Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
A TRUE sroRY
FOR 1 HE YOUNG
BY
/
C ~ TH . ODHNER
,,
NEW YORK
1900
~l.Uebenborg'ii ~f)eologicaI
tWorM
The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine.-Brief Expmation.-IntercourRe between the Soul and the Body.-The White
Horse.-Earths in Lhe Universe.-The Last
Judgmeut.
TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.
Published by
THE AMERICAN SWEDENBORG PRINTING
PUBLISHING SOCIETY,
3 West Twenty-Ninth St .. New York.
&
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
/jY /
7~~
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85306
Library of Con9...,_
WO COPIES REC1V0
DEC 7 1900
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Copyrigllt Gll!'l.
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SECONO COPY
Oeliwred to
ORDER DIVISION
Copyright,
I900,
by
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CONTENTS
page 9
II.
20
Ill.
35
IV. THE
Remarkable Dreams and Signs; the Lord reveals Himself to Swedenborg; the Vision in the Inn; Promise of
the Lord's Second Coming; the State of the Christian
World; why the Lord came again ; the Spiritual World
opened to Swedenborg; Swedenborg's Inspiration.
46
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
V.
6
57
VI.
VISIT TO SWEDENBORG,
67
The Fire in Stockholm; the Queen's Secret; Swedenborg's Home; his Study; his Garden; Swedenborg's
Appearance; his Personal Habits; his Last Days; his
Death.
VII .
APPENDIX
J.
APPENDIX II.
95
CHILDREN IN HEAVEN,.
97
LIST OF REFERENCES,
112
ILLUSTRATIONS
.facing title
page JO
13
15
18
25
CHRISTOPHER POLHEIM,
30
34
38
42
56
69
77
81
87
EMANUEL
SWEDENBORG
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
IO
the east and west it is surrounded by thousands of islets, green and smiling on the
rippling- waters.
STO CKHOLM
.~ wctienb org
[[
To this child \Vas given the name Emanuel, which signifies God-with-us, for his fa_
ther hoped that God would be ever with
the boy and he with God; and truly this
Emanuel showed himself worthy of his
name. Throughout his life he walked humbly with God, and in the sacred volumes
which he wrote God speaks again \dth man
and teaches them the real meaning of the
\V ord. This was the mission of his life:
to ad: as the Lord's intelligent and willing
scribe in writing down and publishing the
Lord's own explanation of the Scriptures.
The Dod:rine which is taught in the books
which he wrote is known as the "Heavenly
Dod:rine of the New Jerusalem," and the
Church which believes in it as the Lord's
own teachings is called "the New Church."
The reason it is so called is because the
Dod:rine itself is something entirely new in
the history of the Christian Church
And
it will remain "new " forever, because no
matter how much men may study this Doc-
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
12
trine in ages to come they will always discover nevv truths in it, new light from the
Sun of Heaven shedding its glorious rays
on the life of man in this world and in the
world to come. Thus we will learn to do
our Father's will as it is done in Heaven,
and thus, by this Doctrine, the Lord will
"make all things new." vVhen you come
to understand this, you will see for yourselves how great was the service for which
this little boy Emanuel was born and raised
up.
W!i fatf)er,
Emanuel's father, Jesper Swedberg,
3Je!fper ~'Web~
was a very learned, wise and God-fearberg
ing man, who, when this story begins, was
the chaplain or court-preacher to the king
of Sweden. He was a true and faithful
minister of God, who preached the vV ord
mightily and fearlessly, flattering neither the
king _nor the people. But the king, Charles
XI., liked his brave preacher all the better,
and made him his trusted friend and counsellor. Jesper Swedberg was also a great
~
1655,
DIED 1735
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
14
15
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
16
17
the
New
19
on so great a variety of subjects. He studied especially the great philosophers of ancient Greece and Rome, and from them,
and from the \V ord of God, he learned to
think clearly. This ability is not so common as might be supposed, but it has al.ways been found more practically useful
than the greatest amount of memorized booklearning. "\Vhen, in the year I 709, he finished his course at the university, he was
considered by his professors a well-prepared
and talented young man, from whom great
things were expected. As we will see, he
did not disappoint his teachers.
