Über den Autor
Emanuel Swedenborg (born Emanuel Swedberg; 8 February [O.S. 29 January] 1688 - 29 March 1772)[2] was a Swedish pluralistic-Christian theologian, scientist, philosopher and mystic.[3] He is best known for his book on the afterlife, Heaven and Hell (1758).[4][5]
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, beginning on Easter Weekend, on 6 April 1744. It culminated in a "spiritual awakening" in which he received a revelation that he was appointed by Jesus Christ to write The Heavenly Doctrine to reform Christianity.[6] 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 the Last Judgment had already occurred the year before, in 1757.[7] According to Swedenborg, we leave the physical world once, but then go through several lives in the spiritual world - a kind of hybrid of Christian tradition and the popular view of reincarnation.[8]
Over the last 28 years of his life, Swedenborg wrote 18 published theological works-and several more that were unpublished. He termed himself a "Servant of the Lord Jesus Christ" in True Christian Religion,[9] which he published himself.[10] Some followers of The Heavenly Doctrine believe that of his theological works, only those that were published by Swedenborg himself are fully divinely inspired.[11] 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".[12] The New Church, a new religious movement comprising several historically-related Christian denominations, reveres Swedenborg's writings as revelation
Klappentext
In Heaven and Hell, Swedenborg gives the reader a detailed deillegalscription of the afterlife. He deals with God, heaven, hell, angels, spirits, and devils; and he addresses the issues of who is in heaven and hell. Are there any Jews, Muslims, and people of pre-Christian times such as pagan Romans and Greeks in heaven? He posits that the love of self or of the world drives one towards hell, and love of God and fellow men towards heaven. Here is the most influential and important book ever written on the subject!nnIn Divine Love and Wisdom, Swedenborg uses reason and empirical facts to prove the existence of God and God's divine love. He further posits that we are all an essential part of God's Divine plan, and that without us God's plan could not come to fruition.nnIn Divine Providence, Swedenborg explains why it is that we cannot always see God's hand in our chaotic world. Why tragedy and war are allowed to happen and how these things relate to us. If God were to remove all tragedies from our lives, of what worth would free will be?
