BX 8731 .P6 1861 

Pond, Enoch, 1791-1882. 

Swedenborgianism examined 



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https://archive.org/details/swedenborgtanismOOpond 



SWEDENBORGIANISM 



EXAMINED. 



By ENOCH POND, D. D. 

Professor in the Theological Seminaky, Bangor, Me. 



REVISED EDITION. 



PUBLISHED BY THE 

AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

28 CORNHILL BOSTON. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1861, by the 

AMERICAN TBACT SOCIETY, 
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 



THEOLOGICAL 
PREFACE. 



The first edition of this work was published in the year 
184G. As it has long been out of print, and as applica- 
tions have frequently been made for it which could not 
be answered, it has been thought expedient to issue a 
second edition. In preparing it for the press, the whole 
has been subjected to a thorough revision. Some things 
have been added, but more suppressed ; and especially 
those parts which were of a somewhat indelicate charac- 
ter. The works of Swedenborg contain many things 
which are indelicate, — grossly so, — things which ought 
never to have been written, much less translated. The 
worst of these passages were omitted in my first edition, 
and more would have been, but that, as I had undertaken 
to review Swedenborg, I felt bound to exhibit him in 
something like his true character. But from the present 
edition everything is excluded which will be likely, on 
the ground above indicated, to give offense. 

When I entered upon the examination of Swedenbor- 
gianism, fourteen years ago, great efforts were being made 
by Prof. Bush and others, to disseminate the doctrine, 
and give it currency with the people. Public lectures 
were delivered in our cities and villages, and select por- 



iv 



SWEDENB0HGIAX1SM. 



tions of the writings of Swedenborg, neatly printed and 
done up, and accompanied with prefatory and explana- 
tory remarks, were industriously circulated. In these 
circumstances I felt — nor was I alone in the impression — 
that something should be done. Swedenborg must be 
thoroughly reviewed and canvassed. A little tract — an 
article of a few pages — a series of short newspaper par- 
agraphs, would be to no purpose. Some one must go 
thoroughly into the subject, plough it up from the bottom, 
and make a full exposition of it. Then the community 
would be in a situation to understand it ; and a like labor 
would not be called for in time to come. 

From those who take exceptions to the peculiarities of 
Swedenborg, the most common reply has been : " You are 
not in a condition to judge of him ; you do not under- 
stand him ; you have not read his works." To obviate 
an objection like this, and at the same time to qualify 
myself for the undertaking I had proposed, I got together 
first of all, the religious publications of Swedenborg, 
amounting to more than thirty volumes, and the works 
of his principal disciples and advocates, amounting to 
forty volumes more, and gave them an attentive perusal. 
Some of them were read more than once, and notes were 
taken of them. Meanwhile, I was not able to find a sin- 
gle volume on the other side of the question. There was 
here and there a brief article in some periodical, or a 
few numbers in the columns of a newspaper ; but a book, 
a volume, in opposition to the claims of Swedenborg, was 
not to be found. Several works of this kind had been 
published years before in England, but they had scarcely 



PREFACE. 



V 



fuund their way to this country, and were at that time 
unknown. Nor, with the exception of a little volume by 
the late Dr. Woods of Andover, am I aware that any- 
thing of importance in opposition to Swedenborg has 
been published since. 

The following work was not regarded at the first, nor 
should it be now, as of strictly a controversial character. 
My purpose has been rather to exhibit Swedenborg, than 
to controvert him. If the former of these objects can be 
well accomplished, the latter, I have supposed, would be 
scarcely necessary. 

While the pages which follow are open to the exami- 
nation of all, it is but just to say that they have been 
prepared more especially for evangelical Christians. It 
will be no objection to Swedenborg, in the mind of a 
Unitarian, that he discards the doctrines of the atonement, 
and of justification by faith ; while to the evangelical be- 
liever — the Christian after the pattern of Paul, — no 
objection could be more decisive. 

Soon after the first edition of this work was published, 
it was reviewed, in the New Jerusalem Magazine, by 
Thcophilus Parsons, Esq., of Boston. It was also re- 
viewed, in separate pamphlets, by Ilev. William B. Hay- 
den, and N. F. Cabell, Esq., of Virginia. It was at- 
tacked, in the New York Tribune, by Rev. B. F. Bar- 
rett, and in England by Mr. J. J. G. Wilkinson. It 
will be seen that it has attracted a good deal of attention 
in the Swedenborgian community, and has drawn out 
numerous and powerful opponents, and yet they all pro- 
fess to regard it as a very contemptible affair, — one not 



VI 



FEEF ACE. 



entitled, on its own account, to the least consideration. 
I ought, however, to make one honorable exception. 
When my first edition was issued, there was a Sweden- 
borgian in the country, — the most learned, candid and 
devoted of them all, — I refer, of course, to the late 
Prof. Bush, — who had the magnanimity to acknowledge 
that he regarded it as " the most formidable attack that 
had ever been made upon Swedenborgianism ; that it 
was written, with some exceptions, in a good spirit ; and 
that it could not fail to produce a very decided effect 
upon the Christian community." 

Unless I am entirely deceived, the following pages 
have been written, not in a spirit of hatred or envy, but 
of love. I have aspersed no one's character, I have im- 
peached no one's motives ; I have assailed no one, living 
or dead, with harsh and bitter words. If I have been 
under the necessity of publishing some unpleasant things, 
they are such as have grown directly out of the subject, 
and, of course, the fault is not mine. My single object 
has been to promote the cause of truth and righteousness ; 
and in aiming at this, I have endeavored to treat all 
concerned kindly and fairly. 

The whole has been written under a strong sense of 
duty, and with continual prayer for the divine direction 
and blessing, and I now commend it to the providence 
and grace of God ; above all things desiring, whatever 
the result may be in regard to me personally, that it may 
tend to the furtherance of his kingdom, and the glory of 
his name. 

Bangor, July 10, 1860. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

LIFE OF SWEDENBORG. 

His birth and education — travels — office under govern- 
ment — the honors which were conferred upon him. Disap- 
pointed in love. His philosophical works. Severe sickness, 
attended with delirium. Commencement of his supposed in- 
tercourse with the spiritual world. Theological works. His 
description of the planets and their inhabitants. Wrought 
no miracles. His personal appearance, and private habits — 
his last sickness and death. ------ 13 

CHAPTER n. 

GENERAL STATEMENT OF THE DOCTRINES OF SWEDENBORG. 

Creed of the New Church. Explanations of the creed. 
Additional statements. - - - - . - - 36 



CHAPTER III. 

OBJECTIONS TO THE CLAIMS AND DOCTRINES OF SWEDENBORG. 

Objection £. Pretends to supersede the gospel dispensation. 
This claim disproved. - _ 48 

Objection II. H ; s revelations not sufficiently attested. His 



viii 



CONTEXTS. 



statements not in accordance with the laws of testimony. His 
revelations not attested by miracles. .... 53 

CHAPTER IV. 

Objection III. Swedenborg's treatment of the holy Scrip- 
tures. Rejects almost half the Bible as having no divine 
authority. Renders the remainder of little value, by mysti- 
cal interpretation. Specimens of such interpretation. Some 
of them senseless and ridiculous — others inconsistent and 
self-contradictory. Speaks reproachfully of Scripture, in its 
obvious sense — directly and unscrupulously contradicts it. 61 

CHAPTER V. 

Objection IV. Swedenborg discards much important truth, 
and inculcates essential error in doctrine. Rejects the Trin 
ity — the personality and official work of the Holy Spirit — 
the existence of angels, as a distinct order of beings — and 
the human soul of the Saviour. Represents Christ, while on 
earth, as subject to great moral impurities and imperfections. 
Denies the connection between our sin, and that of our first 
parents — the doctrines of predestination — of the atonement 

— of instantaneous regeneration — of justification by faith — 
of the resurrection of the body — of the end of the world — 
and a general judgment. Believed in an intermediate state. 76 

CHAPTER VI. 

Objection V. Swedenborg's misrepresentations of the doc- 
trines of others. Instances cited. God would not inspire 
him to make such misrepresentations. 94 

Objection VI. Speaks reproachfully of the church of God 

— of the Israelitish church — of the Christian church. The 
Christian church judged and destroyed almost a hundred 
years ago. - - - - - 102 



COX TENTS. 



ix 



CHAPTER VII. 

Objection VII. Swedenborg's representations respecting 
good men — King David — the Apostle Paul — Luther — 
Melancthon — Calvin — Members of the Synod of Dort — Mo- 
ravians. - . - - - - - - -111 

Objection VIII. His contradiction of the facts of history, 
sacred and profane. - - - - -120 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Objection IX. Swedenborg's contradictions to the facts of 
science. Represents Saturn as the most distant planet from 
the sun — earth, air and water as the elements from which all 
things consist — love as the cause of the redness of blood, 
and of animal heat — the blood as nourished by odors in the 
lungs. Denies that God is the Creator of all tilings ; a vast 
number of animals, vegetables and minerals having originat- 
ed from hell. The first man had no external respiration or 
speech. Evil spirits the cause of diseases. Origin of idola- 
try, and of the hieroglyphics. Mistakes in mental science. 126 

CHAPTER IX. 

Objection X. Swedenborg's absurdities and self-contra- 
dictions. Inconsistencies in relation to free-agency, and the 
introduction of sin. Numerous other instances of self-con- 
tradiction. ------ 143 

CHAPTER X. 

Objection XI. Swedenborg's standard of piety, and views 
of the Christian life. Dispenses with the appropriate work 
of the Spirit — represents it as not difficult to get to heaven 
— recommends dancing, card-playing, and other diversions. 
The manner in which his followers carry out his principles. 

Objection XII. Immoral tendency of some of Sweden- 



X 



CONTENTS. 



borg's writings. Polygamy no sin among Mabommedans and 
beathens. Causes sufficient to justify the taking of a concu- 
bine. Circumstances in which the keeping of a mistress is 
permitted and recommended. - - - - - 157 

CHAPTER XL 

Objection XIII. Swedenborg's representations of heaven 
and hell, and of the spiritual world. Each of the societies of 
heaven in the human form, and the heavens collectively in 
the same form — a Grand Man. Things existing in heaven, 
and things done there. The wonders of the Word in heaven. 
Conjugial love a subject of vast interest in heaven. Sweden- 
borg's heavens compared with Mohammed's. The societies 
of hell in something like the human form, and the hells in 
general in the same form — a monster devil. The infernals 
compelled to labor — permitted to have harlots. The odors of 
hell dreadful, but delightful to those who dwell in them. The 
hells of different characters described. The intermediate or 
spiritual world described. Specimens of Swedenborg's "mem- 
orable relations." ------- 169 

CHAPTER XII. 

Objection XIV. Swedenborg's tests of the truth of his 
doctrines, not successfully applied, aud never will be. No 
branch of the New Church in the interior of Africa. The 
most ancient Word, and a people regulating their worship by 
it, not found in Tartary. - - 107 

Objection XV. The doctrines of Swedenborg terminate in 
materialism and pantheism. ----- 204 

CHAPTER XIII. 

SWEDENBORG'S STATE AND CHARACTER SUBSEQUENT TO HIS SUP- 
POSED ILLUMINATION. 

Not a willful impostor, but a deluded monomaniac. Prov- 



CONTENTS. 



XI 



ed by his own account of his change, and of his experience 
afterwards — from his appearance and habits in private — 
and from testimony of cotemporaries. Other cases of mental 
aberration resembling his. Nicolai of Berlin, Mrs. KaufFe, 
&c. A law of spectral appearances stated and illustrated — 
shown to apply to the specters of Swedenborg. - - 207 

CHAPTER XIV. 

CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS. 

The objection of unfair treatment, and of misrepresenta- 
tion considered. Swedenborgianism not Christianity. Chris- 
tian fellowship can not consistently be extended to the New 
Church. Should judge charitably of individual members. 
Why sensible people, in some instances, become Swedenbor- 
gians. Value of the Bible. ----- 239 



SWEDENBOEGIANISM. 



CHAPTER L 

LIFE OF SWEDENBORG. 

Emanuel Swedburg was bom at Stockholm, 
January 19, 1688. He was the eldest son of his fa- 
ther, who was a Swedish bishop, and a man of learn- 
ing and celebrity in his time. The son was early the 
subject of many serious thoughts and exercises, and 
seems to have been deeply interested in religion, 
from his youth. "My thoughts," says he, "were 
constantly occupied in reflecting upon God and sal- 
vation, and on the spiritual affections of men." He 
saw many of the clergy at his father's house, with 
whom he used to converse respecting faith, and char- 
ity, and justification by faith, and the way of salva- 
tion by Christ. 

Great care seems to have been bestowed upon the 
early training and instruction of young Swedeuborg. 
His university education was completed at Upsal, 
where he distinguished himself by his attainments 
in philosophy, mathematics, natural history, chemis- 



14 



SWEDENBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 



try, and anatomy, together with the ancient and 
modern languages. At this period of life, he also 
gave attention to poetry. Said one of his old 
friends, " I have now in my possession some remains 
of his Latin poetry, which Ovid would not be asham- 
ed to own." That Swedburg possessed a most 
fruitful imagination which, duly cultivated, might 
have rendered him a poet of no ordinary distinction, 
his theological writings abundantly declare. 

In the early part of his life, Swedburg was an 
almost continual traveler. He commenced his for- 
eign excursions in the year 1710 ; going first to Eng- 
land, and thence to Holland, France, and Germany, 
and returning to his own country in 1714. About 
this time, he was introduced to Charles XII, king 
of Sweden, and enjoyed, to a high degree, the confi- 
dence and favor of that distinguished monarch. In 
1716, he was appointed Assessor of the Metallic Col- 
lege, which office he retained more than thirty years, 
and the income of which he enjoyed till his death. 

In 1718, he gave proof of remarkable mechanical 
ingenuity, in the invention of machines, by means 
of which a considerable naval armament was trans- 
ported over the mountains which separate Sweden 
from Norway — a distance of about fourteen Eng- 
lish miles. In consequence of this, the king was en- 
abled to bring his heavy artillery under the very 
walls of Fredericshall. It was at the siege of Fred- 
ericshall that Charles XII lost his life, at the early 
age of thirty-six. 



SWEDENBORG ENNOBLED. 



15 



He was succeeded by his sister, queen Ulrica Ele- 
onora. As a mark of her royal favor, Swedburg 
was ennobled the following year, and thenceforth 
took the name of Swedenborg. From this time he 
was entitled to a seat with the nobles, in the trien- 
nial assemblies of the States of the realm. 

From 1719 to 1722, Swedenborg spent much of 
his time in foreign countries, conversing with learn- 
ed men, examining the principal mines and smelting 
establishments, and endeavoring to qualify himself 
for the important office which he held. He was par- 
ticularly noticed, at this period, by the Duke of 
Brunswick, who did much to aid him in his travels, 
and afterwards published, at his own expense, sever- 
al of Swedenborg's philosophical works. 

In the year 1724, he was elected professor of 
mathematics in the University of Upsal ; but he 
thought it not proper to accept the appointment. 
He was chosen a member of the Royal Academy of 
Sciences at Stockholm, in 1729 ; and a correspond- 
ing member of the Academy of Sciences at St. Pe- 
tersburg, in 1734. In 1738, he took a journey into 
Italy, and resided a year in Venice and at Rome. 

At a much earlier period in the life of Sweden- 
borg — probably between the years 1716 and 1718, 
— an incident occurred which it may be proper to 
notice, as the impression of it seems never to have 
been lost from his heart. He was residing in the 
family of his friend Polhem, Counsellor of Com- 
merce, and engaged with him in mathematical stud- 



it; 



SWEDENBORGIAXISM EXAMINED. 



ies and pursuits. While here, to use the language 
of one of his biographers, "his heart glowed with 
love to the second daughter of Polhem," a lady much 
younger than himself. The father favored the 
match, but the daughter was irreconcilably averse to 
it. Hoping that, as she grew older, her feelings 
might change, Polhem entered into a written agree- 
ment with Swedenborg that, at some future day, 
she should be his. At this the young lady was so 
much distressed, that her brother, watching the op- 
portunity, secretly got possession of the paper, and 
destroyed it. Swedenborg, in his grief, applied to 
the father, and entreated that the contract might be 
renewed. But perceiving how much it distressed 
the object of his affection, he consented, at length, 
to give up his claim. He soon departed from the 
house, resolved that he would make no more over- 
tures of marriage while he lived ; a resolution which 
he steadfastly fulfilled. 

It was in the year 1709, at the early age of twenty- 
one, that Swedenborg commenced his career as 
an author. It is not necessary to give a complete 
list of his publications during the next thirty-five 
years, Suflice it to say, that they followed each 
other in quick succession, and were chiefly on math- 
ematical and philosophical subjects. Not a few of 
them related to metallurgy and mineralogy — sub- 
jects with which his office made it necessary that he 
should be familiar. His philosophical works, (or so 
many of them as had then been prepared) were pub- 



PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 



17 



lished in Germany, in three volumes folio, in 17o4. 
Subsequent to this, for several years, Swedenborg 
gave much attention to Anatomy and Physiology. 
In 1740, he published his "Economy of the Animal 
Kingdom ; " in which he treats of the blood, the ar- 
teries, the veins, the heart, the motion of the brain, 
the cortical substance, and the human soul. Four 
years later, he published another great work, enti- 
tled "The Animal Kingdom." This treats of the 
viscera of the chest and the abdomen, and of the dif- 
ferent organs of sense. Swedenborg was not him- 
self a surgeon or dissector. His knowledge of anat- 
omy was derived chiefly from the writings and ex- 
periments of others. 

His great object, in pursuing inquiries of tins na- 
ture, was to obtain a knowledge of the human soul, 
and of its mysterious, inscrutable connection with 
the body. By the most careful research, he was 
hoping to discover the hidden bond, which linked 
the material to the immaterial, the earthly to the 
spiritual; or at least, that he might acquaint him- 
self with the properties of the latter, by means of its 
assumed correspondence with the former. But it 
will be safest to hear him on this interesting subject. 
In the introduction to the "Animal Kingdom," he 
says: "To accomplish this end," (the discovery of 
the soul) " I enter the circus, designing to consider 
and thoroughly to examine that whole world or mi- 
crocosm which the soul inhabits ; since I am per- 
suaded she cannot be sought for anywhere but in 
2 



18 



SWEDEXB0RG1AX1SM EXAMINED. 



her own kingdom. For tell rne, where else is she to 
be found, but in that system to which she is ad-joined 
and in-joined, in which she is represented, and 
every moment exhibits herself for contemplation? 
The body is her image, resemblance, and type. She 
herself is the model, the idea, the head, that is the 
soul, of her body ; and thus is she represented in her 
body, as in a mirror. For this reason, I am induced 
to examine attentively the whole anatomy of her 
body, from the heel to the head, and from part to 
part; and that I may come nearer to my subject, I 
have determined to explore the brain itself, where 
the soul has arranged her first organs. Next, I 
shall examine the fibres, with the rest of the purer 
organical forms, and the forces and modes thence 
resulting. 

"But whereas it is not posssible to make a leap 
from the organical, physical, and material immedi- 
ately to the soul, of which neither matter, nor any 
of the adjuncts of matter, are predicable; therefore 
it was necessary for me to prepare new ways by 
which I might be led to her, and might gain access 
to her palace. In other words, it was necessary, 
with the most intense application of mind, to unfold, 
extricate, and bring to light some new doctrines for 
my guidance, viz : the doctrines of forms, of orders 
and degrees ; of series and society ; of communica- 
tions and influxes; of correspondences, representa- 
tions, and modifications ; all which you will see col- 
lected into one treatise" referring to a projected 



PHILOSOPHICAL WO RK f 



19 



treatise, which seems never to have been written. 
" When this shall be accomplished," the writer goes 
on to say, "I am then admitted, as it were, by com- 
mon consent, to the soul ; who, sitting like a queen 
in her throne of state, the body, dispenses laws and 
governs all things, by her good pleasure, but yet by 
order and by truth. This will be the crown of my 
toils, when I shall have completed my course in 
this most spacious arena." Further on in his Intro- 
duction, Swedenborg says, "I have determined not 
to desist from my task, until I have explored the 
whole animal kingdom, even to the soul. And my 
hope is, if I bend my course continually inwards, 
that I shall be enabled, through the divine favor, to 
open all the doors which lead to her presence, and 
at length to be admitted to the view and contempla- 
tion of herself." 

I have before said that the "Animal Kingdom" 
(from the Introduction to which, the foregoing pas- 
sages are taken) was published in 1744. While the 
thoughts of the author were occupied in the manner 
here indicated — while, " with the most intense ap- 
plication of mind," he was endeavoring to reach and 
investigate the soul, through the medium of the 
body, he was arrested in the city of London, by a 
severe attack of fever, attended with delirium. The 
fact of this sickness has been called in question ; but 
not, as it seems to me, with sufficient reason. Mr. 
Wesley speaks of it repeatedly and expressly, but I 
do not now rely on his testimony. The celebrated 



20 



SWEDEXBOROIANISM EXAMIXEI). 



Dr. Hartley was a cotemporary of Swcdenborg, Lis 
intimate personal friend, and one of his earliest fol- 
lowers. He also speaks of Swedcnborg's sickness 
and delirium, and justly complains that what he said 
and did in those circumstances should be reported to 
his disadvantage.* The probability is, that this 
sickness occurred near the close of the year 1744, or 
early in the following year. 

In the spring of 1745, an event took place, which 
was regai-ded by Swedenborg (and is so regarded by 
all his followers) as the most important in his whole 
life. He professed to have had his spiritual senses 
opened, so that he could look directly into the in- 
visible world, and converse with departed souls, an- 
gels and demons, as freely as with men here on the 
earth. But the account must be given in his own 
words. "I have been called to a holy office, by the 
Lord himself, who most graciously manifested him- 
self in person to me, his servant, when he opened 
my sight to the view of the spiritual world, and 
granted me the privilege of conversing with spirits 
and angels." f Again: "I can sacredly and solemn- 
ly declare, that the Lord himself, has been seen of 
me, and that he has sent me to do what I do ; and 
for such purpose, he has opened the interior part of 
my soul, which is my spirit, so that I can see what 

* " He was seized with a fever, attended with a delirium," 
etc. In Noble's Appeal, p. 255. 
t Letter to Dr. Hartley. 



ACCOUNT OF HIS FIRST VISION. 21 

is in the spiritual world, and those that are therein ; 
and this privilege has now been continued to me for 
twenty-two years."* To another friend, who in- 
quired how and when it was, that he was enabled to 
see what was done in heaven and hell, he gave the 
following answer. " I was in London, and one day 
dined rather late by myself, at a boarding house, 
where I kept a room in which, at ijleasure, I could 
prosecute the study of the natural sciences. I was 
hungry, and ate with great appetite. At the end of 
the meal, I remarked that a vapor, as it were, cloud- 
ed my sight, and the walls of my chamber appeared 
covered with frightful creeping things, such as ser- 
pents, toads and the like. I was filled with aston- 
ishment, but retained the full use of my perception 
and thoughts. The darkness attained its height, 
and soon passed away. I then perceived a man sit- 
ting in the corner of my chamber. As I thought 
myself entirely alone, I was greatly terrified ; when 
he spoke and said, 'Eat not so much.' The cloud 
once more came over my sight, and when it passed 
away, I found myself alone in the chamber. This 
unexpected event hastened my return home. I did 
not mention the subject to the peojde of the house, 
but reflected upon it much, and believed it to have 
been the effect of accidental causes, or to have arisen 
from my physical state, at the time. I went home ; 
but in the following night, the same man appeared 



* Letter to Dr. Oetenger. 



22 



SWEDENBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 



to me again. He said, ' I am God, the Lord, the 
Creator and Redeemer of the world. I have chosen 
thee to lay before men the spiritual sense of the ho- 
ly word. I will teach thee what thou art to write.' 
On that same night, were opened to my perception 
the heavens and the hells, where I saw many per- 
sons of my acquaintance, of all conditions. From 
that day forth, I gave up all mere worldly learning 
and labored only in spiritual things, according to 
what the Lord commanded me to write. Daily he 
opened the eyes of my spirit to see what was done 
in the other world, and gave me, in a state of full 
wakefulness, to converse with angels and spirits."* 
Such is Swedenborg's account of the manner in 
which his spiritual senses Avere opened ; of his in- 
terviews with the Lord Jesus Christ ; and of his 
commission to unfold the hidden sense of the word, 
and make other important disclosures to men. As 
to the particular state of his mind, while in the 
spirit, Swedenborg gave no further explanations. 
And this is a point, in regard to which his followers 
are not agreed. Mr. Hobart thinks " that Sweden- 
borg can in nowise be compared with the ancient 
prophets." Mr. Noble and Mr. Bush hold, that 
" The psychological condition of the prophets was 
substantially the same " as his ; while Dr. Hartley 
decides, that " he was endued Avith heavenly gifts, 



* See Robsam's Memoir of Swedenborg, in Hobart's Life, p. 
214. 



HE ACCEPTS THE CHARGE. 



23 



beyond any of the prophets that preceded him? * If 
the receivers of his doctrines can not settle this ques- 
tion among themselves, I shall not now undertake 
to decide it for them. The subject will come up in 
a following chapter. 

It appears that Swedenborg was not disobedient 
to what he considered the heavenly vision. He at 
once accepted the charge which he had received. 
He " gave up all mere worldly learning," abandoned 
almost entirely secular pursuits, read little except 
the Bible in the original languages, and commenced 
printing and publishing the various arcana, which 
were seen by him, or revealed to him, in the spirit- 
ual world. 

From this period, Swedenborg lived about twen- 
ty-seven years ; during which time he published 
what would amount to twenty-seven volumes, octa- 
vo, of five hundred pages each.f Of these, not less 
than twenty volumes are occupied in unfolding 
what he deemed the spiritual sense of the holy 
Scriptures. The more important of this class of 
his writings, are the "Arcana Celestia," the "Apoc- 
alypse Explained," and the " Apocalypse Revealed." 

Of his other works, some are doctrinal, some ethi- 

* See Hobart's Life, p. 42. Noble's Appeal, p. 320. Bush's 
Swedenborg Library, p. 3. Treatise on Influx, Hartley's edition, 
p. 161. 

t Exclusive of his private, posthumous writings, some of which 
have since been published. 



24 SWEDEXBOKGIANISM EXAMINED. 



cal, some metaphysical (though it is said by one of 
his eulogists, * that " he detested metaphysics "), 
while some relate chiefly to his visions, or to what 
he saw, or seemed to see, in the spiritual world. Of 
these (which may be termed his miscellaneous 
works) the more important are, " The True Chris- 
tion Religion," which was the last book he ever 
wrote ; " Divine Love and Wisdom ; " " Divine Prov- 
idence ; " " The Last Judgment ; " and " Heaven and 
Hell." To his work on Conjugal and Scortatory 
Love, Swedenborg evidently attached a high impor- 
tance. I shall have occasion to refer to it hereafter. 

Among the most amusing of Swedenborg's discov- 
eries in the other world, are those relating to what 
he calls " The Earths in the Universe." f If he did 
not actually visit the planets, he conversed with 
vast numbers, who, during their natural life, had 
been their inhabitants, and in this way, collected 
much information respecting them. 

It is a suspicious circumstance, to be sure, that he 
saw no spirits except from the moon, the earth, and 
the five other planets of the solar system, which 
alone, at that period, had been discovered. The nu- 
merous planets of our system which have since been 
discovered, were then in existence, revolving on 
their axes, around the great central sun ; and 
Swedenborg decides positively that all the plan- 

* M. Sandel. 

t The title of one of his publications. 



INHABITANTS OF THE PLANETS. 



■2-> 



ets are inhabited. Why then did he not meet with 
any spirits from them ? 

This question is the more puzzling, since he trav- 
eled in spirit far out of the solar system, and con- 
versed with multitudes from worlds on "which our 
sun never shines. "Why then, we ask again, did he 
meet with none who had been dwellers upon Ceres, 
Pallas, Juno, Vesta, Herschel, Neptune, and all the 
rest, and so bring intelligence to the earth from 
these then undiscovered regions ? 

Nor is even this the most formidable difficulty in 
the case. Swedenborg decides positively that the 
planet Saturn is " the farthest distant from the sun;" 
and that for this reason it has " a large luminous 
belt, which supplies it with much light, though re- 
flected.* Modern astronomers have discovered that 
Herschel's distance from the sun is at least twice as 
great as that of Saturn, and that the distance of 
Neptune is vastly greater. 

But leaving these perplexities for the present to 
the consideration of those whom they more imme- 
diately concern, I propose to lay before my readers 
a brief abstract of the intelligence which Sweden- 
borg gathered among the spirits, relative to the 
" Earths of the Universe," and their inhabitants. 

Of the Mercurians, he does not give us the most 
favorable account. They are an intellectual people, 
and have a great thirst for knowledge ; but their in- 



* Earths in the Universe. § 3. 



20 



SWEDENBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 



satiable curiosity renders them obtrusive and imper- 
tinent. They have remarkable memories, and have 
the faculty of exploring the memories of others, but 
the reasoning power is not well developed, and they 
lack in judgment. They are haughty, petulant, self- 
conceited, and excessively loquacious. On one oc- 
casion, they became angry with Swedenborg and 
abused him, because he was not more communica- 
tive. They are less material and sensual than the 
men of our earth, and are hardly willing to appear 
as men, choosing rather the form of " crystalline 
globes." Swedenborg had a curiosity " to know 
what kind of face and body " the Mercurians had, 
during their natural life, and "whether they were 
like the men on our earth. Instantly," says he, 
there was presented before my eyes, a woman. She 
had a beautiful lace, but it was smaller than that of 
a woman of our earth ; her body also was more slen- 
der, but her height was equal. She wore on her 
head a linen cap, which was put on without art, but 
yet in a becoming manner. A man also was pre- 
sented to view, who was more slender in body than 
the men of our earth. He was clad in a dark blue 
garment, closely fitted to his body. It was given 
me to understand that such was the form and dress 
of the men of that earth." Swedenborg also saw 
some " of their oxen and cows, which did not differ 
much from those on our earth, only that they were 
less, approaching to a species of deer." * 



* Earths in the Universe, § 45. 



INHABITANTS OF THE PLANETS. 



•27 



Of the Jupiterians, our author saw more than of 
the inhabitants of any other planet ; and he repre- 
sents them as remarkably well disposed. They 
marry young, love their children, and are careful as 
to their education. They never covet or fight, and 
though they go almost naked, are very chaste. 
They have large handsome faces, of which they 
take especial care ; and what is singular, they walk 
only half erect, helping themselves along with their 
hands. It is their custom to sit cross-legged, and to 
tarry long at meals ; not that they eat immoderately, 
but that they may have time for discourse. They 
live in low wooden houses, and keep them neat. 
They lie down at night, but never with their face 
turned toward the wall. The planet Jupiter is 
densely inhabited. The horses of the country are 
large, run wild, and the people are exceedingly 
afraid of them.- They are not a scientific people, 
but the mass of them are religious, and devotedly 
attached to the doctrines of the New Church. Her- 
esy is punished with death, inflicted not by the peo- 
ple upon one another, but by guardian angels com- 
missioned for the purpose. With all their good- 
ness, our author learned that there was a species of 
Popery among them. Certain individuals set them- 
selves up as lords and hierarchs, and demanded wor- 
ship as mediators. The Jupiterians have some 
knowledge of our earth, and have an unfavorable 
impression in regard to its inhabitants. They have 
been vexed, from time to time, with Romish emis- 



28 



SWEDEXBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 



saries, and they seem to think us all no better than 
Jesuits. They seldom live more than thirty of our 
years, and commonly die easy, like one going to 
sleep. 

The inhabitants of Mars, Swedenborg found to 
be even better men than those of Jupiter. They 
have no external speech or respiration, and no civil 
government, but live in associations, like our Four- 
ier societies, from which the wicked are expelled. 
The people have a great sense of their unworthi- 
ness, regarding themselves as little better than 
fiends, and acknowledging all their goodness as 
from the Lord. The upper part of their faces is yel- 
low, and the under part black. They have no 
beards ; feed on fruits ; are clothed in garments 
made of bark; and burn fluids both for light and 
heat. 

The Satwnians, our author found to be upright, 
modest and very religious, though there were some 
heretics and apostates among them. They live in 
families, feed on fruits and pulse, are slightly cloth- 
ed, and do not bury their dead, but cast them forth, 
and cover them with branches of trees. What ap- 
pears to us as the belt of Saturn, has to them the 
appearance of something white in the heavens like 
snow. 

On the beautiful planet Venus, Swedenborg learn- 
ed that there are two kinds of people. Those on 
the further side of the planet are mild and humane; 
while those on the side next to us are savage and 



INHABITANTS OF THE i'T.ANETS. 



29 



almost brutal. They are giants in stature, nearly 
twice as tall as the men of our earth. Their delight 
is in rapine and gluttony, and they are utterly irre- 
ligious. Still, some of them are finally saved ; but 
they must first pass through w hat Swedenborg terms 
a vastation (which is a sort of expurgation) in the 
other world. 

The men of the moon, or 3foo?iites, are small in 
stature, not larger than children ordinarily of seven 
years old. Their faces are not unhandsome, though 
much elongated, and they are accustomed to ride 
on each other's backs. They speak, not from the 
lungs, but the abdomen, and their voices are deep- 
toned, like the sound of thunder. They have no 
written language. * 

Swedenborg traveled frequently beyond the solar 
system, and conversed with spirits from the planets 
of other suns. On one of these planets, the people 
have remarkably little eyes and noses. The women 
spin thread, by sitting and winding the fiber round 
their toes, pulling it towards them, and twisting it 
with their hands. On another of these planets, the 
temples are constructed of living trees, planted in 
order and trained for the jmrpose. On yet another, 
far remote, he found the spirits were often annoyed 
by visitors from our earth, who tried to teach them 

* According to Swedenborg, there is no written language in 
any world but ours ; and it was this circumstance which induc- 
ed the Lord of glory to become incarnate, and to die upon the 
earth. 



30 



SWEDEXBOEGIAX1SM EXAMIXED. 



the doctrine of the Trinity. Swedenborg had much 
conversation with them, and pronounced them or- 
thordox, according to the creed of the New Church. 
He had a preacher with him from our world, who 
fell in love with a woman whom he saw there ; but 
she would have, nothing to say to him, and fled from 
him. They saw other females tending sheep. The 
faces of the inhabitants of this distant planet are 
very peculiar. The upper part is white ; the lower 
part black ; but the noses are uncommonly white. 
Some few of the males are wholly black. The min- 
ister whom Swedenborg had with him from our 
world, desired to preach to them ; but they would 
not hear him. The houses of the country are low 
and long, are built of turf, and haAe round roofs. 
The corn resembles Chinese wheat. The inhabit- 
ants bake bread in little square loaves, and have a 
species of wine made of berries. The length of their 
year is two hundred days and fifteen hours. The 
entire globe on which they live is scarcely five hun- 
dred German miles in circumference — less than two 
hundred in diameter — not larger than some of our 
asteroids. 

Swedenborg has described still another planet 
out of the solar system; and at the hazard of tiring 
rather than amusing our readers, we must give them 
a few particulars. The inhabitants have preaching 
once in thirty days ; and are favored, meanwhile, 
with revelations imparted in waking dreams. The 
Spirits from this world, like those from the one last des- 



PLANETS OUT OF THE SOLAS SYSTEM. 



cribed, are much troubled with monkish emissaries 
from our earth, who are intent upon teaching them 
the doctrine of the Trinity. The people live in low, 
flat-roofed houses, built of Avood. They go almost 
or quite naked. They have a species of cows which 
have wool, like sheep, and their common drink is 
milk and water. Their marriage ceremonies are 
very peculiar, but the account is too long to be in- 
serted here. The length of the year, on this planet, 
is two hundred days and nine hours. 

I have presented this abstract of Swedenborg's 
account of some of " the Earths in the Universe," 
because the story is too amusing, and too strongly 
characteristic of him, to be altogether omitted, and 
I know not where else it could be introduced so 
well. It will be borne in mind, that to Swedenborg 
and his followers, what has been stated is not a mere 
fancy sketch or romance, but matter of indubitable 
revelation. It was all disclosed to the rapt seer 
(and a vast deal more of the same character) hi the 
world of spirits.* 

Swedenborg wrought no miracles in attestation of 
his revelations, nor did he pretend to any. He ad- 
mitted that the age of miracles was past. He is 
said to have made some unaccountable disclosures, 
hy means of his intercourse with the spiritual world : 
but he attached no importance to them, as furnish- 
ing evidence in his favor. He was wise in this ; for 

* See Swedenborg's work entitled •' Earths in the Universe." 



32 



S\\ EOEXBOEGIAXISM EXAMINED. 



if the accounts which his followers have given us 
are to be depended on, his marvels do not at all ex- 
ceed what is alleged to be done by mesmerizers, clair- 
voyants, necromancers, conjurers, and men of second 
sight, in our own times. 

Subsequent to his sivpposed illumination, Sweden- 
borg spent much of his time in London. He had fa- 
cilities there, beyond what his own country afforded, 
for publishing his numerous works, and for making 
them known to the world. Still, he regarded the 
Swedish capital as his home ; where he had a house 
and garden, in the southern part of the city, and 
where he resided, more or less, as his convenience or 
his inclination dictated. While there, he lived a re- 
tired and studious life, having no family or attend- 
ants, save his gardener and the gardener's wife. 
The following particulars respecting his domestic 
habits, I extract chiefly from a memoir of him, 
drawn up by his intimate friend, Mr. Robsam. 

" Swedenborg often labored through the whole 
night, having no stated periods for employment or 
repose. ' When I am sleepy,' said he, ' I go to bed.' 
From his only servant, the gardener's wife, he re- 
quired nothing, except that she should make his 
bed, and bring a large pitcher of water to his study 
daily. He made his own coffee, and drank much of 
it, by day and by night, without cream, but made 
quite sweet with sugar. At home, his dinner was a 
small loaf or roll, and boiled milk. He took neither 
wine, nor any other heating drink, and seldom ate 



APPEARANCE AND HABITS. 



33 



anything at night. When in company, he would 
eat with the company, and drink wine, but always 
with moderation." He did not absolutely prohibit 
animal food ; yet he considered the use of it as in- 
consistent with a high state of the church. " No 
one who embraces his sentiments," says one of his 
biographers, " can justify to himself the use of ani- 
mal food, on any other ground, than that he was 
born in evils of all kinds, hereditarily received from 
his parents, the extirpation of which, and his conse- 
quent restoration to order, must be a gradual, pro- 
gressive work." 

Swedenborg's study " dress was simple, yet neat 
and convenient. In winter he wore a garment of 
reindeer skins; and in summer, a study gown, as 
became a philosopher. When he dressed himself to 
go abroad, without the help of other people, it some- 
times happened that some singularity might be no- 
ticed, showing that his mind was occupied with oth- 
er things. 

