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| A Picture of Emanuel Swedenborg |
Emanuel Swedenborg,originally known as Emanuel Swedberg,was born on January 29,1688,in Stockholm,Sweden.His family background was steeped in theology and academia,with his father,Jesper Swedberg,holding esteemed positions within the Swedish clergy,including court chaplain and later,bishop of Skara.In 1719,after his family was ennobled,they adopted the name Swedenborg.
After completing his studies at the University of Uppsala in 1709,young Swedenborg embarked on a five-year journey across Europe.During his travels through England,Holland,France,and Germany,he developed a fascination for mathematics and the natural sciences.This journey introduced him to influential figures in the emerging scientific community and allowed him to acquire practical mechanical skills.Swedenborg's innate inventive genius flourished during this period,leading to a wide range of speculations,from methods for determining terrestrial longitude using the Moon to innovative ideas for building docks,submarines,and airplanes.
Scientific Enlightenment and Contributions:
Upon his return to Sweden in 1715,Swedenborg established the country's first scientific journal, "Daedalus Hyperboreus," in which he documented his projects,discoveries,and inventions.King Charles XII recognized his talents and appointed him as an assistant to Christopher Polhem,one of Sweden's leading mechanical engineers.For the next 30 years,Swedenborg dedicated himself to advancing Sweden's metal-mining industries and published reports and treatises on various scientific and philosophical topics,including cosmology,corpuscular philosophy,mathematics,and human sensory perception.He even found time to write Latin poems and authored the first work on algebra in the Swedish language in 1718.
Swedenborg's Philosophy of Nature:
In 1719,Swedenborg received a noble title,and he continued to explore his scientific interests.During a second European journey in 1721-22,he published two Latin volumes on natural philosophy and chemistry.However,for over a decade following this journey,he wrote little or nothing,focusing on his civil service role.
In 1733,during his third European journey,it became evident that Swedenborg's years of apparent silence were filled with extensive reading and reflection.
In 1734,he published "Opera Philosophica et Mineralia" ("Philosophical and Logical Works") in Leipzig,comprising three folio volumes.The first volume, "Principia Rerum Naturalium" ("Principles of Natural Things"),contained Swedenborg's mature philosophy of nature.In this work,he used inductive reasoning to reach conclusions that foreshadowed modern scientific theories.Swedenborg proposed that matter consisted of infinitely divisible particles in perpetual vortical motion,an idea resembling the modern concept of atoms with nuclei and electrons.His ideas on the formation of planets in the solar system also prefigured the later Kant-Laplace nebular theory.
Investigation of "the Kingdom of the Soul:
After publishing "Principia" and a small work on the infinite in 1734,Swedenborg returned home.In 1735,his father passed away,and the following year,he was granted a leave of absence from his role as assessor.During this time,he traveled to France,Italy,and Holland.In Amsterdam,he completed and published "Oeconomia Regni Animalis" (1740-41; "The Economy of the Animal Kingdom"),a two-volume work that marked a new phase in his scientific career.
"Oeconomia Regni Animalis" represented a shift in Swedenborg's focus from pure motion to understanding the human soul within its own realm—the body.He conducted an in-depth study of human anatomy and physiology,with particular attention to the blood and the brain.However,his intention went beyond a mere examination of the human body;he aimed to provide sensory proof of the soul's immortality.Swedenborg believed that the soul resided in the blood and,more specifically,in the cellular cortex of the brain.His research approach involved collecting data from microscopists and experimentalists and drawing conclusions from these findings.Although Swedenborg's anatomical works received limited attention in his time and were surpassed by later scientific developments,they demonstrated his tireless energy and extensive knowledge.
This period of anatomical research culminated in a profound religious crisis,documented in what is now known as the "Journal of Dreams" (1743-44).While initially intended to record his travels,the journal abruptly shifts to recount various dreams from earlier years and detailed reports of his spiritual experiences from March to October 1744.Some dreams contained explicit sexual content,which surprised and scandalized readers when the journal was published in 1859.However,Swedenborg's primary source of guilt during this time was not his sexual impulses but his intellectual pride and ambition to be recognized as a prominent scientist.
Transformation and Shift to Theology:
On April 7,1744,Swedenborg had a transformative vision of Christ that provided temporary relief from the temptations of pride and the evil spirits he believed surrounded him.He felt called to abandon his pursuit of worldly knowledge,and this divine intervention marked a turning point in his life.Consequently,he left many of his scientific works unfinished.
For the remainder of his lengthy career,which spanned from 1749 to 1771,Swedenborg shifted his focus entirely to interpreting the Bible and conveying his experiences in the spiritual realm.During this period,he authored approximately 30 volumes,primarily in Latin and often anonymously.Among his notable theological works are "Arcana Coelestia" (1749-56; "Heavenly Arcana") and "Apocalypsis Explicata" (1785-89; "Apocalypse Explained"),which provide commentaries on the spiritual meanings of Genesis,Exodus,and the Book of Revelation,respectively. "De Coelo et ejus Mirabilibus et de Inferno" (1758; "On Heaven and Its Wonders and on Hell") is one of his most well-known theological works. In his final work, "Vera Christiana Religio" (1771; "True Christian Religion"),written when he was 83,Swedenborg succinctly summarized his theological beliefs.
Swedenborg attributed his entry into the realm of theology to a divine vision and calling.He claimed that his spiritual senses had been opened, enabling him to be as conscious of the spiritual world as the material world.He viewed the extensive exegesis and theological writings he produced as a new revelation from God,ushering in an era of truth and reason in religion—the Second Coming, as he saw it.
Key Theological Tenets:
In his theological framework,Swedenborg emphasized the concept of God as the infinite,indivisible power and life within all creation.He asserted the absolute unity of God in both essence (essentia) and being (esse).The Father,the Son,and the Holy Spirit represented essential qualities in God—love,wisdom,and activity.
Influence and Legacy:
Swedenborg's impact extended far beyond his immediate disciples.His visions and religious ideas served as a wellspring of inspiration from numerous prominent writers and thinkers,including Honoré de Balzac,Charles Baudelaire,Ralph Waldo Emerson,William Butler Yeats,and August Strindberg.
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