Emmanuel Swedenborg: Prophet or Lunatic?

I am curious if anyone here has studied Emanuel Swedenborg's works and what your thoughts are concerning them...?

I personally believe that his writings are exactly what he says they are: revelations from God meant to usher in a new age of spiritual understanding.

As I read various works of his, I feel as though my mind is renewed and lifted up into the light of heaven as he himself would say.


For those of you who don't know, Swedenborg was a Swedish Scientist and later theologian who claimed to have had a revelation from the Lord to reveal spiritual secrets unknown to modern man, lost from ancient times. Over the period of some 20 years or so, he experienced visions in which he would converse with Angels and Spirits of heaven and hell and thus he claimed to have learned the deeper spiritual truths that man has fogotten since the time of Adam, Abraham, etc.

Thank you for the post; I'll have to check this guy out.

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SPEECH is only good in moderation.

How does he line up with the Bible?

Not very good as far as his vision of hell is concerned. Supposedly, from my research, this guy got a glimpse of hell and says that hell is not a literal place, but rather, it exists in the mind... or something like that.

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SPEECH is only good in moderation.

Well that automatically knocks him our of the running as a prophet if what he says won't align with the word of GOD.

I don't know anything about the guy, but in my opinion, he's not legit. I don't believe that God is giving any more revelations. As far as I'm concerned, He said all He intended to say in the form of the Bible. He does speak to each of us personally. I don't deny that. But I don't think any "new" revelations are coming until He brings them in person. Think about it. If He were speaking new revelations for the church, wouldn't He be going against what the Bible says? After all, He warns against adding to or taking away from the Scripture, doesn't He?

Elrond

Sounds pretty sound to me.

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"Call some place paradise/Kiss it goodbye"
The Eagles, the Last Resort
Liberal Christians do it in context

"Literalism is the first line of defense of a mind that wants to put itself to sleep." Walter A Davis

Emmanuel Swedenborg was neither prophet nor lunatic. According to the Wikipedia article about him, he had psychic ability, he didn't believe in the Persons of the Trinity and didn't believe in Sola Fide (faith alone). Many consider him a heretic. I once read some of this writings in a library. I couldn't read them all. There were too many volumes. I disagreed with some of the things he said, but I don't think he was crazy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuel_Swedenborg

I picked up a book outlining Swedenborgism beliefs from a used bookstore a year or so ago, because we talked about it in Systematic Theology, and I try to keep a book of counter-Christian beliefs on my shelf for apologetics.

Swedenborgism denies the Trinity, and is religiously pluralistic. They deny the Bible's claim of exclusivity, so to follow it, one must choose between this man's beliefs or the Bible. It's like Jehovah's Witnesses or Mormonism in its claim to ties with Christianity while denying the central dogmas of Scripture.

One of his primary focal points is on sexual union being the premier form of love, and that one will have sex continually in Heaven.

Ironically, he also believes people can sin in Heaven.

Salvation to Swedenborg has nothing to do with Christ and is based solely on man's works.

Swedenborgism is a cult following a man's teachings rather than the Bible's and Swedenborgism's central teachings are contrary to the Bible.

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1 Cor 4:6 Do not go beyond what is written. Then you will not take pride in one man over against another.

"Don't be a system disciple. Be a disciple of Christ. You might get to Heaven & realize your system was not His system."-Wiersbe

It isn’t ‘giving in to sin’ to disagree w/ love & kindness. ‘Giving in to sin’ is speaking w/o love & kindness.
Love is our mandate. Eph 4:32 2Tim 4:2 1Cor 13


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Nowhere does the Bible claim exclusivity.

__________________
"Call some place paradise/Kiss it goodbye"
The Eagles, the Last Resort
Liberal Christians do it in context

"Literalism is the first line of defense of a mind that wants to put itself to sleep." Walter A Davis