" Swedenborg could not talk fast without difficul- 
ty ; and when he attempted it he was likely to stam- 
mer, more especially when he spoke in a foreign 
tongue. As soon as he began to speak, all conver- 
sation commonly ceased, and the slowness of his de- 
livery served but to increase the curiosity of the lis- 
teners. 

" It is remarkable that Swedenborg never attempt- 
ed to make proselytes, nor pressed upon any one his 
explanations of the Word. lie seldom went to 

3 



34 



SWEDENBORGIAXISM EXAMINED. 



church, partly because what he heard there was at 
variance with the revelations made to him, and part- 
ly on account of the disease of the stone, froni which 
he suffered. He also absented himself froni the holy 
supper." 

" Swedenborg's frequent journeys were made with 
no parade, and with but few of the conveniences of 
traveling. He took no servant with him, and com- 
monly rode in an open wagon from Stockholm to 
Gottenburg, whenever he embarked for England or 
Holland, to have his manuscripts printed. In pre- 
paring his manuscripts, Swedenborg employed no 
copyist. His works were printed from his own hand- 
writing. In his advanced age, it became very diffi- 
cult to decipher this ; but he said that the Dutch 
and English compositors could do it easily." The 
avails of his publications, at least in some instances, 
he is said to have devoted to the propagation of the 
gospel. 

He was connected by means of his family and in 
other ways, with most of the great men of his coun- 
try, whether in church or state. After mentioning 
some of his distinguished relatives, he goes on to 
say ; " I live, besides, on terms of familiarity and 
friendship with all the bishops of my country, who 
are ten in number; as also with the sixteen sena- 
tors, and the rest of the nobility. The king and 
queen also, and the three princes, their sons, show 
me much favor. I was once invited by the king and 
queen to dine at their table — an honor which, in 



PERSONAL APPEARANCE. 



35 



general, is granted only to the nobility of the high- 
est rank. The same honor has since been shown me 
by the hereditary prince." 

In person, Swedenborg was about five feet nine 
inches high, rather thin, and of a swarthy complex- 
ion. His eyes were of a brown gray, nearly hazel, 
and rather small. He was never seen to laugh, but 
had always a cheerful smile upon his countenance. 
When he appeared abroad, his dress and manners 
were those of a gentleman of the old school. 

Swedenborg had certain rules for the regulation 
of his conduct, which are found written down in va- 
rious parts of his manuscripts. They are as follows : 
" 1. Often to read and to meditate on the word of 
the Lord. 2. To submit every thing to the will of 
Divine providence. 3. To observe in every thing, a 
propriety of behavior, and always to keep the con- 
science clear. 4. To discharge with fidelity, the 
functions of my employment, and the duties of my 
office, and to render myself, in all things, useful to 
society." If Swedenborg lived up to these rules, he 
must have been (what all history represents him) a 
moral, useful, and to some extent a religious man. 

In his latter years, two Swedish clergymen, Bish- 
op Filenius and Dr. Ekebon, instituted a prosecution 
against Swedenborg in the consistory of Gottenburg, 
whence it was transferred to the Diet. The charge 
against him was that of inculcating fundamental er- 
rors in religion. But he came out of the trial with 
safety, unaccused by the Diet, and protected by the 
king. 



CHAPTER II. 



GENERAL STATEMENT OF THE DOCTRINES OF SWE- 
DENBORG. 

Before remarking upon the doctrines of Sweden- 
borg, it will be necessary to exhibit a brief statement 
of them; and this I shall do, so far as practicable, 
in the words either of himself or his followers. 

He published a summary of his faith, in five short 
articles: "1. That there is one God, in whom is a 
divine trinity, and that he is the Lord Jesus Christ. 
2. That saving faith is to believe in him. 3. That 
evils ought to be shunned, because they are of the 
devil, and from the devil. 4. That good works ought 
to be done, because they are of God, and from God. 
5. That they ought to be done by man as from him- 
self, but with a belief that they are from the Lord, 
operating in him and by him." * 

The following articles are from the "Book of 
Worship " of the New Church in America ; and are 



* Brief Exposition, § 13. 



CREED OF THE NEW CHURCH. 



37 



said to be " copied from the Liturgy of the New 
Church General Conference of England." I shall 
present them entire, accompanying them with such 
additional statements and explanations as may be 
deemed necessary. 

" 1. That Jehovah God, the Creator and Preserver 
of heaven and earth, is love itself, and wisdom itself, 
and good itself, and truth itself : That he is one, both 
in essence and in person, in whom, nevertheless, is 
the divine trinity of Father, Son, and Holy 
Spirit, which are the essential divinity, the divine 
humanity, and the divine proceeding, answering 
to the soul, the body and the operative energy in 
man : And that the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 
is that God. 

2. That Jehovah God himself descended from 
heaven as divine truth, which is the word, and took 
upon him human nature, for the purpose of removing 
from man the powers of hell, and restoring to order 
all things in the spiritual world, and all things in 
the church : That he removed from man the powers 
of hell, by combats against and victories over them, 
in which consisted the great work of Redemption : 
That by the same acts, which were his temptations, 
the last of which was the passion of the cross, he 
united in his humanity divine truth to divine good, 
or divine wisdom to divine love, and so returned 
into his divinity, in which he was from eternity, 
together with, and in, his glorified humanity ; whence 
he forever keeps the infernal powers in subjection to 



SWEDENBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 



himself: And that all who believe in him, with the 
understanding from the heart, and live accordingly, 
will be saved. 

3. That the Sacred Scripture or word of God, is 
divine truth itself; containing a spiritual sense 
heretofore unknown, whence it is divinely inspired 
and holy in every syllable ; as well as a literal sense, 
in which divine truth is in its fullness, its sanctity 
and its power ; thus that it is accommodated to the 
apprehension of both angels and men : That the 
spiritual and natural senses are united by corres- 
pondences, like soul and body, every natural ex- 
pression and image answering to and including a 
spiritual and divine idea : And thus that the word 
is the medium of communication with heaven, and 
of conjunction with the Lord. 

4. That the government of the Lord's divine 
love and wisdom is the divine providence ; which is 
universal, exercised according to certain fixed laws 
of order, and extending to the minutest particulars 
of the life of all men, both of the good and of the 
evil : That in all its operations, it has respect to 
what is infinite and eternal, and makes no account 
of things transitory but as they are subservient to 
eternal ends ; thus that it mainly consists with man 
in the connection of things temporal with things 
eternal ; for that the continued aim of the Lord, by 
his divine providence is to join man to himself and 
himself to man, that he may be able to give him the 
felicities of eternal life : And that the laws of per- 



CREED OF THE NEW CHUECII. 



uiission are also laws of divine providence ; since 
evil can not be prevented, without destroying the 
nature of man as an accountable agent; and because 
also it can not be removed, unless it be known ; and 
can not be known, unless it appear : Thus that no 
evil is permitted but to prevent a greater ; and all 
is overruled, by the Lord's divine providence, for the 
gi-eatest possible good. 

5. That man is not life, but is only a recipient of 
hfe from the Lord, who, as he is love itself, and 
wisdom itself, is also life itself ; which life is communi- 
cated by influx to all in the spiritual world, whether 
belonging to heaven or to hell, and to all in the nat- 
ural world; but it is received differently by every 
one, according to his quality and consequent state of 
reception. 

6. That man, during his abode in the world, is, 
as to his spirit, in the midst between heaven and 
hell, acted upon by influences from both, and thus 
kej)t in a state of spiritual equilibrium between 
good and evil ; in consequence of which he enjoys 
free-will, or freedom of choice, in spiritual things as 
well as in natural, and possesses the capacity of 
either turning himself to the Lord and his kingdom, 
or turning himself away from the Lord, and con- 
necting himself with the kingdom of darkness. 
And that unless man had such freedom of choice, 
the word would be of no use, the church would be 
a mere name, man would possess nothing by virtue 



40 SWEDENBOEGIAXISM EXAMINED. 



of which he could be conjoined to the Lord, and the 
cause of evil would be chargeable on God himself. 

7. That man, at this day, is born into evil of all 
kinds, or with tendencies towards it : That there- 
fore, in order to enter the kingdom of heaven, he 
must be regenerated or created anew ; which great 
work is effected in a progressive manner by the 
Lord alone, by charity and faith as mediums, during 
man's cooperation: That as all men are redeemed, 
all are capable of being regenerated, and consequent- 
ly saved, every one according to his state : And that 
the regenerate man is in communion with the angels 
of heaven, and the unregenerate with the spirits of 
hell : But that no one is condemned for hereditary 
evil, any farther than as he makes it his own by 
actual life ; whence all who die in infancy are saved, 
special means being provided by the Lord in the 
other life, for that purpose. 

8. That repentance is the first beginning of the 
church in man ; and that it consists in a man's ex- 
amining himself, both in regard to his deeds and his 
intentions, in knowing and acknowledging his sins, 
confessing them before the Lord, supplicating him 
for aid, and beginning a new life : That to this end, 
all evils, whether of affection, of thought, or of life 
are to be abhorred and shunned as sins against God, 
and because they proceed from infernal spirits, who, 
in the aggregate are called the Devil and Satan ; and 
that good affections, good thoughts, and good actions 



CREED OF THE NEW CHURCH. 



41 



are to be cherished and performed, because they are 
of God and from God: That these things are to be 
done by man as of himself, nevertheless under the 
acknowledgement and belief that it is from the Lord, 
operating in him and by him : That so far as man 
shuns evils as sins, so far they are removed, remitted 
and forgiven ; so far also he does good, not from 
himself, but from the Lord ; and in the same degree 
he loves truth, has faith, and is a spiritual man : And 
that the decalogue teaches us what evils are sins. 

9. That charity, faith, and good works are unitedly 
necessary to man's salvation ; since charity, without 
faith, is not spiritual, but natural; and faith without 
charity is not living, but dead ; and both charity and 
faith, without good works, are merely mental and 
perishable, because without use or fixedness : And 
that nothing of faith, of charity, or of good works is 
of man, but that all is of the Lord, and all the merit 
is his alone. 

10. That baptism and the holy supper are sacra- 
ments of divine institution, and are to be perma- 
nently observed ; baptism being an external medium 
of introduction into the church, and a sign repre- 
sentative of man's purification and regeneration ; and 
the holy supper being an external medium to those 
who receive it worthily, of introduction as to spirit 
into heaven, and of conjunction with the Lord, of 
which also it is a sign and seal. 

11. That immediately after death, which is only a 
putting off of the natural body, never to be resumed, 



42 SWEDENBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 

man rises again in a spiritual or substantial body, in 
"which he continues to live to eternity ; in heaven, if 
his ruling affections and thence his life have been 
good ; and in hell, if his ruling affections and thence 
his life have been evil. 

12. That now is the second advent of the Lord, 
■which is a coming, not in person, but in the power and 
glory of his holy word : That it is attended, like his 
first coming, with the restoration to order of all 
things in the spiritual world, where the wonderful di- 
vine operation, commonly ex2>ected under the name 
of the last judgment, has in consequence been per- 
formed ; and with the preparing of the way for a new 
church on the earth ; the first christian church hav- 
ing spiritually come to its end or consummation, 
through evils of life and errors of doctrine, as fore- 
told by the Lord in the gospels : And that this new 
or second christian church, which will be the crown 
of all churches and will stand for ever, is what was 
representatively seen by John, when he beheld the 
holy city, New Jerusalem, descending from God out 
of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her hus- 
band." 

It will be seen from the first of the above Articles, 
that while Swedenborg taught the proper divinity 
of Christ K he denied the commonly received doctrine 
of the trinity, and was, in fact, a unitarian. A uni- 
tarian believes in the existence of one God in one 
person ; a trinitarian, of one God in three persons. 



EXPLANATION OF THE CREED. 



4o 



The former was the doctrine of Swedenborg, who 
regarded the Lord Jesus Christ as the one Jehovah 
God, in one person. The trinity of which he speaks 
is little more than nominal, and is entirely consistent 
with his unitarian conceptions as to the mode of the 
divine existence. 

From the second Article, it appears that the doc- 
trine of redemption, according to Swedenborg, is a 
very different matter from that commonly received 
by evangelical christians. With him, redemption 
consists, not in the vicarious sacrifice of Christ, but 
"in removing froni man the powers of hell, and re- 
storing to order all things in the spiritual world, and 
in the church." 

The third Article sets forth his doctrine as to cor- 
respondences, and the spiritual sense of Scripture. 
He taught " that there is a correspondence between 
all things in heaven and all things in man ; and that 
this science of correspondences is a key to the spir- 
itual or internal sense of the sacred Scriptures." lie 
believed that the Scriptures (or such parts of them 
as are inspired) have three senses; the literal, the 
spiritual, and the celestial. Indeed, he sometimes 
speaks of a still higher sense of the Word, in which 
it is understood only by the Lord.* It was the 
second, or spiritual sense of the Word which he was 
especially instructed to open. 

The fourth, fifth and sixth Articles set forth the 



* See Apocalypse Revealed. § 959. 



44 



SWEDENBORGIAXISM EXAMINED. 



doctrine of divine providence ; also the free agency 
of man, and the grounds of it. Being situated " in 
the midst, between heaven and hell, where he is * 
acted upon by influences from both, and thus kept 
in a state of equilibrium between good and evil ; man 
enjoys free-will, or freedom of choice." 

The seventh Article asserts, "that man, at this 
day, is born into evil of all kinds, or with tendencies 
towards it." Consequently he needs regeneration ; 
and this is a gradual, progressive work. Man has 
no need of the special influences of the Holy Spirit 
in regeneration. " That influence which is usually 
referred to the Spirit of God, is, according to Swe- 
denborg, imparted through the agency of created 
spirits, whose nature it is to flow into other spirits, 
and thus form them to the reception of good and 
truth." * 

The eighth Article describes more fully, the pro- 
cess of repentance and regeneration. It asserts that, 
" so far as man shuns evils as sins, so far they are 
removed, remitted, or forgiven." In the theology of 
Swedenborg, the removal of sins and the remission 
of them are the same. 

The ninth Article, though cautiously framed, was 
intended, doubtless, to contradict the commonly re- 
ceived doctrine of justification by faith — a doctrine 
which gave great offense to Swedenborg. 

The tenth Article treats of the sacraments, which 

* Bush's Swedenborg Library, Vol. I. p. 50. 



EXPLANATION OF THE CREED. 



45 



"are of divine institution, and to be permanently- 
observed." 

The eleventh Article contains a denial of the com- 
monly received doctrine of the resurrection, and a 
statement of the Swedenborgian doctrine. It also 
teaches that after death, there is to be no change of 
the ruling, predominant affection, either in the holy 
or the sinful. 

In the twelfth Article, it is asserted that the sec- 
ond advent of the Lord, and the general judgment 
are already past ; that the first christian church, like 
the Jewish, has come to an end ; and that " the new 
or second christian church" (the Swedenborgian) 
which "is the crown of all churches," has been set 
up, and " will stand for ever." 

The foregoing articles contain the leading doc- 
trines of the Swedenborgian faith. Before proceed- 
ing with our remarks, it may be necessary to add a 
few particulars, expressed (so far as possible) in the 
lan^ua^e of the New Church. 

Swedenborg held, that " God is an infinite man, 
existing in a perfect human form ; " and that he cre- 
ated all things, not from nothing, but "out of him- 
self," so that every created thing partakes of the 
very substance of the Deity. He also held, that all 
the inhabitants of the invisible world, both ffood and 
bad, are of the human species, and once lived in ma- 
terial bodies on the earths. He rejected the idea of 
a personal devil, or prince of devils, and held that 



46 



SWEDENBORGIAXISH EXAMINED. 



the Devil and Satan of the Scriptures are but names, 
applied to the congregated spirits of darkness. 

He taught that our Saviour had not a human soul, 
but that "the divine essence itself, or the Father, 
was his soul." Also, that when he came into the 
world, he assumed " humanity, with all its evil loves 
and false persuasions, and put himself into every pos- 
sible state that man ever has been in, or can be." 

He taught that marriages are consummated in 
heaven, and that " true conjugial love, which can only 
exist between one husband and one wife, is more ce- 
lestial, spiritual, holy, pure, and clean, than any other 
love in angels or men." 

It was a leading doctrine of his, that " there is an 
intermediate state for departed souls, called the 
world of sjnrits, and that very few pass directly to 
heaven or to hell." This is a state, not properly of 
probation, but of development ; a " state of purification 
to the good, but to the bad, a state where all extra- 
neous good is separated from the radical evil, which 
constitutes the essence of their natures." 

Swedenborg taught that both the heavens and the 
hells consist of different societies, each society being 
composed of individuals of like qualities and dispo- 
sitions. When persons have been long enough in 
the spiritual world to have their riding love — their 
real, internal character developed, they are naturally 
drawn each to his own company ; so that whether 
they rise to heaven, or sink to hell, each goes ac- 



A GRAND MAN. 



47 



cording to his own love or choice. He further taught, 
that each heavenly society is so constituted as to be 
in the human form ; and that the heavenly societies 
collectively are in the same form. Accordingly, he 
speaks of heaven, in the general, as a Grand Man. 
Yet, strange to tell, neither heaven nor hell exist in 
place, but are only " internal, spiritual states ! " 

It was a doctrine of Swedenborg, not only that 
Mohammedans and heathens may be saved, but that 
vast numbers of them actually are so. He describes 
a heaven, appropriated exclusively to Mohammedans, 
living there in polygamy, as on the earth ; and an- 
other heaven appropriated to idolaters, who are 
engaged, as on earth, in the worship of idols. * 

But I need not proceed further, in a general state- 
ment of his doctrines. In what follows, I shall have 
occasion, not only to remark upon what has been 
exhibited, but to notice other opinions, to which no 
allusion has yet been made. Enough, however, has 
been said, to give the reader a general idea of his 
religious system. 



* True Chris. Religion, § 832. Conj. Lore, § 78. 



CHAPTER III. 

OBJECTIONS TO THE CLAIMS AND THE DOCTRINES 
OF SWEDENBOEG. 



In deciding upon the claims and the doctrines of 
Swedenborg, I agree with Professor Bush, that the 
first and principal question relates to the fact of his 
supernatural illumination. Did he actually con- 
verse with spirits and angels ? "Was he immediately 
instructed by the Lord himself? Did he, in fact, 
receive revelations from heaven ? If so, then what- 
ever he taught must have been worthy of its Author, 
divinely true, and is to be regarded as the voice of 
God to men. There is no resisting this conclusion, 
and we have no desire to resist or evade it. But 
then there is another conclusion equally resistless, 
and most intimately connected with it. If it can.be 
shown that Swedenborg taught much that is unwor- 
thy of God, untrue, not in accordance with reason, 
Scripture and fact ; then he could not have received 
his instructions from the Lord, and his credit as a 
supernatural teacher, a revealer of heavenly things, 
is destroyed. 



THE NEW DISPENSATION". 



49 



No Swedenborgian can reasonably object to our 
arguing the question on this ground ; and such, in 
general, is the line of argument which I propose to 
pursue in the following pages. But without prom- 
ising to confine myself to it strictly and universally, 
I proceed, with all possible brevity, to urge my ob- 
jections to the claims and the doctrines of Sweden- 
borg. 

Objection 1. 

Swedenborgianism professes to supersede the gos- 
pel dispensation, and to introduce a new dispensa- 
tion, as distinct from it, and superior to it, as that is 
superior to the Jewish. That such are the claims of 
Swedenborg and his followers, is evident to every 
one who reads their works. Mr. Clissold says " the 
internal sense of the holy word, as revealed to Swe- 
denborg, is absolutely the opening of a new dispen- 
sation ; a dispensation as different from the former, 
as the Christian dispensation was different from the 
Jewish."* Mr. Barrett says, "It is maintained by the 
New Church, and taught in its writings, that the 
church instituted by our Lord, at his advent, has 
spiritually come to its end; and that a new dispen- 
sation of truth has been made to the world in the 
theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg." 
Again, "the New Jerusalem church is not to be 
considered as a sect, or as one of the numerous pro- 

* ClissolJ's Letter, &c., p. 95. 
4 



S W B DENBORGIA1 S S M K X AMI N E D. 



geny of the old church. It is a church formed and 
existing under a new dispensation, which is altogeth- 
er distinct from every former dispensation."* This 
new dispensation commenced, Are are told, in the 
year 1757, when the last judgment took place, and 
the old church was superseded or destroyed. 

Such then are the claims of Swedenborgians, in 
regard to the matter of a new dispensation. And I 
now ask, Where is the proof of them ? It was a 
maxim with Swedenborg, and one oft repeated in 
his writings, that " the doctrine of the church ought 
to be drawn from the literal sense of the word, and 
to be confirmed by itP " Doctrine is not derived 
from the spiritual sense, but only illustrated and cor- 
roborated." f This is a very important canon of the 
New Church, and one which ought never to be for- 
gotten. I ask then for proof, drawn from the literal 
sense of the word, that the dispensation which was 
introduced at the first coming of Christ, has passed 
away, or was ever expected to pass away, and that 
a new dispensation has succeeded it. There is evi- 
dence enough in the Apocalypse, and in the ancient 
prophets, that there is to be a latter day glory of the 
church on earth ; that at some period, still future, 
the Christian church — the same which our Saviour 
and his apostles established — is to be greatly en- 



* Burnett's Lectures, pp. 80, 152. 

\ True Chris. Religion, § 229, 230. Divine Providence, § 250. 
Sacred Scriptures, § 50. 



THE JEWISH DISI'EXSATIOX. 



51 



forged, purified and exalted. But where do the Scrip- 
tures, in their proper, literal sense, teach, that the 
Christian church is to come to an end, and be suc- 
ceeded by another church ; yea more, that it did ac- 
tually come to an end, and was superseded, more 
than a hundred years ago? Till this point is fully 
established, and that too on the literal sense of the 
word, no one (even according to Swedenborg) ought 
to believe it. And that it never has been thus es- 
tablished, and never can be, is to my own mind per- 
fectly clear. 

That the Jewish dispensation, which was essen- 
tially typical, should in the fullness of time be super- 
seded, was altogether natural, and even necessary. 
When the substance came, the shadows ceased, as a 
matter of course. When the great sacrifice of the 
cross was offered up, the bloody rites which prefig- 
ured it must pass away But no such reason can be 
conceived ofj why the Christian dispensation should 
ever terminate. What ancient predictions or typi- 
cal rites — such as were fulfilled in Christ — remain 
to be fulfilled in Swedenborg, or have, in him, re- 
ceived their fulfillment ? 

But this question of a new church, a new dispen- 
sation, is clearly decided by the sacred writers. "In 
the days of these kings," says Daniel, "shall the 
God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never 
be destroyed ; and the kingdom shall not be left to 
other people, but it shall break in pieces and con- 
sume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever" 



b-1 



SWEDENBORGIAXISM EXAMINED. 



(chap. ii. 44.) Isaiah, predicting the ingathering of 
the Gentiles, and the glory of the church under the 
gospel dispensation, says, " Whereas thou hast been 
forsaken and hated, so that no man went through 
thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, the joy 
of many generations. The sun shall be no more thy 
light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon 
give light unto thee, but the Lord shall be unto thee 
an everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning 
shall be ended." " The mountains shall depart, and 
the hills be removed ; but my kindness shall not de- 
part from thee, neither shall the covenant of my 
peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy 
on thee." (chap. liv. and lx.) It is the church under 
the gospel dispensation which is spoken of in these 
passages, as the connection clearly shows ; and, cer- 
tainly, the language does not imply that this church 
was to come to an end in the year 1757, and be su- 
perseded by another church. So far from it, the church 
here addressed, is to be " an eternal excellency, the 
joy of many generations." It is to be protected and 
blessed on the earth, to the end of time, and is to 
live and reign with Christ in heavenly places for 
ever. 

That the gospel dispensation is never to pass 
away, is positively asserted by the writer of the 
Epistle to the Hebrews. Speaking of the two dis- 
pensations, the Jewish and Christian, this writer 
represents the former as shaken and removed ; but 
the latter as one that can not be removed or shaken, 



HIS REVELATION'S NOT ATTESTED. 53 

one that is to remain. " Wherefore we, (Christians) 
receiving a kingdom which can not be moved, let us 
have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably, 
with reverence and godly fear." (chap, xii : 27, 28.) 
The gospel dispensation, then, is never to be remov- 
ed. It is to remain to the end of the world. And 
the dispensation of Swedenborg, which claims to su- 
persede that which was introduced by Christ and his 
Apostles, is of course, to be rejected. 

Objection 2. 

The revelations of Swedenborg are not to be re- 
ceived, because they are not sufficiently attested. 
This objection divides itself into two parts. In the 
first i:>lace, the bare testimony of Swedenborg to the 
truth of what he professed to reveal is insufficient, 
because it does not conform to the established laws 
or conditions of valid testimony. There are laws, to 
which if the testimony in any given case conforms, 
we cannot reasonably withhold our faith. On the 
contrary, if the testimony does not conform to these 
laws, we are not required to yield our faith. Now 
the testimony of Swedenborg, in several most mate- 
rial points, is not in accordance with established 
laws. 

One of the laws or conditions to which I refer is, 
that there must be a sufficient number of witnesses. 
There should be " two or three witnesses," at least, 
in order " that every word may be established." 
But in the case of Swedenborg, there is only one 



54 



SWEDEXBORGIAXIS3I EXAMINED. 



witness. Everything depends on his own naked, 
unsupported assertion. 

Again; testimony, to be received, must be a 
concurrent, consistent testimony. It must involve 
no palpable absurdities. It must not contradict it- 
self. But I shall show, in a subsequent Chapter, 
(chap, ix.) that the testimony of Swedenborg is lia- 
ble to both these exceptions. It does involve mani- 
fest absurdities ; and is, in many points, self-contra- 
dictory. 

I remark again, that testimony, to be conclusive, 
must be of such a nature, that the witnesses, if they 
have falsified, are open to detection. They must not 
be able to avoid exposure, by taking refuge under a 
veil of secresy which no one besides themselves can 
penetrate. But most of the testimony of Sweden- 
borg is of the kind here excepted to. Suppose he 
uttered a false testimony, how is he to be detected ? 
"VTho shall follow him into the other world to ex- 
pose him ? Manifestly, no one can follow him, until 
he pass finally into that world ; and then it will be 
too late to retrieve the errors into which a false tes- 
timony may have led him. * 

* If it be said that the operation of this rule -would destroy the 
force of all testimony, even that of God and of Christ, as to the 
things of the future world, I have only to reply, that divine testi- 
mony is one thing ; human testimony another. The former is to 
be received, whether we can examine into its truth or not. The 
latter is more satisfactory, always , when of such a nature, that 
its falsehood , if it be false, can be easily detected. 



SWEDEXBORu's TESTIMONY. 



55 



I remark once more, that testimony, to be con- 
clusive, must be, not contradicted, but confirmed (at 
least so far as could be reasonably expected) by oth- 
er evidence. But even this is not true of the testi- 
mony of Swedenborg. His revelations do not re- 
late exclusively to the other world. Some of them 
have respect to the things of this -world — things 
which are open to the investigation and inspection 
of mortals. Such are his disclosures in regard to 
the existence of the ancient Word in Tartary, and 
of a branch of the New Church in the interior of Af- 
rica ; also in regard to the nature of the Egyptian hi- 
eroglyphics, and to numerous facts of history and 
science. I can not go into particulars here ; but I 
shall show, as I proceed, that his testimony on the 
points to which I have referred has not been confirm- 
ed, as might have been expected on supposition of 
its truth, by other evidence. So far from this, it has 
been, in various points, directly contradicted. 

I feel authorized to say therefore, without pursu- 
ing this topic further, that the testimony of Sweden- 
borg fails, in several important particulars, to con- 
form to the laws of valid testimony, and is, on this 
account, unworthy to be received. 

We come now to the other part of the objection 
under consideration. Swedenborg's revelations were 
not attested, — as they should have been, in order 
to be received — by miracles. 

A proper miracle is always a work of God — a 
work which no being besides him can perform. 



56 



SWEDENBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 



And in the ages when -God was making his revela- 
tions to the world, he was wont, from time to time, 
to confirm them by miracles. He was wont to in- 
terpose by his almighty power ; arrest in some way 
the regular movements of nature ; and thus show 
that the prophet by whom he spoke was actually his 
messenger to the world. It was thus that he attest- 
ed his messages to Pharaoh, and his revelations to 
the children of Israel, by the hand of Moses. It 
was thus that he attested his subsequent revelations 
to the children of Israel, by Elijah, Elisha, and oth- 
ers of the prophets. In the same way, he attested the 
preaching of his Son, and of the inspired apostles. 
The leading object of these miraculous performances 
was in all cases the same. They were a divine at- 
testation — God's unmistakable witness — to the di- 
vine mission of those who performed them, and to 
the divine authority of the messages Avhich they 
were instructed to deliver. 

The testimony which God thus gave to the fact 
of his revelations in ancient times, he may be ex- 
pected to give at all times ; i. e., if new revelations 
shall continue to be made. No good reason can be 
assigned why his revealed word should be miracu- 
lously attested in the first century after Christ, and 
not in the eighteenth ; provided there really was, 
during the eighteenth century, a further revelation. 

And as this is a species of evidence which God 
has been pleased to grant in former cases of acknoAvl- 
edged revelation, so it is one which men have a 



MONTANUS MANES. 



57 



right to demand, whenever a new revelation is pro- 
posed for their acceptance ; and most happy had it 
been for this world of ours — delivering it from 
enormous masses of superstition and corruption — 
had this right been constantly and strenuously in- 
sisted on. 

In the second century, Montanus appeared, pro- 
fessing to be the promised Comforter from heaven, 
who should teach the disciples all things, and bring 
all things to then- remembrance. He published his 
revelations, and drew numbers after him, among 
whom were some of the learned fathers of the church. 
If Montanus had been put ujion the test of working 
miracles, his career and his delusions might soon 
have passed away. 

In the third century, Manes arose with the same 
pretensions. He too declared himself to be the 
promised Comforter. He uttered his revelations, 
made large additions to the doctrine of Christ, and 
drew away multitudes after him. If Manes had 
merely been asked for his credentials — his miracu- 
lous powers, and if no credit had been given to him 
till these were presented, his errors never could have 
prevailed, and the church might have been saved 
from his corruptions. 

In the beginning of the seventh century, Moham- 
med appeared, professing to have direct intercourse 
witli lien von, and to make new revelations for the 
benefit of the world. The story of his life and suc- 
cesses need not be told here. For the last thousand 



58 



swedexborgiaxism: examined. 



years, his iron sway has been extended over not less 
than a fourth of the entire human race. Now it was 
objection enough to Mohammed, from the first, that 
he brought with him no proper credentials. The 
palpable evidence of a divine mission, which was 
furnished by Moses and the prophets, by Christ and 
the apostles, he failed to produce. He performed 
no miracles. He could perform none. Of course he 
should not have been listened to for a moment. 

In more modern times, we have had numerous 
pretenders to divine revelations. AYe have had a 
Bockholdt and a Behmen in Germany; Anne Lee 
and Joanna Southcote, in England ; and Jemima 
Wilkinson, Joseph Smith, and others of less name 
and influence in our own country. And although, 
in point of intellectual and moral elevation, Emanu- 
el Swedenborg was incomparably superior to most 
of the individuals here named, in one respect, he 
falls into the same category. Like them, he pre- 
tended to have intercourse with angels, and to de- 
liver messages from God ; and like them he was 
destitute of the proper credentials. He wrought no 
miracles. He neither possessed, nor claimed to pos- 
sess, miraculous powers. He failed to establish his 
peculiar claims by that species of evidence, which 
man has a right to demand, and which God has ever 
been wont to give, when new, independent, and im- 
portant revelations were to be made to the world. 

Swedenborg was well aware that his claims would 
be obje 'ted to, on the ground of his not performing 



MIKACLES. 



59 



miracles. Indeed, he icas closely questioned on this 
very subject, both in the natural and the spiritual 
world, by the men of this earth, and by those who 
had gone into the other state. And the reasons 
w hich he assigned for the absence of miracles, I feel 
constrained to say, are unfounded, self-contradictory, 
and, of course, unsatisfactory. At one time, he tells 
us that " miracles force men, and take away their 
free-agency in spiritual things." * But were not the 
hearers of our Saviour free-agents ? Were they 
forced ? 

But the apology of force is not alone relied upon. 
The opposite one of inefficiency is sometimes intro- 
duced. " What did the miracles avail in Egypt, or 
among the Jewish nation, who nevertheless crucified 
the Lord '? So it' the Lord were to appear now in the 
sky, attended with angels and trumpets, it would 
have no other effect than it had then." f 

It is not denied (as it can not be) that considera- 
ble numbers were convinced in consequence of the 
miracles of the apostolic age ; but then it is urged, 
that the " faith produced by miracles is not faith. 
There is nothing rational in it, still less spiritual ; it 
being merely external, without any internal princi- 
ple.*' \ But was not the conversion of Paul, which 
was directly in consequence of a miracle, a sound 

* True Chris. Religion, § 501. 
t Hobart's Lite, &c, p. 44. 
% Divine Providence, § 131. 



60 



SWEDENBOKGIANISM EXAMINED. 



conversion ? Was it merely an external change ? 
Was there nothing internal, spiritual in it? 

Mohammed, like Swedenborg, was continually 
pressed by the demand " Why do you not show us 
a sign from heaven ? Why not perform miracles ? " 
And the shifts to which Swedenborg and his follow- 
ers resort, strongly remind us of those to which the 
prophet of Mecca was driven, twelve hundred years 
ago. " The infidels say, unless a sign be sent down 
unto him from his Lord, we will not believe. An- 
swer, Thou art commissioned to be a preacher only, 
and not a worker of miracles. Verily God will lead 
into error whom he pleaseth ; and will direct unto 
himself those who repent, believe, and whose hearts 
rest securely in the meditation of God. Am I other 
than a man, sent as an apostle ? And no apostle 
hath the power to come with a sign, unless by the 
permission of God." * 

* Sale's Koran, chap. 13, 17. 



CHAPTER IV. 



OBJECTIONS TO THE CLAIMS AND DOCTRINES OP S¥E- 
DENBOEG, CONTINUED. 

Objection 3. 

My third objection to the claims of Swedenborg is 
based on his treatment of the holy Scriptures. In 
the first place, he rejects nearly one half of the Bible, 
as not having been written by inspiration, and as 
constituting no part of the word of God. The fol- 
lowing are the rejected books of the Old Testament, 
viz : Ruth, the first and second books of Chronicles, 
Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, 
and the Song of Solomon. The New Testament is 
all rejected, with the exception of the four Gospels 
and the Apocalypse. These rejected portions of the 
Bible are regarded as, in the main, good and useful 
productions, but not as possessing a divine authority. 
They are the word of man, not of God. In the lan- 
guage of Mr. Hindmarsh, " they can not for a moment 
be accounted equal to the other books, or be put in 
competition with them, for want of those infinitely 



(j-2 



SWEDENBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 



superior prerogatives which must ever distinguish 
between a divine and a human production."* The 
pretense for rejecting the books above named is, not 
that there is any historical evidence against them, 
but they do not contain the hidden or mystical 
senses. They were not written according to the 
alleged science of correspondences. 

But this leads me to say, in regard to the other 
books of Scripture — those which Swedenborg pvo- 
fesses to receive — that he adopts such principles of 
interpretation as render them of comparatively little 
value. The obvious sense of Scripture — that which 
strikes the eye and affects the heart of the common 
reader — is, in comparison* of small account, while 
the utmost importance is attached to certain hidden, 
spiritual, mystical senses, which, so far, at least, as 
the uninitiated are concerned, seem almost entirely 
arbitrary. Thus, we are told that "by a garden, a 
grove, and a wood, are meant wisdom, intelligence, 
and science ; that by the olive, the vine, the cedar, 
the poplar, and the oak, are meant the good and 
truth of the church, under the different characters 
of celestial, spiritual, rational, natural, and sensual ; 
that by a lamb, a sheep, a goat, a calf, and an ox, are 
meant innocence, charity, and natural affection of 
different degrees ; that by mountains, hills, and val- 
leys, are meant the higher, the lower, and the lowest 

* Hindmarsh"s Compendium, p. H. Hobait's Life of Swe- 
denborg, p 119. 



INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. 



63 



things relating to the church ; also, that by Egypt is 
signified what is scientific ; by Assyria, what is ra- 
tional ; by Edom, what is natural ; by Moab, the 
adulteration of good ; by the children of Amnion, 
the adulteration of truth ; by the Philistines, faith 
without charity; by Tyre and Sidon, the knowledge 
of good and truth; and by Gog, external worship 
without internal." * 

From a later interpreter, we learn that earth, 
Adam, Jerusalem, tree, signifies the church ; that, 
blood, light, garden, water, signifies truth ; also, that 
water, in some connections, signifies falsehood ; that 
right-hand denotes "the power of truth from love;" 
that " swords, spears and bows are truths fighting ; " 
that "flesh signifies the good of love ; " that " a white 
horse signifies a clear and true understanding of the 
word;" that "serpent signifies the low and sensual 
principles of the mind;" that "Egypt denotes the 
state of the natural man ; " that Canaanites are " false, 
infernal principles;" that "figs signify good works," 
&c.f 

To help forward this art of mystical interpreta- 
tion, a large "Dictionary of Correspondences " has 
been compiled — most necessary "work, certainly, if 
this method of interpretation is to be pursued, and 
if any sense or consistency were discoverable in it. 
To .show my readers how much of definiteness and 

* See HinJmarsli's Compcnd. p. 132. 
t Barrett's Lectures, pp. 200 — 324. 



64 



SWEDENBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 



certainty attaches to this method of interpretation, 
and how much aid is to be expected from the " Dic- 
tionary of Correspondences," I present them with the 
explanation of a single word, and that the first in the 
volume. "Aaron; a mountain of strength. The 
first high priest of the Jews. Aaron, as a priest, rep- 
resents the Lord, as to the good of love. Sometimes, 
he represented, in the ojmosite sense, idolatrous 
worship; as when he made a golden calf for the 
children of Israel. In Ex. 4 : 14, Aaron denotes the 
doctrine of good and truth. The garments of Aaron 
represented the spiritucd kingdom of the Lord, ad- 
joined to his celestial kingdom ; and since that ex- 
ists by this, therefore it is said, 'that the wise in 
heart should make the garments of Aaron and his 
sons.' Ex. 38 : 3. Aaron represented the external of 
the church, of the word, and of worship. Aaron and 
his sons represented the Lord, as to divine good, and 
as to divine truth. Aaron and his garments repre- 
sented the superior heavens, thus the celestial king- 
dom : and his sons and their garments, the inferior 
heavens, thus the sp>iritual kingdom?" 1 

I have selected this word, not because the senses 
ascribed to it are more various, complicated and 
strange than those of almost any other word, but 
simply because it stands first in the volume. And 
now I ask any candid, intelligent reader what use he 
can possibly make of such a "Dictionary," or such a 
science (for strangely enough this matter of corres- 



INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. 



