Heaven and Hell: Portable: The Portable New Century Edition

by Emanuel Swedenborg, George F. Dole (Translator)

Overview

What happens to us when we die? Are heaven and hell real? If so, what are they like? Heaven and Hell contains the answers to these questions as seen by Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772).

This new translation of Swedenborg’s most popular work paints a detailed picture of life in the spiritual realms. A Swedish Enlightenment scientist of extraordinary accomplishment, Swedenborg underwent a spiritual crisis that led to an unparalleled series of paranormal experiences. He spent his last twenty-seven years in almost daily experience of heaven and hell, recording his observations and conversations, many of which are reported in Heaven and Hell. This sustained and detailed description of the nonphysical realms has left its impression on the minds of many great thinkers, including Goethe, Blake, Coleridge, Emerson, Borges, and Milosz.

The New Century Edition of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg is a modern-language, scholarly translation of Swedenborg’s theological works. The series’ easy-to-read style retains the dignity, variety, clarity, and gender-inclusive language of Swedenborg’s original Latin, bringing his thought to life.

This portable edition contains the text of the translation, but not the introduction, annotations, or other supplemental materials found in the deluxe edition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780877856009
Publisher:	Swedenborg Foundation Publishers
Publication date:	01/12/2010
Series:	New Century Edition
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	415
File size:	606 KB

About the Author

Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) was a Swedish scientist, nobleman, and theologian who spent his life investigating the mysteries of the soul. Born in Stockholm to a staunchly Lutheran family, he graduated from the University of Uppsala and then traveled to England, Holland, France, and Germany to study the leading scientists of the time. He gained favor with Sweden’s King Charles XII, who gave him the position of overseer of the Swedish mining industry. Later, he was given a seat on the Swedish House of Nobles by Charles XII’s successor, Queen Ulrika Eleonora. Between 1743 and 1745 he began to have visions of heaven, hell, and Jesus Christ which resulted in a stream of books about the nature of God, the afterlife, and the inner meaning of the Bible. He devoted the last decades of his life to studying Scripture and presenting his own unique theology to the world.

Read an Excerpt

“Some people believe it is hard to lead the heaven-bound life that is called ‘spiritual’ because they have heard that we need to renounce the world and give up the desires attributed to the body and the flesh and ‘live spiritually.’ All they understand by this is spurning worldly interests, especially concerns for money and prestige, going around in constant devout meditation about God, salvation, and eternal life, devoting their lives to prayer, and reading the Word and religious literature. They think this is renouncing the world and living for the spirit and not for the flesh. However, the actual case is quite different, as I have learned from an abundant experience and conversation with angels. In fact, people who renounce the world and live for the spirit in this fashion take on a mournful life for themselves, a life that is not open to heavenly joy, since our life does remain with us [after death]. No, if we would accept heaven’s life, we need by all means to live in the world and to participate in its duties and affairs. In this way, we accept a spiritual life by means of our moral and civic life; and there is no other way a spiritual life can be formed within us, no other way our spirits can be prepared for heaven. This is because living an inner life and not an outer life at the same time is like living in a house that has no foundation, that gradually either settles or develops gaping cracks or totters until it collapses.”

