Emanuel Swedenborg: A Scientist Turned Spiritual Seeker

Emanuel Swedenborg was one of Sweden’s most illustrious sons of the 18th century. His father was royal chaplain and later Bishop of Skara. From his mother he inherited holdings in the ore mines of Sweden and also served as Assessor of Mines. This position was highly important to the Swedish economy as iron was their chief product. He was a member of the House of Nobles. Thus, the worlds of science, politics, and spirituality merged in him and influenced his long and productive life.

He mastered virtually all of the known sciences of his time. He wrote on mathematics, geology, chemistry, physics, mineralogy, astronomy, and anatomy. At 46 he published a theory that matter was composed of non-material force in a kind of vortical motion, and posited four “levels” of particles within the atom. He correctly assigned specific bodily motor functions to distinct areas of the brain, and anticipated psychological properties of the brain hemispheres. He also identified the function of several of the ductless glands. His mind was extraordinarily intelligent; a Stanford study ranked him among the three most intelligent persons in history. He propounded a nebular hypothesis of the solar system before Laplace. He also sketched the first glider-type aircraft. In his anatomical works, his questing spirit led him to search for the location of the human soul.

Always the scientist, he began recording and analyzing his dreams and interpreting the psychological states that led to a series of visionary experiences. He described in great detail these inward journeys. He was a philosopher who began to be a phenomenalogical psychologist. Recording these cosmic experiences, the phenomena of his journey was envisioned holistically as he found a connection between the macrocosm of the universe and the microcosm of the human body. His visions of the other world led to a 27 year study of the Bible and to the publication of 30 volumes of carefully reasoned theology. He recognized a divine center of the universe from which flow all the creative forces of the spiritual and material world. The center of it all is a personal God of infinite love and wisdom.

Swedenborg dies in London in 1772 after predicting the day and hour of his death. His remains are enshrined in the National Cathedral at Upsala, Sweden—the highest honor which his native land offers. Notable leaders in the fields of philosophy, science, theology and literature have been impressed by his incisive observations on basic human problems and clear answers to fundamental questions. Among these outstanding scholars and creative minds who have borrowed freely from Swedenborg’s thought, we single out only a few: Carlyle, Coleridge, Robert and Elizabeth Browning, Blake, Jung, Strindberg, Goethe, Henry James, Sr., Emerson, Whittier, and Helen Keller.

Swedenborg’s published theology:

Heavenly Secrets: a phrase-by phrase symbolic interpretation of Genesis and Exodus

Heaven and Hell: Visions of the afterlife

Divine Love and Wisdom: a philosophical treatment of God and human spirituality

Divine Providence: God’s workings in our lives

Apocalypse Revealed: a phrase-by-phrase symbolic interpretation of the book of
Revelation

Marriage Love: a discussion of sacred and profane expressions of sexuality

True Christian Religion: a systematic exposition of Christian theology