65 



pondences is called a science) in the interpretation 
of the sacred volume. Here are no less than five 
distinct senses ascribed to the simple word Aaron, 
aside from those which are given to it when u?ed in 
connection with sons, garments, and son's garments. 
Thus Aaron signifies " a mountain of strength,"" 
which is a mere translation of the word. It also 
signifies " the Lord, in respect to the good of love ; " 
"idolatrous worship;" "the doctrine of good and 
truth ; " and " the external of the church, of the word, 
and of worship." 

In one of the extracts above given, Egypt is said 
to signify "what is scientific;" in the other, "Egypt 
denotes the state of the natural man." In the Dic- 
tionary, neither of these precise senses is given to 
the word Egypt, but we have six other senses, all 
distinct from, and some the opposites of each other": 
In the extracts above given, Assyria signifies "whal 
is rational;" Edom "what is natural;" the right 
hand denotes " the power of truth from love ; " and 
"figs signify good works." But in the Dictionary, 
Assyria "represents the external or natural principle 
of the church." Edom, "the Lord's human es- 
sence " (also five or six other different senses) ; the 
right hand " signifies the all of man as to intellect- 
ual power, consequently as to faith ; " and figs are 
"the natural good of man, in conjunction with his 
spiritual good." * 

* Mr. Tulk, in his " Spiritual Christianity," denies that *hf'd 
5 



G6 



SWEDE>~BORGIAXISM EXAUXNTH:). 



If my readers are not yet satisfied as to the value 
of this kind of interpretation, I will present them 
with some choice, continuous specimens. 

In reference to the story of the ark being sent 
home by the Philistines (1 Sam. v : 6), Swedenborg 
observes : " The Philistines represent those who ex- 
alt faith above charity ; which was the occasion of 
their continual wars with the Israelites, who repre- 
sent those who cherish faith in union with charity. 
The idol Dagon is thfe religion of those who are rep- 
resented by the Philistines. The emerods are sym- 
bols of the appetites of the natural man, which, when 
separated from the spiritual affections, are unclean. 
The mice, by which the land was devastated, are im- 
ages of the lust of destroying, by false interpreta- 

" has been a single Swedenborgian writer," who has correctly 
understood the doctrine of correspondency. Every one, he says, 
" has either dropped all notice of real correspondency, and treated 
it as a system of symbols, or has merely stated the fact of there 
being an intimate connection between the sign and the thing sig- 
nified, and left his reader to discover, as well as he could, the 
reason." This same author — who seems to be a leader among 
the Xew Church brethren — affirms that the language of Swe- 
denborg needs to be spiritualized, — else, he says, we shall be 
compelled to receive greater mysteries in the New Church the- 
ology, than those from which we have escaped in the Old, pp. 10, 
16 — o7. We honor the frankness of this Mr. Tulk. At the 
same time, we are anxious to know where this labor of spiritual- 
izing is to end. Swedenborg spiritualizes the Scriptures ; and 
Mr. Tulk spiritualizes Swedenborg ; and the next improvement 
will be to spiritualize him. 



INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. 



07 



tion, the spiritual nourishment which the church 
derives from the word of God. The emerods of gold 
exhibit the natural appetites, as purified and made 
good. The golden mice signify the healing of the 
tendency to false interpretation, effected by admit- 
ting a regard to goodness. The cows are types of 
the natural man, in regard to such good qualities as 
he possesses. Their lowing by the way expresses 
the repugnance of the natural man to the process of 
conversion. And the offering them up for a burnt 
offering typifies that restoration of order which takes 
place in the mind, when the natural affections are 
submitted to the Lord." * 

The story of the forty and two children destroyed 
by bears (2 Kings ii : 24) is thus interpreted. « Eli- 
sha represented the Lord, as to the word. Baldness 
signifies the word, devoid of its literal sense, thus 
not anything. The number forty-two signifies blas- 
phemy. And bears signify the literal sense of the 
word, read indeed, but not understood." f 

The sealing of the tribes of Israel, spoken of in 
Rev. vii : 5 — 8, Swedenborg explains as follows : — 
"Of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand 
— signifies celestial love, which is love to the Lord, 
and this with all who will be in the new heaven, and 
the new Church. Of the tribe of Reuben were seal- 
ed twelve thousand — signifies wisdom derived from 
celestial love, with them who are there. Of the 



rue Chris. Religion, § 203. t Apocalypse Revealed, § 573. 



OS 



SWEDEXBORGIAXISM EXAMINED. 



tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand — signifies 
uses of life, derived from that love, with those who 
were there. Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve 
thousand — signifies mutual love with them. Of 
the tribe of Xaphthalim were sealed twelve thousand 
— signifies a perception of use, and what use is with 
them. Of the tribe of Manasseh were sealed twelve 
thousand — signifies the will of serving, aud of action 
with them. Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed 
twelve thousand — signifies spiritual love, which is 
love towards the neighbor with them. Of the tribe 
of Levi were sealed twelve thousand — signifies the 
affection of truth derived from good, from whence 
comes intelligence with them. Of the tribe of Issa- 
char were sealed twelve thousand — signifies s;ood 
of life with them. Of the tribe of Zebulon were 
sealed twelve thousand — signifies the conjugial love 
of good and truth with them. Of the tribe of Jo- 
seph were sealed twelve thousand — signifies the 
doctrine of good and truth with them. Of the tribe 
of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand — signifies 
the life of truth according to doctrine with them."* 

My readers, I am sure, will not require any further 
specimens of this kind of interpretation ; although it 
would be easy to multiply them to almost any ex- 
tent. 

To this method of interpreting Scripture — this 
taking of plain, common words, and attaching to 



* Apocalypse Revealed, § Ml. 



INTERP1USTATION OF SCKIPTUEE. 



60 



them new and hidden senses — the most weighty 
objections may be urged. To ordinary minds, these 
senses, as I said, seem nearly, if not wholly, arbi- 
trary. Without doubt, there is a sufficient resem- 
blance or analogy between certain external and in- 
ternal objects, to lay a foundation for the use of 
metaphors, comparisons and other figures of speech. 
But the language of the Bible is not wholly figura- 
tive, much less has it, throughout, the hidden senses 
which Swedeuborgians ascribe to it. The very fact 
that these ai - e said to be hidden senses implies that 
there are no obvious resemblances on which they are 
founded ; and in attempting to trace such resem- 
blances or correspondences, as in the examples above 
given, there is a necessity for substituting numerous 
meanings, which are wholly arbitrary. A garden, a 
grove, a wood, the olive, the vine, the cedar, the 
poplar, and half the other words contained in the 
" Dictionary of Correspondences," may be made 
either of them to denote twenty things, with just as 
much propriety as those things which they are said 
to signify. 

This method of interpretation is, moreover, unrea- 
sonable. If one of the inspired writers had occasion, 
for example, to speak of science, why did he not use 
the common word science? Why use the word 
Egypt to denote science, when the proper word 
might be used just as well. Besides, in one of the 
extracts above given, we are told that a wood signi- 



70 



SWEDENBOBGIANISM EXAMINED. 



ties science. Here, then, we have Egypt and a wood 
both signifying the same thing, and signifying that 
to which neither of them has the least obvious anal- 
ogy or affinity. And if "Egypt signifies what is 
scientific, and Assyria what is rational, and Edom 
what is natural, and the Philistines faith without 
charity," in the books of the Kings, why should they 
not signify the same in the books of Chronicles ? 
And why must the Chronicles be set aside, as not 
admitting of the mystical interpretation, while the 
kindred books of Samuel and the Bangs are retained ? 

"Will it be said that the books of the Chronicles 
are set aside, because they are filled up, to so great 
an extent with proper names ? But proper names, 
with Swedenborg, are among the most fruitful 
sources of spiritual instruction. "Adam, Sheth, 
Enoch, Kenan, Mahalaleel, Jared," all have a spirit- 
ual import assigned them in the book of Genesis ; 
and why should they not have the same in the first 
book of the Chronicles? 

I object farther to this method of interpretation, 
that it puts it into the power of ingenious, fanciful, 
designing men, to make anything or nothing of the 
Scriptures, as they please. The revelations of God 
are made to us through the medium of icords — 
words used in their ordinary and established senses, 
as understood at the time when the revelations were 
delivered. If now we break in upon the established 
meaning of words, and use them in new, strange, 



INTERPRETATION OP SCRIPTURE. 



71 



unauthorized senses, we destroy the medium through 
which revelation comes to us, and thereby nullify 
revelation itself. The Bible is no longer a safe guide 
in matters of religion, because nothing can be deter- 
mined by it. To be sure, there are many good words 
in the Bible, but then each of these words may 
mean some half a dozen things ; and if any do not 
like either of these meanings, they may, with the 
same propriety, add half a dozen more. 

I know it is said, that the spiritual senses of Swe- 
denborg are founded on correspondences, and that 
correspondences, with him, have all the precision 
and exactness of a science. But an hour's attention 
to the "Dictionary of Correspondences" is enough 
to refute this pretense forever. * Indeed, it is suffi- 
ciently refuted, in the extracts from Swedenborg 
which have been given. We have seen him, not only 
using words in the most strange and arbitrary senses, 
but dropping these senses at pleasure, and substitut- 
ing others, and frequently setting all sense and con- 
sistency at defiance. 

The history of allegorical, mystical interpretation 
is highly instructive, and goes to confirm the views 

* Correspondence is denned to be " the connexion between spi- 
ritual causes, and natural effects." Thus, " a city, a chariot, a 
bow, each signifies a doctrine." Hence, " a doctrine is a cause, 
one effect of which is a chariot," another a city, another a bow. 
See Tulk's Spiritual Christianity, p. 9. But how a doctrine can 
be the producing cause of a chariot, a city, or a bow, I leave to 
the advocates of the pretended science of correspondences to 
explain. 



n 



SWEDEN BORGIANI.S1I EX A M 1 X ED. 



which have been presented. We first find it among 
the old Hindoo and Grecian philosophers, who at- 
tempted to allegorize the fables of their mythology, 
and draw out from them lessons of wisdom. We 
next find it among the Alexandrian Jews, before the 
commencement of the Christian era. Many of these 
Jews had become philosophers ; and by the philoso- 
phy of the times had sadly corrupted their religion. 
They had so corrupted it, that they found it impossi- 
ble to support it by a fair interpretation of their 
sacred books. Their religious systems and their 
Bibles would not go together. It was in this dilemma 
that they resorted to the expedient of interpreting 
their Scriptures mystically, allegorically. By under- 
valuing and decrying the obvious sense of Scripture, 
and searching after hidden, fanciful meanings, they 
were able to reconcile their Bibles to any system of 
philosophy which their inclinations led them to 
adopt. 

Precisely the same causes operated to give cur- 
rency to this kind of interpretation in the Christian 
church. The learned teachers at Alexandria, and in 
some other of the Eastern cities, assumed the char- 
acter, the name, and the peculiar garb of philoso- 
phers. Their religion was a divine philosophy. By 
the mingling of heathen philosophy, the pure Chris- 
tian system was soon corrupted ; and then the alle- 
gorical interpretations must be introduced, to recon- 
cile the gospel to the new and strange dogmas which 
were entertained. 



IN'TKUPlUiTATION OF SCK1PTUKE. 



73 



I do not say that Swedenborg borrowed his inter- 
pretations from those of Origen and his school, 
though there is a remarkable similarity between 
them, * and some of his followers speak of the alle- 
gorizers of antiquity as his exemplars, and mention 
them with high honor, f Neither do I say that he was 
influenced by the same motives with them, to adopt 
their methods of interpretation. I am willing to 
believe that he meant to honor the inspired word, 
attributing to it a secret, spiritual sense ; and that 

* Origen like Swedenborg, taught that there is "a two-fold 
world, a visible a«d an invisible, and that the one is emblematic 
of the other." "The heavenly, mystical world is above, and 
corresponds in all its parts with the lower world, which was 
formed after its model." Here is the radical principle of Swe- 
denborg's whole system of correspondences. Origen further taught, 
like Swedenborg, that " the Scriptures resemble man. As man 
consists of three parts, a rational mind, a sensitive soul, and a 
visible body ; so the Scriptures have a three-fold sense," a.literal, 
a moral, and a mystical or spiritual ; or, as Swedenborg states 
it, a literal, a spiritual, and a celestial. In their endeavors to 
exalt the hidden sense, or senses, both Origen and Swedenborg 
were led to depreciate the literal sense. Some portions of Scrip- 
ture, they both said, have no literal sense or meaning whatever. 
There are af«o quite as much precision and system in Origen's in- 
terpretations, as in those of Swedenborg. Indeed, in many in- 
stances, they are much the same. Compare his Homilies on Gen- 
esis and Exodus, with Swedenborg's Commentaries on the same 
hooks, in his Arcana Celestia. See also Mosheim's Comment, de 
Rebus Christianorum, p 629, &c. 

t See Preface to Arcana Celestia, vol. 1. Edition of 1794. Also 
Noble on Inspiration, pp. 63 — 66, 388. Also Barrett's Lectures, 
p. 16-1. 



74 



SWBDKNBOKG1AHISM EXAMINED. 



his followers, in general, mean the same. But I am 
constrained in all sincerity to say, that I think their 
system goes well nigh to destroy the Scriptures. 
They reject nearly one half of our sacred hooks, 
"while their principles of interpretation goto confuse, 
and render almost valueless, the other half. 

But I hare still other objections to the system of 
Swedenhorg, in its bearing upon the holy Scriptures. 
It leads those w ho adopt it, not only to undervalue 
the plain, obvious sense of the Bible, but to decry it, 
speak evil of it, and treat it much after the manner 
of infidels. This assertion I might justify by nu- 
merous quotations, but I need only refer to the lec- 
tures of Mr. Barrett. He not only insists, but en- 
deavors at considerable length to show, that the 
sacred "writers, according to the literal and obvious 
meaning of their words, contradict each other palpa- 
bly and often ; that they contradict credible history 
and the teachings of true science ; that they contain 
many things which are of an immoral character and 
tendency, and utterly unworthy of God to reveal. * 

Such then is the character, and such the fruits of 
the mystical, allegorizing method of interpretation, 
such they have always been. These principles of 

* See Barrett's Lectures, pp- 122 — 130. Also Xoble on Inspi- 
ration, Lectures Land VL It is remarkable that Mr. Barrett's 
objections to the literal sense of Scripture are, in general, the 
same that were urged, years ago, by Thomas Paine, against the 
Scriptures themselves ; and a full answer to them may be found 
in the several Replies which were then given to Paine's " Age of 
Reason." 



INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURK. 



76 



interpretation lead those who adopt them to speak 
disparagingly of the literal and proper sense of the 
Scriptures, at the same time, they go to unsettle and 
confound their meaning, and render them compara- 
tively valueless. 



CHAPTER Y. 



OBJECTIONS TO THE CLAIMS AND DOCTRINES OF SWE- 
DENBORG CONTINUED. 

Objection 4. 

My next objection to the system of Swedenborg 
is, that he discards much important Scriptural truth, 
and inculcates on many points, essential error. Al- 
though much of this may be gathered from the gen- 
eral statement of doctrine exhibited in chapter II. 
it will still be necessary, to go into the subject more 
particularly. 

1. Swedenborg denies the Christian doctrine of 
the Trinity, insisting that the one God exists in one 
person only, and that this person is the Lord Jesus 
Christ. He speaks, indeed, of a kind of Trinity ; 
but his Trinity is entirely and confessedly different 
from the commonly received doctrine, which he ev- 
ery where repudiates with abhorrence. 

2. Rejecting the Trinity, Swedenborg must of ne- 
cessity, reject the personality, and appropriate work 
of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, he says, is 



ANGELS. 



77 



" the divine love and the divine wisdom, proceeding 
from the Lord as a sun, and causing light and heat 
in heaven." Swedenborg taught that "the influ- 
ence which is usually referred directly to the Spirit 
of God, is imparted through the intermediate agency 
of created spirits, whose nature it is to flow into oth- 
er spirits, and thus form them to the reception of 
good and truth." * 

3. Swedenborg denies the existence of angels, both 
the holy and the fallen, as an order of beings dis- 
tinct from men and superior to them. "The inhab- 
itants of heaven, as well as those of hell, are all of 
the human race, without a single exception. The 
general opinion, that angels were originally create 1 
such, and placed immediately in heaven, without 
having first lived as men in the natural world, and 
that many of them afterwards rebelled, and were cast 
down from heaven, together with the instigator and 
leader of the insurrection, has no foundation what- 
ever in the sacred Scriptures. Every man, accord- 
ing to the quality of his life in the world, becomes, 
after death, either an angel or a devil ; an angel, if 
his life has been good, but a devil, if his life has been 
evil." f 

4. According to the system of Swedenborg, our 
Saviour had- no human soul, and, of course, was not 

* See Bush's Swedenborgian Library, p. 50, Divine Love and 
Wisdom, § 150. Doctrine of the Lord, § 46. 
t &.T Flindmarah's Compendium, p. 104. 



SWEDEJfBORGIJLSlSM EXAillXED. 



properly a human being. " There was this differ- 
ence," says Mr. Noble, "between the Lord Jesus 
Christ, while in a body of flesh on earth, and all or- 
dinary men ; that whereas they take then- soul, or 
spiritual part, from a human father, Jesus Christ, 
haTing no father but the Divine Father, had his soul, 
or internal part, from the divine essence ; and as 
the divine essence is incapable of division, the divine 
essence itself, or the Father, icas in fact his soul or 
internal part ; while his body, or external part, in- 
cluding the affections of the natural man, was all 
that he took from his mother." Again ; "whilst the 
human form which the Lord assumed by birth of the 
virgin, necessarily partook, at first, of her infirmities, 
its soul teas no other than the invisible Jehovah." * 

5. Although Christ is represented as having no 
human soul, yet, strange to tell, he is also represent- 
ed as having been subject, while here on earth, to 
great moral impurities and imperfections. The lit- 
eral David of the Old Testament was, in the spiritual 
sense of Swedenborg, the Christ / and accordingly, 
he interprets the Psalms of David — his supplica- 
tions, misgivings, confessions, complaints — as no 
other than the language of Christ. Thus David's 
confession of sin, in the thirty-second Psalm, is rep- 
resented by Swedenborg as the Lord's " confession 
of infirmities." And so the fifty-first Psalm, from 
the first to the seventh verse, is a a prayer of the 



* Noble's Appeal, pp. 388, 414 



INFIRMITIES AND IMPERFECTIONS. 



79 



Lord, that he may be purified from the infirmities 
which he had inherited from his mother." * I can 
hardly see why the equivocal word infirmities should 
have been used here. In the Psalms referred to, 
there is a humble confession of sin ; and if the lan- 
guage is Christ's, then he confessed his sins. 

The language of Swedenborg's followers on this 
subject is even less guarded than his own. Mr. Reed 
says, " As our Lord was born of a woman, he inher- 
ited from her the evils of the Jewish nation." f 

Mr. Noble speaks of the infirmities and imperfec- 
tions which our Lord inherited from his mother, f 
Mr. Barrett teaches that Christ assumed " humanity, 
with all its evil loves and false persuasions ; and as 
to that humanity, put himself in every possible state 
that man ever has been in, or can be." Following 
Christ "must mean, that we are to fight against and 
remove the evils and fhlses appertaining to our nat- 
ural man, as he fought against and removed the evils 
and falses which appertained to his natural or as- 
sumed humanity" Again, " the steps by Avhich the 
Lord glorified his human were a series of temptation 

* Summary Exposition, &c., pp. 75, 79. Mr. Noble repre- 
sents our Saviour as in doubt, at times, whether he could ever ac- 
complish the work of human salvation. Appeal, p. 391. And 
Swedenborg repeatedly represents him as in despair. He inter- 
prets no less than fourteen passages in the Old Testament, as re- 
ferring to our Lord's " temptations, even to despair ".' .' See 
Summary Exposition, &c, p. 129. 

t Growth of Mind, p. 157. 



80 SWEDEXBOBGIAXISil EXAMINED. 

combats, or a constant warfare against those lxfer- 
nal principles, of which his maternal humanity 
was full." " His assumed human nature, like the 
human nature of other men, was by iuheritance full 
of impure and unhallowed principles, which need- 
ed to be subdued, or put away." Speaking of Christ 
after his resurrection, Mr. Barrett says, "He had 
put off all the impurities that ajipertain to men on 
earth, but there were impurities of a more subtle and 
interior nature, such as appertain to spirits and an- 
gels, which had not yet been wholly put off." * I 
have quoted the more largely in regard to the alleg- 
ed impurity and imperfection of our Lord's human 
nature, because I apprehend there is no point of Swe- 
denborgian divinity, which will appear so strange 
and shocking to the whole Christian world as this. 
That immaculate personage, who is declared by the 
apostles to have been " holy, harmless, undefiled — 
without blemish and without spot," is here repre- 
sented as under the influence of "■evil loves and false 
persuasions" — as '•'■not yet pure and holy" — as 
"full of impure, unhallowed, and even of infernal 
principles " / / 

6. The Scriptures represent the sins of men as in 
some way way connected with the fall of their first 
parents. "By the offense of one, judgment came 
upon all men to condemnation. By one marts dis- 
obedience, many were made sinners." Rom. v : 18, 
19. But according to Swedenborg, the sins and cor- 

* Lecture?, pp. 30o, 319 — 321, 302. 



PREDESTINATION. 



81 



ruplions of men are in no way connected with the 
fall of Adam, but with the sins of their immediate 
progenitors. " The origins whence sins are heredi- 
tarily derived, are as many as there are fathers and 
mothers in the world." " What reason for deducing 
the origin of all evils from Adam and his seed? Is 
there not equal reason to derive it from parents ? 
Does not their seed, in like manner, propagate itself? 
Whence does each derive his peculiar disposition, 
but from his father and mother ? Why then is it to 
be traced to Adam," — a personage who, according 
to Swedenborg, never lived, but " by whom is de- 
noted the first church upon the earth ? " * 

7. To the doctrine of predestination or election, as 
set forth in the Scriptures, SAvedenborg and his fol- 
lowers are exceedingly opposed. "Predestination 
is a birth, conceived and brought forth from the faith 
of the j>resent church ; because it originates in a be- 
lief of instantaneous salvation by an immediate act 
of mercy, and in a belief that man has not the small- 
est degree of ability or free-will in spiritual things. 
Predestination follows from these tenets, as one fiery 
serpent from another, or one spider from another." f 
Mr. Hargrove represents predestination as " the last 
rattle in the tail of the great red dragon, which 
standeth before the woman " (or the New Church) 
" ready to devour her man child." J 

* Appendix to True Chris. Religion, § 35. 
t Brief Exposition, &c, § 66. 
t Sermon, &c, p. 20. 



82 



SWEDEXB0EGIAX1SM EXAMINED. 



8. Swedenborg denies the proper atonement of 
Christ, as consisting in his vicarious sufferings and 
death. That this is true, no reader of his theologi- 
cal works can for a moment doubt. But to set forth 
his real views on the important subject of man's re- 
demption is not so easy a task. Perhaps the most 
unexceptionable mode of attempting the thing, will 
be to let him and his followers speak for themselves. 
" The first act of redemption," says he, " was the sub- 
jugation of the hells. The second act of redemp- 
tion was the separation of the evil from the good, 
the casting of the evil into hell, and the raising of 
the good to heaven. Afterwards followed the re- 
duction of all to order in hell, and of all to order in 
heaven ; also instructions concerning truths which 
will be of faith, and in goods which will be of chari- 
ty, and thus the establishment of a new church."* 
Again : " The Lord came into the world, to reduce to 
order all things in heaven and in earth ; and this 
was effected by spiritual combats against the hells, 
which at that time infested every man on his en- 
trance into this world and departure out of it." t 
Mr. Hindmarsh says, " The work of redemption did 
not consist in the Son's offering himself as a sacrifice 
in the room of mankind ; " but "in the actual subju- 
gation of the powers of darkness, in the orderly ar- 
rangement of the heavens, and in the consequent 

* General Summary, pp. 29 — 33. 
t Doctrine of the Lord, § 1-4. 



CIIKIST's -MISSION. 



83 



foundation of a new spiritual church un earth."* 
Mr. Cliesold says, " Since the atonement wrought 
by Jesus Christ was no other than the reconciliation 
of the human nature to the divine, so this reconcili- 
ation was a progressive work, which was finally com- 
pleted by the passion of the cross. Jesus Christ is 
our great archetype, our exemplar, which we are to 
follow. We are, therefore, called upon to work in 
ourselves, in our human nature, the same kind of 
work which he wrought in his ; he after an infinite 
manner, we after a finite." f Mr. Barrett says ; 
"Christ came into this natural world in a bodily 
form ; clothed himself with the natural humanity — 
defiled, borne down and oppressed with evils of all 
kinds, as that humanity was ; and by degrees puri- 
fied it from all its defilements, and filled every re- 
gion of it with his own divinity. Thus he glorified 
that humanity, or made it divine. He came as the 
Word — as truth divine or the Son; and by a series 
of temptation combats, he successively united that 
truth with love divine, or the Father, in the assum- 
ed humanity ; that so he might thenceforward, be 
able to unite truth in the understanding with love 
in the will, in the minds of all men who will permit 
him to do so ; and in this way gradually lead men 
back to their original happy state of conjunction 
with the Lord, which is heavenly and eternal life." + 

* Compendium, p. 26. 
t Letter &c. p. 47. 
\ Lectures, p. 301 



» 



84 SWEDEN'KOKGIANISM EXAMINED. 

I have presented these extracts, that my readers 
might have the doctrine of Swedenborgian redemp- 
tion set before them in the words of its own teach- 
ers. I am not sure the language will all be an- 
derstood, or that I could rightly explain it, if I 
should make the attempt. It is obvious enough, 
however, that the process of redemption, according 
to Swedenborg, is entirely different from that of 
the Scriptures, as these are understood by evangel- 
ical Christians. 

9. The regeneration which Swedenborg inculcates 
is a gradual, and not an instantaneous work, — a pro- 
gressive improvement of moral and religious charac- 
ter. " The regeneration of a man," says he, " is not 
effected in a moment, but successively, from the be- 
ginning to the end of life in the world : and after 
that, it is continued and perfected." " Those who 
conceive otherwise of regeneration do not know any- 
thing concerning charity and faith." * 

10. Justification by faith is another of the great 
doctrines of revelation, Avhich Swedenborg impugns 
and rejects. " The popular doctrine of justification 
by faith," says Mr. Clissold, " is one which we con- 
sider contrary to God's word, and contrary to the 
real nature and constitution of things." f Mr. Par- 
sons calls it, " the dreadful doctrine of salvation by 
faith alone," which "the Reformers placed in the 

* True Christian Religion, § 610, 586. 
t Letter &c. , p. 49. 



THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 



So 



center of their religion. It stood there, with all its 
deformity undisguised, all its power to wound and 
slay unmitigated. It stood there as the abomination 
Of desolation, in the very sanctuary of the temple."* 
u Let every one beware," says Swedenborg, " of this 
heresy, that man is justified by faith toithout the 
deeds of the law / for he who is in it and does not 
fully recede from it before life ends, after death con- 
sociates with infernal genii / for they are the goats 
concerning whom the Lord says ; Depart from me, 
ye cursed, into everlasting fire." f 

SAvedenborg held the unscriptural doctrine of an 
intermediate state, between heaven and hell, into 
which (with few exceptions) the souls of men de- 
part at death, and where they remain for a time, be- 
fore entering on the awards of eternity. I call this 
an unscriptural doctrine ; for I find not a particle 
of evidence in support of it, in either the Old Testa- 
ment or the New. And Mr. Bush is of the same 
opinion. " That we have no express disclosures of 
the conditions of this state in the Scriptures," says 
he, " is not a valid argument against the truth of 
Swedenborg's representations ; for it is impossible to 

* Essays, p. 163. 

t Apocalypse Revealed, § 838 In another place Swedenborg 
denominates tlie clergy who preach the doctrine of justification by 
faith " Abaddons and Apollyons — "angels of the abyss." 
They " are Leviathans, crooked Leviathans, whom the Lord will 
visit with his hard and great sword. True Chris. Religion, 
§ 182. 



86 



SWEDEXBORGIA.NISM EXAMINED. 



show that there may not be truths in regard to our 
future existence which are not revealed in the Bi- 
ble." * Mr. Bush had forgotten, when he penned 
this sentence, that it is one of the canons of the New 
Church theology, that " all doctrines must be drawn 
and proved, and all controversies decided by the lit- 
eral sense of the word." f 

The intermediate state of Swedenborg, he denom- 
inates " the spiritual world," or " world of spirits ; " 
and no inconsiderable part of his revelations has res- 
pect to transactions here. " There are three states," 
he says, " through which a man passes after death, 
previous to his coming either into heaven, or into 
hell. The first state is that of his exteriors y the sec- 
ond is that of his interiors y and the third is that of 
his preparation y all which states man passes through 
in the world of spirits. The first state of man after 
death is similar to his state in this world. He has a 
similar face, similar speech, and a similar mind ; 
hence it is that he then knows no other than that he 
is still in the world ; unless he adverts to those 
things which present themselves, and to what is told 
him by the angels, that he is now a spirit." " The 
second state of man after death is called the state of 
the interiors y because he is then let into the interi- 
ors, which are of his mind, or of the will and thought; 

* Swedenborg Library, p. 46. 

t Noble on Inspiration, p. SO. See also True Christ. Relig- 
ion, § 229. Div. Providence, § 256. 



RESCRRECT10X. 



87 



and the exteriors in which he had been in his first 
state, are laid asleep." It is in this state, that the 
peal character of the man is developed, and it comes 
to be seen for what world he is preparing. " The 
third state of man after death is a state of instruc- 
tion. This state appertains to those who come into 
heaven, and become angels, but not to those who 
come into hell ; since these latter cannot be instruct- 
ed." 

VI. Swedenborg denied the doctrine of the future 
resurrection of the body, holding that man is raised, 
as to his spirit, shortly after death,* and that the 
body returns to dust, to live no more. " It is the 
common belief," says Mr. Hindmarsh, " that the ma- 
terial body which is committed to the grave, will rise 
again at the day of judgment;" but this, he goes on 
to say, is " a vain idea." " The external (the body) 
is rejected at death, and being no longer needful, is 
never re-assumed." f 

13. The Scriptures assure us that this earth, as to 
its present organization, is to be destroyed by fire ; 
and that simultaneously with this great catastrophe, 
there is to be a general judgment, to be accomplish- 
ed, hi person, by the Lord Jesus Chiist. But this 
solemn truth, or rather this series of connected 

* Swedenborg taught that the soul, commonly, does not leave 
the body, until " th.e third day" after the heart ceases to beat. 
True Chris. Religion, § 281. 

t Compendium, pp '.'7, '.*9. 



88 



SWEDEXBORGIAN1SM EXAMINED. 



truths, Swedenborg and his followers unitedly re- 
ject. This world is to have "no end."* The sec- 
ond coining of Christ " denotes, not his personal ap- 
pearance in the air, but his appearance in the opened 
truths of the Word ; " and this appearance is now 
past. The last judgment, too, has already taken 
place, not on earth, but in the spiritual world. Of 
this, Swedenborg was an eye-witness, in the year 
1757. f 

According to Swedenborg, there have been sever- 
al general judgments, previous to that of which he 
was a witness. " The first was the judgment of the 
most ancient church, when all charity and faith per- 
ished ; and which is described, in Genesis, under the 
similitude of a flood." To this succeeded the an- 
cient church, which existed in the posterity of Noah, 
and came to its consummation, by the many idola- 
tries which it originated. The judgment uj)on the 
Zsraelitish church, took place at the time of our 
Lord's appearing in the world. I The last judgment 
upon the Christian church, (and there is to be no 
other general judgment) took place, as before re- 
marked, in 1757. 

The scene of these several judgments is, in every 
case, in the intermediate state, or spiritual world. 
Into this world all, or nearly so, enter at death ; and 

* Noble's Appeal, p. 122. 

t Last Judgment, § 45. 

t Hindmarsh' Compendium p. 138. 



JUDGMENT. 



89 



formerly, the spirits remained there for a long time ; 
some of them from one general judgment to another. 
The consequence was, that in process of years, the 
spiritual world became excessively crowded ; and as 
wickedness more and more abounded on the earth, 
it became disproportionally filled up with evil spir- 
its. In such circumstances, a judgment was needed, 
in order that there might be a kind of jail delivery ; 
when the wicked should be driven out of the spirit- 
ual world, to their final abodes in hell, and the good, 
(who still remained in that world) should be receiv- 
to heaven. 

To prevent the necessity of any future general 
judgment, it is now ordained (so Swedenborg assures 
us) that no person henceforth shall remain in the 
spiritual world for more than thirty years. * 

I have shown, under the foregoing particulars, how 
much important scriptural truth is discarded in the 
theology of Swedenborg. On numerous minor 
points, he directly contradicts the teachings of tin- 
Bible. 

For example, the sacred writers assert, that " the 
Lord hath made all things for himself" and that 
u for his pleasure they are and they were created." 
Prov. xvi: 4. Rev. iv : 11. But Swedenborg 
says, " the Lord did not create the universe for his 
own sake, but for the sake of those with whom he 
will dwell in heaven." f 

* See Appendix to true Chris. Religion, 
t Divine Providence, § 27. 



90 



SWEDENBORGJAXISM EXAMINED. 



Paul assures us that " the invisible things of God 
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that 
are made, even his eternal power and Godhead ; " 
Rom. i : 20. But Swedenborg affirms that " with- 
out the word no one can know God, or know any- 
thing of the Lord ;" in short, that there is no such 
thing possible as natural theology. * 

Our Saviour represented it as exceedingly difficult 
for a rich man to go to heaven. " It is easier for a 
camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a 
rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." Luke, 
xviii : 25. But Swedenborg says, " It has been giv- 
en me to know, of a certainty, that the rich come in- 
to heaven as easily as the poor ; " and he goes on 
to describe the manner in which many rich people 
live in heaven, "excelling all others in opulence, 
dwelling in palaces, and enjoying an abundance of 
all things." f 

Our Saviour declared that " in the resurrection, 
they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but 
are as the angels of God in heaven," Matt., xxii : 30. 
But Swedenborg insists that the spirits of heaven do 
marry, and not only marry, but have children.}: He 

* Sacred Scriptures, § 114. 
t Heaven and Hell, § 357, 361. 

% Spiritual offspring, of course. On one occasion, Swedenborg 
heard certain novitiates in heaven ask the angelic spirits " wheth- 
er, from ultimate delights, any offspring were born there. The 
spirits answered that there were not any natural offspring, but 
spiritual o-fspriig. In another place, Swedenborg calls these 



HEAVEN. 



91 



was himself present at a wedding in heaven, and de- 
scribes the dresses of the bride and bridegroom, the 
cake and the wine, and all the ceremonies of the joy- 
ous occasion.* 

The heaven of the Scriptures is represented as a 
place of unspotted purity. " There shall in nowise 
enter into it any thing that defileth, neither what- 
soever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie." Rev. 
xxi : 27. But the heavens of Swedenborg are not 
of this character. They are continually assaulted 
and in some instances infested, by the hells. He 
speaks, in one place, of seeing " an execrable rabble 
in heaven." He tells us also of some visitors in one 
of the heavens, — males, of course, — who became 
so unchaste and wanton in their desires, that the la- 
dies of the place avoided them. \ 

Again; the heaven of the Scriptures is represent- 
ed as a place of unmingled happiness. "God shall 
wipe away all tears from their eyes ; and there shall 
be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, 

spiritual offspring, "spiritual prolifications ; " and adds, "If 
you are willing to believe it, natural prolifications are also from 
that origin." Conjugial Love, pp. 46, 104. Hence Dir. Ilind- 
rnarsh is led to say, that the " spiritual offspring brought forth 
in heaven, terminate in, and are adjoined to, their proper recep- 
tive forms, in the natural world. 
* Conj. Love, § 20. 

t See New Church Repository, Vol. vi, p. 179. 
% Apoc. Revealed, § 611. Heaven and Hell, § 505. Conj. 
Love, § 22, 146. 



SWEDEXBORGIANTSM EXAMINED. 



neither shall there be any more pain ; for the former 
things are passed away," Rev. xxi. 4. But the 
heavens of Swedenborg are as far from unmingled 
happiness, as they are from perfect hoUness. To 
give but a single example : " The lot of those in 
whom the spiritual degree is not opened, and still 
not shut, after death is that forasmuch as they are 
still natural, and not spiritual, they are in the lowest 
parts of heaven, where they sometimes experience 
severe suffering" * 

Swedenborg taught that " no one suffers punish- 
ment in hell on account of the evils which he had 
done in the world, but on account of the evils which 
he then does." f But Paul says : " We must all ap- 
pear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every 
one may receive the things done in the body, accord- 
ing to that he hath done, whether it be good or 
evil." 2 Cor. v. 9. 

Swedenborg represents the damned, who toil well 
and fulfill their tasks, as furnished not only with food 
and clothing, but with beds on which to rest and 
sleep. % But in the Apocalypse it is said that " they 
have no rest, day nor night, but the smoke of their 
torment ascendeth up for ever and ever." Rev. xiv . 
11. 

It is an oft repeated sentiment of Swedenborg, 

* Divine Love and Wisdom, § 253. 
t Heaven and Hell, § 509. 

t See Conj. Love, § 80. Ath. Creed, § 112. Noble's Appeal, 
p. 346. 



THE BIBLE SET ASIDE. 



93 



that the inhabitants of hell are as much in error, as 
in sin. Not only does the heart, in that world, love 
what is evil, but the understanding believes what is 
false.* The New Testament, however, teaches a 
different doctrine. "I know thee who thou art, the 
Holy One of God." Luke iv. 34. "The devils also 
believe and tremble." James ii. 19. 

I might adduce many examples similar to those 
which have been given, but it is not . necessary. 
Swedenborg did not hesitate, when it suited his pur- 
pose, to set aside the plain teachings and doctrines 
of the Bible. As Mr. Hindmarsh says : " Many parts 
of the Bible are to be understood in a sense diamet- 
rically opposite to the expression in the letter ; as 
when it is said that God is angry, that he punishes, 
casts into hell and destroys, the true sense is, that 
God is loving and merciful to all, hating none, pun- 
ishing none, casting none into hell, destroying 
none."* 



* Divine Love and Wisdom, § 397. 



CHAPTER VI. 



OBJECTIONS TO THE CLAIMS AND DOCTRINES OS" 
SWEDENBORG CONTINUED. 

Objection 5. 

I object further to the claims of Swedenborg, that 
while he pretended to utter revelations from heaven, 
he palpably misrepresented the doctrines of others. 
Supposing him to have had true revelations, his 
utterances might not agree with the doctrines of 
others. They would not agree, unless such doctrines 
were at an agreement with the truth. But, certainly, 
the angels of heaven, and much more the Lord of 
heaven, if intending to contradict or refute the doc- 
trines of others, would state those doctrines fairly, 
they would not misrepresent and slander their oppo- 
nents, they would set forth their errors accurately 
and truly, and thus refute their reed sentiments, and 
not a mere caricature and perversion of them. The 
correctness of these principles no one can deny. 