II
Emanuel Swedberg was now twentyone years of age, and his father thought
it would be well to let him travel abroad
for some years, in order to study at the
great universities m England, Holland,
France, and Germany, where he could also
perfeEl: his knowledge of the foreign languages, and become acquainted with a wider
world than Sweden. And so in September,
1710, he started out on his first foreign journey, travelling by sea from Gottenburg to
London.
If he had hoped for a lively time, he
certainly had enough of it on this trip, for
he was near losing his life not less than
four times. First his ship was nearly ~wrecked
einn ::J1ourne,
20
21
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
22
23
remained two whole years in England, diligently studying astronomy, chemistry, physics, mathematics, and other sciences. He
always took his lodgings in the houses of
various mechanics, and learned from them
the latest improvements in machinery and
in the art of making scientific instruments.
He was wide awake to everything that
might be of use to bis own countrymen,
and studied and worked so hard that he
nearly fell ill. Then, to rest and amuse
himself, he took to writing poetry in the
Latin tongue. This would be considered
hard wmk by any student nowadays, but
Emanuel Swedberg felt rather ashamed of
such "child's play."
From England he travelled to Hol- liletuming
Wome
land, and was present at the great
"Peace Conference" in the city of Utrecht,
where representatives from nearly all the
countries in Europe had assembled to settle
the long and bloody "\Var of the Spanish
Succession" (a quarrel as to who should be
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
'II:f)arle!i
24
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
26
27
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
28
29
C HRISTOPHER POLHEllYl
BORN 1661, DIED 1751
.31
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
32
33
III
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
36
As the head of a noble family, Emana~ a ~atriot uel now had the right to a seat and
vote in the " Bouse of Nobles" of the Swedish Diet or Congress, corresponding to the
House of Lords in the English Parliament.
His new honor did not make him proud,
however, but inspired him with a still
greater desire to be of use to his fellowcitizens. With him the love of country was
next to the love of God, but he always held
that liberty, enlightenment, and virtue were
greater blessings for a country than war,
conquest, and glory. As a member of the
Diet his voice was_therefore always in favor
of peace, reform, and education, and he
proposed many measures which helped to
develop the suffering trade, manufactures,
and finances of Sweden. Among other
things he suggested a plan for regulating
and restricting the manufacture and sale of
strong liquors; his proposition was adopted
many years afterwards, and has helped to
.~wetienboru
37
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG IN
1734
.39
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
?l
40
41
1778
43
EMANUEL SWE'DENBORG
44
45
IV
I
lllemarliable
<!Dreams ann
47
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
48
49
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
50
51
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
52
mutual love, the church split up into hundreds of setts, each condemning and raging
against all the rest, and so these perverted
people," Christians," robbed and fought and
killed one another for more than a thousand
years, until the Christian church had become more like a hell than a heaven.
m'lbP. tbc ']!orb
If "those days had not been shortcamc again
ened," if this state of things had kept on
much longer, no flesh could have been saved,
for men would have totally destroyed each
other, and the human race would have perished in eternal death. "But for the eleff s
sake " those days were shortened. "'While
there were yet some simple, faithful and
loving hearts among the Christians, the
Lord revealed Himself in the truth of His'
Word. Nothing but the Divine Truth itself could save these few remnants from the
universal corruption. Only the Lord Himself could explain the true meaning of His
vV ord, and sweep away all the false teachrngs which had been spun about the 'hu-
53
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
54
55
was permitted to instruct him on this subject, but the Lord alone taught him what
to write in those great and many volumes
which contain the doctrines of the New
Church.
SWEDENBORG IN
v
Swedenborg the Revelator
After a few years of preparatory study ~be '?[rcana,
.
