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:	9780877856955
Publisher:	Swedenborg Foundation Publishers
Publication date:	12/01/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	222
File size:	626 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 a position on the board of overseers of the Swedish mining industry. Later, he was granted 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 that 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

Contents Introduction Editor’s Note Verse 1: And God Spoke All These Words Verses 2–6: You Shall Not Have Other Gods before My Face Verse 7: You Shall Not Utter the Name of Jehovah Your God Unworthily Verses 8–11: Remember the Sabbath Day, to Consecrate It Verse 12: Honor Your Father and Your Mother Verse 13: You Shall Not Kill Verse 13: You Shall Not Commit Adultery Verse 13: You Shall Not Steal Verse 13: You Shall Not Testify as a Lying Witness against Your Neighbor 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 Leading a Life According to the Commandments The First Commandment: You Shall Not Make Other Gods for Yourselves The Second Commandment: You Shall Not Profane the Name of God The Third Commandment: Keep the Sabbath Holy The Fourth Commandment: Parents Should Be Honored The Fifth Commandment: You Shall Not Steal The Sixth Commandment: You Shall Not Commit Adultery The Seventh Commandment: You Shall Not Kill The Eighth Commandment: You Shall Not Bear False Witness The Ninth Commandment: You Shall Not Covet Your Neighbor’s House The Tenth Commandment: You Shall Not Covet (or Pursue) Your Friend’s Wife, His Male Servant or Female Servant, His Ox, or His Donkey About the Ten Commandments in General The Ten Commandments Tell Us Which Evils Are Sins 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 To the Extent That We Turn Our Backs on All Kinds of Killing Because They Are Sins, We Have Love for Our Neighbor To the Extent That We Turn Our Backs on All Kinds of Adultery Because They Are Sins, We Love Chastity To the Extent That We Turn Our Backs on All Kinds of Theft Because They Are Sins, We Love Honesty To the Extent That We Turn Our Backs on All Kinds of False Witness Because They Are Sins, We Love Truth The Only Way to Abstain from Sinful Evils So Thoroughly That We Develop an Inner Aversion to Them Is to Do Battle against Them We Need to Abstain from Sinful Evils and Fight against Them As Though We Were Doing So on Our Own 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 The Catechism, or Ten Commandments, Explained in Both Its Outer and Its Inner Meanings The Ten Commandments Were the Holiest Thing in the Israelite Church 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 The First Commandment: There Is to Be No Other God before My Face 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 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 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 The Fifth Commandment: You Are Not to Kill The Sixth Commandment: You Are Not to Commit Adultery The Seventh Commandment: You Are Not to Steal The Eighth Commandment: You Are Not to Bear False Witness against Your Neighbor 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 The Ten Commandments Contain Everything about How to Love God and How to Love Our Neighbor Biographical Note