Now the point of my objection to the claims of 
Swedenborg to divine revelation is, that he grossly 



EXPLANATION OF THE CREED. 



misrepresents the doctrines he opposes, especially 
those of the Reformed Churches. He does not state 
them accurately or fairly. For example, he almost 
invariably represents trinitarians as believing in 
" three Gods" — " each of whom singly is God and 
Lord " — " each one a God by himself." In short, he 
represents them as tritheists, and affirms that they 
can not be anything else.* I need not say that all 
this is gross misrepresentation. The angels could 
not have taught him this, unless they taught him a 
lie. The doctrine of one God is as integral a part 
of the doctrine of the trinity, as is that of three per- 
sons in one God. Men may be tritheists and poly- 
theists, if they will ; but trinitarians they can not be, 
unless they believe in one God. 

Swedenborg not only charged his opponents with 
tritheism, but affirmed that this was taught in the 
Nicene and Athanasian creeds. "The unity of God 
is not divided into three persons, each of whom, 
singly, is God and Lord, according to the Athana- 
sian creed" " At the council in the city of Nice was 
forged and produced the heresy, as yet persisting, 
that there were three divine persons from eternity, 
and each one a God by himself? Now the truth is, 
that in neither the Nicene nor the Athanasian creeds 
are the persons of the trinity represented as exist- 
ing singly, each by himself. The Son is declared to 
be (omoousion,) of one substance with the Father. 

* See Brief Exposition, § 30. True Chris. Religion, §§ 138, 
487, 647. Apoc. Revealcrl, § 537. 



SWEDEXBOKGIAN'I.SM EXAMINED. 



Neither of the persons of the Trinity subsists by 
himself ; of course, neither of themisa God by himself '. 
Such is the unequivocal representation of the creeds 
referred to ; and in charging tritheisin ujion them, 
Swedenborg slanders them. 

Again ; the Protestant churches, he says, " make 
God three, and the Lord two, and place salvation, 
not in amendment of life, but in certain words 
breathed out in a devout tone of voice ; consequent- 
ly, not in repentance, but in a confidence that they 
are justified and sanctified, provided they do but fold I 
their hands, and look upwards, and utter some cus- 
tomary form of prayer." * A grosser slander of the 
Protestant churches could not possibly have been 
uttered. 

In the following passage, Swedenborg not only 
perverts the doctrine of the trinity, but profanely 
ridicules it. "■ The absurd, ludicrous and frivolous 
ideas which have arisen from the doctrine of three 
persons from eternity, and which arise with every 
one who remains in the belief of the words of that 
doctrine, and from the eyes and ears rise up into the 
sight of the thought, are these : That God the Father 
sits above the head on high, and the Son at his right 
hand, and the Holy Ghost before them, listening, and 
forthwith running all over the world ; and according 
to their decision, he dispenses the gifts of justifica- 
tion, and inscribes them and makes thenf froin sons 



* Apocalypse Revealed, § 263. 



EXPLANATION OF THE CREED. 



97 



of wrath, sons of grace, and from condemned, elect. 
I appeal to the learned of the clergy and of the laity, 
whether they entertain any other than this ideal view 
in their minds." * And I appeal to learned trinita- 
rians, the world over, whether they ever entertained 
such a view as this ; and whether they can consider 
the imputation of it in any other light than as a gross 
scandal ! 

Swedenborg falsely represents the Reformed 
churches as holding and teaching " that man, in his 
" conversion, is like a stock, a stone, a statue, and that 
he cannot so much as accommodate and apply him- 
self to receive grace, but is like something that has 
not the use of any of the senses." f 

Again; " It is taught that the imputation of the 
merit of Christ is from an arbitrary election." " The 
imputation at this day, takes away from man all 
power from any free agency in spiritual things, and 
does not leave him even so much, that he can shake 
off fire from his clothes, keep his body from harm, 
or extinguish his house when on fire, and rescue his 
family? \ 

The believers in predestination, according to Swe- 
denborg, represent God as having " designed that the 
bulk of mankind should be born for hell — born de- 
voted to destruction — born to be devils and satans ;" 
and that he "makes no provision for those who lead 

* Brief Exposition, § 69. 
t Brief Exposition, § 60. 
t True Chris. Religion, §§ 486, 629, 630 
7 



98 



SWEDENBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 



good lives and acknowledge God, whereby they may 
escape everlasting fire and punishment."* 

Some hold, says he, " that the life is of no effect, 
but election ; and that redemption into heaven is of 
mercy alone, whatever the life may have been? 
"They who have believed, and have confirmed them- 
selves in this, that some are chosen, and the rest not 
chosen, and that admission into heaven is only out of 
mercy, without regard to the life" find themselves 
much mistaken in the other world. He describes the 
condition of such in hell. "They are devils," he says, 
" almost without the human form ; some with face 
retracted, some as grates of teeth, and some as mon- 
sters in other shapes. They abhor themselves, and 
cast themselves headlong down into hell, and the 
more deeply, so much the better for them." f I need 
not say that the above passages are but a continual 
tissue of misrepresentations, unworthy of a man of 
common fairness and honesty — impossible to one 
littering divine revelations. 

The following is Swedenborg's caricature — for I 
can give it no better name — of the great doctrine of 
redemption, as held in the Reformed churches. 
" What at this day more fills and crams the books of 
the orthodox, or what is more zealously taught and 
inculcated in the schools, or more frequently preached 
and proclaimed from the pulpits, than that God the 

* Brief Exposition, § 6G. 
t Arcana Celestia, § 50o7. 



EXPLANATION OF THE CREED. 



99 



Father, being arrayed against the human race, not 
only removed it from himself, but also concluded it 
under a universal damnation, and thus excommuni- 
cated it ; but because he is gracious, that he per- 
suaded or excited his Son to descend, and take upon 
himself the determined damnation, and thus appease 
the anger of his Father; «nd that thus, and not 
otherwise, he could look upon man with some 
favor." * 

"The paradoxes flowing from the faith of the 
church," he says, " are many ; as that God the Father 
begat a Son from eternity, that the Holy Spirit pro- 
ceeds from both, and that each of these three is a 
person by himself and a God: That the above three 
persons, consequently three Gods, created the uni- 
verse ; and that one of them descended and assumed 
human nature, to reconcile the Father, and thus save 
mankind : That they who by grace obtain faith, and 
believe these paradoxes, are saved by the imputation, 
application, and translation of his righteousness to 
themselves : That man, at his first reception of faith 
is like a statue, a stock, or a stone, and that faith 
comes by the mere hearing of the word : That faith 
produces remission of sins, without any previous re- 
pentance ; and that, merely by virtue of such remis- 
sion, the impenitent arc justified, regenerated, and 
sanctified." f 

* True Chris. Religion, § 132. 
t Brief Exposition, § 54. 



100 SWEDEXBORGIAXISJI EXAMINED. 



Swedenborg professed to have learned from the 
angels, that believers in justification by faith alone, 
" from their very principles of religion, have no res- 
pect to the life, and to the deeds of love which make 
the life, neither to any other means by which the 
Lord implants heaven in man, and renders him re- 
eeptible of heavenly joys." * He also learned, that 
such persons "have a certain deep-rooted opposition 
and aversion to actual repentance, which is so obsti- 
nate that they cannot force themselves to self-exam- 
ination, neither can they look at their sins, nor con- 
fess them before God ; for they are seized as it were 
with horror, at the bare mention of such a duty."^f 
On one occasion, he says, " I conversed, in the s\A- 
ritual world, with certain doctors of the church about 
what they meant by works of the law, and what by 
the law, under whose yoke, servitude, and sentence 
they declare themselves not to be. They said they 
meant the works of the law of the decalogue" \ In 
these extracts, the believers in justification by faith 
are represented as having " no respect to the life, or 
to those deeds of love which make the life " — as 
having " a deep-rooted opposition and aversion to 
repentance " — and as thinking themselves under no 
obligations to obey all or either of the ten command- 
ments. 

* Heaven and Hell, § 526. 

t Apocalypse Revealed, § 531. 

X Apocalypse Revealed, §§ 578, 914. 



SWEUEXIiOliG's MISREPRESENTATIONS. 101 



Swedenborg further represents the Reformed 
church, like the Catholic, as inculcating the doctrine 
of implicit faith ; viz., " that the understanding in 
matters of a theological nature, is to see nothing, but 
that people are blindly to believe what the church 
teaches." * 

Swedenborg says, "I have heard Luther, with 
whom I have sometimes conversed in the spiritual 
world, curse Solifidianism, and say that, when he es- 
tablished it, he was warned by an angel of the Lord 
not to do it." Now the truth is, Luther never estab- 
lished Solifidianism. Nothing could have been fur- 
ther from his intention, or his act. On the necessity 
of good works, he insisted as strongly as Sweden- 
borg himself, and in a way much more accordant with 
the gospel, f 

Swedenborg saw Calvin, also, in the sj)iritual world, 
and made him confess that, while on earth, he had 
taught the following doctrines : " That God created 
the greatest part of men for eternal damnation, and 
is unwilling that the greatest part should be convert- 
ed and live : That the elect and regenerate can not 
lose faith and the Holy Spirit, although they should 
commit great crimes, and sins of every kind: But 
that those who are not elected are necessarily 
damned, and can not attain to salvation, although 
they should be baptized a thousand times, and come 

* Divine Providence, § 258. 

t See Augsburg Confession, Articles VL and XX 



102 SWEDENBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 

to the eucharist every day, and besides lead as holy 
and blameless lives as ever can be done" * Now all 
I have to say in regard to this matter is, that if Calvin 
made any such confession in the other world, he con- 
fessed a lie ; for he never taught such doctrines, while 
on the earth. He taught that which his enemies 
wrested and perverted into monstrosities of this na- 
ture ; and two hundred years after his death, the 
good man is made to speak from the other world, 
and acknowledge them as his own legitimate off- 
spring. 

On reviewing the above extracts, I think no intel- 
ligent person can fail to see, that here is a gross and 
continual misrepresentation of the doctrines of evan- 
gelical Christians. I will not say that there was 
absolutely nothing in the faith of Protestant Chris- 
tendom, at the time of Swedenborg, with which some 
part of his statements may agree ; but I do say that, 
for a considerable part of them, there was then, as 
there is now, no foundation in truth ; and most of 
the remainder is so colored, distorted and exaggera- 
ted, as to have all the effect of falsehood. Did Swe- 
denborg then receive it by divine revelation ? Was 
he taught it in heaven, and by the angels ? Impos- 
sible. The thought is not to be admitted for a mo- 
ment. 

Objection 6. 

I object further to the claims of Swedenborg, that 



* True Chris. Religion, § 798. 



SPEAKS REPROACHFULLY OF THE CHURCH. lO'ii 



he speaks reproachfully of the Church of God ; more 
especially of the Israelitish and the Christian 
churches. He says there have been four general 
churches, previous to the New Jerusalem church, 
viz: the Adamic, the Noahtic, the Israelitish and 
the Christian ; each of which has perished in its own 
corruptions. * Of the two former (if they were two) 
we know but little, and have no occasion now to 
speak. Of the two latter we have more knowledge ; 
and it may be well to hear Swedenborg's account of 
them, and see whether it is worthy to be received. 

Speaking of the Israelites he says, " The worship 
of this nation consisted of mere correspondences, 
and thence was representative of heavenly things ; 
but still they did not know tohat anything signified, 
for they were altogether natural men y and hence 
they would not, and could not, know anything con- 
cerning spiritual and heavenly things." f Again ; 
" the mysteries of faith were never revealed to this 
people, so that it was not even declared to them 
openly that they should live after death, or that the 
Lord should come into the world to save them / nay, 
they were kept in so great ignorance and stupor, that 
they did not know that any internal man exists, or 
that tJitre is anything internal. For had they known 

* Swedenborg sometimes speaks of five general churches, ante- 
cedent to the New Church ; introducing a Hebrew church between 
the Noahtic and the Israelitish. See Div. Providence, § 328. 

t True Chris. Religion, § 204. 



104 



SWEDENBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 



these truths, they are a people of such a nature that 
they would have profaned them, and thus precluded 
themselves from all hope of salvation in another 
life." * " The reason why miracles were wrought 
among this people was, because they were altogether 
external men, and were introduced into the land of 
Canaan merely that they might represent a church 
and its internals, by the externals of worship ; and a 
wicked man may be a representative, as well as a 
good man. The reason why they could not be 
brought, by such representation, to the internals of 
worship was, because they did not acknowledge the 
Lord ; although the whole word that was among 
them treateth of him only; and he who doth not 
acknowledge the Lord cannot receive any internal 
worship." f 

As Swedenborg here speaks of the Israelites as 
" altogether natural men," and " external men," and 
their worship as external worship, it may be well 
that he should define his own terms. " Those who 
are in external worship, without internal," says he, 
" are they who frequent churches on Sabbaths and 
festivals, and on such occasions sing and pray, and 
hear sermons, and yet attend only to the language, 
and little or nothing to the substance of what is said ; 
who are somewhat moved by prayers uttered with 
affection, but never reflect upon themselves and the 



* Arcana Celestia, § 301. 
t Divine Providence, § 132. 



SPEAKS REPROACHFULLY OF THE CHURCH. 105 

lives they lead ; who receive the sacrament of the 
Lord's supper every year, pour out prayers morning 
and evening, say grace at dinner and supper, and 
sometimes discourse about God and heaven, and 
quote passages from the word, and act the Christian, 
when they are not such. For as soon as they have 
done these things, they make nothing of adultery and 
obsceneness, revenge and hatred, lies and blas- 
phemy," &c. * 

Such then are " external men," and " natural men f 
and such altogether, according to Swedenborg, were 
the Israelites — the ancient covenant people of God. 
He makes no exceptions, nor does he allow us to 
make any. The representative position which the 
Israelites occupied required that they should be an 
external people ; and they were so. They were se- 
lected on account of their possessing this peculiar 
quality, and most admirably did they exemplify it. 
Henceforward, then, when we think of Moses, and 
Aaron, and Joshua, and Samuel, and David, and 
Solomon, and the ancient prophets, and the whole 
company of those who, "through faith, subdued 
kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, 
stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence 
of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weak- 
ness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, and 
put to flight the armies of the aliens ; " we must, if 
we believe in Swedenborg, think of them as " alto- 



* Apocalypse Revealed, § 85'J. 



106 SWEDEXBOKGIAX1SM EXAMINED. 

gether external men " — -who knew not " that they 
should live after death, or that the Lord would come 
into the world to save them," — who "were kept in 
so great ignorance and stupor, that they did not 
know that any internal man exists, or that there is 
anything internal ; " in short, " who would not, and 
could not, know anything concerning spiritual and 
heavenly things." 

That I do not state this matter too strongly, will 
be evident if we consult one of Swedenborg's ablest 
expositors — Mr. Parsons. " Natural good" says he, 
" is the lowest form of goodness. It is the good of 
external life only. It is such good as a man may do, 
without religion ; or such as he may do, when moved 
by the terms or the hopes of a religion which does 
not leave the earth. This teas the good of the Jew- 
ish church." " He who obeys the laws of God and 
of man merely from a refined selfishness, may lead a 
hfe of entire external good ; and in speaking of it 
under some points of view, we may _call his life a 
good life, yet there is no genuine goodness in him ; 
and his life, accurately speaking, is only the form, the 
representative, of a good life. Just so it teas with 
the Jewish church. It was the exact representative 
of a perfect church." Mr. Parsons goes on to speak 
of the laws, rites and ceremonies of the Jews, of their 
tabernacle, temple, and worship, as indicating things 
true and good ; but they knew nothing of " the 
meaning and purpose of these things," and hence 
" they were exhorted to obey on merely natural, 



SPEAKS REPROACHFULLY OF THE CHURCH. 107 

earthly grounds. The motives held out to them 
were all from this side of the grave. To their eyes, 
no light from the life beyond its dark precincts 
streamed across the gloom." Mr. Parsons proceeds 
to say, what Swedenborg had said before him, that 
the Jews were " a chosen people? not because they 
were a peculiarly good people, nor because any spe- 
cial favors were intended for them, but because they 
were a singularly natural, external people. " They 
were less disposed than any other, to see or know, or 
wish to know, or be moved and influenced by, truths 
that were more than sensual. Their character was 
earthly, and altogether earthly" * 

Having thus seen how Swedenborg and his fol- 
lowers regard the Jewish church, the Zion of the 
Old Testament, we will next inquire into their treat- 
ment of the Christian church — that which was insti- 
tuted by Christ and his Apostles. 

He lays it down as one of his leading propositions, 
"that from the Nicene and Athanasian trinity to- 
gether, a faith arose which has perverted the whole 
church? Another of his leading propositions is this : 
" That the error of believing redemption to consist 
in the passion of the cross, with the error concerning 
the divine persons from eternity, has perverted the 
whole church, so that not anything spiritual is left 
remaining in it. In discussing these propositions, 
Swedenborg says, "that the faith of the present time 



* Essays, pp. 183—186. 



108 SWEDEXBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 

has extinguished the light in the word, and removed 
the Lord from the church, and thus precipitated its 
morning into night." Again, he says that, because 
of this faith, " the ways to heaven are beset with 
thieves and robbers ; and in the temples, the doors 
are thrown down, so that dragons and owls have en- 
tered, and sing together in horrible discord." * He 
further says, that " all the truth of the word is now 
falsified ;" and that " by falsifications of truth, men 
have alienated all spiritual knowledge of good and 
truth from the church*, and by applications to falses, 
have entirely destroyed them" f In another connec- 
tion he says, "When a faith in three Gods was intro- 
duced into the church, which was done at theXicene 
synod, all the good of charity and all the truth of 
faith were exiled. Since that time, the Christian 
temple has not only been shattered, but has fallen 
in ruins." % Indeed, he affirms that, in his time, the 
church had become so totally corrupt, " that unless a 
New Church be established by the Lord, no flesh 
can be saved." 

According to Swedenborg's interpretations, the 
Papal church is the great Babylon of the Apocalypse ; 
and the Protestant churches are those represented 
" by the dragon and his two beasts ; by the locusts ; 
by the great city which is spiritually called Sodom 

* True Chris. Religion, §§ 132, 133, 177, 634. 

t Apocalypse Revealed, §§ 541, 610. 

% True Chris. Religion, §§ 132, 133, 177, 634. 



DESTRUCTION OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 109 

and Egypt ; also by the pit of the abyss whence the 
beasts came forth." These churches are also repre- 
sented by the goats on the left hand of the Judge, 
in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew, who were 
sentenced to depart accursed into everlasting fire.* 

In fine, Swedenborg represents what he calls the 
first Christian church as having come to its end more 
than a hundred years ago. It was judged and des- 
troyed, in the spiritual world, in the year 1757. Then 
it was that great Babylon (the Romish church) fell. 
Then it was that the dragon, the beast, and the false 
prophet (i. e. the Protestant churches) were taken, 
and " cast into a lake of fire burning with brimstone, 
to be tormented day and night for ever and ever." 
There can be no doubt on this point among the fol- 
lowers of Swedenborg; for he declares that he was 
an eye-witness of the whole transaction, and he has 
described it with great particularity.t 

The only question to be decided then is, Are these 
things so ? Has the church, which Christ and his 
Apostles instituted, been spiritually overthrown, for 
more than a hundred years ? During all this time, 
has Christ had no real, spiritual church in the world, 
except the little handful of Swedenborgians ? There 
are church organizations and ordinances indeed ; but 
are they, and have they been, mere dead forms ? Has 
all spiritual life and holiness — everything which goes 
to give vitality and energy to a church, ceased ? 

* Brief Exposition, §§ 83, 87, 91. 

t Ltot Judgment, §§ 53, 60. Continuation, §§ 14—29. 



110 



SWEDENBORGIAXISM EXAMINED. 



I will not degrade myself nor my profession by 
undertaking to answer these questions. Swedenborg 
affirms that it is even so ; for he was present and saw 
the overwhelming ruin. Those who accept his reve- 
lations must believe him ; while those who can not 
believe him in this particular, as well as in others, 
have no alternative but to reject his claims. 



CHAPTER VII. 

OBJECTIONS TO THE CLAIMS AND DOCTRINES OF SWE- 
DENBORG CONTINUED. 

Objection 7. 

My next objection to the claims of Swedenborg 
is founded on his representations in regard to some 
of the best and wisest men that have ever lived on 
the earth. Of the piety of no mere man that ever 
lived can we feel more satisfactorily assured, than 
that of David, — the monarch and the sweet psalm- 
ist of Israel. We have the evidence, not only of his 
recorded religious feelings and devotional exercises, 
but of the divine testimony, given in repeated in- 
stances, and in the most positive terms. * But when 
David had been almost three thousand years dead, 
Swedenborg professed to meet him in the other 
world. And instead of seeing him, as might have 
been expected, among the blessed, he found him an 



* See 1 Kings, xiv. 8. Acts xiii. 22. 



112 SWEDENBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 

insane and outrageous devil, having " only adulte- 
ries and cruelties in his mind" — "intending and 
without conscience contriving evil." He fancied that 
he was a god, and that he had power to bind the 
Lord himself. Under the influence of this "phan- 
tasy," he was hurling down his fellow sinners, and 
inflicting upon them the severest torments. But 
there were some about him who did not accord to 
him divine honors. They said that " he was a dog," 
and that they " were permitted to treat him as a 
dog." * 

With united voice, the whole Christian world has 
spoken of the piety and usefulness of the apostle 
Paul. "When he had been some seventeen hundred 
years dead, Swedenborg found him in the other 
world, and he thus describes his character and state. 
" Paul is among the worst of the apostles, as has 
been made known to me by ample experience. The 
love of self, whereby he was ensnared before he 
preached the gospel, remained with him afterwards. 
He did all things from the end of being greatest in 
heaven, and of judging the tribes of Israel. He is 
such that the rest of the apostles, in the other life, 
reject him from their company, and no longer recog- 
nize him as one of themselves. He associates himself 
with one of the worst devils, who would fain rule all 
things, and pledged himself to this spirit to obtain 
for him his end." Speaking of Paul in another 



* See Bush's Swedenborg Library. Part ii. pp. 70 — 81. 



SLANDKRS PAUL. 



113 



place Swedenborg says : " He now associated him- 
self with the worst devils, and wished to form a 
heaven to himself of spirits, to whom he might give 
joys from himself. This also he attempted, but he be- 
came worse in consequence of it, and was cast down. 
I then spoke to him that this was not heaven, but 
hell ; for such a heaven is turned into a black hell." 
Swedenborg has much to say, in the same strain, of 
the apostle Paul ; and his followers are pretty much 
agreed that Paul must have been a bad character, 
and that he has gone to a bad place. One of them 
says : " As Judas, by perverting the goods and truths 
of the church, accomplished his own destruction, so 
Paul, by claiming a higher mission, and by a longer 
perseverance in evil, associated himself with the worst 
of devils. In this world he would scarce acknowl- 
edge subordination to the Lord himself — certainly 
not to his apostles, but sought to rule over all. So 
in the spiritual sphere, he would naturally aspire to 
build his own heaven, and reign its supreme Lord. 
Swedenborg testifies that he saw him there, con- 
versed with him, and observed the phantasies in 
which he was involved." Swedenborg also testifies 
that this place was " hell — a black hell. * 

Among the eminent men of modern times, it 
would be hard to select three, better entitled to 
the gratitude of the church and world, than Luther, 
Melancthon, and Calvin. Let us now see what ao- 

» See New Church Repository, Vol. 4, pp. 41, 42, 462. 
8 



114 



SWEDEXBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 



count Swedenborg gives of the state and character 
of these men in the other life. 

Of Luther he says, that after he entered the spir- 
itual world, he continued to teach his peculiar dog- 
mas much as he had done on earth, only with in- 
creased earnestness. He was continually surround- 
ed by great multitudes of spirits ; and in order to 
increase his power over them, he resorted to a spe- 
cies of wicked, not to say infernal, incantation. Af- 
ter practicing this a while, the consequences were so 
hurtful, that he was forbidden to resort to it any 
more. For some unexplained reason, Luther was not 
sent to hell at the time of the Judgment, in 1757, 
neither was he received to heaven. Shortly after 
this, he sought an interview with Swedenborg, and 
from him learned that the old church was at an end 
and that a new one was being established. At this 
Luther "became very indignant, and stormed /" but 
after a while his storming ceased. From this period, 
he desired to renounce his doctrine of faith alone, 
and to embrace the creed of the New Church ; but 
found it exceedingly difficult to do so. " Therefore," 
says Swedenborg (in 1763), "he is still in the world 
of spirits, which is in the midst between heaven and 
hell, where he sometimes undergoes great suffer- 
ings. " * 

The treatment of Melancthon in the spiritual 
world was more severe than that of Luther. He at - 



* True Chris. Religion § 137. 



SLANDERS CAI.VI.V. 



115 



first had a chamber furnished him, like that which 
he had occupied on earth, fitted up with table, desk, 
drawers and library. But as he was intent on his 
old doctrine of justification by faith, the convenien- 
ces of his chamber were ere long removed, and he 
was left almost to naked walls. Not being reclaim- 
ed by the deprivation, he was let down frequently 
into hell, and then brought back again to his cold 
stone chamber, " at which times he appeared cloth- 
ed in a bear-skin, by reason of the cold, because faith 
without charity is cold." At length, his chamber 
became exceedingly filthy, so that he would "not 
admit strangers into it, who were desirous of seeing 
him." At the latest accounts, he seemed to have 
acquired some consistent ideas about charity. He 
was still confined, however, to his old, cold, filthy 
stone chamber. 

In regard to Calvin, the representations of Swe- 
denborg are irreconcilably inconsistent. In the year 
1763, he speaks of him as "in a society of heaven,' 1 
and was told by the " moderator of the society, that 
Calvin was accepted among them, because he was 
well disposed and made no disturbance." But in his 
latest publication, Swedenborg gives a much more 
full account of Calvin, and finally leaves him in one 
of the caverns, the work-shops of hell. Some of the 
main features of the account, it will be necessary to 
transcribe. 

It was a long time after Calvin entered the spirit- 
ual world, before the angels could satisfy him that 



116 



SWEDEXBORGIAXISM LX A MIX LD. 



he was not still in the body. This ''was because 
he was a seyisual man, believing nothing but what 
he had learned through his bodily senses." It seems 
that while on earth, Calvin never had any serious re- 
gard for the Scriptures, quoting them * only for the 
sake of the common people, that they might favor 
him with their assent." "When he became satisfied 
that he was in the spiritual world, he sought earnest- 
ly for the Predestinarians, and at length found them 
shut up and concealed in a cavern under ground. 
He staid with them for a time, and enjoyed their 
company ; but becoming weary at length, he went 
and joined a society of simpletons, who knew little 
about predestination, or anything else. TVe next 
hear of him in a certain governors house ; and then 
in a " house occupied by harlots, where he remained 
some time." Not long after this, Swedenborg had 
an interview with him, and did his utmost to con- 
vert him to the doctrines of the New Church. But 
Calvin (to borrow a hackneyed phrase) was a hard 
case. The seer could do nothing with him ; and at 
last, losing all patience, he exclaimed, "You talk 
impiously ! Begone, you evil spirit 1" After this, 
Calvin departed to the infernal cavern, provided for 
the Predestinarians, where " they are forced to work 
for their victuals, and are all enemies one to another. 
Here they do evil one to another, to the extent of 
their power, and this is the delight of their life." * 

*True Chris. Religion, §§ 796 — 798. Continuation of Last 
Judgment, §§ 54, 55. 



THE SYNOD OF DORT. 



117 



In November, 1618, a general Synod of the Re- 
formed churches was convened at Dort, in Holland, 
for the purpose of discussing the Arminian doc- 
trines, which had begun to be inculcated in that 
country. There were present at the Synod, ecclesi- 
astical deputies, not only from the United Provinces, 
but from the churches of England, Scotland, Hesse, 
Bremen, Switzerland, and the Palatinate. The for- 
eign divines present, were twenty-eight; those of 
the United Provinces were thirty-six, besides five 
professors, and twenty elders ; — eighty-nine in all. 
Probably, no ecclesiastical body was ever so outra- 
geously slandered by the enemies of God's truth, as 
this ; and yet few ecclesiastical bodies have demean- 
ed themselves more worthily and unexeeptionably ; 
though no one, at this day, would think of justifying 
all their measures. Their unpardonable sin was, that 
a large majority of them were thorough, consistent 
Calvinists. Good Bishop Hall of England was a 
member of the Synod, and on leaving it, is reported 
to have said, " There is no place upon earth so like 
heaven, as the Synod of Dort, and none where I 
should be more willing to dwell." Speaking of the 
Articles published by the Synod, the venerable 
Thomas Scott says, " Fewer things appear to me 
unscriptural in these Articles, than in almost any hu- 
man composition which I have read upon the sub- 
ject." He speaks also of the " holy, guarded, and 
reverential manner in which the divines of this rep- 



118 SWEDEXBORGIAXISM EXAMINED. 

robated Synod stated and explained the doctrines 
of the gospel." 

Swedenborg saw the members of this Synod in 
the sjiiritual world, and there called them to a sol- 
emn account for inculcating upon earth the doc- 
trine of predestination. " When I had said these 
things," says he, " they looked at me with a Satanic 
look ; " and all power of further deception beingtaken 
away, they went on to confess themselves gross hyp- 
ocrites ; — that they had assumed the appearance 
of religion for sinister ends, but that really they had 
no confidence in God's word, or in anything good, 
but only in predestination. Swedenborg tried to 
reason with them out of the Scriptures, but in vain. 
They soon retired into their cave, " around which ap- 
peared a dusky fire, — a sign that they had neither 
faith nor charity."* 

I know of no religious community in modern 
times, which has exhibited more of the genuine spi- 
rit of religion, than the Moravians, or United Breth- 
ren. This was specially true of them, during the 
first forty years after their establishment at Hern- 
hutt, all which time they were the cotemporaries of 
Swedenborg. Great numbers of them died, howev- 
er, before Swedenborg — some in nearly every quar- 
ter of the globe, whither they had gone to proclaim 
the gospel ; and it was his privilege to meet them in 



* True Chris Religion, § 487. 



MORAVIANS IN HELL. 



119 



the other world. And what does he say of them? 
He declares them to be arrant knaves and hypo- 
crites, having a "secret doctrine," which is commu- 
nicated only to the initiated, and " being very crafty 
in conciliating favor." As a matter of experiment, 
they were twice admitted into heaven, but they could 
not live there at all. "They began to be inwardly 
tormented, and thrown into convulsive motions like 
persons in the agonies of death ; wherefore, they 
east themselves down out of heaven headlong." 
After this, they were explored, as to " the interior 
of their thoughts," when it was discovered that in- 
wardly " they reviled the Lord; they rejected a life 
of charity so as to hold it in abhorrence ; they re- 
jected the Old Testament as useless, and despised 
the evangelists, selecting only certain passages from 
Paul, where mention is made of faith alone. These 
were the mysteries which they had concealed from 
the»world." 

Such, then, are the representations of Sweden- 
borg, in regard to some of the best and wisest men, 
and most exemplary Christians, that have ever lived 
upon the earth. David and Paul have been long 
ages in hell. Luther and Melancthon are kept out 
of heaven, in a state often of severe if not endless 
suffering. Calvin too has gone to hell. The vener- 
able divines of the Synod of Dort, and the devoted, 
self-sacrificing missionaries from Hernhutt, are all 
base hypocrites — little better than infidels — who 
have gone likewise to perdition. While at the same 



120 SWEDEXBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 

time, we are assured that such men as Louis XIV, 
the despot of France and the persecutor of God's 
people, and Pope Sixtus V, the greatest miser and 
dissembler of his age, are safe in heaven ; — while 
we are presented with whole heavens full of Mo- 
hammedans and heathens, living, as on earth, in po- 
lygamy and adultery! Those who yield to the 
claims of Swedenborg must believe all this ; for he 
explicitly declares it on the authority of revelation. 
Those Avho can not believe it, as I said before, have 
no alternative but to reject his claims. 

Objection 8. 

I further object to the claims of Swedenborg, that 
he contradicts, in repeated instances, the plain facts 
of history. This is true both of sacred and profane 
history. The Bible tells us of the creation of the 
world, of our first parents, of their primeval happy 
state and subsequent apostasy, and of the early pro- 
genitors of our race. But Swedenborg assures us 
over and over again, that there is not a word of 
truth or fact in all this ; that the whole of the first 
eleven chapters of the Bible is mere allegory.* 

Moses informs us of the destruction of the old 
world for its wickedness, by a deluge of waters; — 
a catastrophe to which frequent allusion is made by 
our Saviour and the apostles. But with Sweden- 
borg and his followers, this again is all fable. "There 
has never been a universal deluge of natural waters 

* See Barrett's Lectures, pp. 57, 200, 



CONTRADICTS HISTORY. 



121 



upon the face of our earth, since the creation of 
man." * 

Swedenborg affirms that " sacrificial worship was 
first instituted" by Eber, who was of the fifth gen- 
eration from Noah, in the line of Shem. Gen. x. 
24. Before liis time, sacrifices were entirely un- 
known, f But we are expressly informed that Noah, 
when he went forth from the ark, " builded an altar 
unto the Lord, and took of every clean beast, and of 
every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the 
altar. And the Lord smelled a sweet savor," &c. 
Gen. viii. 20. Now what was this but a sacrifice — a 
sacrifice, too, which God was pleased to accept ? In- 
deed, long before this time, we read of Abel's bring- 
ing an offering unto the Lord, of the firstling of his 
flock, and of the fat. Gen. iv. 4. 

Swedenborg asserts "that a trinity of persons 
was unknown in the apostolical church, and that it 
was first broached by the Nicene Council? in the 
fourth century. % This is not the place to go into a 
Scriptural defense of the doctrine of the trinity. 
Every reader of the Bible knows, or may know, that 
the Father is there represented as God, and the Son 
as God, and the Holy Spirit as God ; and still, there 
is but one God. Here, then, is the doctrine of the 
trinity in the apostolical church. And as to the 
ages succeeding the apostles, it is just as easy to 

* See Barrett's Lectures, pp. 57, 200. 

tDiv. Providence, § 328. Arcana Celestia, § 180. 

X True Chris. Religion, § 174. 



122 SWEDEXBOEGIAXISM EXAMINED. 



prove the trinity before the Xieene Council, as af- 
ter it. Indeed, how could that Council have origi- 
nated such a doctrine, on^ supposition that it had 
never been known before ? Accordingly Sweden- 
borg, with his characteristic consistency, acknowl- 
edges that Christians, even in the first age, did know 
and believe in the doctrine of the trinity. " Since 
the word is such, in the sense of the letter, that it 
distinguishes by several names those who neverthe- 
less are one, therefore, the Christians of the first 
ages, who were plain, simple men, and understood 
all parte of the word according to the sense of the 
letter, distinguished the Divinity into three persons, 
— which, on account of their simplicity, was per- 
mitted," «fec* 

Swedenborg asserts that " the faith imputative of 
the merit of Christ," or in other words, the doctrine 
of justification by faith, "was not known in the apos- 
tolic church, but first arose from the decrees of t/ie 
Nvcene Synod." j If Paid taught the doctrine of 
justification by faith, then was the doctrine known 
in the Apostolic church. And if Paid did not teach 
it, then words can not teach anything. " BeingJ^s- 
tified by faith, we have peace with God." " A man 

* Doctrine of the Lord, § 55. Swedenborg often speaks of the 
first Christian* — the Apostles, their fellow laborers and succes- 
sors, as" simple men " — little better than simpletons. This is 
the reason assigned, why the spiritual sense of the word was not 
disclosed to them. They could have understood nothing about it 

t True Chris. Religion, §§ 632, 636. 



JUSTIFICATION. 



123 



is not justified by the works of the law, but by the 
faith of Jesus Christ.'" " We conclude that a man 
is justified by faith, without the deeds of the law." 
As to this doctrine's originating with " the Nicene 
synod," I need only say, that there is not a word in 
the Nicene creed or canons, on the subject. 

In regard to this doctrine of justification, Sweden- 
borg further informs us, that it arose from a " single 
expression " in Paul's Epistle to the Romans, (chap, 
hi. 28), the meaning of which is entirely misunder- 
stood. Of this he is sure ; because he had spent a 
whole year with the apostle Paul, and often con- 
ferred with him on the subject. * On this whole 
statement, I remark, in the first place, that if the doc- 
trine of justification by faith arose from "a single 
expression" of St. Paul, then it did not arise "from 
the decrees of the Nicene synod," and Swedenborg's 
last position is directly contradicted. But secondly, 
this doctrine did notarise from "a single expression" 
of Paul, as is evident from the passages above quoted. 
Paxil frequently asserts the doctrine ; and not he 
alone, but our Saviour, and the other Apostles and 
inspired writers. And thirdly, as to Swedenborg's 
conferences with the Apostle on the subject, and his 
learning from him that he had been misunderstood, 
we shall want more evidence of this, before we be- 
lieve it, than Swedenborg's naked assertion. 

Swedenborg says that "the Athanasian creed was 

* Ilubart's Life, p. 44. Apoo. Revealed, §§ 417, 825. Div. 
Providence, § 115. 



124 



SWEDEXB0RGIAX1SM EXAMINED-, 



written soon after the council of Nice, by one or 
more of those icho had been present at the council ; 
and thence was received as cecnmerical or catholic."* 
The Athanasian creed, so called, could not have heen 
written by Athanasius, or by any of his cotemporaries. 
It was never appealed to in the Arian controversy, nor 
was it heard of in the church, until a long time after- 
wards. It was probably composed in or about the 
sixth century, f 

Swedenborg says, "That there is an internal, spi- 
ritual sense in the word, is a truth which has here- 
tofore been altogether unknoicn in the Christian 
worlds X Again, " the sj)iritual sense of the word 
hath been heretofore unknown." § If this only 
means, that no Christian, before him, interpreted 
Scripture just like himself the truth of the assertion 
may be admitted. But certainly the divines of the 
Alexandrian school, Clemens, Origen, and others, 
interpreted the Scriptures on the same general, alle- 
gorical principles. They interpreted as intelligibly 
and usefully as Swedenborg, and in many instances, 
precisely after his fashion. So true is this, that most 
of the followers of Swedenborg appeal to the ancient 
allegorists as his prototypes and exemjilars. Mr. 
Noble, in his work on Inspiration, has devoted some 

* True Chris. Religion, § 632. 

t See Cave's Historia Literaria, vol. I, p. 196. Also Pearson, 
Usher, Mosheim, &c. 
t Hobart's Life, p. 159. 
§ Sacred Scripture. 5 20. 



