1) To begin with, the actual process of revelation
Swedenborg claims to have experienced was not something mysterious
or occult but relatively straightforward, completely in keeping
with his description of what is involved in dying
- i.e. becoming aware directly of the "spiritual
world" where, as discussed in the section on the
revelation process, man lives as to his spirit even while he's here in the world
of the body. The transition, or "waking up" in the spirit's plane directly, which most people only experience
when their body dies, Swedenborg, like the Biblical prophets,
simply did a little earlier and then reported back. In free will,
we may or may not choose to believe there is such a place as
the spiritual world but, again taking Swedenborg on his own terms,
this explanation at least provides a reasonable explanation for
how his revelation worked.
2) Swedenborg has sometimes been termed a "mystic." Yet if his theological work
is nothing else, it is certainly not mysterious or obscure. The
reader may believe what Swedenborg writes or not, but there is
certainly no question of understanding what he writes. Indeed,
the fact that Swedenborg does not waffle or take refuge in ambiguous
prose - into which the reader can read whatever he wishes - is
one characteristic that sets him apart from some other avowed
revelators. His dispassionate philosophic-scientific descriptions
and reasonings, running on from volume to volume in endless
calmly described detail, have more in common with a lab report
than with the occult or the visionary.
3) Was Swedenborg insane? This is a charge that
has been repeatedly leveled at him but which has never stood
up to even a brief examination of the facts of his life. (For a detailed
review of this question, see special issue of The New Philosophy.)
Swedenborg was a humble, genial man, respected and well-liked by virtually everyone that came in contact with him (and
his life, as a nobleman and scholar, is well documented). He
did not, in short, fit the category of "antisocial behavior"
that is one possible criteria for insanity. And, again, his measured
philosophic-scientific prose and careful reasoning - nowhere
more evident than in his theological work - demonstrate that
he can't be put in the "irrational" category of insanity
either. Was he on an ego trip, a showoff of his big intellect?
If so, why did he ever get into an area of such controversy as
he must have known his theology would be? Or, once into it, why
did he claim his writings were divine revelation, a claim he
was well aware would excite nothing but opposition in those
church-dominated
times? (And excite opposition the Writings did, even to the extent
of their being banned in his own country, so that he had to travel
to England and Europe to have them published.)
Perhaps he had a Messianic complex, envisioning himself
saving the world with his great theological insight? If so,
why did he both write and publish the Writings anonymously for
most of the many years he worked on them? Why did he not
attempt to start a church of his own, as most other avowed revelators
have done? (In fact, the New Church as an organization was
begun in England, not Sweden, after Swedenborg's death.)
Then, when it did become known at last that he was the author
of the Writings, which caused a good deal of stir at the time,
he never took advantage of this opportunity to go on a campaign
to "sell" them. Although he circulated the books themselves
to scholars and theologians, he personally would only talk about
his work if asked and then only in the calm friendly way that
was typical of him. And a final point bearing on this whole
question is his repeated statements, both in the Writings and
to those who asked him in person at the time, that this was not
his work, that he was but a humble scribe writing at God's command.
(People in the New Church do not view him as a saint, but only
as a gifted and useful - and quite mortal - man.) Yet even at
that, Swedenborg was emphatic in saying, in effect, "Don't
take my word for it. I mention that these works are revelation
from God because I don't want anyone to think I'm trying to take
credit for them. But it is not my claim that makes them true
but the truth itself contained in them. Let everyone that
is interested examine that truth for themselves as is done in
scientific investigations and make up their own mind on that
basis alone if this truth could have come from anyone but God".
4) This in turn brings up the point that, if there is a
God and He made your mind, does it not seem reasonable that,
if He were sending a revelation of truth for that mind, it would
"fit"? Would He make your mind with square holes
and then send round pegs of truth to put into it? One of the
characteristics of Swedenborg's theology that has been admitted
even by his critics is the great wisdom and plain common sense
they contain, and on a wide diversity of subjects. Again, this
is not proof (especially since Swedenborg's whole system is built
on free will, which says undoubtable "proof" is impossible!),
but something else to think about.
5) By the same token, if God was going to send a new revelation,
the full rational explanation of His creation, doesn't it seem
likely that He would use a remarkable person for the purpose?
Wouldn't it seem reasonable to have that person be one of most
brilliant that ever lived? At the same time, shouldn't the person,
unlike many egotistical geniuses, be a model of humility and
plain human kindness and caring and in general someone who would
avoid temptation to misuse the truths revealed to him and instead
be primarily concerned with his ability to faithfully serve God
and his fellow man? Swedenborg may not have been the only person
in history who could have fit all these criteria but, even from
the little we can tell about someone by what we can see externally,
there seem few others who would have filled the bill as well.
6) There were several famous incidents late in Swedenborg's
life, occurring after it was known that he claimed to be doing
research in the spiritual world, in which he reported things
to people still on earth from people in the other world.
It should be noted that Swedenborg only did this when specifically
asked to (and often not even then), not to show off. These incidents
are well documented - involving, in one case, Queen Lovisa
Ulrika of Sweden - and there appear no obvious ways to explain
how he found out the things he did if he was not in communication
with the spiritual world. Again, these facts don't prove the
truth of his claim but are something to think about.
7) Perhaps the hardest thing to explain by nonspiritual
means about Swedenborg's theological work, however, is simply
how he managed to do them at all. He did not even begin work
on them until he was 57 years old. In the next 27 years he not only wrote all their thousands of pages and millions
of words; he also saw them through publication, doing the
proofreading and attending to many other details involved himself.
And, far from doing all this in the comfort of his home, since, as noted
above, he could not get his work printed in Sweden, he had to travel
to England and Europe to have most work published there.
Yet this still does not fully make clear his accomplishment.
Despite the size of his theological work (not equaled
by any other religious writer and by few other men in any calling
at that age), it was also one of staggering scope, complexity
and originality - especially in terms of his own day. (One
reason some of his ideas no longer seem so original is that in
the 200 years since he wrote them, many of those ideas have worked
their way into our culture by indirect means, such as in the
works of various influential people who read or were otherwise
acquainted with his work). Could a man, even a genius like
Swedenborg, have accomplished all this and so late in his life?
The experience of other people, geniuses or not, suggests it
would be impossible for a person on their own. But, once again,
we just don't know. Whether Swedenborg was just another theological
theorist or the last and greatest of the prophets boils down,
in the last analysis, to a matter of belief, just as does the
question of whether there is a God and whether He reveals Himself
to man at all. If free will applies, as Swedenborg teaches it
very much does, all you can do is to search for the explanation
of reality that makes the most sense to you. And, as he would
point out, you will find the truth you wish to find since, as
his writings say, "Faith is the eye of love."
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