.
l!I:relc~tia
of the Word and explorat10n of the spiritual world, Swedenborg, in the year 1747,
began to write the great work called Tlze Arcana Ca:lcstil, unfolding the "heavenly mysteries" which are contained in the Sacred
Scripture. This work, which occupies many
large volumes, was printed in London between the years 1748 and 1756, and explains
in a Divine light what is meant by the Creation of the world, the Garden of Eden,
the Fall of Man, the Flood, the Tower of
Babel, the History of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, the Captivity of the children of Israel in Egypt and their wanderings 111 the
wilderness on the way to the land of Ca-
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
58
59
~be tWorib of
~pitit!i
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
60
61
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
62
The light is from the glorious Sun of heaven, within which the angels are constantly
beholding the loving face of their heavenly
Father, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
To do His will is the greatest joy of all
the angels, and therefore they are constantly
busy with useful work. Each one is given
that special occupation or work which he
enjoys the best. Some are in humble positions and some in high, but all are simply
servants of the Lord. All the angels have
been men or women on the earth, who, after a period of preparation and instruction
in the World of Spirits, have been introduced
into heaven, where each one is made a member of one of the innumerable heavenly societies, and here he remains to eternity. Beautiful, shining garments are given to him by
the Lord, and a lovely home among the
many mansions in the Father's house. But
the loveliest of all is this, that every man-
6.3
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
64
65
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
66
VI
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
68
69
A VISIT TO SWEDENBORG
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
70
71
A VISIT TO SWEDENBORG
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
72
73
A VISIT TO SWEDENBORG
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
74
75
A VISIT TO SWEDENBORG
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
76
77
A VISIT TO SWEDENBORG
~tubP.
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
78
79
A VISIT TO SWEDENBORG
~arben
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
80
81
A VISIT TO SWEDENBORG
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
82
83
A V!SJr TO SWEDENBORG
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
84
85
A VISIT TO SWEDENBORG
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
86
(Swedenborg was a taller man than i8 represented by the artist in this piElure)
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
88
Wti }Dmional
~abitlt
89
A VISIT TO SWEDENBORG
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
90
91
A VISIT TO SWEDENBORG
"After some small talk on various subjeEl:s, such as the pet cats and little dogs
in the room who jumped up on his knees
to show their little tricks, Swedenborg happened to see a harpsichord and at once requested the ladies to favor us with some
music. During the performance of a difficult and celebrated sonata, he beat the time
with his foot and seemed to enjoy the
music greatly. This friend of flowers and
children and the gentle sex could not but
include music also in his love of all things
innocent and beautiful. 25
"Promptly at seven o'clock Swedenborg
took his leave, explaining that he never
stayed out after that hour. I accompanied
him on his way. Never will I forget that
walk in the mysterious twilight of our
northern spring. The most memorable day
of my life was drawing to a close. I could
not hope to meet again this citizen of two
worlds, this man among men and angel
among the angels, for he told me that he
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
92
93
A VISIT TO SWEDENBORG
E:MANUEL SWEDENBORG
94
to the truth you will come to see everything, and we shall some time in eternity
have important things to talk over together.'
Pastor Ferelius afterwards began to read
the Writings of the New Church, and became a zealous receiver of the truth.
"A few days afterwards, on the afterWi~ ~catJJ
noon of the twenty-ninth of Marchthe day h.e had foretold-he awakened from
a slumber and asked the women who were
watching in his room what time of day it
was. They answered that it was about five
o'clock. He then said, 'It is well. I thank
you. God bless y ou;' and lovingly bade
them fareweil. A few minutes afterwards
he breathed a gentle sigh, and his great
spirit passed into that world where he so
long had had his real home. Never will
this world see such another man." 26
VII
IV. To discharge with fidelity the functions of my employments and the duties of
my office, and to make myself in all things
useful to society.