INTERPRETATIONS 



125 



thirty pages to the purpose of showing, that Swe- 
denborg's method of interpretation is no neio thing ; 
that it is sustained by the example, not only of some 
of the early Christians, but even of the sacred wri- 
ters, (pp. 49 — 76, 388.) How then, I ask, can it be 
true, that the doctrine of an allegorical, spiritual 
sense " has heretofore been altogether unknown in the 
Christian icorld"? 

These historical errors — a few of which have been 
pointed out — may be regarded by some of my read- 
ers as small matters. And so they would be small 
matters, in an author who laid no claim to spiritual 
illumination. " To err is human." But Swedenborg 
does lay claim to spiritual illumination — yea more, 
to divine revelation. When the Lord first appeared 
to him, he gave him this promise, " I will teach thee 
what thou art to write." And on his death-bed, 
Swedenborg affirmed, "Every thing that I have writ- 
ten is true." It is a fair question, then, to be looked 
into, Is it all true? And when it is shown conclu- 
sively that all is not true, the claim of the professed 
teacher of Heavenly mysteries is invalidated. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



OBJECTIONS TO THE CLAIMS AND DOCTRINES OF 
SWEDENBORG CONTINUED. 

Objection 9. 

My next objection to the teachings of Swedenborg 
is, that they contradict, in a great variety of instances, 
the plainest and most universally acknowledged facts 
of science. And this consideration is the more im- 
portant, because his teachings are so based upon his 
philosophy, and mixed up with it, as to be insepara- 
ble from it. 

"When it is objected to the Bible, that some parts 
of it are not in strict accordance with the discoveries 
of modern science, it is a sufficient reply, that the 
Bible was not w r ritten by philosophers, nor does it 
profess to teach any system of philosophy. It has to 
do with higher matters. And when it touches upon 
the phenomena of earth, it speaks according to inva- 
riable appearances, using the language of common. 



CONTRADICTS SCIENCE. 



127 



life. But this apology will not answer for Sweden- 
borg. He did profess to be a philosopher, and his 
teachings, interpretations, and revelations are so in- 
termingled with, and based upon his philosophy, that 
(hey can not be separated from it. Such is the ac- 
knowledgment, I had almost said the boast of his 
followers. " The profoundest philosophy," says Mr. 
Bush, " lies at the basis of all his revelations." * 
"Whatever may have been the nature of Sweden- 
borg's distempered fancy," says Mr. Clissold, "we are 
not to look for this distemper primarily in his visions, 
but in the philosophy which led to them. Here is the 
origin of the evil, if it be one. The fanaticism, if it 
be such, is not primarily in the visions, but in the 
philosophy ; and our opponents must take ivp the 
question on this ground, if they will take it up on 
the only ground on which it can be decided." f This, 
then, is the ground on which I propose now to con- 
dder the question. I urge it as a valid objection to 
the claims of Swedenborg, that he contradicts, in a 
variety of instances, the plainest and most univer- 
sally acknowledged facts of science. This is true, 
both of physical and mental science. Let us first 
look at the question in reference to the former. 

It is known that the planets Herschel and Nep- 
tune, — which have been discovered since the time of 
Swedenborg, — are at vastly greater distances from 
the Sun than Saturn. But Swedenborg decides 

* Swedenborg Library, p. 7. 
t Letter, &o., p. 202. 



>v :;:>!:xboki;ian t ism examined. 



positively, after the most ample means of information 
in the spiritual world, that "the planet Saturn is the 
farthest distant from the Sun," and that this is the 
reason why it is furnished with a " large, luminous 
belt." * 

Swedenborg knew nothing of the modern dis- 
coveries in chemistry, but adopted, among his reve- 
lations, the old theory of the four elements, — earth, 
air, fire, and water. He decides that the common 
principles, or elements, of which all things are com- 
posed, are earth, atmosphere, and water. But neither 
earth, atmosphere, nor water are, in any sense, ele- 
ments. They are each of them most exquisite com- 
pounds, made up of elementary substances, — a fact 
of which, with all his revelations, Swedenborg was 
profoundly ignorant. 

The following is Swedenborg's description of the 
atmosphere : It consists, he says, of " discrete sub- 
stances (particles) of a very minute form, originating 
from the sun. The fire of the sun each of them re- 
ceives, treasures it up, tempers it, and conveys it as 
heat to the earth ; and in like manner also the light." 
What will our modern lecturers about oxygen, nitro- 
gen and carbon say to this '? 

According to Swedenborg, love has an important 
work to perform in the physiology of the human sys- 
tem. The reason why blood is red, he says, is "the 
correspondence of the heart and the blood with love 



* Earths in the Universe, § 3. 



ON BLOOD. 



129 



and its "jf rtions" "Forasmuch as there is a corres- 
pondence of love with the heart, there/ore the blood 
can not be otherwise than red" Modern physiologists 
have ascertained that the redness of the blood is 
owing to the presence of iron in the system. But 
Swedenborg says no. It is owing rather 'to the pre- 
sence of looe. 

It seems that love, too, is the sole cause of vital, 
animal heat. "That in man, and in every animal, 
there is vital heat, is known ; but whence its origin, 
is not known. Every one speaks of it with conjec- 
ture." But Swedenborg, as he speaks from revelation, 
can speak with authority. . " He who knoweth," says 
he, " that there is a correspondence of love and its 
affections with the heart and its derivations, may 
know that love is the origin of vital heat. For love 
proceeds from the spiritual sun as heat, and flows, by 
correspondence, into the heart, and its blood, and 
gives it heat." * 

That the blood undergoes some change in the 
lungs, Swedenborg understood ; but as to the nature 
and cause of the change, he entertained the wildest 
theories, all which he mixes up, as usual, with his 
spiritual correspondences. 1. "The blood purifies 
itself in the lungs from things undigested," as the 
" chyle collected from food and drink." 2. " From the 
air which is attracted, the blood also nourisheth itself 
with things conducible." This "is evident," he says, 

* " Heavenly heat, which is love, makes the vital heal which 
it in man." Arcana f'elestia, § 6190. 
'.) 



130 



SWEDENBORGIANISM EXAMIXED. 



" from the immense abundance of odors and exhala- 
tions issuing continually from shrubberies, flower- 
gardens, and nurseries of trees ; and from the im- 
mense quantity of salts of various kinds, issuing with 
waters from the earth, rivers, and lakes ; and from 
the immense quantity of exhalations and effluvia 
from men and animals, with which the air is impreg- 
nated. That these flow into the lungs, with the air 
which is attracted, can not be denied; nor can it be 
denied that the blood attracts from them such things 
as are conducible to it, or which correspond to the 
affections of its love." " That the blood in the lungs 
purifieth and nourisheth itself, correspondent!)/ to the 
affections of the mind, is not yet known on earth ; 
but it is very well known in the spiritual tcorld ; for 
the angels who are in the heavens are delighted only 
with those odors which correspond to the love of 
their wisdom ; whereas the spirits in hell are delighted 
only with odors which correspond to the love which 
is in opposition to wisdom; the latter odors are 
stenches, but the former odors are fragrances."* 
Swedenborg here brings in the angels to give autho- 
rity to his doctrine, about the blood in the lungs pu- 
rifying itself from chyle, and nourishing itself with 
odors, fragrant or offensive, corresponding to the 
character of its love. Those who admit his claims 
must, of course, believe him, whatever may become 
of their physiology, or their common sense. 

* See Wisdom of Angels concerning Divine Love and Wisdom. 
S§ 163—157, 172—178, 282—290, 302, 379, 380, 420. 



OX BLOOD. 



131 



We give another extract on the same subject, 
though presenting it in a somewhat different light. 
'■With every one, the blood in the lungs is deprived 
of its phlegm, and is nourished by the volatile ele- 
ments and odors supplied from the air; but yet alto- 
gether in a different manner with the good, from 
what it is with the evil. What is the nature of the 
purification and nourishment of the blood in the 
lungs, with the good and with the evil, may be con- 
cluded from the following experience: In the spirit- 
ual world, a good spirit attracts with his nostrils 
all fragrances and sweet smells with delight; but 
an evil spirit attracts with his nostrils what is 
putrid and stinking, with delight." Hence, the 
blood of a good man on the earth is nourished 
with sweet odors, but the blood of a bad man with 
such as are offensive. Swedenborg goes on to say, 
that "the human blood, in its inmost principles, is 
spiritual, but in its outermost principles is corporeal. 
Wherefore, they who are spiritual nourish it from 
such things in nature as correspond to things spirit- 
ual ; but they who are natural nourish it from such 
things in nature as correspond to it. Hence, the dis- 
similitude of the blood in men is as great as is the 
dissimilitude of thnr lore*? * On this principle, the 
character of a man might be exactly estimated, by 
an analysis of his blood ; the better his character, the 
purer his blood, and vice versa. 



* Treatise on Divine Love and Wisdom, pp. 132. 



132 



SWEDEXUOKGIAXISM EXAMINED. 



The Scriptures represent God as the Creator of all 
things. He "created heaven and the things which 
therein are, and the earth and the things which 
therein are, and the sea and the things which are 
therein." " By him were all things created that are 
in heaven, and that are in earth." " The great 
and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innu- 
merable, both small and great ; behemoth, levia- 
than, dragons and all depths, beasts and all cat- 
tle, creeping things and flying fowl," — all are 
represented as the workmanship of his hand. And 
these teachings of revelation are in strict accordance 
with those of philosophy and reason. Where • is 
the being or thing, animal, vegetable or mineral ; 
in the air, or on the earth, or under the earth, 
or in the sea, which reason docs not assure us is 
sustained by the power and the providence of God, 
and which does not owe its existence to him ? But 
these obvious teachings, both of science and revela- 
tion, Swedenborg directly contradicts. According 
to him, a vast multitude of creatures and things, per- 
haps a majority — animals, vegetables, and minerals, 
did not originate from God, but from the hells. " Such 
in the animal kingdom are poisonous serpents, scor- 
pions, crocodiles, dragons, tigers, wolves, foxes, 
swine, * owls, screech-owls, rats, mice, locusts, frogs, 
bats, spiders, flies, drones, moths, lice, mites, in a 
word, all those which consume grasses, leaves, fruits, 
seeds, meat and drink, and are noxious to beasts and 

* Let no Swederiborgian after this dare to eat pork. 



ON SMELLS. 



133 



men. In the vegetable kingdom, they are all malig- 
nant, virulent and poisonous herbs, and pnlse and 
shrubs of the same kind ; also in the mineral king- 
dom, all poisonous eMths." Such things in the natu- 
ral world did not derive their origin from the Lord ; 
neither were they created from the beginning / neither 
did they originate from nature, by her sun ; but 
they are from hell." " The influx from hell im- 
mediately produces such things, when the tempera- 
ment is favorable" " They originate by immediate 
influx from hell." * In another work he says, "beasts 
and Avild animals, whose souls are similar evil affec- 
tions, were not created from the beginning y such as 
mice, venomous serpents, crocodiles, basilisks, vipers, 
and the like, with the various kinds of noxious in- 
sects ; but have originated and arisen with hell, in 
stagnant lakes, marshes, putrid and fetid waters, <fcc, 
with which the malignant loves of the infernal soci- 
eties communicate. From the beginning, only useful 
and clean beasts were created, whose souls are good 
affections." f In these decisions of Swedenborg, 
Mr. Noble entirely acquiesces. " It may be safely 
concluded," says he, "since nothing noxious can have 
its direct prototype in God, that all hurtful things 

* Angelic Wisdom concerning Divine Love and Wisdom, §§ 338, 
339, 343, 347. Swedenborgians teach that hell itself is a creation 
of man. *' It was not created by God, since God is love ; but hell 
is from man. Man alone created U." Letters to a Man of the 
World, p. 121. 

t All], Treed, § 'JO. 



loi SWEDENBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 



either first acquired their noxious nature, or first be- 
gan to exist, when evil established itself in the human 
mind." * 

Waiving all other objeetions«to these statements, 
it follows conclusively from them, or rather is in- 
volved in them, that no odious, noxious creatures 
existed on this earth, j>revious to the creation and 
the fall of man. But how does this agree with the 
Scripture representation, that it was a serpent which 
tempted our first mother? And how shall it be 
made to harmonize with the recent discoveries of 
geologists ? They tell us of frightful, horrible crea- 
tures — monsters both of the land and of the deep, 
armed with terrible weapons of destruction, and dis- 
closing the remains of slaughtered myriads under 
their capacious ribs, which must have lived and died, 
and become imbedded in the solid rocks, at a period 
long anterior to the existence of man, or to the fit- 
ting up of the world for his creation. 

Swedenborg taught that men, before the fall, " had 
no external respiration, and no sonorous, articulate 
language, such as took place afterwards ; but com- 
municated their ideas one to another, by numberless 
changes of the countenance, by the varied motions 
of the lips, and by the lively expressions of the eye." 
But at the time of the fall, " external respiration 
commenced, and together with it external language."! 
If I were to say, that this statement contradicts ex- 

* Inspiration, p. 113. 

t Arcana Celestia, § 1118. Hindmarsh's Compend. pp. 17, 22. 



RESPIRATION. 



135 



pressly some of the first chapters in the Bible, Swe- 
denborgians might reply that these chapters are all 
fable. But I may and do assert, that the statement 
is so at war with reason and common sense, as to be 
wholly incredible. Men at that period had organs" 
of respiration, else they were not men ; and who 
believes that these organs were never exercised? 
Who believes that whole generations of men lived 
on the face of the earth, without ever breathing 
the breath of life, or having any oral communi- 
cation with one another? They had lungs, as Swe- 
denborg admits in other parts of his works ; but in- 
stead of using them, like other men, they had only 
what he calls " an internal respiration, proceeding 
from the navel towards the heart." 

Equally contradictory to all reason and science is 
Swedenborg's account of the origin of diseases. He 
ascribes them frequently, and perhaps universally, 
to the infestation of evil spirits. " Evil spirits," says 
he, " have been often, and for a long time, applied to 
me ; and according to their presence, they induced 
pains, and also diseases." Under the influence of 
some, " I was seized with heaviness, with pain, with 
disease, which ceased in a moment, as soon as the 
spirits were expelled." Other spirits " infuse unclean 
hailds, as are those of a cold fever, which also it was 
given mo to know by repeated experience. The same 
spirits likewise cause swoonings" " Other spirits, 
when allowed to flow into the body, induce pain in 
the teeth ; and upon their nearest presence, so severe, 



136 



S WEDES BOKGI AXLSM E X A.MI.VK1). 



that I could not endure it. And so far as they were 
removed, the pain ceased; which was shown me re- 
peatedly, that no doubt might rem:. in." * Other spi- 
rits, when they are present, '-induce great pain by 
weariness, which they inwardly increase even to the 
highest degree of impatience, inducing such infirmity 
in the mind, and thence in the body, that the man 
can scarce raise himself from the bed." "There have 
been spirits with me, who induced such a heaviness 
in the stomach, that I seemed to myself scarce able 
to live. The heaviness was so great, that with others 
it would have occasioned fainting; but the spirits 
were removed, and it then instantly ceased." "On 
a time, I perceived somewhat of anxiety in the lower 
part of the stomach, from which it was made mani- 
fest to me that such evil spirits were present. I 
spoke with them saying, that it was better they 
should retire." This class of demons seem to have 
annoyed Swedenborg not a little, as they frequently 
do other men of studious and sedentary habits. 
Speaking of them again, he says. " There are certain 
spirits that are not joined to hell, as being newly de- 
parted from the body, which delight in things undi- 
gested, such as meat corrupted in the stomach ; and 

* Mr. Robsam says in his Memoir, " I once visited Swedenborg,' 
■when he complained of a grievous tooth ache, which he had en- 
dured many days. I recommended some common remedy, but he 
refused to use it, saying, " My pain proceeds, not from the nerve 
of the tooth, but from the influx of hypocritical spirits which beset 
me, and cause this plague." Hobart's Life, p. 216. 



EVIL SPIRITS. 



137 



they hold their confabulations in such sinks of un- 
cleanness in man, as are suitable to their impure 
affections. That they cause uneasiness, I am fully 
convinced ; for I have seen and heard them, and felt 
the uneasiness caused by them, and I have also con- 
versed with them." On some occasions, Swedenborg 
was possessed of spirits which cause a temporary 
suppression of urine. * His biographer says he was 
troubled with the stone. 

Swedenborg makes the above statements, it will 
be borne in mind, not as with hiin matters of opinion, 
but as undoubted facts, of which he had come to the 
knowledge through his intercourse with the invisible 
world. And, if they be facts, I have only to say 
that the practice of exorcism should be at once re- 
vived, and should supersede every where that of 
dentistry and medicine. Let persons only be rid of 
their evil spirits, and they will no longer be troubled 
with diseases and pains. 

Swedenborg has a favorite theory — one of which 
he speaks in repeated instances, as to the origin of 
idolatry, and the origin and nature of the Egyptian 
hieroglyphics. It is in brief, as follows : The most 
ancient people, those which existed before the flood 
and immediately after it, possessed the science of cor- 
respondences; or, in other words, they knew that 
every outward object in nature represented some in- 
ward thought or affection ; and also what thoughts 



* Arcana Celestu, §§ 5170, 5386, 5711—5723. 



138 



S \V E DKN BOKGI AX ISM EXAMINED. 



and affections external objects did represent. Pos- 
sessing this knowledge and greatly prizing it, they 
filled their houses and temples with the pictures and 
images of such things as represented moral and re- 
ligious truths. This they did with no bad intent, 
but rather for their own instruction, and imprpve- 
ment. But in process of time, their descendants, not 
retaining the science of correspondences, and not 
knowing the import of the pictures and images, be- 
gan to worship them as gods. Hence the origin of 
the ancient idolatry. * 

If this be a true statement, it follows that the an- 
cient idolatry must all have been of the same kind. 
At least, the same objects of worship must have been 
found in all places. Whereas nothing can be more 
diverse than the objects of ancient idolatrous wor- 
ship ; some nations worshipping the sun, moon, and 
stars ; others fire ; others their own departed heroes ; 
others images of the most grotesque and frightful 
forms ; others stones, birds, beasts, insects, and creep- 
ing things. 

Swedenborg says that the Egyptians retained the 
knowledge of correspondences longer than any other 
people ; and that the whole system of hieroglyphical 
writing is founded upon it. According to him, the 
hieroglyphics are all of them of a symbolical charac- 
ter, each representing some doctrine or affection, 

* True Chris. Religion, §§ 205, 833. Appendix, § 43. Conj. 
Love, § 342. Sacred Scripture, § 23. Hindmarsh's Compendium, 
p. 134. Barrett's Lectures, p. 190. 



CORRESPONDENCES. 



139 



some intellectual, moral or spiritual truth. " Each 
carved thing," he says, "represents some particular 
of virtue or truth, and many together represent vir- 
tue itself, or truth itself, in a common, extended 
form. These are what in Egypt were called hiero- 
glyphics." As Swedenborg was in full possession of 
the science of correspondences, imparted to him di- 
rectly from heaven, he must have understood this 
matter perfectly. He must have known whereof he 
affirmed. Indeed, Dr. Hartley, one of his personal 
friends and earliest followers, assures us that he did 
know. "The doctrine of correspondences," he says, 
"continued longest among the Egyptians, and the 
hieroglyphics are the last remains of it. The know- 
ledge of these has long been lost to the world, and 
only remains with our author (Swedenborg) who is 
possessed of it" * The system of Swedenborg is 
then fully committed to this view of the hieroglyph- 
ics — the view which prevailed, perhaps universally, 
in the time of Swedenborg — that they are all of a 
symbolical or enigmatical character, each one repre- 
senting some affection or truth. But unfortunately 
for the system, the hieroglyphics have since been de- 
ciphered. The hand-writing on the monuments and 
tombs of the ancient Egyptians has been read. The 
investigation reaches back to very ancient times — 
to a period earlier than that of the sojourn of the 
Israelites in Egypt. And what is the result ? Cham- 



* Influx, Hartley's Edition, § 6, note. 



HO 



SWEDENBORGIAN'IS.U EXAMINED. 



pollion assures us, that by far the greater portion of 
the Egyptian hieroglyphics are simple alphabetical 
characters. There is no more enigma or mystery 
about them than about our own A, B, C. Of the 
remainder, a part are mere pictures / the picture of 
a man standing for a man, and that of a lion for a 
lion, &c. A small portion of the hieroglyphics are 
used as symbols ; and seem to have come into such 
use in the same manner as tropes and metaphors with 
us.* So much for Swedenborg's alleged knowledge 
of hieroglyphics, and for the support they were ex- 
pected to give to his doctrine of correspondences. 
The utter failure of the proposed theory is enough 
to overthrow the whole doctrine of correspondences, 
and to destroy all credit in him as an inspired and 
infallible teacher. 

I have noticed several instances in which the 
teachings of Swedenborg contradict, or rather are 
contradicted by, the facts and deductions of natural 
science. I proceed to mention two or three, in which 
they are equally inconsistent with mental science. 

Perhaps no fact in mental science is better estab- 
lished, on the ground of a common consciousness, 
and the general consent of the ablest metaphysicians, 
than that there are three great departments or sus- 
ceptibilities of mind, the intellectual, the sentient, and 
the voluntary, f We have ideas, emotions, and voli- 

* See Greppo's Essay, pp. 34 — 46. 

* Some metaphysicians speak at four mental susceptibilities, — 



CONSCIENCE. 



141 



Hons. We think, we feel, we will. These mental 
states are clearly distinguishable, one from the other, 
and perhaps there is no mental affection or opera- 
tion of which we are conscious, which may not be 
referred to one or the other of these three general 
susceptibilities. But Swedenborg adheres to the old 
classification on this subject, merging the sentient in 
the voluntary, and making the whole mind to con- 
sist of understand! rig and will. This imperfect clas- 
sification is incorporated with his correspondences, 
and lies at the foundation of his whole system of re- 
ligion. His wisdom and love, good and truth, char- 
ity and faith, evil and false, are all based on his 
philosophy about understanding and will. Yet I 
have no hesitation in affirming that this is a false 
philosophy, and that it must obscure and falsify, 
more or less, every system of religion into which it 
enters. 

Conscience is the faculty or power of the mind, by 
which we discern moral relations, perceive the differ- 
ence between right and wrong, and feel the force of 
moral obligation. It is that power by which man is 
chiefly distinguished from the brutes, and is made a 
moral, accountable being. It is a natural endow- 
ment of the human mind, and can never be put off, 
so long as the mind exists. I here state no mere 
opinion of my own, but a well established and all 
but universally acknowledged fact of mental sci- 

the scnmtinnal, the intellect/ml, the emotional, and the volun- 
tary. 



142 SWEDENBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 



ence. Yet Swedenborp- denies this fact altogether. 
He says that conscience is an acquired state or habit 
of mind, the result of education, and is peculiar to 
the present life. Neither the happiness nor the mis- 
ery of the other world is in any degree the effect of 
conscience ; for there is no conscience there. * 

Swedenborg thought that "every man lias two 
memories, one exterior, the other interior ; " the for- 
mer of which " is proper to his body, the latter to his 
spirit." f I regard this as wholly a gratuitous as- 
sumption, not warranted by consciousness, and not 
necessary to account for any facts which come within 
our apprehension. He might with as much reason 
affirm that man has ten memories, as that he has 
two. 

* True Chris. Religion, §§ 665, 666. Arcana Celestia, § 965. 
Hindmarsh's Compendium, p. 80. 
t Arcana Celestia, § 2469. 



\ 



CHAPTER IX. 

OBJECTIONS TO THE CLAIMS AND DOCTRINES OP 
SWEDENBOEG, CONTINUED. 

Objection 10. 

I have spoken of the teachings of Swedenborg as 
being inconsistent with the facts both of history and 
science. I now add, that they are, in many points, 
irreconcilably inconsistent with themselves. Many 
instances of this nature which might be mentioned, 
an I which I had actually noted for consideration, I 
shall be obliged to pass over. Enough, however, will 
be introduced to satisfy every reader, that my objec- 
tion is not without foundation. 

Swedenborg taught, that all the spirits and angels 
of the other world, good and bad, are of the human 
species, and once lived in bodies on the earths. He 
also taught, that " unless spirits and angels were con- 
tinually present with men in this world, they would 
be utterly incapable of thought, affection, or even 



144 SWEDENBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 



of life." " Without communication by spirits with 
the world of spirits, and by angels with heaven, it 
would be utterly impossible for man to live. His life 
dependeth entirely upon such conjunction ; so that 
supposing spirits and angels to depart from him, he 
would instantly perish." * But how, I ask, are these 
positions to stand together ? Unless men live on 
this earth (or some other) and die, and go into the 
world of spirits, there are no spirits there. But 
without communication with spirits in that world, it 
is impossible for men to live at all in this. Man's 
" life dependeth entirely on such conjunction ; so that 
supposing spirits and angels to depart from him, he 
would instantly perish? There must be spirits in 
this world, before any can be in that; and there 
must be spirits there, or none could live here a mo- 
ment ! 

The same inconsistency attaches to Swedenborg's 
account of man's free-agency. He strenuously in- 
sists, that every man is, and must be, a free agent.f 
But in what does his free agency consist, and where 
does it originate ? " Its origin," he says, " is from 
the spiritual 'world;'''' and it consists in this, that 
man is in perpetual communication with good and 
evil spirits, and is held in a sort of moral equilibri- 
um between the good and the bad influences which 
beset him; "in consequence of which," to use the 

* Arcana Celestia, § 50. Clowe's Plain Answer, p. fi4. 
t True Chris. Religion, chap. viii. 



SELF CONTRADICTION'S. 



145 



language of the New Church creed, " he anjoy&free- 
wiU, or freedom of choice, in spiritual things, as well 
as in natural." But how is this theory of free agen- 
cy consistent with itself? Without the equilibrium 
between good and bad spirits, we are told, there can 
be no free agency. And yet, without free agency, 
there can be no moral character, good or bad, and, 
of course, no good or bad spirits. The theory sup- 
poses, necessarily, the existence of good and bad spi- 
rits, before there can be free agency ; and the exist- 
ence of free agency, before there can be good or 
bad spiiits, — which is absurd. 

The same difficulty may be presented in another 
view. There can be no free agency, we are told, and 
consequently no sin, but through the influence of 
evil spirits. Indeed, Mr. Clissold says expressly: 
" To a wicked man, the ministration of evil spirits is 
indispensably necessary. Without them, he would 
have no power to will or to do what was evil." And 
Mr. Parsons says : " The passions and sinful propen- 
sities to which we yield would not have been stirred 
into activity, without the influence of those who live 
forever in such delights," i. e. " in hell." * But on 
this ground, how are we to account for the first sin- 
ners ? There must be sinners before the first sinners 
to stir up the evil passions and propensities to which 
the first sinners yielded, and before which they fell ! 

But these are not the only inconsistencies charge- 

♦Clissnld's Letter, p. 170. Parson's Essays, p. 64. 
10 



146 SWEDEXUOKrUAXl.SM EXAMINED. 

able upon Swedenborg, in regard to the matter of 
free agency. As remarked above, he was a strenu- 
ous asserter of human freedom ; holding man to be 
in such sense free, that he can not be restrained jrom 
sinning, without destroying his accountable nature. 
When "it is said that God permitteth," says he, "it 
is not meant that he willeth, but that he can not pre- 
vent such a thing" * And yet, according to Swe- 
denborg, man is nothing, and has nothing, but what 
is from God. He is but a mere ]^ssive 1'ecipient of 
an influx from the Creator. Where then, I ask, is 
his freedom, his activity ? Where, especially, is such 
freedom as Swedenborg ascribes to him ? Manifest- 
ly all room and ground for it ai*e taken away. Ac- 
cordingly Swedenborg confesses, in more than one 
passage of his writings, that the free agency of man 
is not real, but only apparent. God alone is the first 
agent ; and man suffers himself to be acted upon, 
and re-acts in appearance as from himself ; though 
in truth, such re-action deeply considered, is also 
from God.f 

* Div. Providence, § 234. Speaking of the cruelty of the Jews, 
Mr. Parsons says, " It was not checked, because, so far as they 
were concerned it could not have been, without doing violence to 
that freedom which is always regarded by Divine Providence." 
Essays, p. 187. 

t Influx. § 14. In regard to this matter of free agency, Swe- 
denborg insists that man is deceived, and must be, and ought to 
be. " Self-derived prudence is nothing ; and only appears as if 
it was otherwise, and also ought so to appear." See the discus, 
sion of this proposition in Divine Providence, § 210. 



HIS INCONSISTENCIES. 



147 



But I have not yet done with Swedenborg's in- 
consistencies, in relation to this general subject. Al- 
though everything in man is by an influx from God, 
yet " the reception of this influx is according to the 
state of love and wisdom in man ; " * or in other 
words, according to his character. If his character 
is good, the influx produces good ; but if bad, the 
influx produces bad. This position is assumed, in 
order to avoid the conclusion that God, by his influx, 
is the author of sin. But how, I ask, came man by 
his previous character ; or by the previously favora- 
ble or unfavorable state of his receptivity ? Did he 
make it himself? Then everything in him is not by 
influx from God. Did he inherit it from his parents ? 
But how did they receive it ? Obviously, everything 
in man is not by influx from God, else we are pre- 
sented with another of the same class of absurdities, 
viz. an influx before the first influx, to form the state 
of love and wisdom in accordance with which the 
first influx is to operate. 

In one of his publications, Swedenborg lays down 
the following propositions, and argues them at con- 
siderable length : " The divine essence itself is love 
and wisdom." " The divine love and the divine 
wisdom are a substance and a form" " The divine 
love and the divine wisdom are a substance and 
form in themselves, consequently self -subsisting. " f 
The divine love and wisdom are usually and justly 
♦Influx, § 11. 

t Divine Love and Wisdom, §§ 28, 40, 44. 



148 SWECENBOEGIANISM EXAMINED. 



considered as attributes of God, and not as consti- 
tuting bis very substance and essence. And so they 
are represented by Swedenborg in other places. 
" The divine love and the divine wisdom," he says, 
"proceed as one from the Lord." * 

Swedenborg teaches, in one place, that the trinity 
did not exist until after the incarnation of Christ. 
" When God became incarnate, it (the trinity) was 
provided and made." But speaking in another place 
of the three angels who appeared to Abraham, as he 
sat in his tent door, he says, "It was the Lox'd our 
Saviour who appeared in his divine trinity, repre- 
sented by three angels." f There was a trinity, 
then, in the days of Abraham. 

Swedenborg says in one place, "I have spoken 
with angels concerning infants, whether they are 
pure from evils, because they have no actual evil, 
like adults; but it was told me that they are equally 
in evil / yea, that they also &ve nothing but evil." \ 
Yet in other places he has much to say respecting 
the innocence of infancy. "That infants are inno- 
cences is known ; but that their innocence flows in 
from the Lord is not known." They are so innocent, 
that their innocence " flows out of them into their 
parents." And this is the reason why mothers delight 
to kiss them, and " rest their mouth and face upon 
their bosoms," and " stroke their naked bodies with 

* Divine Providence, § 4. 

t True Chris. Religion, § 170. Appendix, § 49. 
X Swedenborg Library, p. 89. 



COJTJTTGIAL LOVE. 



149 



their hands." Infants are so innocent, that the very 
term, " in the word, signifies innocence ;" and the an- 
gels in the highest heaven appear there as naked in- 
fants. * Yet the angels told Swedenborg, "that in- 
fants are equally in evil " as adults, and also that " they 
are nothing but evil" 

Swedenborg very properly says, in one place, that 
the love of self, and the love of the world, rule in 
the hells, and make the hells ; but that love to the 
Lord, and love towards the neighbor, rule in the 
heavens, and make the heavens." f But we find 
much in his writings, more especially in regard to 
conjugial love, which seems to me to be totally irre- 
concilable with this statement. Genuine " conjugial 
love," he says, " is an image of heaven." It is " es- 
sential innocence, which dwells with wisdom ; " and 
those who have it, " are in wisdom before all others 
in heaven" "They are in the inmost heaven, which 
is called the heaven of innocence." Again ; "conju- 
gial love is the foundation love of all loves, excel- 
ling the rest in uses, and consequently in delights." + 
The angels say, that it '■'■exceeds every other love in 
sweetness ;" and "because it is pleasantness itself, it 
is called by them heavenly sweetness." The follow- 
ing propositions Swedenborg lays down for full dis- 
cussion : 1. Conjugial love, from its origin, and from 
its correspondence, is heavenly, spiritual, holy, pure, 

* Conj. Love, §§ 395, 3%. Heaven and Hell, §§ 276—283. 

t Heaven and Hell, § 554. 

t Arcana Celestia, §§ 2735. 2736, 5053. 



150 



SWEDEXBORGIAN1SM EXAMINED. 



and clean, before every love ichich is from the Lord?' 
2. "It is also the fundamental love of all heavenly^ 
spiritual, and thence of natural loves." 3. "Into this 
love are gathered all joys and all delights, from first 
to last." "All the enjoyments of heaven stream 
forth from the enjoyments of conjugial love, as sweet 
waters from the stream of a fountain." " It is the 
love of loves, and its delights are the delights of de- 
lights?'' It is " the precious pearl of human life, and 
the repository of the Christian religion" * Such 
then are Swedenborg's views as to the nature of re- 
ligion, of holiness, and of heavenly joys. Every 
thing pertaining to religion or heaven seems to cen- 
ter, and to be garnered up, in the one single idea of 
conjugial love. Before, he had said that "love to 
the Lord, and love towards the neighbor, rule in the 
heavens, and make the heavens ; " as " the love of 
self, and the love of the world, rule in the hells, and 
make the hells." But now conjugial love is the very 
" image of heaven," and those who have it " dwell 
in the inmost heaven." It is " the foundation love 
of all loves," into which " are gathered all joys, and 
all delights," and from which " stream forth all the 
enjoyments of heaven." It is " the love of loves," 
the "delight of delights," the " precious pearl of hu- 
man life," " the repository of the Christian religion." 
Those who can reconcile these views of religion, of 
holiness, of heaven, with that before given, or with 
that presented in the word of God, are welcome to do 
♦ Ccnj. Love, §§ 55. 64—68, 229, 367, 457. 



OX THE REFORMED CHURCHES. 



151 



it. To me, the task would be utterly impracticable. 
In a previous chapter (chap, vi.) I exhibited the 
manner in which Swedenborg was accustomed to 
speak of the Reformed churches. He represents 
them as utterly perverted and vastated, so that not 
anything true or holy remains in them. They are 
the great red dragon, and the two beasts of the Apo- 
calypse. They are that city which is spiritually 
called Sodom and Egypt. They are the goats on the 
left hand of the Judge in the day of judgment. They 
are not only the locusts of the bottomless pit, but 
the pit itself. But when Swedenborg comes to an- 
swer the objection, that "possibly some may entertain 
doubts as to the wisdom of providence, in permitting 
such a church to exist, and to remain for so long a 
period," he takes back no small part of his vitupera- 
tion and slander, and represents the Athanasian creed 
and the Reformed churches as in a very tolerable 
state of purity. " In all these churches," he says, " it 
is taught that there is no salvation, except a man 
examine himself, see his sins, acknowledge them, re- 
pent, desist from them, and enter upon a new course 
of life." " Hence it is evident that every one in these 
churches is taught that he must observe the deca- 
logue, and that evils are to be shunned as sins." * 
The same Swedenborg, it will be kept in mind, says 
all this, who had before represented these Reformed 
churches as in a state of utter perversion and cor- 
ruption, fit only to go away accursed into everlast- 
ing fire. 



152 



SWEDENBORG] AX1S3I EXAMINED. 



Swedenborg taught that the other world is a mere 
state of being, and not a place. "The angels," he 
says, " have no notion or idea of place and of space." 
So Mr. Bush says, that at death, " the spirit is ushered 
into a world to which time and space do not belong. 
Heaven and hell are not places, but states. It can- 
not be said of the spiritual world, that it is above or 
below, here or there ; but it is in man himself. Every 
one has actually in himself his heaven, or his hell."* 
Yet Swedenborg is far from being consistent in all 
his representations as to this matter. He speaks of 
the other world as being an exact conterpart to this. 
It has its earth, air and water ; its mountains, groves 
and plains, its food and clothing; its houses, cities, 
palaces ; its animals and vegetables. He speaks in 
one place of the vast extent of heaven. "It was 
given me to see the extent of the heaven which is 
inhabited, and likewise of what is not inhabited ; and 
I saw that the extent of heaven not inhabited was 
so great as to be incapable of being filled to eternity." 
Indeed, he speaks expressly and repeatedly of the 
spiritual world as a place. " The world of spirits is 
a middle place between heaven and hell ; and like- 
wise it is a middle state of man after death. That 
it is a middle place was made evident to me from 
this circumstance, that the hells are beneath, and the 
heavens above ; and that it is a middle state from 
this circumstance, that man, so long as he is there, 
is not yet in heaven, neither is he in hell. " * Swe- 
♦ Heaven and Hell, §§ 419, 422, 



SPIRITUAL WORLD. 



153 



denborg here distinguishes between state and place, 
and affirms that the spiritual world is both the one 
and the other; — in direct contradiction to his fre- 
quent assertions, that it is a mere state, and not a 
place. * 

Swedenborg taught, on some occasions, that there 
is no deception or hypocrisy in the other world, but 
each one is obliged to appear in his true character. 
" In the other life," he says, " no one is allowed to as- 
sume a semblance of affections which are not prop- 
erly his own, but all, of every description, are there 
reduced to such a state as to speak as they think, 
and to express the inclinations of the will by the 
countenance and gestures ; hence, therefore, it is that 
the faces of all are the faces and effigies of their af- 
fections." f But on other occasions, he taught quite 
a different doctrine. He has much to say of the 
tricks and deceits which are practised, not only in 
the spiritual world, but in the hells. Indeed, some 
of the hells are called " the hells of the deceitful." I 
I present the following as fair specimens of his teach- 
ing on his subject. Speaking of certain Romish 
hypocrites in the spiritual world, he says : " By 
means of a holy external, they have communication 
with some of the societies of the lowest heaven ; and 
by means of a profane internal, with the hells ; so 

* Mr. Noble says that " hell is a. place and state of misery." 
Appeal, pp. 360. 
t Heaven and Hell, §§ 457, 535. 
t Heaven and Hell, §§ 457, 535. 



154 SWEDENBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 



that they may be said to be in both. For which rea- 
son also they entice simple good spirits, allotting them 
habitations near themselves," upon whom " they at- 
tempt the most wicked designs ; for the simple good 
spirits, who are in the lowest part of heaven, look 
no farther than to their holy externals." Speaking 
in another place of hypocritical Protestants in the 
other world, he says, " It was permitted them to form 
societies, and live together as in the world, and there, 
by arts unknown in the world, to make splendid rep- 
resentations, and thereby persuade themselves and 
others that they were in heaven" They built for 
themselves certain mock heavens in the spiritual 
world, and called them heavens, and drew others in- 
to them as into heaven. These heavens, he says, are 
" the former heaven and former earth, which passed 
away in the last judgment." * Rev. xxi. 1. 

