CHAPTER IV. THE DOCTRINE OF SWEDENBORG.* § LXXVII.-Some preliminary historical Remarks. ONE of the most mysterious phenomena in history, is the director of mines, Emanuel Swedenborg, the son of a Swedish bishop, and who departed this life in the year 1772. He was, on one hand, distinguished for acuteness of intellect, and for a wide range of knowledge, particularly in the mathematics and the natural sciences, which he cultivated with great success, as is evinced by many writings, highly prized in his day; and on the other hand, he was noted for his full conviction, that he held intercourse with the world of spirits, whereby he believed that he obtained information on all matters in anywise claiming the attention of the religious man. He imagined himself to be transported into heaven, and to be there favoured, with oral instructions by the Deity and His angels, as to the Divine essence-the emanation of the world from God-the purport of the Divine revelations, and the consummation of the Church-the nature of heaven and hell, and many other things. Professor von Görres has, in his work, entitled, "Emanuel Swedenborg, his visions, and his relations to *This article I inserted in the fourth number of the Quarterly Review of Tübingen, for the year 1830. It appears here with only a few alterations and additions. the Church," and likewise in his Introduction to the writings of Henry Suso, newly edited by Diepenbrock, very convincingly proved, that, from the very high character of this visionary, acknowledged by his contemporaries to be pure and blameless, the idea of intentional deceit, on his part, cannot be at all entertained; and that his ecstacies may best be explained by animal magnetism. As I am unacquainted with the nature of this latter science, I must abstain from offering any opinion on the matter; particularly, as the object of this inquiry demands no elucidation of Swedenborg's psychological state. We are here merely engaged with his peculiar doctrinal and ecclesiastical views, and will leave out of question his theosophistical, cosmogonic, and other like theories; for, these form no part of the tenets of faith constituting the New Church. These doctrines we shall now set forth, chiefly as they are stated in his last writing, published shortly prior to his death, and entitled: "True Christian Religion, containing the Universal Theology of the New Church."* The relation, wherein Swedenborg placed himself in regard to the new community he founded, is the first thing which claims our attention. He considers himself, not only to be a restorer of primitive Christianity, and to be a divine envoy, in the same comprehensive sense, as Luther; but, he was under the firm conviction, that he had, in the most solemn way, been commissioned by God in heaven, to introduce a new and imperishable era in the Church. The second coming of the Lord, * "True Christian Religion; containing the Universal Theology of the new Church." By Emanuel Swedenborg, servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. Translated from the original Latin work, printed at Amsterdam, in the year 1771, vol. ii. 5th edition. London: 1819. The Latin original I have not been able to procure. VOL. II. 18 which is promised in the Gospel, was to take place in him. Not that he held himself to be an incarnation of the Deity; on the contrary, he taught that God could no more appear in a human form, and that the foretold second advent of the Lord must be interpreted, as only the general and victorious establishment of His truth and love among men-as His manifestation in the word. This consummation of the Christian Church, he calls the new heaven and the new earth, the new celestial Jerusalem, whereof the Scripture speaketh.* This new kingdom of God on earth began, according to Swedenborg, on the 19th June, 1770;-precisely the very day after the termination of the work, from which we have taken the above statements, and which was to go forth into all the world, and win over the elect. For, as soon as, according to our authority, the last words of this book were written down, Jesus Christ sent his apostles throughout the whole spiritual world, to announce to the same the glad tidings, that henceforth He, whose kingdom hath no end, shall reign for ever and ever; and all this, in order that what stands written in Daniel (vii. 13, 14); and in Revelations (xi. 15), might be fulfilled. The aforesaid mission of the apostles, was also foretold in Matthew (xxiv. 31).† * Loc. cit. vol. ii. p. 502. † Loc. cit. p. 547. "After this work was finished, the Lord called together His twelve disciples, who followed him in the world; and the next day He sent them throughout the whole spiritual world to preach the Gospel, that the Lord Jesus Christ reigneth, whose kingdom shall endure for ever and ever, according to the prophecy in Daniel, c. vii. 13, 14; and in the Revelations, c. xi. 15; and that they are blessed, who come to the marriage supper of the Lamb."-Revel. xix. 9. This was done on the 19th day of June, in the year 1770. § LXXVIII.-Practical tendency of Swedenborg.-His judgment on the Reformers, and his account of their destiny in the next life. The doctrinal system of the Swedish prophet has by no means, as we should be disposed to believe from many of his speculations, a mainly theosophistic tendency, but, on the contrary, an eminently practical one. It sprung out of an opposition to the Protestant principle of justification, and the ulterior doctrines therewith connected; for, Swedenborg also held this! whole body of Lutheran and Calvinistic tenets to be subversive of morality, and extremely pernicious to practical Christianity. From this polemical spirit, all the virtues and the defects of this sectary are to be deduced. That such is really the case, is manifest from the very great and unwearied attention, which, in lengthened portions of his writings, he devoted to the consideration of the above-mentioned doctrines of the Reformers, as well as from the fact, that on every occasion, and when we least expect, he recurs to the subject, and sets forth the pernicious influence of these errors, on moral and religious life. Swedenborg is wont to support his peculiar tenets, by an appeal to the immediate teaching of the higher spirits, wherewith he had been favoured. Hence, to the several articles of doctrine he affixes an appendix, wherein he gives a description of these celestial conferences, often with great minuteness, and entering into many subordinate circumstances. But, none of his doctrinal views does he uphold by such numerous visions, as that of his hostility to the Protestant doctrine of Justification.* * For instance, vol. i. p. 314, 317, 647, 649; vol. ii. p. 80, 92, 100, 169. Angels inform the visionary, that not faith alone, but together with the same, charity also justifies and saves. In proof of this, he relates the substance of a dialogue heard by him, and which occurred between some angels and several Protestants, who had arrived in the other world. To the most various questions the latter constantly replied, that for them faith must supply the place of all things, and hence they received the final sentence, that they were like an artist, who could play but one tune, and therefore showed themselves unworthy of the society of superior spirits. In contrast with this, the following conversation between angels, and some other new-comers from this world, is given. "What signifies Faith? To believe what the Word of God teacheth. What is charity? To practise what that word teacheth. Hast thou believed only what thou hast read in the word, or hast thou acted also according to it? I have also acted according to it. My friend, come with us, and take up thy dwelling in the midst of us." With Luther and Melancthon, also, Swedenborg, in his celestial travels, made acquaintance, and he gives us the following account of them. Luther (when Swedenborg visited the spiritual kingdom), was not in heaven, but in a sort of purgatory-an intermediate place, where attempts for his improvement were practised on him. When Luther, we are further told, arrived in the next world, he found himself in a locality, which Swedenborg honoured with a visit, and which perfectly resembled his domicile in Wittenberg. With the greatest self-complacency, Luther collected around him all his disciples and adherents, as they successively entered into the spiritual kingdom, and in proportion as they had evinced more zeal and penetration in defence of his doctrine, he honoured them with a seat |