APPENDIX I
CHILDREN IN HEAVEN
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
98
99
CHILDREN IN HEAVEN
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
100
IOI
CHILDREN JN HEAVEN
and perfeB:. as the angels are, the Lord permits their evil tendencies to come forth at
times into naughty desires and bad thoughts,
but as soon as this happens they are at
once shown what such things would lead
them to, and they are then filled with such
horror for this evil that they never do it,
but flee away from it as from some fearsome ghost.33
Each child is, of course, different from
all the rest, and each one is brought up in
a special manner most suitable to it, 34 but in
general all are trained by cultivating their
affections or love of what is beautiful and
pure and holy. They are taught to pray
to the Lord Jesus Christ as to their loving
Father in the heavens, asking and receiving
from Him all that their innocent hearts desire. They are taught to have great reverence for His holy "Word and for all things
of the Church and of worship. They are
taught to obey because they are taught to
love, and not, as so often happens on earth,
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
102
103
CHILDREN JN HEAVEN
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
104
105
CHILDREN IN HEAVEN
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
106
107
CHILDREN IN HEAVEN
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
108
109
CHILDREN IN HEAVEN
cannot be removed until they have examined their hearts and repented of the evils
that caused the spots; then the blemishes
vanish of themselves. In the same way,
if they see any of their garments missing from their rooms, they know at once
that they ha,e aB:ed wrongly, but if they
receive a new garment they recognize it as
a sign that they have aB:ed well. Each one,
also, has her own little garden, in which
the loveliest flowers grow in abundance,
but as long as she is an unmarried girl only
flowers grow there, but no fruit, until she
becomes a wife. Now if she notices that
the flowers in her garden seem drooping or
less bright than before, or if coarser plants
appear there, she knows that something
needs to be amended in her own heart and
mind, but if the flowers seem bright, and
new and nobler plants appear, she knows
that it is well with her. Coins and ornaments of silver and gold are giYen to the
girls as keepsakes and rewards for diligence
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
I IQ
I II
CHILDREN IN HEAVEN
young man has been brought up, but afterwards he follows his bride into her society,
where a home is provided for them by the
Lord. They are now angels and members
of the Heavenly Kingdom, and they remain
with one another as husband and wife, in a
confidence and love and bliss that increase
to eternity .50
APPENDIX II
LIST OF REFERENCES
2.
3r.) D . i. p. 699.
47.) D. ii. 158.
48. ) D. i. 36; ii. 426; S.D. 397.
73-) D . i. 31, 32; ii. 398, 400.
73-) D. ii. 730.
I 1.3
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
2i.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
3I.
32.
33.
34.
35.
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
36.
37.
38.
39
40.
4i.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
I 14
No. 3
Compendium of Swedenborg's Theological \Yorks, compiled by Rev. S. l\I. \Varren, third edition, revised, with a
biographical introduction by Hon. John Bigelow. \Vith portrait, 859 pp., Svo., $r.50.
Dictionary of Correspondences, 452 pp., $1.25.
Concordance to the Theological \Vritings of Emanuel
Swedenborg, by Rev. John F. Potts. Five volumes of about
1000 pp. each (A to Sq, now published), bound in cloth,
each $4.00; in half leather, $4.50; in half morocco, $5.00.
Vol. VI., the last volume, is now being issued in bi-monthly
parts, subscription price, $r.oo per year (six numbers).
Earths in the Universe, by Emanuel Swedenborg; 98
pp., 8vo., paper cover, 15 cts.
The Soul, or Rational Psychology, by Emanuel Swedenborg, translated and edited by Rev. Frank Sewall; second
and revised edition, 414 pp., 8vo., $2.25.
The Economy of the Animal Kingdom, by Emanuel
Swedenborg, 2 vols., 869 pp. 8vo., revised (in preparation).
Swedenborg's Theological Works.- The 8vo. edition
of the American Swedenborg Printing and Publishing Society, in 25 volumes, $1r.70, exclusive of carriage, also l2mo.
and pamphlet editions of the smaller works. Latin reprints
of several of the works already published, half leather,
price, $r.50 per vol. The same Latin-English, the corresponding pages opposite, half leather, price, $r.oo per vol.
R.otch Fine Ubrary Edition, 20 volumes published,
$r.25 per vol.
Dangers of Modern .Spiritualism, Sixth edition, revised, 138 pp., paper cover, 20 cts.; cloth, with portrait (the
portrait is in the cloth bound only), 50 cts .
.Selected Essays and Discourses, Memorial volume,
with portrait, 319 pp., cloth, gi lt top, $r.25.
Science and Revelation, 153 pp., 50 Cls.
HYDE, REV. JAMES.
Heredity, 77 pp., paper, 40 Cls., cloth, 6o Cl:s.
Exposition of Joel, 328 pp., $2.50.
HYDE, REV. JOHN.
IQ
cts.
TROBRIDGE, GEOl{GE.
WORCESTER, BENJAMIN.
Jmi .. 17
1901
uEC 7 1900
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