It was a doctrine of Swedenborg, that " the Lord 
casts no one down to hell, but the spirit casts him- 
self down." f This proposition he discusses through 
several pages. But he directly contradicts it, in 
many places in his works. " Those who have filled 
their wickedness with deceit," he says, " and have 
used goodness as a means of deceiving, are cast im- 
mediately into hell. I have seen some of this char- 
acter cast into hell instantly after death ; one of the 
most deceitful with his head downwards, and his 
feet upwards, and others in other ways." In the 

* Last Judgment, § 104. Continuation, § 18. 
t Heaven and Hell, § 545, &c. 



SELF CONTRADICTIONS. 



155 



process of the last judgment, Swedenborg saw some 
of the Babylonians (Romanists) cast into black seas, 
and others into horrible gulfs, and one was cast head- 
long into hell. When the Hollanders were judged, 
he saw some of them " cast into a fiery gulf," and 
others " into a dark cavern," which are only differ- 
ent descriptions of hell. * 

Swedenborg taught that sinners in hell " are pun- 
ished only as it becomes necessary to prevent their 
molesting and tormenting each others " They are 
permitted to live as they like, and to enjoy the de- 
lights they desire, with no other qualification, no 
other restraint, than is necessary to prevent their 
making each other miserable, f But this idea is con- 
tradicted in a great many passages. Some in the 
hells are represented as bruising their fellow sinners 
in a mortar, with a pestle ; others as grinding them 
up in a mill ; and others as inflicting ivpon those 
around them every species of torture of which they 
are capable. \ 

It is a doctrine of Swedenborg, that there are no 
radical changes of character, one way or the other, 
after death. " It remains then such as it had been ; 
nor can the life of hell be inscribed into the life of 
heaven, since they are opposite. Hence it is evi- 
dent, that they who come into hell remain there to 
eternity / and that they who come into heaven re- 

* Last Judgment, § 61. Continuation, § 53. 

t Parson's Essays, p. '207. 

t Arcana Celestia, §§ 822, 824, 5057. 



156 SWEDENBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 



main there to eternity." * But this plain and scrip- 
tural statement is directly contradicted in other parts 
of Swedenborg's writings. " It would be unreason- 
able," says he, " to suppose that the Lord would per- 
mit any one to be punished in hell, much less to 
eternity, for the sins of a short life ; especially, as 
each one considered his principles to be true, and 
was thus fixed in his persuasion. It is not to be 
thought, therefore, that the Lord would suffer any 
one to be punished, much less without intermission 
forever, except with a view to his reformation; as 
whatever is from the Lord is good, and for a good 
end ; but eternal punishment could have no such 
end." f 

It is unnecessary to pursue the inconsistencies of 
Swedenborg further. They are exceedingly numer- 
ous, and some of them most palpable. It is a suffi- 
cient objection to his doctrines and claims, that he is 
on so many points inconsistent with himself. 

* Arcana Celestia, §§ 10, 749. 
t Spiritual Diary, § 3489. 



CHAPTER X. 



OBJECTIONS TO THE CLAIMS AND THE DOCTRINES OF 
SWEDENBOKG, CONTINUED. 

Objection 11. 

I object further to the system of Swedenborg, 
that it represents the way to heaven as comparative- 
ly easy, and tends to depress, if not to subvert, the 
proper standard of Christian piety. We might in- 
fer as much as this from the fact, that it dispenses 
altogether with the appropriate work of the Holy 
Spirit, leaving this to be performed (if performed at 
all) by the ministry of angels. The Holy Spirit, 
and he alone, is the sanctifier of men. It is he who 
translates them from the kingdom of darkness, and 
transforms them into the divine image. It is he 
who commences the work of sanctification in their 
souls, and carries it on to the day of complete re- 
demption. I would by no means undervalue the 
benevolent ministry of holy angels. It is a delight- 



158 



SWEDE N Uo il( j I AN IS M EXAMINED. 



ful thought to the Christian, that their guardian care 
and protection are round about him, — that they are 
" ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to them 
who shall be heirs of salvation." But they can never 
perform the work of the Holy Spirit. They make 
no pretensions to it, and no approximation towards 
it. And a system of religion which dispenses with 
the appropriate work of the Holy Spirit, and de- 
volves it on created spirits, must necessarily be want- 
ing in spirituality. 

In his work on Heaven and Hell, Swedenborghas 
a chapter under the following caption : " It is not so 
difficult as it is supposed, to live a life which leads to 
heaven." * In discussing this proposition, he goes 
on to say: "Some people believe that a spiritual 
life is difficult, since they have been told that a man 
must renounce the world, and deprive himself of the 
concupiscences of the body, and the flesh ; which 
things they conceive as implying that they must re- 
ject worldly things, which consist chiefly in riches 
and honors ; that they must walk continually in 
pious meditation about God, salvation, and eternal 
life ; and that they must spend their days in prayer, 
and in reading the word and other pious books. 
This they call renouncing the world, and living in 
the spirit, and not in the flesh. But that the case is 
altogether otherwise has been given me to know, 

* Sect. 528. Mr. Noble says, " The Scriptures never represent 
the life that leads to heaven as a thing of great difficulty." Ap- 
peal, p. 4'J4. 



DIVERSIONS UF CHARITY'. 



159 



from much experience, and from conversation with 
the angels. Indeed, they who renounce the world, 
and live in the Spirit, in the manner above describ- 
ed, procure to themselves a sorrowful life, which is 
not receptible of heavenly joy ; for every one's life 
remains with him after death. But that man may 
receive the life of heaven it is altogether necessary 
that he live in the icorld, and in office and employment 
there ; that in such case, by moral and civil life, he 
may receive spiritual/ because spiritual life can not 
otherwise be formed without JdmP From this ex- 
tract my readers will see what kind of Christian life 
Swedenborg abjures, and what he recommends. 
With him, a life of pious reading, meditation, and 
devotion, so far from contributing to genuine spirit- 
uality, is inconsistent with it. A life so conducted 
is "not receptible of heavenly joy." But men must 
" live in the world," and not renounce it, and enjoy 
" the concupiscences of the body and the flesh." 

In his work on Charity, Swedenborg treats, at some 
length, of the " Diversions of Charity." After men- 
tioning several kinds of diversions, " the delights and 
pleasures of the bodily senses," he adds : " Besides 
these, there are convivialities, feasts, entertainments, 
and all kinds of merry-makings, games which are 
played at home with dice, billiards and cards ; and 
dances at wedding parties, and at festive meetings."* 
Not only are these things not inconsistent with the 
discipline of the Xew Church, they are recommended 

* § 117. 



160 



SWEDEN BOKGIAXISM EXAMINED. 



to be observed. They are recommended on the 
highest authority, even that of an inspired and heaven 
taught teacher. Indeed, Swedenborg represents 
them, or some of them, as practised in heaven. In 
one of his relations, he speaks of ten men who ware 
invited into one of the heavens, that they might learn 
the nature of heavenly joys. And here they were 
told of the festivities of the place ; such as musical 
concerts, games, shows, and dramatic entertainments. 
In one part, were exhibited the " various sports of 
young men and boys, such as running, hand-ball, 
rackets, &c." * Ennobling employment this for young 
men and boys in the other world! What truant 
would not be in earnest to get to such a heaven ! 

Wishing to satisfy myself as to the practical work- 
ings of this kind of religion, I have made inquiries in 
several places where the New Church has been longest 
established, as to the spiritual character of its mem- 
bers. " Are they, or are they not, conformed to the 
• world ? Do they, or do they not, furnish evidence 
of being a humble, devoted, sanctified people, having 
their affections on things above, and their conversa- 
tion in heaven ? " These inquiries were made, I 
trust, in a proper spirit, and answers were returned, 
so far as I could judge, charitably. They were in 
substance as follows : " Our Xew Church folks exhi- 
bit, perhaps, a fair proportion of general morality and 
amiableness of dejjortment, and seem rather to pride 
themselves on these things ; but of a contrite, watch- 

* Conj. Love, § 17. 



DIVERSIONS. 



161 



fill, prayerful spirit — a spirit of self-denial, of dead- 
ness to the world, of serious and holy devotion to 
things unseen and eternal, there are few, if any, of 
what are considered as the natural indications. We 
cannot, indeed, look into their hearts, and ought not 
to judge them, but may safely say as much as 
this." With regard to the question of conformity to 
the world, one of my correspondents writes: "The 
Swedenborgians have held, in this place, the past 
winter (i. e. chiefly among themselves) weekly or 
semi-weekly private dancing parties ; and once in a 
fortnight % public dancing party in one of our public 
halls, to which others, particularly young persons, 
have been invited. This seems to be a kind of church- 
meeting ; and it occurs on the same evening, and at 
the same hour, in which evangelical Christians are 
coming together for their stated prayer-meeting. It 
is understood that these people play at cards, and 
other games, and encourage them on social occasions 
generally. The minister and church members dance 
often at parties of a promiscuous character, and have 
remained, in some instances, to a late hour of the 
night." — Verily, in some of Swedenborg's '■'■Diver- 
sions of Charity," his followers in this place seem to 
abound. We hope they are as abundant in their 
deeds of charity. 

On receiving this communication, I was at first 
surprised. It was what I did not expect. But why 
should it not be expected ? The new church-men 
referred to are only following out (though possibly 
11 



162 SWEDEXBORGIAJXISM EXAMINED. 

to some little excess) the recommendations of their 
great teacher. And then these card parties, and 
dancing parties, to which others are invited, afford a 
fine opportunity for drawing in the young, the gay, 
the thoughtless, the unwary — " lovers of pleasure 
more than lovers of God " — and impressing them 
favorably as to the character and principles, the meas- 
ures and members of the Xew Church. Yes, read- 
er, this is the New Church ! the institution of which 
is represented as the introduction of a new dispensa- 
tion, — as much superior to th& Christian, as that was 
to the Jewish! The New Church! declared to be 
" the crown of all churches ! " The " new Jerusalem, 
coming down from God out of heaven," which is to 
stand forever! 

Objection 12. 

In following out my objections to the doctrines of 
Swedenborg, I am sorry to be obliged to say, that 
some of them are of decidedly an immoral charac- 
ter and tendency. I refer particularly to those which 
relate to polygamy, concubinage, and scortation or 
fornication. Swedenborg 'taught that "polygamy 
is not sin with those whose religion sanctions or per- 
mits it ; " neither " with those who are in ignorance 
concerning the Lord." Consequently, he goes on to 
say, it was no sin among the Israelites of old ; nor is 
it sin among the Mohammedans and heathens of the 
present day. For the Mohammedans, he says, there 
are two heavens, "the lower and the higher." In 



ON POLYGAMY. 



163 



the lower heaven, '•'•they live icith many wives and 
concubines, as in the xcorld / but those who renounce 
concubines, and live with one wife, are elevated into 
the higher heaven." Swedenborg visited the poly- 
gamists in their heaven, sat down with one of them 
in the vestibule of his harem, and entered into conver- 
sation with him respecting marriages. " We do not 
live with one wife," said the celestial, " but some 
with two, and three, and some with more ; because 
variety, obedience, and honor, delight us ; and these 
Ave have from our wives, if they are many. With 
one wife, there would be no pleasure from variety, 
but disgust and sameness ; nor would there be flat- 
tering courteousness from obedience, but disquietude 
from equality ; nor would there be satisfaction and 
honor from dominion, but vexatious disputes con- 
cerning superiority. And what is a woman? Is she 
not bora subject to the will of man, — to serve and 
not to ride ? Wherefore here, every husband in his 
own house, has, as it were, royal majesty. And be- 
cause this is our love, it is also the blessedness of our 
life? Swedenborg expostulated with the angel; (for 
the man here speaking, it must be remembered, is an 
inhabitant of heaven) but he could make no impres- 
sion. " What else makes a man blessed," he rejoined, 
but the emulation of wives, contending for the honor 
of the husband's highest favor ?" * Strange source 
indeed of blessedness in heaven !! 

Swedenborg taught, " that it is not lawful for a 
* Conj. Love, §§ 343, 348, 349, 78. 



164 



SWEDEXBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 



Christian to marry but one wife." * Nor may a 
Christian be formally, legally divorced from his wife, 
except for a single cause — that assigned by our Sa- 
viour in Mat. xix. 9. f But there are many causes he 
says — causes " legitimate, jzist, real, and sufficient," 
for taking a concubine into the wife's bed, provided 
the wife is not cohabited with at the same time. 

Concerning concubinage in general, Swedeuborg 
lays down twelve distinct propositions, which he dis- 
cusses through some eight or ten pages. The follow- 
ing are two of them: "That concubinage, conjointly 
with a wife, is altogether unlawful to Christians. 
That concubinage apart from the wife, when it is 
engaged in from legitimate, just, and truly sufficient 
causes, is not unlawful." The sufficient causes of 
separation and concubinage, he said, are two-fold ; 
those relating, first, to the mind, and secondly, to 
the body. Among the mental infirmities which are 
sufficient to justify the taking of a concubine, he 
mentions the following : " Mania, frenzy, raving, ac- 
tual foolishness and idiocy, loss of memory, severe 
hysteric disease, extreme simplicity so that there is 
no perception of good and truth ; the highest stub- 
bornness in not obeying what is just and equal ; the 
highest pleasure in prating and talking upon nothing 
but insignificant things and trifles ; unbridled eager- 
ness for publishing the secrets of the house ; also 
for wrangling, striking, revenging, doing mischief, 



* Conj. Love, § 338. 
T Conj. Love, § 408. 



CONCUBINAGE. 



165 



stealing, lying, cheating, blaspheming ; neglect of in- 
fants, excess, luxury, too great prodigality, drunken- 
ness, uncleanness, impurity, application to magic and 
tricks of deception, impiety, internal dissimilitude, 
and other like things. That these are just causes of 
concubinage, because they are just causes of separa- 
tion," he says, " reason sees without a judge." 

Among the bodily infirmities which justify concu- 
binage, the following are distinctly mentioned ; 
" Malignant and. pestilential fevers, leprosies, vene- 
real diseases, gangrenes, cancers, warts, pustules, scor- 
butic phthisic, virulent scab, especially if the face is 
defiled with it ; foul, rank, crude eructations from the 
stomach ; corrupt and putrid breath exhaled from 
imposthumes, ulcers, abscesses, from vitiated blood, 
or from vitiated lymph ; lipothamia, which is a total 
languidness of body and defect of strength ; palsy, 
which is a loosening of the membranes and ligaments 
subservient to motion ; certain chronic diseases, aris- 
ing from the loss of the tensibility and elasticity of 
the nerves, or from too great spissitude, tenacity and 
acrimony of the humors ; permanent infirmity from 
apoplexies ; consumptions, by which the body is de- 
stroyed ; the iliac passion, the cceliac affection, her- 
nia, epilepsy, and other like diseases." * 

Here are some fifty causes or reasons for separa- 
tion and concubinage, distinctly assigned, either of 
which Swedenborg says is just and sufficient. He 
speaks of more like causes ; but how many more we 
* Conj. Love, §§ 462, 252, 253, 470. 



166 



SWEDEXB0RGIANIS1I EXAMINED. 



are not informed. The husband, too, is to decide for 
himself, whether any of these causes actually exist. 
" That these are just causes of separation and con- 
cubinage, reason sees without a judge /" i. e., with- 
out their being submitted to any legal tribunal for 
adjudication. They are to be "adjudged by the man 
alone ; " or, as the translator explains it, " they are 
to be decided by the man himself, according to true 
princijdes." 

On the foregoing statement, I have no disposition 
to remark. It speaks for itself. I only add, that it 
has been fairly and faithfully extracted from the ac- 
knowledged works of Swedenborg, and is not con- 
tradicted in any other of his writings. I leave it to 
the consideration of my readers. 

As to the other subject referred to, viz., fornica- 
tion, Swedenborg lays down the following principles: 
1. ""With some, the love of the sex can not, without 
damage, be totally restrained from going forth into 
fornication. It is vain," he adds, under this head, 
" to recount the damages which too great a restraint 
may cause and operate, with those who labor under 
venereal excitement. From this source are the ori- 
gins of certain diseases of the body, and disorders of 
the mind." 2. " Fornication is light, so far as it 
looks to conjugial love, and prefers it." 3. " The 
lust of fornicating is grievous, so far as it looks to 
adultery." 4. " Care is to be taken, lest conjugial 
love, by immoderate and inordinate fornications, 
should be destroyed." 5. " Conjugial love — with 



CONCUBINAGE. 



167 



those who for various causes can not as yet enter into 
marriage, and can not govern their lusts — may be 
preserved, if the love of the sex be restricted to one 
mistress? This last proposition is thus explained 
and discussed : " That by those who are salacious, 
immoderate and inordinate lust can not be restrained, 
reason sees and experience teaches. In order there- 
fore, that this immoderateness and inordinateness — 
with those who labor under venereal excitement, and 
can not, for many causes, precipitate marriage — may 
be curbed, and reduced to something moderate and 
ordinate, there appears no other refuge and as it 
were asylum, than the keeping of a mistress." Swe- 
denborg goes on to assign no less than six reasons 
why, under the circumstances specified, a mistress 
should he kept. " By this means, promiscuous forni- 
cations are curbed and limited;" "the ardor of 
venery is allayed and mitigated;" "adulteries are 
guarded against," &c. * 

These statements, like those before given, need no 
comment. My readers will perceive, at once, what 
utter havoc is here made of the plain precepts of the 
Bible, and the acknowledged principles of Christian 
morality. God says, " Thou shalt not commit adul- 
tery." But Swedenborg assigns some fifty causes, 
and says there are more, which will justify a man in 
separating from his wife and keeping a concubine, or, 

* Conj. and Scort. Love, §§ 450 — 460. Swedenborg was never 
married, but he confesses that at one period of his life he kept a 
mistress. See Wilkinson's Life of Swedenborg, p. 233. 



168 8WEDENBORG1AXJSM EXAMINED. 



which is the same, in committing adultery. The 
Bible says, " Flee fornication." " This is the will of 
God that ye should abstain from fornication." "Let 
it not be once named among you." * But Sweden- 
borg states circumstances, in which fornication is not 
only permitted, but recommended and enforced, — 
more especially uj>on young men. There is no re- 
counting the damage which they will sustain, if they 
do not resort to it. And he leaves every young man 
to judge whether these circumstances do, or do not, 
exist in his own case. I say he leaves the young 
man to judge ; for in this whole matter, he seems to 
regard the woman, temporally and eternally, as exist- 
ing only for the convenience of the man. t And yet 
I know of fine ladies, who read and profess to ad- 
mire the works of Swedenborg! And I once heard 
a learned and venerable Swedenborgian say, when 
inquired of as to what he thought of the work on 
" Conjugial and Scortatory Love," "I think, Sir, that 
no man could have written that book, who had not 
been in heaven " ! ! 

* Cor. vi, 18. Eph. v. 3. 1 Thess. iv. 3. 

t It appears that some of the original members of the New 
Church in London received these doctrines of Swedenborg in their 
literal and proper sense, and acted upon them, to the shame of 
those bodies which ought to be temples of the Holy Spirit ! See 
New Church Repository, Vol. 6., p. 145. 



CHAPTER XI. 



OBJECTIONS TO THE CLAIMS AND THE DOCTRINES OF 
SWEDENBORG, CONTINUED. 

Objection 13. 

My next objection to the claims of Swedenborg, 
is drawn from his representations of heaven and hell, 
and in general of the invisible world. Much that 
might, with propriety, be presented here has been 
anticipated ; still something more requires to be said. 
And after all, it will be impossible to exhibit the sub- 
ject fully or adequately. Those who have a curios- 
ity to learn all that Swedenborg says about heaven 
and hell, and the invisible world, must read his 
works. 

As before remarked, he represents every inhabi- 
tant of heaven as once a man on the earth, and as 
still retaining the human form. The heavens are di- 
vided into innumerable societies, consisting of con- 
genial spirits ; and each of these societies is in the 



170 SWEDENBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 



human form ; some of the members of a particular 
society going to constitute the head, others the neck 
and breast, others the loins, others the arms, legs, 
feet, &c. 

And not only is each of the innumerable societies 
of heaven in the human form, they collectively con- 
stitute a society in the human form. Hence, Swe- 
denborg commonly speaks of the universal heavens 
as the Grand Man. And he goes on, page after 
page, to the extent of a volume, pointing out the 
correspondences between all the human organs and 
members, and the Grand Man, and showing what 
sorts of Christians, or rather of people, go to consti- 
tute his different parts. " They who appear above 
the head of the Grand Man, and near to it, are those 
who teach, and also suffer themselves easily to be 
taught ; they who are beneath the occiput are those 
who act tacitly and prudently ; they who are at the 
thorax or breast, are those who are in charity ; they 
who are at the feet, are those who are natural; and 
they who are at the soles of the feet are the grosser of 
that class. They who are at the nostrils, are those 
who excel in percejJtion ; they who are at the ears, 
are those who obey ; they who are at the eyes, are 
those who are intelligent, wise," &o. 

Swedenborg taught that in heaven, or in the 
Grand Man, "there is a pulse, like that of the heart; 
and a respiration, like that of the lungs, but more 
interior. The pulse of the heart is various, accord- 
ing to the states of love ; and the respiration, ac- 



THE GRAND MAN. 



171 



cording to the states of charity and faith." The 
Grand Man is nourished and increased, by the con- 
tinual flow of people from this world into the world 
of spirits, and thence to heaven, or to hell. Those 
persons " with whom evils have obtained the pre- 
dominion, after that they have been vexed in the 
stomach of the Grand Man, to no purpose, are con- 
veyed through the stomach into the intestines, and 
are thence voided forth into the draught, i. e. into 
hell. But they with whom goods have had the pre- 
dominion, after some vexations and purifications, be- 
come chyle, and pass off into the blood," and so into 
the body.* 

I have presented this sketch of " the Grand Man," 
because Swedenborg dwells much upon it, represent- 
ing it as " a great arcanum," and attaching to it a 
vast importance. To my own apprehension, the 
whole account is supremely ridiculous ; being desti- 
tute alike of sense and decency, and worthy only of 
contempt. Nor do I see how the latter part of it is 
to be interpreted, according to the science of corres- 
pondences. If there is any correspondence here, 
then the wicked must go through the whole midst 
of heaven in order to get into hell, as refuse food 
passes through the whole intestinal canal, before it 
is voided into the draught. Nor is this the worst of 
it. Swedenborg probably did not know that the 
contents of the intestinal canal are made up but in 



* Arcana Celestia, §§ 3881—3889, 5174. 



172 



S WJSUENBORGl AN IS ir EXAMINED. 



part of the refuse of the stomach. With them is 
also mingled the refuse of the whole system, which 
the ahsorbents are continually taking up and passing 
off in the natural way. To carry out the corres- 
pondence, therefore, we must suppose that hell is 
continually supplied froni heaven. When spirits 
have been a sufficient time in heaven, or the Grand 
Man, the absorbents take them up, and cast them 
out ; and their places are supplied by others which 
are crowding in from the world. Yet Swedenborg 
would hardly allow that any portion of the Grand 
Man can ever come to such an end as this. 

I have already spoken of appearances in heaven, 
or of things which are seen and done there. In gen- 
eral, it may be said, that there is almost everything 
there, that there is on earth ; only that the heavenly 
things are spiritual, and the earthly natural, and the 
former exist, perhaps, in a state of greater perfec- 
tion. "In the heavens," says Swedenborg, "I have 
seen lambs, sheep, she-goats, so similar to those seen 
in the world, that there is no difference ; also, turtle 
doves, pigeons, birds of paradise, and several others 
of a beautiful form and color. I have seen various 
kinds of fish in the waters, but these in the lowest 
parts of heaven." 

There are in the heavens, as hi the earth, vegeta- 
bles of all kinds and species. According to the de- 
grees of light and of heat, there appear paradisiacal 
gardens, groves, fields, and plains, and in them flower- 
beds, shrubberies, and grass plats. In the inmost or 



BUSINESS OF HEAVEN. 173 

third heaven, there are shrubs whose fruits drop oils ; 
flower beds from which are scattered abroad the 
most fragrant odors ; and grass plats which abound 
with similar scents. In the middle or second heav- 
en are shrubs, whose fruits drop wine; beds of flow- 
ers from which exhale pleasant odors, with seeds of 
a delicate flavor, and grass plats in like manner." 

Some novitiates, on a certain occasion, entered 
heaven, under the impression that it was a world of 
rest. But one of the angels soon undeceived them. 
" I will tell you a new thing from heaven," said he, 
"that there are there administrations, ministries, ju- 
diciary proceedings greater and less, also mechanical 
arts and trades." If there are "judiciary proceed- 
ings " in heaven, it would seem that there must be 
litigation there, and cases in law and equity to be 
decided. 

Still further to satisfy the new comers as to the 
business of heaven, the angel took them into a large 
library, and showed them a vast many books, to- 
gether with "parchment and paper, pen and ink." 
He took them also " to the abodes of the scribes, 
whose writings they inspected, and wondered that 
they were so neat and elegant. Next, he conducted 
them to the museums, gymnasiums, and colleges, 
where the literary exercises are had. Finally, the 
angel led them around the city to the rulers, admin- 
istrators, and subordinate officers, and showed them 
wonderful specimens of workmanship which are 
made by the artificers." * 

* Conj. Love. § 207. 



174 SWEDENBORGIANISJI EXAMINED. 



The people of the outer heavens all wear garments, 
but those of the inmost or third heaven go entirely 
naked. Swedenborg says, that " the garments of the 
angels do not merely appear as garments, but they 
really are garments. This is certain, because they 
not only see them, but also feel them. Also they 
have more garments than one ; they put them oft' 
and on ; those which are not in use, they lay up ; 
and when they again come into use, they re-assume 
them. That they are clad in various garments, has 
been seen by me a thousand times." 

The people of heaven not only have garments, 
but they dwell in houses, as when on the earth. " I 
have been present with them," says Swedenborg, 
" in their houses, which are altogether like the houses 
of earth, only more beautiful. In them are cham- 
bers, inner-rooms, and bed-chambers in great num- 
bers. There are also courts, and round about are 
gardens, shrubberies, and fields. Where the habita- 
tions are contiguous, they are arranged into the form 
of a city, with streets, ways and forums, altogether 
after the likeness of cities on our earth." 

There are also temples in heaven, Avhere the peo- 
ple have preaching and public worship. "The 
preacher stands in a pulpit eastward ; before his face 
sit those who are in the light of wisdom above oth- 
ers ; on the right hand and left are those who are in 
a lesser light. They are seated in the form of a cir- 
cle, so that all are in view of the preacher. At the 
gate, and to the left of the pulpit, stand those who 



ANGELIC SPEECH. 



175 



are in a state of initiation. It is not allowed to any- 
one, except them, to teach in the temples." 

" Angelic Speech" says Swedenborg, " like human 
speech, is sonorous in its utterance, and sonorous in 
the ear of the person spoken to ; for angels, like 
men, have a mouth, a tongue, and ears ; and they 
have likewise an atmosphere, in which the sound of 
their speech is articulated." The writing, in the in- 
most heaven is very peculiar. " It consists of various 
inflected and circumflected forms ; and the inflex- 
ions and circumflexions are according to the form of 
heaven. On a time," says Swedenborg, " a little pa- 
per was sent to me from heaven, containing some 
expressions written in Hebrew letters ; and I was 
told that every letter involved arcana of wisdom, and 
that those arcana were contained in the inflections 
and curvatures of the letters. Then I understood 
what is signified by these words of the Lord, ' Un- 
til heaven and earth pass away, one iota, or one lit- 
tle horn, shall not pass away from the law.' In the 
word, the arcana of heaven are contained even in its 
iotas, apexes, and little horns."* 

It is wonderful that there should be mountains of 
sense in the little curvatures and apexes of a Hebrew 
letter ; but this wonder of the Word is as nothing 
compared with some others of which Swedenborg 
informs us. " In the inmost recesses of the heavenly 
temples, the Word shines before the angels like a 

* Heaven and Hell, §§ 181, 184, 223, 235, 260. 



176 SWEDENBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 



great star, and sometimes like the sun. Also, when 
any single verse of the "Word is written out upon 
paper, and the paper is thrown into the air, the paper 
itself shines in such a form as it was cut into ; and 
what is still more wonderful, when any one rubs the 
face, the hands, or the clothes, with the Word open, 
applying the writing of it to them, the face itself, the 
hands, and the clothes shine, as if he were standing in 
a star, and surrounded with its light. This I have 
often seen," says Swedenborg, " and wondered at. 
Thence it was evident to me why the face of Moses 
shone, when he brought down the tables of the cove- 
nant from the mount." Moses, it seems, had rubbed 
his face against the tables. 

Swedenborg speaks of other wonders of the Word 
in heaven, " as for instance, if any one who is in 
falses, looks at the Word, lying in the holy place, 
there arises a thick darkness before his eyes, and 
thence the Word appears to him black, and some- 
times as it were covered over with soot. But if he 
also touches the Word, an explosion is made with a 
loud noise, and he is throion to a corner of the room, 
and for an hour lies there as if Jie was dead. If 
any thing of the Word is written out upon paper, 
by any one who is in falses, and the paper is thrown 
up towards heaven, then a similar explosion is made 
in the air, and the paper is torn into atoms. " This," 
says Swedenborg, "I have often seen."* 

Swedenborg tells a story of an orthodox prelate, 
* True Chris. Religion, § 209. 



EATING AXD SLEEPING. 



177 



a preacher of the doctrine of justification by faith, 
who was knocked over in heaven, in the manner 
above described. He insisted that he had not falsi- 
fied the Word, and was willing to attest the truth of 
his assertion, by touching the terrific symbol. The 
angels warned him to beware, but he would not lis- 
ten. "He approached the table, and touched the 
Word ; when suddenly there issued fire and smoke, 
attended with a loud explosion, which cast " the poor 
Doctor into one corner of the room, where he lay 
for the space of an hour as if he were dead." * 

According to Swedenborg, there are morning, noon, 
and night in heaven, and regular hours for eating 
and sleeping, as on the earth. On one occasion, 
there were some visitors in heaven, who desired to 
see the Prince. " It is now morning, said the angel, 
and you will not be allowed to see him before noon. 
Till then, all are engaged in their offices and employ- 
ments. But you have been invited to dinner, and 
then you will sit at table with the Prince." Mean- 
while, the guests busied themselves in viewing the 
splendors of the palace, and the wonders of the gar- 
den, where they saw " trees of oil ; and after these, 
trees of wine ; and after these, trees of fragrance ; 
and lastly, trees of timber useful for building." At 
noon, they were gorgeously attired, and introduced 
to "the grandees" of the palace, and then to the 
Prince himself, Avho said to them, " Come with me 
to eat bread." Swedenborg goes on to describe the 
* Apocalypse Revealed, § 566. 

12 



178 



S W EDEN BORGIA X ISM EXAMINED. 



table and tlie dishes ; " the sweet cakes and condi- 
ments ; " a " fountain overflowing with nectareous 
wine, the stream of which dispersed itself and filled 
the cups ;" * the dresses of the Prince, his counsel- 
ors and courtiers, even to " their breeches and stock- 
ings ; " the conversation, &c. These were the guests 
spoken of in the last chapter, who, after dinner, were 
introduced to the diversions of heaven, such as 
"hand-ball, rackets," &c. At evening, they supped 
with one of the chief counselors ; after which " they 
retired separately, each one to his own bed-chamber, 
and slept till morning." The next day, they attended 
a wedding in heaven, the whole process of which is 
described at length, and with the greatest particular- 
ity. The third day, the guests attended church in 
heaven, and were introduced to the preacher, who 
was very careful (as Swedenborg's angels always are) 
to set them right on the doctrines of the trinity, and 
of justification by faith. 

Swedenborg's principal topic of interest in explo- 
ring the heavens, was his favorite one of marriage 
and conjugial love. He learned, not only that there 
are marriages in heaven, but that there are proper 
marriages, no where else. " Beneath the heavens, 
there are nuptial connections (connubia) but not 
marriages, f 

Those who die in infancy go immediately to heaven, 

* What will our temperance friends say to such a dinner in 
heaven ? 

t Conj. Love, §§ 192, 75, 79. 



MARRIAGES IX HEAVEN. 



179 



to be taken care of and instructed ; and at an early 
period, they are united in marriage ; the boys at 
about the age of eighteen, and the girls of fifteen. 
The process, by which the parties are brought to- 
gether and the nuptials celebrated, is fully described. 

It may be a comfort to maidens and bachelors, who 
desired marriage on earth, but could not effect it, to 
learn that they are to be accommodated in heaven. 
" They who in the world have lived unmarried, and 
have altogether alienated their minds from marriage, 
ft" they be spiritual, will remain unmarried in heaven." 
" But it is otherwise with those who, in their celibacy, 
have desired marriage, and especially with those 
who have solicited it without success. For these, if 
they are spiritual, blessed marriages are provided in 
JieavenP The unmarried are removed from the cen- 
ter to the side of heaven, where they dwell together. 
The reason of this is, that " the sphere of perpetual 
celibacy infests the sphere of conjugial love, which is 
the very sphere of heaven." * 

Swedenborg represents the heavens as universally 
and intensely interested in this matter of conjugial 
love. The angels have long and frequent discussions 
on the subject, to which it was Swedenborg's privi- 
lege often to listen, and in some of them to take a 
part. " One morning," he says, "before the rising of 
the sun, I looked forth towards the east in the spi- 
ritual world, and saw four horsemen as if flying out 



* Conj. Love, §§ 187, 54. 



180 



SWKDEJfBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 



from a cloud, shining with the flame of the dawn. 
Wondering at them, I looked up into heaven and 
asked, Whither are those horsemen going? And I 
received for an answer, To the wise in the kingdoms 
of Europe (the spiritual Europe) who are of prac- 
tised reason and keen sight, and who have stood high 
among their people in reputation for genius, that 
they may come and solve the secret concerning" — 
what ? WJiat great secret is to be solved? " Con- 
cerrdng the origin of conjugial love, and concerning 
its ability, or potency" And soon a delegation of 
three was brought together from nine of the princi- 
pal kingdoms of the spiritual Europe, viz., from 
Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Holland, England, 
Sweden, Denmark, and Poland, to consider and de- 
tennine this grave question. The delegates from 
each country deliberated by themselves, reduced 
their decision to writing, and handed it in to the pre- 
siding angel. These decisions were then pubUcly 
read, and Swedenborg has preserved them in his 
work on Conjugial Love. As it happened, they were 
all unsatisfactory to the angel, and it was left to a 
company of spectators from Africa (Swedenborg had 
a strong predilection for Africa,) to solve the secret 
truly, and bear away the palm. 

On one occasion, Swedenborg " saw three noviti- 
ate spirits " (young men) just arrived from this world, 
"who wandered about, examining and inquiring." In 
a short time, two angels appeared, who were sent to 
instruct them. And almost the only subjects about 



MARRIAGES IN HEAVEN. 



181 



which the new comers seemed to desire instruction, 
or the angels were inclined to give it, were marriage, 
potency, and conjugial love. The youths were ama- 
zingly interested to find that the love of the sex con- 
tinued in heaven ; and evidently desired to know 
more about the matter than they dared to ask. The 
angels, perceiving their desires, went on to assure 
them that " there is altogether a similar love between 
consorts in heaven, as on the earth ; " and not only 
so, but that this resulted in " similar ultimate de- 
lights /" only that those delights are "much more 
blessed, because angelical perception and sensation 
are much more exquisite, than human perception and 
sensation." The new comers were made glad at this 
intelligence, and full of the desire of heaven, and in 
the hope of nuptials there, they said, ' We will study 
morality and a becoming conduct of life, that we 
may have what we desire." * What a motive this, 
for "studying morality, and a becoming conduct of 
life," and thus making preparation for heaven ! 

In discussions like the foregoing, Swedenborg's 
angels, for some reason, are always intensely inter- 
ested. Indeed, one would suppose, from reading 
portions of his works, that they scarcely think of 
anything else. 

In view of all that has been said, I feel constrain- 
ed to ask, how much better is the heaven of Swe- 
denborg, than that of Mohammed ? Indeed, where 



* Conj. Love, §§ 103 — H i, 183, 44. 



182 SWEDENBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 



is the mighty difference between them ? For the 
faithful Mussulman, says Mohammed, "the Lord 
hath prepared two gardens, planted with shady trees. 
In each of them are two fountains flowing, and of 
every fruit two kinds. Ye shall repose on couches, 
the linings whereof are thick silk, interwoven with 
gold ; and the fruit of the gardens shall be near at 
hand to gather. Therein shall be beauteous dam- 
sels, refraining their eyes from beholding any besides 
their husbands, whom no man shall have defloAvered 
before thee, neither any spirit, having cbnrplexions 
like rubies and pearls. Shall the reward of good 
works be any other than good ? Besides these, there 
shall be two other gardens, of a dark green. In 
each of them shall be two fountains, pouring forth 
plenty of water. In each of them shall be fruits, 
and palm trees, and pomegranates. Therein shall 
be agreeable and beauteous damsels, having fine 
black eyes, and kept in pavilions from public view. 
Which, therefore, of your Lord's benefits will ye un- 
gratefully deny ? Blessed be the name of the Lord, 
possessed of glory and honor." * Swedenborg ad- 
mits that the Mohammedan religion is from the 
Lord ; and I have no doubt that a Swedenborgian, 
who had no -acquaintance with the Koran, on hear- 
ing the above passages read, would suppose, of 
course, that they were taken from the work on 
" Conjugial Love." 



* Koran, chap. 55. 



HEAVEN AND HELL. 



183 



It will be gathered from what has been said, that 
Swedenborg's lowest heaven, and his highest hell, 
(for he has three hells as well as heavens) are not far 
asunder. And this conclusion* he does not hesitate 
to avow. The orb on which both the good and the 
bad spirits dwell, he represents as one, being divided 
into six expanses, one below another. " In the high- 
est expanse, dwell the angels of the third heaven ; 
and beneath them the angels of the second heaven ; 
and beneath these the angels of the first heaven. 
Below these dwell the spirits of the first hell ; and 
beneath them the spirits of the second hell ; and be- 
neath these the spirits of the third ; all things being 
so arranged, that the evil affections, which are spi- 
rits of hell, are held in bonds by the good affections, 
which are angels of heaven." * It would appear 
from this statement, and from other representations 
on the subject, that Swedenborg's lowest "heaven and 
his highest hell are not more different or distant from 
each other, than are his several heavens and hells 
among themselves. 

All the inhabitants of hell, like those of heaven, 
are of the human species, and still retain something 
of the human form, though this form is miserably 
disfigured and distorted, to correspond, to the evil 
affections of their hearts. " In general," says Swe- 
denborg, "the faces of the inhabitants of that world 
are direful, and void of life-like carcasses. In some 



» Ath. Cveed, § 34. 



