Emanuel Swedenborg passed away, small groups started to study his teachings, especially in England. Many famous writers and artists, like Johnny Appleseed, William Blake, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, were inspired by his ideas. His writings influenced important people, including a king and leaders of Freemasonry.

Over time, people have interpreted Swedenborg's teachings in many ways and have written lots of books about his life and ideas. Some thought he might have had a mental illness, but others admired his work and kind nature. He was known as a friendly person who shared his experiences openly.

In popular culture

The song The Dreams of Swedenborg by the band Therion talks about Swedenborg's ideas about the afterlife.

Swedenborg's ideas are also in the 1835 novel Seraphita by Honoré de Balzac. His book Heaven and its Wonders and Hell From Things Heard and Seen helps shape the story of the 2021 movie Things Heard & Seen, which came out on Netflix. In Olga Tokarczuk's 2018 novel Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, the main character mentions Swedenborg's work.

Posthumous honours

The mineral swedenborgite was found in Långban, Sweden in 1924. It was named to honor Emanuel Swedenborg.

In 2005, Sweden’s large collection of Swedenborg’s writings joined the UNESCO Memory of the World International Register. This list includes very important documents from around the world. Sweden sent the collection for this honor in 2004. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has kept these writings since 1772. The collection has about 20,000 pages of Swedenborg’s own handwritten work. It is one of the biggest and most complete sets of writings from the 1700s that still exists today.

The collection is one of only six from Sweden on this special list. The others include work by Astrid Lindgren, Ingmar Bergman, and Alfred Nobel, plus the Codex Argenteus (the “Silver Bible”) and old architectural drawings of Stockholm.

Works

Emanuel Swedenborg wrote many books and papers about science, religion, and more. Some of his most famous works include:

• Heaven and Hell (1758) – a book about life after death
• The Animal Kingdom (1744–1745) – studies of animals
• Heavenly Mysteries (1749-1756) – thoughts on religious ideas
• Divine Love and Wisdom (1763) – about God's love and wisdom
• True Christian Religion (1771) – his views on Christianity

You can find the original Latin versions of his works from special collections. Many of his books were published during his lifetime, while others came out much later.