Table of Contents

Contents Short Titles and Other Conventions Used in This Work Part I: Heaven and Hell §1 [Author’s Preface] [1] §§2–6 / The Lord is God of Heaven [2] §§7–12 / It is the Lord’s Divine Nature That Makes Heaven [3] §§13–19 / The Lord’s Divine Nature in Heaven Is Love for Him and Thoughtfulness toward One’s Neighbor [4] §§20–28 / Heaven Is Divided into Two Kingdoms [5] §§29–40 / There Are Three Heavens [6] §§41–50 / The Heavens Are Made Up of Countless Communities [7] §§51–58 / Each Community Is a Heaven in Smaller Form and Each Angel a Heaven in Smallest Form [8] §§59–67 / The Whole Heaven, Grasped as a Single Entity, Reflects a Single Individual [9] §§68–72 / Each Community in the Heavens Reflects a Single Individual [10] §§73–77 / Therefore Every Angel Is in Perfect Human Form [11] §§78–86 / It Is Owing to the Lord’s Divine Human That Heaven, in Its Entirety and in Its Parts, Reflects a Person References to Passages in Secrets of Heaven Concerning the Lord and His Divine Human [12] §§87–102 / There Is a Correspondence of Everything in Heaven with Everything in the Human Being [13] §§103–115 / There Is a Correspondence of Heaven with Everything Earthly [14] §§116–125 / The Sun in Heaven [15] §§126–140 / Light and Warmth in Heaven [16] §§141–153 / The Four Quarters in Heaven [17] §§154–161 / How the States of Angels in Heaven Change [18] §§162–169 / Time in Heaven [19] §§170–176 / Representations and Appearances in Heaven [20] §§177–182 / The Clothes Angels Appear In [21] §§183–190 / Angels’ Homes and Houses [22] §§191–199 / Space in Heaven [23] §§200–212 / Heaven’s Form, Which Determines How People Associate and Communicate There [24] §§213–220 / Forms of Government in Heaven [25] §§221–227 / Divine Worship in Heaven [26] §§228–233 / The Power of Heaven’s Angels [27] §§234–245 / The Language of Angels [28] §§246–257 / How Angels Talk with Us [29] §§258–264 / Written Materials in Heaven [30] §§265–275 / The Wisdom of Heaven’s Angels [31] §§276–283 / The State of Innocence of Angels in Heaven [32] §§284–290 / The State of Peace in Heaven [33] §§291–302 / The Union of Heaven with the Human Race [34] §§303–310 / Heaven’s Union with Us through the Word [35] §§311–317 / Heaven and Hell Come from the Human Race [36] §§318–328 / Non-Christians, or People outside the Church, in Heaven [37] §§329–345 / Children in Heaven [38] §§346–356 / Wise and Simple People in Heaven References to Passages in Secrets of Heaven Concerning Different Types of Knowledge [39] §§357–365 / Rich and Poor People in Heaven [40] §§366–386 / Marriages in Heaven [41] §§387–394 / What Angels Do in Heaven [42] §§395–414 / Heavenly Joy and Happiness [43] §§415–420 / The Vastness of Heaven Part II: The World of Spirits and Our State After Death [44] §§421–431 / What the World of Spirits Is [45] §§432–444 / Each of Us Is Inwardly a Spirit [46] §§445–452 / Our Revival from the Dead and Entry into Eternal Life [47] §§453–460 / After Death, We Are in a Complete Human Form [48] §§461–469 / After Death, We Enjoy Every Sense, Memory, Thought, and Affection We Had in the World: We Leave Nothing Behind except Our Earthly Body [49] §§470–484 / Our Nature after Death Depends on the Kind of Life We Led in the World [50] §§485–490 / After Death, the Pleasures of Everyone’s Life Are Turned into Things That Correspond [51] §§491–498 / Our First State after Death [52] §§499–511 / Our Second State after Death [53] §§512–520 / Our Third State after Death, Which Is a State of Instruction for People Who Are Entering Heaven [54] §§521–527 / No One Enters Heaven on the Basis of Mercy Alone [55] §§528–535 / It Is Not So Hard to Lead a Heaven-Bound Life as People Think It Is Part III: Hell [56] §§536–544 / The Lord Governs the Hells [57] §§545–550 / The Lord Does Not Cast Anyone into Hell: Spirits Cast Themselves In [58] §§551–565 / All the People Who Are in the Hells Are Absorbed in Evils and Consequent Falsities Because of Their Love for Themselves and the World [59] §§566–575 / Hellfire and Gnashing of Teeth [60] §§576–581 / The Malice and Unspeakable Skills of Hellish Spirits [61] §§582–588 / The Appearance, Location, and Number of the Hells [62] §§589–596 / The Equilibrium between Heaven and Hell [63] §§597–603 / Our Freedom Depends on the Balance between Heaven and Hell References to Passages in Secrets of Heaven Concerning Our Freedom, Inflow, and the Spirits Who Are the Means of Communication Index and Biographical Note Index to Heaven and Hell Biographical Note

Editorial Reviews

The Swedenborg Foundation has done handsomely by its eponymous visionary with this first volume in a new 25 part set of translations for his of his work. They have begun with a fine new translation of Emmanuel Swedenborg's most famous work, a description of the many heavens and hells that make up the great 18th-century thinker's cosmology, at once perfectly logical and perfectly eccentric. Swedenborg's afterworld is a kind of reflection and amplification of our own, and his vision of moving and active collective of heavens, occupied by the very real blessed dead, has been a tremendous influence on Goethe, Emerson, and Jorge Luis Borges, among many others. Dole's translation has the clarity and simplicity of Swedenborg's Latin, and the notes and supplementary material are wonderfully balanced and informative. Highly recommended. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Inaugurates a projected 25-volume series representing the first time the complete work of the Swedish scientist, theologian, and religious mystic Swedenborg (1688-1772) will be produced in English by the same publisher using unified standards of translation and scholarship. Supporting the translation of are an introduction, diagrams, a chronological table, endnotes, a table showing parallel passages in other works, and three indices. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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