184 SWEDENBORGIAMSM EXAMINED. 

instances, they are black ; in some fiery, like little 
torches ; some, disfigured with pimples, warts, and 
ulcers. In several instances, no face apj^ears, but in 
its stead something hairy or bony ; and in some cases 
teeth only are extant. * Their bodies also are mon- 
strous, and their speech is the speech of anger, of 
hatred, or revenge ; for every one speaks from his 
own falses, and the tone of his voice is from his own 
evil ; in a word, they are images of their own hell."f 

The hells, like the heavens, consist of numerous 
societies, made up of those who resemble each other 
in wickedness ; and these societies retain something 
of the human form, though misshapen and distort- 
ed, as in the case of the individual. Swedenborg 
says that in the gates or openings of the hells, there 
generally appear monsters, representing the forms 
of the societies within. 

The hells also, in the general, retain something of 
the human form ; or rather they resemble " one 
grand devil, and may be presented in the effigy of a 
devil." Between the different parts and members 
of this monster devil, and the various societies of 
hell, there is a necessary correspondence ; and Swe- 
denborg tells us in various particulars, some of which 
are of the most loathsome and disgusting character, 

* In one place, Swedenborg says that the spirits of heil have 
no teeth. Arc. Celes. § 822. Here, it would seem, they are 
nothing but teeth. 

t Heaven and Hell, 553. 



ODORS OF HELL. 



185 



to what parts of the monster devil the different so- 
cieties and characters of hell belong. 

As conjugial love is, with Swedenborg, the source 
of nearly all the blessedness of heaven, so " scorta- 
tory love " lies at the foundation of all the unclean- 
liness of hell. " All hell," he says, "abounds in an- 
cleanliness ; and the universal origin of them is ob- 
scene and impure scortatory love." 

I have shown in a former chapter, that Sweden- 
borg attaches much importance to odors, as affecting 
the blood ; the blood of a good man being nourish- 
ed by sweet odors, and that of a bad man by offen- 
sive ones. (Chap. 8.) This absurd principle he 
carries into the other world, filling all heaven with 
fragrance, and hell with the most intolerable stench- 
es ; in which the inhabitants, however, greatly de- 
light. His details are many of them too disgusting 
to be transcribed. 

In several parts of his works, Swedenborg de- 
scribes, with much particularity, the hells which are 
appropriated to particular characters. f "The pun- 
ishment of assassins," he says, "is dreadful. After 
they have suffered infernal torments for a succession 
of ages, they at length acquire a shocking and most 
monstrous countenance or face ; so that it is not a 
face, but a sort of coarse and ghastly substance. 

*It is remarkable that Swedenborg has no hell for drunkards. 
The probability is, either that he saw but little of this •vice, or 
that he had no proper sense of its enormity. 



186 



SWEDENBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 



Thus they put off all that is human, till every one 
who sees them shudders at the sight." 

Swedenborg describes one of the hells as a " stag- 
nant lake," on the bank of which " appear those who 
eat human flesh, and devour each other, with their 
teeth sticking in each others shoulders. At a farther 
distance, there appear great fishes and large sea- 
monsters, which devour men, and vomit them up 
again. At the farthest distance, there appear most 
deformed faces, particularly of old women, so mon- 
strous that it is impossible to describe them, running 
to and fro like mad persons." 

Another hell is appropriated to those u who have 
taken delight in cruelty, and at the same time in 
adultery." These "form to themselves instruments 
like pestles and mortars, with which they bruise and 
torture whomsoever they can. They make also broad 
axes, such as are used by executioners, and a sort of 
awl or auger, with which they cruelly torment each 
other." 

In one of the hells, Swedenborg saw a grinding 
instrument, with which some malicious devil "was 
grinding up men with great delight." The angels 
told him that this represented the Israelites, to whom 
nothing was more delightful than to treat the nations 
with cruelty." 

Swedenborg thus describes the hell of the Popes 
of Rome. "Afterwards hell was opened, and I saw 
two, one sitting upon a bench, holding his feet in a 
basket full of serpents, which seemed creeping softly 



THE INTERMEDIATE STATE. 



1ST 



upwards over the breast, even to the neck. The other 
was sitting upon an ignited ass, at whose sides red 
serpents were creeping, raising their necks and heads, 
and following the rider. It was said to me that they 
were Popes, who depi'ived emperors of their domin- 
ion, and ill-treated them at Rome, whither they came 
supplicating and adoring them." 

I need present no further extracts, to give my 
readers a sufficient idea of the hells of Swedenborg. 
And now what are we to think of them ? Do these 
accounts resemble at all the solemn, impressive, awful 
representations of the Bible on the same subject ? 
Do they not more resemble the vagaries of the Mus- 
sulman, or the wild fancies of the uninstructed hea- 
then '? And are they not equally at variance with 
reason, with decency, and with common sense, as 
they are with the decisions of God's word ? I wish 
to think charitably of Emmanuel Swedenborg, and I 
do. But there is only one supposition, as it seems 
to me, on which this is possible ; and that I shall en- 
deavor to explain in a subsequent chapter. 

But I have not yet quite done with Swedenborg's 
representations of the invisible world. I have ex- 
hibited, to some extent, his heavens and his hells ; 
but there was, with him, a middle region, an inter- 
mediate state ; and into this also we must look before 
we close. The greater part of what he calls his 
" Memorable Relations," has respect to what is trans- 
acted here. 

Swedenborg taught, as I have before said, that 



188 



SWEDEXBORGIAXISM EX.V3n.VED. 



" man after death is equally a man as before, and 
does not know, for a time, but that he is still in the 
former world. He walks, runs and sits, as in the 
former world ; he lies down, sleeps and wakes up, as 
in the former world ; he eats and drinks as in the 
former world ; he enjoys conjugial delight as in the 
former world ; in short, he is a man, as to all and 
every particular." 

" In the spiritual world, there are lands as in the 
natural world. There are plains and valleys, moun- 
tains and hills, fountains and rivers. There are para- 
dises, gardens, groves and woods. There are cities, 
and in them palaces and houses, also writings and 
books. There are employments and trades ; there 
are gold, silver and precious stones ; in a word, there 
are all things whatsoever that are in the natural 
world, only some of them are in greater perfec- 
tion." 

Swedenborg found the people of different nations 
and religions living separately in the spiritual world; 
and he gives us a particular account of the circum- 
stances of the Dutch, the English, the Germans, the 
Papists, the Mohammedans, the Africans, and the 
Jews. " There are two great cities," he says, " like 
London in the spiritual world, into which most of the 
English come after death. It has been given me to 
see the former city, and to walk over it. 

The Roman Catholic saints are concealed in the 
other world under ground, and all communication 
with their former worshipers is taken away. For 



THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 



189 



the satisfaction of Swedenborg, "as many as a hun- 
dred were brought forth from the earth below, who 
knew of their canonization. They ascended behind 
my back, and only a few before my face, and I spoke 
with one of them, who they said was Xavier. While 
he talked with me, he was like a fool ; yet he could 
tell that in his place, where he was shut up with others, 
he was not a fool, but that he becomes a fool as often 
as he thinks that he is a saint." Poor Saint Xavier ! 

For the Africans, Swedenborg seems to have felt 
a strong predilection. He found them " superior to 
the rest in interior judgment," and better prepared 
to receive the doctrines of the New Church. Indeed, 
" there is, at this day, a revelation made to the peo- 
ple of Africa, which, having commenced, goes from 
its region around, but yet not to the seas. They 
despise foreigners coming from Europe, who believe 
that man is saved by faith alone." 

Swedenborg despised the Jews as much as he 
loved the Africans. He says " they trade in the 
other world, as they did on earth, in various things, 
but especially in precious stones." And what is re- 
markable, they succeeded in purloining a great quan- 
tity of pearls and precious stones out of heaven, and 
then went round peddling them all over the spiritual 
World. Yea, worse than this, the knavish creatures 
made some counterfeit diamonds, which they were 
putting off in connection with those which they had 
stolen. * 

» True Chris. Religion, § 792—841. 



190 SWKDliNBuKiWANISJl KXAXI1NKD. 



The relations of Swedenborg of things which lie 
saw in the spiritual world are some of them pretty, 
so far as the imagery is concerned ; some are silly ; 
some obscene ; some monstrous ; and all are strange. 
He evidently attached a high importance to them, 
as he has published the same, in some instances, three 
or four times over. To present them all would be 
to republish no inconsiderable part of his volumes ; 
and in making a selection, it is difficult, to know 
where to begin or end. My limits will confine me 
to a mere abstract of two, which may be taken as 
samples of the rest. 

Swedenborg was once present at a council in the 
spiritual world, convened for the discussion of faith, 
" and of the justification of the elect by it." " On 
the right side, stood the apostolic fathers, who lived 
before the council of Nice ; and on the left stood dis- 
tinguished theologians of later times. Many of these 
had their faces shaved, and their heads covered with 
wigs made of women's hair, and some of them had 
collars of twisted intestines, and some had collars of 
other stuff ; but the former class had long beards, 
and wore their natural hair. Before them stood a 
man, who was judge and critic, with a staff in his 
hand, with which he struck the ground, and com- 
manded silence. He then went up into the pulpit 
and breathed forth a groan, so deep that he was well 
nigh choked with it. At length, recovering himself, 
he said, O my brothers, what an age ! There has 
risen up one from the herd of the laity," (meaning 



THE INVISIBLE WORLD. 



191 



Swedenborg) " having neither gown, cap nor laurel, 
who has pulled down their faith from heaven and 
cast it into the Styx ! Oh horrible ! And yet that 
faith alone is our star, which shines like Orion in 
the night, and like Lucifer in the morning." The 
President goes on bemoaning and complaining of 
what Swedenborg had done, and concludes by ap- 
pealing to the council whether he had not spoken 
wisely. " At these words, the members on the left 
side, whose faces were shaven, and who wore wigs 
and collars, clapped their hands and exclaimed, ' You 
have spoken most wisely. Let that prophet tell us 
whence faith is, and what it is, if ours be not faith. 
To produce any other faith than this is as impossible, 
as it would be for a man to ride on horseback to a 
constellation in heaven, and take thence a star, and 
put it in his pocket, and bring it down.'" But the 
apostolic fathers on the right hand did not agree 
with their shorn and wigged brethren on the left. 
" Your faith," said they, " is like the empty sepulcher 
of the Saviour ; or it is like the golden calf, around 
which the children of Israel danced, when Moses had 
gone into Mount Sinai." These apostolic fathers 
went on to express their faith in the New Church 
doctrines, and at length Swedenborg himself is called 
in to confirm them. The council issued more favor- 
ably than such meetings commonly do; as a consid- 
erable part of those on the left hand were converted 
to the New Church faith. 

I present but another of Swedenborg's relations, 



192 5\Vi.DKNB0KGIAXISM EXAMINED. 

which is also a doctrinal one. " On a certain time," 
he says, " I was seized with a strong desire of see- 
ing some country in the frigid zone of the spiritual 
world, where the boreal spirits dwell ; and therefore 
I was led in spirit to the north, where all the land 
appeared covered with snow, and all the water con- 
gealed to ice. It was the Sabbath, and I saw men 
(i. e. spirits of the same stature as men) who were 
clad, as to the head, with the skin of a lion, whose 
mouth had been applied to their mouth ; as to the 
body, with the skins of leopards ; and as to the feet, 
with the skins of bears. Also I saw many riding in 
chariots, some of which were can ed in the shape of 
a dragon, whose horns were extended forward. 
These chariots were drawn by little horses, whose 
tails had been cut off. These were running like ter- 
rible wild beasts, and the driver, holding the reins 
in his hands, was continually impelling and urging 
them in their course. I saw, at length, that the 
multitudes were flocking to a temple, which, because 
it was covered with snow, had not been seen. But 
the keepers of the temple were loosening the snow, 
and preparing an entrance for the worshipers, who 
went in and took their places." Swedenborg also 
went in with them ; and he goes on to describe the 
interior of the "temple, the rights, the altar, the 
preacher, and the sermon which he heard on " the 
grand mysteries of the gospel." " Oh how great a 
mystery," exclaimed the preacher, " that God in the 
highest begat a Son from eternitv and bv him brought 



MYSTERIES OP THE GOSPEL. 



193 



forth the Holy Ghost, which three joined themselves 
together in essence, but separated themselves by 
properties ! But if we look into these things by 
reason, its sight is blinded. Wherefore, my hearers, 
let us keep the understanding under obedience to 
faith. And oh, how great a mystery is our holy 
faith. That God the Father imputes the righteous- 
ness of the Son, and sends the Holy Ghost, who, by 
that imputed righteousness, operates the pledges of 
justification, concerning which man knows no more 
than the pillar of salt into which Lot's wife was 
turned ; no more than a fish in the sea. But here, 
again, is a treasure so entirely covered and conceal- 
ed, that not a grain of it appears. Wherefore, as to 
this also, let us keep the understanding in obedience 
to faith. After some sighs, the preacher exclaimed 
again, Oh, how great a mystery is election ! He is 
elected to whom God imputes that faith, which, ac- 
cording to a free purpose, and of pure grace, he in- 
fuses into whomsoever he will, and when he will ; 
and man is like a stock when it is being infused, but 
he becomes like a tree, when it is infused. But this, 
also, is a mystical truth, and we must keep the un- 
derstanding in obedience to faith. And then, after 
a pause, the preacher continued, saying, From the 
store of mysteries I will produce yet one more, 
which is, that man, in spiritual things, has not a grain 
of free will, and can not think concerning them from 
reason, or speak from thought, otherwise than like a 
parrot, a magpie, or a raven ; so that man is truly an 

1:5 



194 



SWEDEXBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 



ass in spiritual things, and a man only in natural 
things. But lest this, my hearers, should trouble 
your reason, you should in this, as in all the rest, 
keep the understanding under obedience to faith. 
For our theology is an abyss without a bottom, into 
which, if you suffer your understanding to look, you 
will be drowned and lost. Xevertheless, we are in 
the very light of the gospel, shining high above our 
heads ; but alas, the hair of our heads and the bones 
of our skulls prevent it from penetrating into the 
chamber of our understanding." * 

Surely, never before was sermon preached under 
circumstances like this ; and never before was heard 
such a sermon. I have presented an abstract of it, 
that my readers may know what kind of preaching 
Swedenborg pretends to have heard, under the snow- 
banks and in the frigid zone of the spiritual world. 
As an effort on the part of the author to ridicule the 
faith and the worship of evangelical Christians, the 
whole would be very tolerable. But we are not at 
liberty to regard it in this light. It is a veritable 
narrative of what Swedenborg declares that he saw 
and heard in the spiritual world. And now who be- 
lieves in the existence of such things there ? Who 
in his senses can believe it ? As I said before, if 
Swedenborg was disposed to invent fables to ridicule 
the faith of evangelical Christians, he might. But 
to impose such nonsense upon the faith of men, as 



True Chris. Religion, §§ 113, 185. 



GARMENTS OF ANGELS. 



195 



revelations from the spiritual world — this is too 
much. Verily, his followers have need to profit by 
the oft-repeated exhortation of the snow-bank preach- 
er, and " keep then - understandings under obedience 
to faith." 

I know it will be said, that the things here spoken 
of are mere appearances, correspondences, having 
no more actual existence than the phantasies of a 
dream. 

But though Swedenborg could say as much as 
this, when it suited his purpose, and often did say 
it ; yet in other connections he said directly the re- 
verse. It was his boast, that the spiritual world, ac- 
cording to his theology, is a sitbstantial world. He 
claimed a prodigious advantage over the commonly 
received opinions, on this A'ery account. "All things 
here," he says, " are substantial, though not materi- 
al. Material things derive their origin from things 
spiritual, which are substantial. We who are here 
are spiritual men, because substantial and not ma- 
terial."* Speaking of the garments of angels, he 
says, " They do not merely appear as garments, but 
they really are garments. This is manifest from the 
consideration, that they not only see them, but feel 
them. Also, they have more garments than one. 
They put them off and on ; and those which are not 
in use, they lay up, and when they come again into 
use, they re-assume them. That they are clothed 



* Conj. Love, § 207. 



196 



SWEDENBOEGIAJTISM EXAMINED. 



with various garments, has been seen by me a thou- 
sand times." * 

Swedenborgians may take which horn of this di- 
lemma they prefer ; for certainly tftey are not enti- 
tled to both. If they mean to say that the other 
life is one of mere appearances, correspondences, 
visions, shadows ; then let them say it, and take the 
consequences. But if they mean to represent that 
world as one of substantial realities — not less so 
than the present, though it be spiritual ; then let 
them account for it that it contains realities, and 
seems to be well nigh filled up with them, so hide- 
ous, ridiculous, gross, monstrous, and incredible, as 
those which have been described. 



* Heayen anl Hell, § 181. 



CHAPTER XII. 



OBJECTIONS TO THE CLAIMS AND THE DOCTRINES OF 
SWEDENBOKG, CONTINUED. 

Objection 14. 

My next objection lies not only against Sweden- 
borg, but his followers. He proposed to them cer- 
tain tests of the validity of his claims, drawn not 
from the other world, but this — tests which, with- 
out any supernatural illumination, they are able to 
apply. But they have never applied them, nor is it 
likely they ever will ; since the result of the appli- 
cation could only be to demonstrate the falsehood 
of his pretensions. I shall have time to notice only 
two of these tests. 

Swedenborg taught that, in his time, a new gospel 
or revelation was being made to the Africans, 
"which, having commenced, goes from its region 
around, but not yet to the seas." These enlightened 
Africans " despise foreigners coming from Europe, 



]98 SWEDEXBORGLLNlSil EXAMINED. 



who believe that man is saved from faith alone." * 
In another of his- works, Swedenborg introduces 
the same subject as follows : " Such being the char- 
acter of the Africans, there is at this day a revela- 
tion begun among them, which is communicated 
from the center round about, but does not extend to 
the sea coasts. They acknowledge our Lord as the 
Lord of heaven and earth, and laugh at the monks 
who visit them, and at Christians who talk of a 
three-fold divinity, and of salvation by mere thought. 
I was informed from heaven, that the things contain- 
ed in the doctrine of the Xew Jerusalem concerning 
the Lord, concerning the Word, and in the doctrine 
of Life, are now revealed, by word of mouth, by an- 
gelic spirits, to the inhabitants of that country." Of 
these people it is further said, that though " permit- 
ted by their laws to take several wives, they never- 
theless have but one. Strangers from Europe are 
not freely admitted among them ; and when any, 
especially if they are monks, penetrate into the 
country, they inquire? of them what they know ; and 
when they relate any particulars concerning their 
religion, they call them trifles which are offensive 
to their ears. And then they send them away to 
some useful employment ; and in case they refuse to 
work, they sell them for slaves." f 

The amount of this disclosure is (and Swedenborg 
says he received it from heaven) that there exists, in 

» True Chris. Religion, § 840. 

t Continuation of Last Judgment, § 76 — 78. 



NEW CHURCH IN AFRICA. 



199 



the interior of Africa, an important branch of the 
New Church. These Africans had a revelation made 
to them, " by word of month from the angels," al- 
most a hundred years ago. They have received at 
least three of the "four leading doctrines of the New 
Church ; " viz. those concerning the Lord, concern- 
ing the Word, and concerning Life. Of course, they 
have abjured idols, and polygamy, and hold the doc- 
trine of correspondences. Though these people live 
in the interior of Africa, still they are not unknown 
in other lands. " Foreigners from Europe " some- 
times go amongst them, especially the monks, some 
of whom they have sold into slavery. Such is the 
account ; and now I ask, is it credible ? Do Swe- 
denborgians themselves believe it ? Why have not 
the Europeans, who have been among them from 
time to time, during the past century, given us some 
account of this wonderful people ? The monks, too, 
whom they have sold into slavery, why is it that 
nothing has been heard from them ? The superiors 
of the several monkish orders, the Propagandists at 
Rome, are very likely to learn all about their mission- 
aries ; why is it that they have heard nothing re- 
specting these poor monks, whom the New Church 
people in Africa have sold into slavery? More es- 
pecially, why do not the Swedenborgians of Eng- 
land, of Germany, of France, of America, send 
agents forthwith into Africa, to search out their in- 
sulated brethren, and establish regular communica- 
tions with them? But one answer can be given to 



2U0 



SWEDENIioRiUANISii EXAHINED. 



all these questions. The/re are no such 'people in 
Africa, as Swedenborg describes. If there were any 
such, most certainly they had been heard of during 
the last century. Or if Swedenborgians really be- 
lieved there were any such, undoubtedly they bad 
made some effort to search them out. It may be 
supjjosed that the inhabitants of interior Africa, who 
are comparatively removed from the influence of 
the slave trade, and from intercourse with unprinci- 
pled whites, are less degraded and corrupt than those 
on the coast ; but that there is a people there, who 
have abjured polygamy,* and idolatry; who have 
intercourse with the angels "by word of mouth," 
and hold the doctrines of the New Church, is one 
of the last things in this world (o be believed. It 
never will be believed, until the people are searched 
out, and the facts of the case are brought to light. 
And yet the account is essentially involved in Swe- 
denborg's revelations, and is strictly true, or lie was 
a false prophet. 

But to come to the other test, which is still more 
decisive, and which Swedenborg left it in solemn in- 
junction upon his followers to apply. He taught that 
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, " with those of his 
society, collected correspondences, as they had re- 
ceived them from their forefathers, and handed down 

* Polygamy seems to prevail all over the interior of Africa. 
" The king of Ashantee has 8300 wives. The king of Yoruba 
told Clapperton that his wives, linked hand in hand, would reach 
entirely across his dominione." 



THE ANCIENT WORD. 



201 



the sciences thereof to posterity." * Enoch, there- 
fore, was the writer of what Swedenborg calls " the 
most ancient "Word." From this Word, Moses copied 
the first eleven chapters of Genesis entire, and made 
frequent quotations from other parts of it. " Con- 
cerning this ancient Word," says Swedenborg, "which 
had been in Asia before the Israelitish Word, it is 
permitted to relate this news, that it is still reserved 
there among the people who live in great Tartary. I 
have conversed with spirits and angels who were 
thence in the spiritual world, who informed me that 
they possess the Word, and that they have preserved 
it from ancient times, and that they perform their 
divine worship according to this Word, and that it 
consists of mere correspondences. They said that 
in it is the book of Jasher, mentioned in Joshua x. 
12, 13, and in 2d Samuel i. 17, 18; also that with 
them are the books called the Wars of the Lord ; 
and the Enunciations, mentioned by Moses, Num- 
bers xxi. 14, 15, and 27 — 30. And when I read to 
them the words which Moses had taken thence, they 
looked to see if they were there, and found them. 
In conversing with them, they said that they worship 
Jehovah, some as an invisible God, and some as visi- 
ble. They further told me that they do not suffer 
foreigners to come among them, except the Chinese, 

* Sacred Scripture, § 21. Enoch is here spoken of as an indi- 
vidual man ; but in the Arcana Celestia, § 516, it is said that 
Enoch " signifies the seventh church ; " and Swedenborg goes on 
to speak of " the church Enoch." 



202 SWEDENBOKGIANISM EXAMINED. 



with whom they cultivate peace, because the Chinese 
Emperor is from their country ; also that their coun- 
try is exceedingly populous, beyond that of almost 
any other ; which is quite credible, from the wall of 
so many miles which the Chinese built, to protect 
their country against invasion from them. More- 
over I heard from the angels, that the first chapters 
of Genesis, which treat of the creation, and of the 
first ages of the world up to the time of Noah and 
his sons, are also in that "Word, and that they were 
copied thence by Moses." * Of this Word or Scrip- 
ture, Swedenborg gives us repeatedly the same ac- 
count, in every instance affirming that it is still pre- 
served among the inhabitants of Great Tartary, and 
enjoining on his followers to search for it that they 
may find it. " Seek for it in China, and peradven- 
ture you may find it there among the Tartars." | 

To the existence of this most ancient Word in 
Tartary, the system of Swedenborg is fully commit- 
ted. If he taught anything, he taught this. He de- 
clared too, that he learned it by revelation from the 
angels. Nor does he leave us in doubt as to the lo- 
cation of Great Tartary. It is directly north of the 
Chinese wall, which wall was built to exclude these 
Tartars from the Chinese empire. They are repre- 
sented as an exceedingly numerous people ; none in 
the world more so ; and they conduct their religious 

* True Chris. Religion, § 279. 

•f Apoc. Revealed § 11. See also Appendix, to True Chris. 
Religion, § 39. Conj. Love, § 77. 



THE ANCIENT WORD. 



203 



worship according to the ancient Word. They have 
much intercourse with the Chinese, whose emperor 
is from their country. And now I ask, if what Swe- 
denborg calls the most ancient Word is actually in 
existence among this people ; if it is understood and 
received by them, and has been so from the most an- 
cient times ; and if their religious worship and rites 
are regulated according to it, why has it never been 
discovered ? And why has not the great nation re- 
ceiving it been discovered ? This whole region has 
long been known to the nominally Christian world ; 
was traversed by the Nestorian missionaries, and cov- 
ered with their churches, during all the middle ages ; 
why did not they discover the most ancient Word ? 
Then here was the Christian empire of the renowned 
Prester John and his successors; why did they make no 
such discovery? The Romish missionaries have been 
in China and Chinese Tartary these hundreds of years; 
why have they found no such Scripture or people as 
Swedenborg describes ? The Chinese Emperors, too, 
are of Tartar origin, and from the very people who 
are said to possess the most ancient Word ; how is 
it that they know nothing of it, or if they know, 
have made no communications? Above all, why 
do not our Swedenborgians obey the injunction of 
their great teacher, and go and search for the ancient 
Word? How can they reconcile it to their con- 
sciences to stay at home, and make no inquisition 
for so great a treasure, in palpable violation of his 
instructions, and to the great reproach and detriment 



204 SWEDEXKOKGIANISM EXAMINED. 

of their cause ? If they could find a manuscript in 
China or Tartary, containing the first eleven chap- 
ters of Genesis, the book of Jasher, the Enunciations, 
and the Wars of the Lord, with sufficient evidence 
that it had remained there from the days of the 
patriarchs ; if they could find a people receiving such 
a book, and regulating their worship by it ; there is 
no telling what an impulse it would give to the New 
Church. Such a manuscript is certainly there, and such 
a people are there, unless the angels imposed upon 
Swedenborg, and he upon the world ; and he com- 
manded his followei-s to go and find it. He put the 
truth of his mission upon this very test. And yet 
no Swedenborgian, to my knowledge, has ever been 
into China or Tartary, to make search for the ancient 
Word ; and I venture to say none ever will go. These 
people dare not fairly and openly apply the test which 
their master has left them. The Christian world 
waits to see them do it. No intelligent Swedenbor- 
gian ought to think of urging his system farther, un- 
til the most ancient Word is found. When it is 
found (if it ever is) he will be able, with much bet- 
ter reason, to enforce his claims. If it can not be 
found, he ought to relinquish his claims for ever. 

Objection 15. 

I object, finally, to the doctrines of Swedenborg, 
that they terminate in materialism and jjantheism. 
The present is a material world ; and yet it exists, 
according to Swedenborg, from the very substance of 



OX THE HUMAN SOUL. 



20.5 



God. It is in fact, an emanation from God. Hence, 
the substance of God must be material. 

And what, according to Swedenborg, is the human 
soul ? It is no other than the nervous or spirituous 
fluid.'''' " This fluid is the spirit and soul of its body." 
" We may take it for certain, that if this fluid and 
the soul agree with each other in their predicates, 
the fluid must be accepted as the soul."* Sweden- 
borg rejects the doctrine " of Descartes and others, 
that the soul is a substance distinct from the 
bod>/, in which it remains as long as the heart beats." 
"Every thing of the soul," he says, "is of the body, 
and every thing of the body is of the soul." " The 
mind is that element of the body which is in first 
principles," &c. f 

These decisions of Swedenborg as to the nature 
of the soul are accepted by his followers, or at least 
by some of them. " The distinction between mind 
and matter," says Mr. Clissold, " lies not in essence, 
but in form." \ Mr. Dawson represents it as one of 
the great uses of Swedenborg's writings, that " they 
help to break down the mischievous, man-made dis- 
tinction between spirit and matter." § And Mr. Wil- 
kinson says, " We regard body and soul together as 
distinctly and inseparably one." || 

* Economy of the Animal Kingdom, Vol. II pp., 233, 236. 

+ See New Church Repository, Vol. L, p. 308. 

% Introduction to Animal Kingdom, p. 54. 

§ N. J. Magazine, Vol. xx, p. 4'J7. 

II Tracts for the New Times, No. 3, p. 25. 



206 



SWEDENBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 



This system also terminates logically, and that too 
by a very short process of reason, in pantheism. If 
what is commonly called the created universe is of 
the very substance of God, then there is really but 
one substance in the universe. God is everything, 
and everything God ; and this is pantheism. 

I know not whether the followers of Swedenborg 
are prepared to accept this conclusion ; but really, as 
it seems to me, there is no avoiding it. If, in the 
beginning, God created all things, not from nothing, 
but " out of himself," so that everything partakes of 
the very substance of the Deity ; who can deny that 
the system is pantheism, — as really so as that of 
Spinoza ? 



CHAPTER XIII. 



THE STATE AXD CHARACTER OF SWEDENBORG's MIND, 
SUBSEQUENT TO HIS SUPPOSED ILLUMINATION. 

Having now finished what I proposed to offer by 
way of objection to the doctrines and the claims of 
Swedenborg, it remains that we endeavor to form a 
correct estimate of his character. Was he sane, or 
insane ? Was he a deluded fanatic, or a willful and 
wicked impostor? 

I am anxious, if possible, to avoid the latter of 
these alternatives, and after all the attention which I 
have been able to give to the subject, I feel satisfied 
that this may and should be done. I do not believe 
that Swedenborg was a willful impostor. I regard 
him as, in the main, honest in his pretensions; and 
have no doubt that he really thought he enjoyed that 
kind of intercourse with angels and spirits of which 
he speaks. There is an artlessness, a simplicity, a 
sincerity about him, a disregard of personal reputa- 
tion and influence, a seeming confidence in the truth 



203 SWEDEXBORGIA^ISJI EXA^ILSED. 



of his disclosures, which an impostor could not well 
assume. He evidently had the impression, so com- 
mon in certain forms of insanity, that he had been 
raised up for a very great purpose ; that his disclo- 
sures were of the last importance to the world ; and 
he went forward, writing and publishing them, and 
making them known as fast as possible. 

But in ascribing to Swedenborg some degree of 
insanity, we are not, of course, to suppose him a de- 
mented idiot, or a raving madman. He was neither 
the one, nor the other. He was a laborious student 
in his way — a calm, quiet, and benevolent man. He 
was as capable of reasoning on most subjects as he 
ever was, and retained the vigor of his faculties to 
old age, in a remarkable degree. His last publication, 
that entitled " the True Christian Religion," issued 
when he was more than eighty, is on the whole the 
most respectable of any of his later works. We 
discover in it no marks of dotage, and no indications 
of mental imbecility or infirmity, other than those 
which appear everywhere in his theological. writings. 

My own opinion in regard to Swedenborg is this : 
that at the time of his supposed illumination, he fell 
into a species of monomania — that sometimes de- 
nominated idolomania. Or if any choose to consid- 
er it a state of natural somnambulism, I shall not 
quarrel with them about a name. At any rate, it 
was a state in which he seemed to himself to look 
in upon the other world, to behold around him spi- 
rits and angels, and to have intercourse and conversa- 



SPIRITUAL SIGHT. 



209 



tion with them. He was in this state not constant- 
ly, but frequently, perhaps usually. Nor does it 
seem to have been optional with him, at all times, 
whether he should be in this state, or not. It is said 
that in his last sickness he was deprived of his spi- 
ritual sight ; on which account he was greatly trou- 
bled, and " vehemently cried out, O my God ! hast 
thou then wholly forsaken thy servant at last ? But 
in a few days he recovered his spiritual sight, which 
appeared to make him completely happy." * 

The state into which I suppose Swedenborg fell 
would imply some disorder of the brain, and of the 
nervous system ; and yet not such a degree of dis- 
order as to deprive him of reason, or the free use of 
his faculties, on subjects not connected with that of 
his derangement. Nothing is more common than 
to see persons insane on some one particular subject, 
and sane in regard to everything else. Nor is it at 
all uncommon to find persons insane on precisely the 
same subject with Swedenborg, and in almost exactly 
the same condition, f I know of no facts in relation 

* Hobart's Memoir, p. 89. 

t In the year 1813, Dr. John Ferriar of London published an 
Essay, on the subject of Apparitions. In it, he lays down the 
following proposition, 'which he establishes by a great variety of 
proof: " A partial affection of the brain may exist which ren- 
ders the patient liable to spectral illusions, without disordering 
the judgment or memory. From this peculiar condition of the 
sensorium, the best supported stories of apparitions may be com- 
pletely accounted for.' ; A venerable man now living, who once 
was almost, if not quite, a Swedenborgian, lately told me, that 
14 



210 



SWEDEXBORGIAXISM EXAMINED. 



to him, (luring the last thirty years of his life, which 
are not in harmony with the above supposition ; 
while various facts and considerations may be ad- 
duced in proof of its correctness. 

1. In this view, I may appeal, first, to what we 
know of Swedenborg's studies, and of the state of 
his body and mind, just previous to his supposed il- 
lumination ; also to the account which he himself 
has given of the change. "While "with the most in- 
tense application of mind " (to use his own lan- 
guage) he was pursuing his physiological inquiries, 
endeavoring to reach and investigate the soul through 
the medium of the body, and discover the hidden 
bond which unites the material to the spiritual, he 
was arrested, in the city of London, by a severe at- 
tack of fever, attended with delirium. So says Dr. 
Hartley, one of his earliest followers and friends. 
This took place near the close of the year 17-44, or 

it was Dr. Ferriar's Essay which opened his eyes to understand 
the real condition of Swedenborg. See a Review of Ferriar in 
the Christian Observer for Dec. 1813. 

In the New Englander for July, 1846, there is an able article, 
by Dr. Knight of New Haven, on Diseases of the Nervous Sys- 
tem. In a certain diseased state of the nerves of the senses, says 
Dr. K., " sensation is experienced, without the presence of the 
objects upon which it ordinarily depends." Such is the case with 
persons in delirium tremens, and in acute fevers. " These also 
are they, who see visions, and dream dreams, to whom revela- 
tions of hidden and mysterious things are made, and who con- 
verse with angels, or with spirits of the dead. Swedenborg's 
case, according to Dr. K., was one of a diseased nervout system. 



FIRST VISITATION. 



211 



early in the following year. In tlie spring of 1745 
■ — probably before his mind and body were fully re- 
stored — we find him still in London, employed as 
usual in his favorite investigations. "I dined one 
day," he says, " rather late by myself, at a boarding 
house, where I kept a room in which, at pleasure, I 
could prosecute the study of the natural sciences. 
I was hungry " (as men generally are when recover- 
ing from fever) "and ate with great appetite. At 
the end of the meal, I remarked that a vapor, as it 
were, clouded my sight, and the walls of my cham- 
ber appeared covered with frightful creeping things, 
such as serpents, toads, and the like. I was filled 
with astonishment, but retained the full use of my 
perceptions and thoughts. The darkness attained to 
its height, and soon passed away. I then perceived 
a man sitting in the corner of my chamber. As I 
thought myself entirely alone, I was greatly terrified, 
when he spoke and said, ' Eat not so much? The 
cloud once more came over my sight, and when it 
passed away, I found myself alone in the chamber." 
"In the following night, the same man appeared to 
me again, and said, ' I am God, the Lord,'" &c. I 
know not how this account may appear to others ; 
but to my own apprehension, if Swedenborg had un- 
dertaken to describe a transformation from a state of 
sanity to one of partial insanity — insanity in regard 
to a particular class of subjects, — he could hardly 
have done it in fitter terms. Nothing is more likely 
than that the unreasonable indulgence of his appe- 



212 



SWEDEXBORGIAXISJI EXAMINED. 



tite should have so affected his lately diseased and 
now but partially restored cerebral and nervous sys- 
tem, as to produce the strange appearances which he 
describes. While nothing is more unlikely than that 
the Lord should have seized an occasion such as this 
— an occasion of intemperate and censured indul- 
gence, to bestow upon him the greatest honor, — to 
open, as he says, the eyes of his spirit, and commis- 
sion him as his inspired messenger to the world. 

I have said that Swedenborg was at this time 
deeply engaged in his physiological studies. It aj>- 
pears that he was not wholly so. I have before me 
one of his works, entitled " The Worship and the 
Love of God," written just previous to his pretended 
illumination, but published after it. It is a sort of 
allegorical, poetical production on the creation of 
the world, and of the first human pair. Celestial 
spirits are continually introduced, to give complete- 
ness and interest to the story. It shows Sweden- 
borg to have been a man of fancy, rather than of 
judgment — fond of theory and inclined to themar- 
A'elous — even in his best state. I could have pre- 
dicted, after reading this book, that if the author 
ever fell into any kind of mania, it would be one in 
which he would have intercourse with imaginary 
beings. 

2. Swedenborg speaks often of sensations in his 
head, and of the state of his brain, in a way to indi- 
cate disorder there. Take the following passages as 
specimens. " I was once seized suddenly with a dis- 



A DISORDERED BEAMS". 



213 



ease that seemed to threaten my life. My whole 
head was oppressed with pain. A pestilential smoke 
was let in from the great city called Sodom and 
Egypt. Rev. xi. 8. Half dead with severe anguish, 
I expected every moment to be my last. Thus I lay 
in my bed for the space of three days and a half. 
My spirit was reduced to this state, and in conse- 
quence thereof, my body. Then I heard about me 
the voices of persons, saying, ' Lo, he lies dead in 
the street of our city, who preached repentance for 
the remission of sins.' And they asked several of 
the clergy whether he was worthy of burial, and 
they answered, ' No ; let him lie to be made a spec- 
tacle of ; ' and they passed to and fro and mocked."* 

He speaks elsewhere of the changes in the state 
of his brain. " Immediately on this, I was made 
sensible of a remarkable change in the brain, and of 
a powerful operation thence proceeding." 

3. It will be admitted, I suppose, that the minds 
of those who are subject to fits of somnambulism, 
strongly marked, coming upon them without any 
external means (and such cases are not infrequent) 
can not be in a perfectly healthy condition. Now 
that Swedeuborg was one of this class is evident 
from his own confession, and is conceded by his fol- 
lowers. 

For the sake of illustrating the fact of man's be- 
ing a spirit as to his interiors, I am disposed to re- 
late," says Swedeuborg, "some experimental cases 
* Apoo. Revealed, § 531. 



