Ten Commandments: The Secrets of Spiritual Growth Found in God's Principles for Living

by Emanuel Swedenborg, B. Erikson Odhner (Translator), Jonathan S. Rose (Translator), George F. Dole (Translator), Morgan Beard (Editor)

Overview

Swedish scientist and visionary Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) writes that the Ten Commandments are the most important part of the Bible. They encapsulate what we need to do to grow as spiritual people, with a meaning that penetrates far beyond the surface level of words and deeds.

One of the fundamentals of Swedenborg’s theology is the concept that underlying the literal text of the Bible is an inner spiritual meaning. Using this method of interpretation, Swedenborg peels back the layers of the Ten Commandments to reveal a cohesive set of teachings with both practical applications and far-reaching spiritual implications.

Although Swedenborg discusses the Ten Commandments in many places throughout his writings, he wrote four extended commentaries on the subject in four separate volumes: Secrets of Heaven (volume 7, published in 1754), True Christianity (1771), the short work Life (1763), and the posthumously published Revelation Explained (1758-1759). Those four commentaries are now being combined in a single volume for the first time, allowing the reader to compare and contrast Swedenborg’s approach across a seventeen-year span.

This book offers new insights for spiritual seekers and students of Swedenborg alike, illuminating what is at once a familiar set of biblical teachings and one of the cornerstones of Swedenborg’s system of personal growth.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780877854319
Publisher:	Swedenborg Foundation Publishers
Publication date:	12/01/2016
Edition description:	1
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 16.20(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 18 Years

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 with the leading scientists of the time. 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.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

Editor's Note xix

Secrets of Heaven (1754)

Summary [of the Inner Meaning of Exodus 20:1-14] 3

Verse 1: And God Spoke All These Words 3

Verses 2-6: You Shall Not Have Other Gods before My Face 5

Verse 7: You Shall Not Utter the Name of Jehovah Your God Unworthily 24

Verses 8-11: Remember the Sabbath Day, to Consecrate It 26

Verse 12: Honor Your Father and Your Mother 36

Verse 13: You Shall Not Kill 40

Verse 13: You Shall Not Commit Adultery 43

Verse 13: You Shall Not Steal 48

Verse 13: You Shall Not Testify as a Lying Witness against Your Neighbor 52

Verse 14: You Shall Not Covet Your Neighbor's House; You Shall Not Covet Your Neighbor's Wife, or His Male Servant or His Female Servant, or His Ox or His Donkey 55

Revelation Explained (1758-59)

Leading a Life According to the Commandments 63

The First Commandment: You Shall Not Make Other Gods for Yourselves 67

The Second Commandment: You Shall Not Profane the Name of God 75

The Third Commandment: Keep the Sabbath Holy 79

The Fourth Commandment: Parents Should Be Honored 80

The Fifth Commandment: You Shall Not Steal 81

The Sixth Commandment: You Shall Not Commit Adultery 95

The Seventh Commandment: You Shall Not Kill 126

The Eighth Commandment: You Shall Not Bear False Witness 132

The Ninth Commandment: You Shall Not Covet Your Neighbor's House 133

The Tenth Commandment: You Shall Not Covet (or Pursue) Your Friends Wife, His Male Servant or Female Servant, His Ox, or His Donkey 134

About the Ten Commandments in General 135

Life (1763)

The Ten Commandments Tell Us Which Evils Are Sins 143

All Kinds of Murder, Adultery, Theft, and False Witness, Together with Urges toward Them, Are Evils on Which We Must Turn Our Backs Because They Are Sins 147

To the Extent That We Turn Our Backs on All Kinds of Killing Because They Are Sins, We Have Love for Our Neighbor 150

To the Extent That We Turn Our Backs on All Kinds of Adultery Because They Are Sins, We Love Chastity 154

To the Extent 'That We Turn Our Backs on All Kinds of Theft Because They Are Sins, We Love Honesty 158

To the Extent That We Turn Our Backs on All Kinds of False Witness Because They Are Sins, We Love Truth 162

The Only Way to Abstain from Sinful Evils So Thoroughly That We Develop an Inner Aversion to Them Is to Do Battle against Them 165

We Need to Abstain from Sinful Evils and Fight against Them As Though We Were Doing So on Our Own 168

If We Turn Our Backs on Evils for Any Other Reason Than That They Are Sins, We Are Not Turning Our Backs on Them but Are Simply Making Sure They Are Not Visible in the Eyes of the World 171

True Christianity (1771)

The Catechism, or Ten Commandments, Explained in Both Its Outer and Its Inner Meanings 175

The Ten Commandments Were the Holiest Thing in the Israelite Church 176

In Their Literal Meaning, the Ten Commandments Contain General Principles to Be Taught and Lived; in Their Spiritual and Heavenly Meanings, They Contain Absolutely Everything 179

The First Commandment: There Is to Be No Other God before My Face 183

The Second Commandment: You Are Not to Take the Name of Jehovah Your God in Vain, Because Jehovah Will Not Hold Guiltless Someone Who Takes His Name in Vain 188

The Third Commandment: Remember the Sabbath Day in Order to Keep It Holy; for Six Days You Will Labor and Do All Your Work, but the Seventh Day Is the Sabbath for Jehovah Your God 192

The Fourth Commandment: Honor Your Father and Your Mother So That Your Days Will Be Prolonged and It Will Be Well with You on Earth 196

The Fifth Commandment: You Are Not to Kill 200

The Sixth Commandment: You Are Not to Commit Adultery 203

The Seventh Commandment: You Are Not to Steal 207

The Eighth Commandment: You Are Not to Bear False Witness against Your Neighbor 209

The Ninth and Tenth Commandments: You Are Not to Covet Your Neighbor's Household; You Are Not to Covet Your Neighbor's Wife or His Servant or His Maid or His Ox or His Donkey or Anything That Is Your Neighbor's 212

The Ten Commandments Contain Everything about How to Love God and How to Love Our Neighbor 215

Biographical Note 221