Emanuel Swedenborg | |
---|---|
Portrait of Swedenborg by Carl Frederik von Breda | |
Born | Emanuel Swedberg 29 January 1688 |
Died | 29 March 1772 London, England | (aged 84)
Education | Uppsala University |
Occupations | |
Notable work |
|
Theological work | |
Era | 18th-century |
Tradition or movement | Lutheranism; inspired the New Church[1] |
Main interests | |
Notable ideas |
|
Signature | |
![]() |
Part of a series on |
Spirituality |
---|
Outline |
Influences |
Research |
Emanuel Swedenborg (/ˈswiːdənbɔːrɡ/,[2] Swedish: [ˈsvêːdɛnˌbɔrj] ; born Emanuel Swedberg; (29 January 1688 – 29 March 1772)[3] was a Swedish Christian theologian, scientist, philosopher and mystic.[4] He became best known for his book on the afterlife, Heaven and Hell (1758).[5][6]
Swedenborg had a prolific career as an inventor and scientist. In 1741, at 53, he entered into a spiritual phase in which he began to experience dreams and visions, notably on Easter Weekend, on 6 April[7] 1744.[8] 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.[9] 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).[10]
Over the last 28 years of his life, Swedenborg wrote 18 published theological works—and several more that remained unpublished.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,[11] which he published himself.[12] Some followers of The Heavenly Doctrine believe that of his theological works, only those that were published by Swedenborg himself are fully divinely inspired.[13] 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".[14] The New Church, also known as Swedenborgianism, is a Restorationist denomination of Christianity originally founded in 1787 and comprising several historically related Christian churches that revere Swedenborg's writings as revelation.[1][15]
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.
enc1911
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).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.