Around two hundred and fifty years ago a man by the name of Emanuel Swedenborg wrote and published some remarkable books. They talked about such things as Jesus Christ, the Holy Bible or Word of God, how we all start living in another world, a spiritual world, after we die. They talk of what it is like to wake up in that other world, and about heaven and hell. They speak of Divine Providence, and of how Jesus Christ, our Lord, strives to transform all of us who are willing, into unselfish, good, kind, and loving people, people who will become angels of heaven after we die.
Swedenborg was an extremely bright man. He was an engineer, a scientist, a philosopher. He was down to earth as well, someone who loved gardening. And yet the things he wrote down in his later life were greater than the work of a mere man, no matter how brilliant. Many who have read these books have come to experience a feeling of profound peace, and consider what they find there to be “fresh new straight from heaven,” as Johnny Appleseed himself was reported to have said. Johnny did not only plant apple trees throughout Indiana and Ohio. He also distributed copies of a book by Swedenborg entitled Heaven and Its Wonders, and Hell, from Things Heard and Seen.
Swedenborg’s claim was that Jesus Christ appeared to him, opened his spiritual eyes so that he could see and listen to those in the spiritual world. He testifies that he was called by Jesus to write these books, books that are in essence teaching from Jesus Himself. Nobody but the Lord Himself can add to the teachings of the Old and New Testaments.
We are not here to convince you of the wonder of these books. Some have concluded Swedenborg was simply misguided in his later years. Some have speculated that he was delusional. Others have said that they find what he wrote to be boring or repetitive. Others, though, like the multitudes who listened to Jesus give His Sermon on the Mount, have been “astonished” (Matt. 7:28).
Thank you for reading this far. If you are interested in learning more about the books Swedenborg wrote, or discussing what they say, we are more than willing to help in any way we can. In the navigation bar to the left, we offer posts (under Religion) on what we hope will be a growing number of subjects. We also include announcements about meetings of our home/phone church. There is also an email at the bottom of the left-hand panel in case you want to contact us. We also have a Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/SwedenborgAtlanta.
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you!