214 



SWEDEXHOKGIANISM EXAMINED. 



of the manner in which a man is withdrawn from 
the body, and is taken array by the spirit to another 
place. As to what concerns the first point, viz: 
being withdrawn from the body, the case is this: 
Man is brought into a certain state, which is a mid- 
dle state between sleeping and waking • and when he 
is in this state, he can not know that he is any other 
than that he is wide aicake, all his senses being awake 
as in the highest wakefulness of the body. In this 
state also, spirits and angels are seen altogether to 
the life ; and they are likewise heard, and (what 
is wonderful) touched, and in this case, scarcely any- 
thing of the body intervenes. This is the state 
which is called being withdrawn from the body. Into 
this state I have been let only three or four times, 
that I might just know what was its quality." "As 
to what concerns the other point, viz : being carried 
away by the spirit to another place, it has been 
shown me by living experience what it is, and in 
what manner it is effected ; but this only two or three 
times. One single experience I am disposed to ad- 
duce. Walking through the streets of a city, and 
through fields, and being engaged also in discourse 
with spirits, I knew no other than that I was aicake 
with my eyes open as at other times, as I walked 
without error. In the meantime, I was in vision, 
seeing groves, rivers, palaces, houses, and many other 
objects. But after I had thus walked for some hours, 
suddenly I was in bodily vision, and found that I 
was in another place ; at which being greatly aston- 



(SOMNAMBULISM. 



215 



ished, I perceived that I had been iu a state similar 
to that of those of whom it is said, that they were 
translated by the spirit into another place ; for, du- 
ring the process, the way is not attended to, though 
it be of several miles ; nor is time reflected on, 
whether it be of hours or days ; neither is any 
fatigue perceived. On such occasions also, the man 
is directed through ways of which he is himself 
ignorant, without error, till he reaches the place of 
his destination."* That the cases here described 
are both of them genuine cases of somnambulism, I 
suppose no one at all acquainted with those forms of 
mental aberration can doubt. Indeed, Mr. Bush says 
expressly, after quoting the above passages, " The 
state here described is so strikingly analogous to that 
produced by mesmerism, that it can scarcely be re- 
garded otherwise than as an actual development of 
the interior condition, brought about by that myste- 
rious agency." t Yet no outward means were em- 
ployed with Swedcnborg to induce this state. He 
fell into it. He did so, he acknowledges, several 
times. He may have been in this state more fre- 
quently than he imagined ; for he says that while in 
it, " lie knew no other than that he was awake." He 
intimates in a following passage, that this was not 
the state in which lie ordinarily held intercourse with 
spirits and angels, as that was- one of "full wakeful- 
ness of body." But how could he know that this 

* Heaven and Hell, §§ 439—441. 
t Swed. Library, p. 25. 



216 



SWEDENBOROIANI.-4.U EXAMINED. 



state was not one of "full wakefulness of body ; " 
since he says expressly that, while in it, one 
" can not know any other than that he is alto- 
gether awake?" I do not affirm that all Swe- 
denborg's supposed intercourse with the spiritual 
world occurred during his fits of somnambulism ; 
though I cannot perceive, from his own account of 
the matter, how he could know ox affirm the con- 
trary. But what I mean to say is this : He was sub- 
ject to such Jits. This he confesses, and his friends 
allow. And certainly, his being subject to them, — 
falling into them from time to time, without any 
external appliances, is evidence enough of a mind 
diseased. 

4. The private habits of Swedenborg during the 
last thirty years of his life, as detailed by those who 
were nearest to him and most intimate with him, 
clearly indicate derangement. The following pas- 
sages are from Mr. Robsam's Memoir : " The old gar- 
dener and his wife told me, with much apparent 
sympathy and compassion, that when their master 
(Swedenborg) was alone in his chamber, he often 
spoke loud and fervently. They could hear him dis- 
tinctly, because their chamber was adjoining his. 
When they inquired the cause of his restlessness dur- 
ing the night, he would answer, that bad spirits 
attempted to injure him, and for that cause he had 
spoken as he did." — "After one of these trials he 
went to bed, and remained there many clays and 
nights without rising. His domestics felt great 



SOMNAMBULISM. 



217 



anxiety on his account, and feared he had diesl of 
some great fright. They thought of calling his rela- 
tions, and forcing open the door ; but at length the 
gardener climbed up to a window, and on looking in, 
to his great joy saw his master turn himself in bed. 
On the following day, he rang his bell. The gar- 
dener's wife went to his chamber, and told him how 
much they had suffered from anxiety on his account ; 
to which he replied, with a benignant countenance, 
that he was well, and had needed nothing." 

" I inquired of the gardener's wife, if she had ever 
observed anything remarkable in Swedenborg's eyes, 
or the expression of his countenance, during the 
time he was in the spirit. She answered, 'One day, 
after dinner, I went into his room, and sate his eyes 
shining with an appearance like clear fire. I stepped 
back astonished and exclaimed, "For God's sake, 
what is the matter ? You look fearfully ? How then 
do I look, said he ? I told him what I saw. Well, 
well, said he, do not fear. The Lord has opened my 
bodily eyes, and I am in the spirit ; but I shall soon 
be out of this state, and it will not hurt me. It was 
even as he said ; for in about half an hour the shin- 
ing appearance ceased." 

On one of his voyages from Sweden to England, 
Swedenborg remained almost the whole time in his 
berth, " but was often heard speaking, as if in con- 
versation. The cabin boy and steward told the cap- 
tain that he appeared to be out of his head. The 
captain answered, He may be out of his head, or 



'218 SWEDEN BOKGIANISM EXAMINED. 

not; but so long as he remains quiet, I have no 
power over him." Of another of his voyages to 
London it is said, that for " most of the time, he lay- 
in his berth and talked." * 

On another occasion, when about to leave England 
for his own country, he put up for the night at an 
inn near the port, expecting to embark in the morn- 
ing. After he had been a while in bed, his friends 
heard a remarkable noise in his room ; when, looking 
in through a window, they " saw him with his hands 
raised toward heaven, and his body appeared to 
tremble. He spoke much for the space of half an 
hour, but they could understand nothing of what he 
said, except that when he let down his hands, they 
heard him say with a loud voice, my God! " He 
afterwards explained the matter to them by saying, 
that he had "had a long discourse with heavenly 
friends." f 

I do not urge these testimonies — all which be- 
come from the friends of Swedenborg, as conclusive 
proof of his insanity, and yet they obviously indicate 
it. A person pursuing just such a course of life 
among ourselves — exhibiting the same strangeness, 
occasional wildness, and eccentricity of deportment, 
could hardly avoid the imputation of being more or 
less insane. 

5. Hence, it is not be wondered at, that the opin- 
ion prevailed pretty extensively among Swedenborg's 

* In Hobart's life, pp. 216—218. 
t Documents, &c, p. 68. 



Wesley's opinion of swedenborg. '219 



cotemporaries, that he was a mentally disordered 
man. Such was the opinion of Mr. Wesley; — an 
opinion formed, not from hostility to Swedenborg, 
or from any prejudice against him; for originally his 
prejudices were strong in his favor. "I sat down," 
says he, " to day to read, and seriously to consider, 
some of the writings of Baron Swedenborg. I began 
with huge prejudices in his favor, knowing him to 
be a pious man, one of a strong understanding, of 
much learning, and one who thoroughly believed 
himself. But I could not hold out long. Any one 
of his visions puts his real character out of doubt. 
He is one of the most ingenious, lively, entertaining 
madmen that ever sat pen to paper. But his waking 
dreams are so wild, so far remote both from scripture 
and common sense, that one might as easily swallow 
the stories of Tom Thumb, or of Jack the Giant 
killer." 

Again, Mr. "Wesley says, " In traveling this week, 
I looked over Baron Swedenborg's account of heav- 
en and hell. He was a man of piety, of a strong 
understanding, and a most lively imagination. But 
he had a violent fever when he was about fifty-five 
years old, which quite overturned his understanding. 
Nor did he ever recover it, but it continued ' majestic, 
though in ruins? From that time, he was exactly 
in the state of that man at Argos, 

" Qui se creihbat miros audire trugcedos, 
In vacuo luctns sessor , plausorq ; theatro.'" 



220 SWEDENBORG1ANISM EXAMINED. 



" Who wond'rous tragedies was wont to hear, 
Sitting alone in th' empty theater." * 

At the period when Swedenborg was so much in 
London, the Rev. Mr. Mathesius was minister of 
the Swedish chapel there. lie is represented by Mr. 
Noble, as a personal enemy of Swedenborg; but I 
have seen no evidence of this, except that he regard- 
ed him as a deranged man. He told the same story 
as Wesley, and jn-obably was the informant of Wes- 
ley, viz. that just previous to his pretended illumina- 
tion, Swedenborg had a violent fever, attended with 
delirium ; and though he recovered from the fever, 
his reason was never fully restored. As to the fever 
and delirium, Mr. Mathesius' situation gave him the 
best opportunity of becoming acquainted with the 
facts. In regard to subsequent derangement, he 
could only express an opinion / and that was as be- 
fore stated. And this seems to have been the opin- 
ion generally entertained in England at that time, 
by those who knew anything of Swedenborg, and 
were not the receivers of his doctrines. 

The same opinion also prevailed extensively in 
Sweclenborg's own country. At Dr. Beyer's first in- 
terview with him at Gottenberg, he entertained, he 
says, "the same sentiments with many others in that 
country, with respect to his being a madman" 

The following circumstance is recorded by Mr. 
Robsam. "During the sitting of the Diet, in 17G9, 
certain members of the ecclesiastical order contrived 
* Wesley's Works, Vol. 3, p. 203. Vol 4, p. 31 



NICOLAI OF BERLIN. 



221 



a very crafty plan of attack against Swedenborg. 
They purposed to bring him to trial, and in the first 
stage of the hearing, to declare that lie had lost his 
mind, and become insane, by excessive endeavors to 
explore religious mysteries; and this plan would 
have taken away his freedom, and confined him in a 
mad house, as an insane person." * Mr. Robsani 
goes on to say that the project was abandoned, only 
in consideration of Swedenborg's station in society, 
and the respectability of his family connections. 
Now admitting (what is very probable) that this 
whole design was malicious, as it certainly was un- 
reasonable ; for, sane or insane, Swedenborg was 
never a dangerous man ; still, the fact that such a 
design was formed, and woidd have been executed 
but for the reason assigned, shows how deeply and 
generally the impression prevailed, that he was, at 
least partially, an insane person. 

I might argue the prevalence of such an opinion, 
by referring, not only to the early attacks which were 
made upon Swedenborg, but to the defenses of his 
friends ; nearly all of whom were careful to vindi- 
cate him, so far as possible, from the imputation of 
insanity ; — a thing which they certainly would not 
have done, had not such an impression pretty exten- 
sively prevailed. 

I have said that instances of insanity almost pre- 
cisely similar to that of Swedenborg, are by no 



* Documents, &c, pt>. 80, 89. 



S2'2 SWEDENBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 

means uncommon. It may be important to adduce 
a few Avell attested cases. 

The first to which I shall refer, is that of Nicolai, 
the celebrated Berlin bookseller. He was a philos- 
opher, and a man of learning, but one in whom the 
imaginative power was very excitable, and in a high 
degree inventive or creative. In these respects he 
resembled Swedenborg. Having met with a series 
of vexations and disappointments, his wife and 
another person came into his room one morning, in 
order to console him ; " but I was too much agitated," 
he says, "to be capable of attending to them. On 
a sudden, I perceived, at about the distance of ten 
steps, a form like that of a deceased person. I 
pointed at it, and asked my wife if she did not see 
it. It was but natural that she should not see any- 
thing. My question, therefore, alarmed her very 
much, and she immediately sent for a physician. 
The phantom continued about eight minutes, and 
disappeared." Nicolai afterwards slept a little ; saw 
his physician ; and both hoped that no unpleasant 
consequences would be realized. "But the violent 
agitation of my mind," says he, " had in some way 
disordered my nerves, and at four in the afternoon, 
the form which I had seen in the morning re-appear- 
ed. I was by myself when this happened, and being 
rather uneasy at the circumstance, I went to my 
wife's apartment ; but there, likewise, I was followed 
by the apparition, which, at intervals, disappeared, 
and always presented itself in a standing posture. 



NICOLAI OF BERLIN. 



About six o'clock, there appeared several -walking 
figures, which had no connection with the first. 

"After the first day, the form of the deceased per- 
son no more appeared, but its place was supplied 
with other phantoms, sometimes representing ac- 
quaintances, but mostly strangers ; and of those 
whom I knew, some were living persons, and others 
deceased.* These phantoms seemed equally clear 
and distinct at all times, by day and by night, alone 
and in company, in my own house and when abroad. 
When I shut my eyes, they would often vanish en- 
tirely, but appear again as soon as my eyes were 
opened. I saw human forms of both sexes ; but 
usually they seemed not to take the smallest notice 
of each other, moving as in a market place, where 
all are eager to press through the crowd. At times, 
however, they seemed to be transacting business 
with each other." 

" All these phantoms appeared to me in their nat- 
ural size, and as distinct as if alive, exhibiting dif- 
ferent complexions, as well as different colors and 
fashions in their dresses. None of them appeared 
particularly terrible, comical, or disgusting. Most 
of them were of an indifferent shape, and some pre- 
sented a pleasing aspect. About four weeks after 
the phantoms first appeared, they increased in num- 
ber, and I began to hear them talk. They sometimes 

* Swedenborg's specters were not all of them deceased. Some 
were living on the earth at the time when he saw them, or seem- 
ed to eee them in the other world. See Documents, &c, p. 113. 



224 



SWEDEXBORGIAXISM EXA3ILXED. 



conversed among themselves, but more commonly 
directed their discourse to me. Their speeches were 
short, and never of an unpleasant character. At 
different times, dear friends of both sexes appeared 
to me, whose addresses tended to appease my grief, 
which had not yet wholly subsided. These consol- 
ing friends generally addressed me when alone ; but 
not unfrequently in company, and sometimes while 
real persons were speaking to me." 

Had Xicolai recorded these addresses, and pub- 
lished them as " Memorable Relations," I doubt not 
they had been quite as edifying as those of 
Swedenborg. Nicolai constantly regarded his case 
as one of disease, and was finally cured by the ap- 
plication of leeches.* 

The next case of which I shall give some account 
is that of Mrs. Kauffe, commonly called " the Seer- 
ess of Prevorst." A Memoir of her, of some three 
hundred pages, has been published by Dr. Ker- 
ner, her physician, at whose house she spent the lat- 
ter part of her life. She was naturally nervous, hys- 
terical and superstitious; and these infirmities of 
her nature were all heightened by the manner of her 
education. She was nurtured, so to speak, in the 
midst of specters, and was often affected, almost to 
madness, by the terrific character of her dreams. 

* Memoir on the appearance of Specters or Phantoms occasion- 
ed by Disease, read by Nicolai to the Royal Society of Berlin, 
Feb. 28th, 1799, as quoted by Hibberf, Part I. Chap. 1. Quoted 
also by Prof. Upham, in his " Disordered Mental Action," § 70. 



THE CASE OF MRS. KAUFFE. 



225 



She was a notable subject of the mesmeric influence, 
from which, at different times, she derived much 
benefit. 

Her veritable ghost-seeing commenced not long 
after her marriage, some time in the year 1822. The 
first specter that visited her was that of " an old 
knight," who told her that he was miserable in the 
other world ; " that he had murdered his brother ; 
and that there was something concealed in a certain 
vault, the discovery of which would ease his re- 
morse." The seeress, like Swedenborg, was a fre- 
quent instructor of the spirits ; and as her instruc- 
tions were more Scriptural than his, they were com- 
monly attended with better results. She told the 
knight, that to open the vault would give him no re- 
lief. He must repent, and pray, and flee to the Sav- 
iour. She prayed with him herself in repeated in- 
stances. After a while, " his dark form became grad- 
ually brighter ; he thanked her for leading him to 
Christ ; and after appearing with his children, and 
singing a song of joy, he visited her no more." 

Her next apparition was that of a " short figure, 
with a dark cowl like a monk, and an old looking, 
wrinkled face. He also confessed himself to have 
been a murderer. He continued his visits for a 
whole year. At length, under the influence of her 
good instructions, his form became brighter ; he 
made less noise ; and finally disappeared. 

" A tall female, holding in her arms a new-born 
child, occasionally accompanied the old monk during 
15 



226 



SWEDENBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 



his later visits. She assured Mrs. Kauffe, that she 
could be happy, if she only knew how to approach 
the Redeemer. She came to her for her prayers and 
advice. Mrs. Kauffe urged her to pray for herself ; 
and finally, after many visits, the specter came to 
her in a whit? robe, saying, ' The time is come for 
me to know that Jesus Christ is really the Son of 
God.' Mrs. Kauffe then prayed earnestly with her, 
after which she appeared no nice." 

Besides her native German, the seeress professed 
to speak in another language, which she called " her 
inner tongue. This she said was the natural lan- 
guage of the soul, and was that spoken at the time 
of Jacob." * 

Mrs. Kauffe described her spirit as capable of 
leaving her body, and moving through time and 
space. In this way, she occasionally saw her own 
body, while out of it. In her Memoir, there is an 
elaborate description of the spheres through which 
she passed while in this etherial, spiritual state. 

During the latter part of her life, her intercourse 
with spirits was more promiscuous and constant. 
They appeared to her at all times of the day, and 
under all circumstances. She saw them more clear- 
ly by a good light, than in the dark. Their appear- 
ance was the same as when they were alive. The 

* So Swedenborg taught that spirits have a language peculiar 
to themselves. It is not, however, the language of Jacob, nor 
one thai " was ever spoken in the natural woild." Conj. Love, 
§ 326. 



THE CASE OK M1IS. K A U KEF. 



227 



spirits of wicked persons were darker, trod more 
heavily, and made more noise, than those of the 
good. The latter "had long, flowing, shining robes, 
with a girdle round the waist, and they appeared to 
glide or float, rather than to walk." Mrs. Kauffe's 
spirits, like those of Swedenborg, are represented as 
occupying a middle region, in which they are pre- 
paring for a higher state of bliss ; but unlike him, 
she represents it as possible for the very toorst spi- 
rits — even those of murderers, to be here regener- 
ated. She uniformly taught them to seek forgive- 
ness in prayer, and faith in the Saviour ; and in near- 
ly every case, she had the satisfaction of seeing them 
grow gradually brighter under her tuition, till at 
length they soared away into a higher state, beyond 
her sphere of spiritual vision. 

The external evidence of Mrs. Kauffe's intercourse 
with the spiritual world (if we may credit her phy- 
sician and other witnesses) was incomparably supe- 
rior to that afforded by Swedenborg. For her spi- 
rits made all sorts of noises, opened and shut doors 
and books, moved articles, &c, all which things were 
palpable to the senses of spectators. 

Then they revealed to her secrets, and gave her a 
knowledge of things remotely past, and far distant, 
to an extent which puts the marvels of Swedenborg, 
quite into shade. * 



* The following is the title of Dr. Kerner'3 Memoir. " The 



228 



SWEDEXBORGIAXISM EXAMINED. 



I have given .1 longer account of the case lierc in- 
troduced than I, at first, intended ; but perhaps not 
longer than it merits. No one can read the whole 
story of "the Seeress of Prevorst " without being 
satisfied that she was a poor, shattered, nervous, 
brain-sick woman, some of whose fancies are amusing 
enough, but in the truth of which no person ought 
to place the slightest confidence. Yet they are as 
well attested, every way, as the revelations of Swe- 
denborg. The evidence in support of them, external 
and internal, is as great, at least, as that which is 
so earnestly pleaded for him. 

It would be needless to multiply accounts of such 
cases ; they are frequently described in papers and 
books, and are of continual occurrence among clair- 
voyants and spiritualists, at the present day. 

It is interesting to know that cases of this kind, 
however various in some of their aspects, are subject, 
in one view, to the same general law. The specters 
or angels which any one sees have a manifest con- 
nection with his state of mind at the time; with his 
habits of thought and feeling, with his opinions, 
studies, and pursuits. Indeed, the specters which he 
sees may be said to grow out of his mental states 
and habits, to fall in with them, and instead of adding 

Seeress of Prevorst, being Revelations concerning the inner Life 
of Man, and the Inter-diffusion of a World of Spirits in the one 
we inhabit." There is a Review of the Memoir in the British 
Quarterly Review ; also in the American Eclectic Magazine for 
Jan. 1846. 



OX VISIOXS. 



229 



to his stock of real knowledge, serve only to confirm 
him in what he was before. It is well understood 
that a person's dreams have an intimate connection 
with his existing statu of mind and body. I suppose 
his specters (if he sees any) will have about the 
same connection. 

It is a common remark, that English and Ameri- 
can ghosts are almost always robed in white ; while 
Italian ghosts more generally appear in black, and 
not unfrequently drag a chain. This is owing, un- 
doubtedly, to the impressions prevailing among the 
people of these countries as to the appropriate figure 
and costume of such personages. 

Christians commonly think of angels as young per- 
sons with wings ; and who ever saw an angel appear 
in any other form or shape ? Even Swedenborg's 
angels (or some of them) had wings. 

When a Millerite had a trance, or a vision of an- 
gels, they always told him of the approaching end 
of the world ; and until the set time had passed, 
were sure to point him to 1843. And so of other re- 
ligionists who are in the habit of seeing visions ; they 
only learn, as a general thing, from the other world, 
to be more than ever confirmed in their several pe- 
culiarities. 

Mary Matthews, a pious, nervous, marvel-seeking 
and wonder-believing old woman, was the intimate 
friend and parishioner of the late excellent Mr. 
Fletcher, of Madely. When her pastor died, she 
was a sincere mourner, and for a long time could 



230 



SWEDENBORGIAXISM EXAMINED. 



think of little else in heaven, besides the Lord Jesus 
and Mr. Fletcher. Well, at length she had a vision 
of heaven ; and what did she see there ? "Falling 
back in my chair, I remembered no more of anything 
outward, but thought I was at the threshold of a 
most beautiful place. I could just look in. The first 
thing I saw was the Lord Jesus, sitting on a throne. 
There was a beautiful crown over his head. A glo- 
rious light appeared on one side, and all around 
him was glory. Turning my eyes a little, I saw close 
to my Saviour, my dear minister, Mr. Fletcher. He 
looked continually on the Lord Jesus, with a sweet 
smile. But he had a very different appearance from 
what he had in the body, and yet there was such an 
exact resemblance, that I could have known him 
among a thousand. Features and limbs just the 
same, but not of flesh. It seemed to be all light ; I 
never saw anything like it. I looked on him a long 
time, and saw every feature, with its old likeness. 
He then turned hie eyes on me, and held out his 
hands to me, just as he used to do. I seemed to 
have lost my old, weak, shaking body. I seemed to 
myself as if I could have gone to the world's end, 
as light as air." * 

The celebrated William Tennent once had a trance, 
in which he continued for several days, until his 
friends were about to bury him, as one dead. He 
seemed to himself to go to heaven ; — and what was 
the kind of heaven which he saw ? The account is 

* In Noble's Appeal, p. 316. 



OX VISIONS. 



231 



too long to be inserted here. Suffice it to say, that 
it was just such a heaven as an ardent, devoted, or- 
thodox young minister might be expected to see ; 
not differing materially, I presume, froni the truth ; 
though I ground my presumption not at all on his 
testimony, but on the fact that his account agrees so 
essentially with the Bible. 

Nicolai lived in a great city, and was a man of 
business ; and owing to numberless perplexities in 
business, his brain became excited, and he saw spec- 
ters. And how does he describe their appearance ? 
They seemed to be " moving as in a market place, 
where all are eager to press through the crowd. At 
times, however, they seemed to be transacting busi- 
ness with each other." 

Mrs. Kauffe early received the impression that the 
unquiet dead — those who cannot rest in their graves 
until they have unburdened themselves to the living 
on the earth — are such as hav^ committed murders 
or other great crimes, have conceal ed treasures, &c. 
Consequently, such were the characters of the spec- 
ters which first appeared to her, and which remained 
the longest time with her. 

Some years ago, Dr. Hitchcock of Amherst 
College had a fever, which did not deprive 
him of reason, but it subjected him to numberless 
optical illusions. I do not recollect that he saw spec- 
ters, but he saw almost everything else. And what is 
specially to be noted, the scenes, the appearances, 
the objects which he saw, were most signally coinci- 



232 



SWEDEXBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 



dent with his previous studies, theories, habits, pre- 
dilections, and pursuits. Indeed, they obviously 
grew right out of these, as any one may perceive by 
examining the account. * 

But I need not adduce further examples in ilius 
tration of the law above laid down, as the existence 
of it is fully conceded by Swedenborg and his fol- 
lowers. In assigning reasons why frequent, open 
Intercourse with spirits is not desirable, Swedenborg 
says, " The spirits which attend a man are such as 
are in agreement with his affections and thoughts. 
Hence, did he openly converse with them, they would 
only confirm him in his existing state of mind, and 
add their testimony to the truth of all his falses, and 
the good of all his evils. Enthusiasts would thus be 
confirmed in their enthusiasm, and fanatics in their 
fanaticism." t 

Never, probably, did Swedenborg utter a greater 
truth than this, or one of a more important practi- 
cal influence. He lays down the law of specters 
and apparitions, with perfect accuracy and truth. 
The only difference between him and me, relates to 
the nature of the specters in question, he regarding 
them as real beings, and I as imaginary. But whether 
real or imaginary, we are agreed as to the law ac- 
cording to which they ordinarily appear ; and I shall 
proceed to show that this law is strictly applicable 

* la the New Englandcr for April, 1815. 
t In Clissold's Letter, p. 197. See also New Jerusalem Maga- 
zine, Vol. 19, p. 25. 



SIMILAR BELIEFS. 



'233 



to Swedenborg's own case. His angels and spirits 
were just what tee might expect them to be, consider- 
ing his previous studies, habits, opinions and charac- 
ter. As Mr. Emerson says, "his interlocutors ail 
SicedenborgizeP They fall in exactly with his exist- 
ing feelings, opinions, and trains of thought, and do 
little more than confirm him in what he had before 
elaborated. 

For example, Swedenborg was a learned man for 
his time — especially so in the natural sciences ; and 
his angels, in general, are learned angels — very 
different from those of Jacob Behmen, or of Mrs. 
Kauffe.* They knew just as much as he did, about 
anatomy, physiology, mineralogy, astronomy, and 
chemistry. Where his knowledge was accurate, so 
was theirs; and where he blundered, they blundered 
also. He thought that Saturn was the most distant 
planet from the sun ; and so did they. He thought 
that love was the cause of the redness of the blood, 
and also of animal heat; and so did they. He thought 
that the change of the blood in the lungs was effected 
by inhaled odors : and so did they. And hence the 
passion of his celestials for sweet odors, and of his 
infernals for those of an offensive nature. 

Again, the subjects, which most occupied the 
thoughts and impressed the heart of Swedenborg, 
were precisely those in which his angels felt the 
deepest interest. For example, the two articles of 

* Mrs. Kauffe's angels became more learned, after she went to 
M«ide with Dr. Kerner. 



234 SWEDEXBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 



the Lutheran creed, at which he took the greatest 
offence, were those of the trinity, and justification 
hy faith. And these, with proportionately the great- 
est frequency, enter into the discussions of his 
angels. 

The same principle may be illustrated by a more 
striking example. Swedenborg, in the early part of 
his life, was sorely, incurably disappointed in love. 
He could resign the beautiful daughter of Polhem, 
but he could not forget her. Her image seems to 
have haunted him, as long as he lived. * He thought 
a great deal, undoubtedly, of conjugial love ; of its 
sweetness and happiness, especially when unalloyed, 
and when it was fully and mutually gratified. He 
could conceive of no enjoyment, no heaven, to be 
compared to this. Accordingly his angels are the 
most of them desperate lovers. With them, conju- 
gial love is the love of all loves, and the delight of 
all delights. They can think and talk of little else, 
but the sweetness, the blessedness of conjugial love. 

I have no doubt that grave and learned Sweden- 
borgians have often been puzzled at the strange and 
extravagant manner in which their illustrious teacher 
allows himself to speak on this subject. I have not 
quoted his strongest and most offensive passages. 

* In his old age, when she who was once Emerentia Polhem 
had long since been married, had had a family, and was dead, 
Swedenborg told her daughters, who came to see him in his gar- 
den, " that he could now converse with their departed mother 
vhenever he pleased." Hobart's Life, p. 103. 



WEAKNESS OF MIND. 



235 



There are some which can be regarded in no other 
light, than as the ebullitions of a love-sick frenzy. 
But on the theory I propose, the whole matter 
is easily enough accounted for. Swedenborg, in his 
youth, was a love-sick man ; and the disease contin- 
ued upon him, more or less, to the end of life. Con- 
sequently, his spirits and angels partook of the same 
feeling. And they talked, and reasoned, and laid 
down propositions, and convened councils in heaven 
to consider them ; and sometimes they became so 
much excited that they could not reason, but rather 
ranted forth their frenzy, as best they were able. 
Dr. Tafel, a learned German of the New Church, 
expresses the opinion that Swedenborg's love-sick- 
ness " tended gradually to prepare him for his great 
work." I have no doubt it did ; though in a very 
different way from what the good Doctor seems to 
suppose. 

It must be further evident to every reader of Swe- 
denborg, that he had adopted nearly all the pecu- 
liarities of his system, before what he calls his illu- 
mination ; so that his spirits and angels, when they 
came upon the stage, had little else to do, but to 
illustrate and enlarge upon his existing theories, and 
confirm him the more strongly in the belief of them. 
His peculiar notions of the trinity, and of justifica- 
tion were probably imbibed in early life. According 
to his own account of the matter, he used to dispute 
with the clergy upon these and other theological 



236 SWEDEXBOKGIANISM EXAMINED. 



point?, almost from childhood. * In his work on 
"the Worship and Love of God,^ "written before his 
illumination, his theory of creation is unfolded, just 
as he afterwards received it from the angels. The 
natural earths are from the atmosphere of the natural 
world, — which is from the atmosphere of the spiritual 
sun, — which is from God. It is certain, also, that he 
had adopted his whole theory of correspondences, and 
prepared his "Hieroglyphical Key to Representatives 
and Correspondences," some considerable time before 
he began to have intercourse with the sjiiritual world. 
And his correspondences enter into everything which 
he afterwards wrote. They lie at the foundation of 
nearly all that is peculiar in his system. 

The case in regard to Swedenborg may therefore 
be summed up as follows : He claimed to have direct 
intercourse with the other world, and to bring us new 
revelations from God. This claim, for various rea- 
sons which have been detailed hi the foregoing chap- 
ters, we reject. The question then arises, TVhat are 
we to think of Swedenborg? Did he design to im- 
pose upon the world, or not ? "Was he a willful im- 
postor, or a self-deluded monomaniac? The latter 
is the more charitable supposition, and I think the 
more reasonable one. It is that which, with much 
confidence, I adopt. In support of it, I have adduced 
Swedenborg's own published account of the change 
through which he passed. I have quoted what he 

* Hobart's Life, p. 144. 



WEAKNESS OF MIND. 



237 



said of himself — of his peculiar feelings and his ex- 
perience, afterwards. I have shown that his appear- 
ance and habits in private life indicated a degree of 
insanity; and that this was the opinion generally 
formed of him by those of his cotemporaries Avho did 
not receive his doctrines. 

I have further shown, that his is by no means a 
peculiar case. Instances are frequently occumng of 
acknowledged monomania — where there is, obvi- 
ously, a disturbed, disordered state of the brain and 
of the nervous system — which, in greater or less 
degrees (and some of them almost precisely) resem- 
ble his. 

I have, moreover, pointed out what may be re- 
garded as a law of spectral appearances in such cases, 
and have shown that it is strictly applicable to the 
specters of Swedenborg. They as naturally grew 
out of his habitual states of thought and feeling, as 
a person's dreams ordinarily arise from his waking 
thoughts and habits, and from his intercourse in 
life. 

To my own mind, therefore, the case of Sweden- 
borg is a clear one — as clear as, under the circum- 
stances, and with our present means of information, 
could be expected. He was as rational as ever, on 
all subjects except one or two ; and when these were 
not introduced or touched upon, he wrote, he pub- 
lished, he appeared in society, much as usual. But 
in reference to these subjects — I mean tho*e per- 
taining to his revelations, his mind was disordered ; 



238 



S \V K DEN liO lUi I A N ISM EXAMINED. 



it had become unbalanced ; and he was, to a degree, 
insane. There can be no reasonable doubt of it. 
Still, there was method, even in his insanity. His 
specters did not run riot with him. They followed 
chiefly in the train of his natural thoughts, giving a 
sort of personal existence and reality to what were 
before the theories, the abstractions, the mere con- 
ceptions of his own mind. This theory harmonizes 
all the known facts in the case of Swedenborg ; and 
to my apprehension it is the only one that does. I 
propose it therefore, and I accept it, as the truth. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS. 

My object in preparing this work is now in great 
measure accomplished. I have presented a sketch 
of Swedenborg's life, together with the leading prin- 
ciples of his religious system. I have urged at con- 
siderable length my objections to his doctrines and 
claims. I have gone into a consideration of the 
character and state of his mind, that my readers may 
have the means of forming an intelligent opinion in 
regard to him. 

It may be objected, perhaps, that I have not treated 
Swedenborg fairly, in that I have only quoted insu- 
lated passages, and these, in general, not his best 
passages. In reply I admit that I have quoted in- 
sulated passages. I could not reasonably be expected 
to quote whole volumes. But my readers will bear 
me witness that the passages have been numerous, 
some of them long; and they have all been presented 



240 



SWEDEXIiORGIAXISM EXAMINED. 



in such a way as to give the real meaning of the 
author. 

And if I have not quoted the best passages in 
Swedenborg, so neither have I the worst. There 
are passages not a few in his writings, which never 
can be quoted by any decent commentator. Indeed, 
they should never be translated into English. In 
translating his diary, Prof. Bush found passages of 
" so gross a character," that he was constrained to 
omit them. * 

We approve his discretion. Well had it been, not 
only for the honor of Swedenborg, but for the sensi- 
bilities of readers, if previous translators had been 
as wise. 

It may be thought by some, that I have misappre- 
hended the meaning of Swedenborg, and conse- 
quently have misrepresented him. To this I can 
only say in reply, that I make no pretensions to a 
sixth or seventh sense, or to any supernatural insight 
into things darkly and dubiously revealed. I claim 
only the ordinary intelligence of a man ; and if, in 
the exercise of this, I have not understood the wri- 
tings of Swedenborg, it is because they can not be 
understood by one of ordinary capacities and pow- 
ers. I have read nearly all Swedenborg's theologi- 
cal writings which have been translated, and with 
the deepest attention of which I am capable. I have 
read the remarks and comments of his followers. I 



* See Swed. Library, Part ii., Vol. iii., p. 9. 



THE NEW JERUSALEM CHURCH. 241 

have honestly endeavored to understand them ; and 
I do understand the ordinary meaning of the terms 
employed. And if any will say, after all, that I have 
misapprehended them, and consequently have failed 
to represent them fairly, I can only reply that they 
are then unintelligible. And this is reason enough 
for rejecting them, as constituting a revelation from 
God. 

It follows from the exhibition which has been made 
of Swedenborgianism, that it is not properly Chris- 
tianity. Nor can it be regarded as a sect, a form of 
Christianity. It constitutes a different system of 
faith and worship. It constitutes, in fact, a different 
religion. So say learned Swedenborgians, and I fully 
agree with them. " The New Jerusalem Church," 
says Mr. Barrett, " is not to be considered as a sect, 
or as one of the numerous progeny of the old church. 
It is a church formed and existing under a new dis- 
pensation, which is altogether distinct from every 
former dispensation. It claims no nearer relation- 
ship to any of the numerous sects in Christendom, 
than the first Christian church claimed to any of the 
Jewish sects." * If Christianity is not Judaism, nor 
J udaism Christianity ; no more, according to Mr. 
Barrett, is Swedenborgianism Christianity. 

That the system of Swedenborg is not properly 
Christianity, will appear from the following consid- 
erations : 



Lectures, p. 152. 

16 



242 SWEDENBOEGIAJSTlSai EXAMINED. 

1. The Swedenborgian does not worship the same 
God as the Christian, nor in the same manner. The 
Christian's God exists in a three-fold distinction of 
persons, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. The Sweden- 
borgian's God exists in one person only, and in a 
human form. The Christian's worship is to the 
Father, through the Son, and by the Spirit. (Eph. 
ii. 18.) He is sjjecially instructed to present his pray- 
ers in the name of Christ. But to such a mode of 
worshiping the Supreme Being, both the Sweden- 
borgian's creed, and his practice, are alike strangers. 

2. The Swedenborgian has not the same Bible as 
the Christian. The Christian's Bible consists of sixty- 
six canonical books, interpreted after the ordinary, 
standard rules of exegesis. The Swedenborgian's 
Bible consists of but about half this number of in- 
spired books, and these to be interpreted in an en- 
tirely different way. He also regards the theological 
writings of Swedenborg, amounting to some forty or 
fifty volumes, as possessing a sort of divine author- 
ity, — as being, in fact, revelations from God. 

3. The Swedenborgian has not the same founda- 
tion of hope, or method of salvation, as the Chris- 
tian. The Christian builds all his hope on the atone- 
ment of the Lord Jesus Christ, which the Sweden- 
borgian rejects. The Christian receives pardon and 
justification by faith alone ; whereas the Sweden- 
borgian expects to be justified in some other way. 

4. The Swedenborgian has not the same standard 
of piety, or rules of morality, as the Christian. After 



INTERMEDIATE STATE. 



243 



what was said above, (chap, x.) this point needs no 
further illustration. 

5. The future state, as exhibited in the Sweden- 
borgian theology, is entirely different from that of 
the Christian. Of Swedenborg's world of spirits, 01 
intermediate state, the Christian Scriptures know 
absolutely nothing ; while the doctrines of the 
resurrection, the general judgment, and the end of 
the world, of which the Scriptures so clearly inform 
us, Swedenborg utterly discards. And then his 
heaven and his hell, the final abodes of the right- 
eous and the wicked, are less in accordance with the 
Christian revelation, than they are with the absurd 
fancies of the Koran. 

Without pursuing the contrast of these two sys- 
tems further, it is perfectly obvious that between the 
Christian church, and what is commonly called the 
New church, there is, and there can be, no proper 
Christian fellowship. The members of these churches 
hold so little in common, while their views are so 
utterly diverse and repugnant on all the great prin- 
ciples of religion, that there really is no room for 
Christian fellowship remaining. I can respect my 
Swedenborgian neighbor as a citizen and a man ; I 
can perform for him every kind and friendly office ; 
I can accord to him all his civil and social rights, and 
seek his good for time and eternity ; but when asked 
to extend to him, or to his church, the right hand of 
Christian fellowship, I must, in all consistency, de- 
cline. And he must pursue the same course in re- 



244 SWEDENBOUGIANISH EXAMINED. 



gard to me. He can no more receive me to fellow- 
ship, than I him. 

I know that some Swedenborgian ministers in 
England have retained their livings, and received 
their salaries in the established church ; and that 
there are Swedenborgians, here and there, still con- 
nected with our churches ; but I am unable to see 
the consistency of such connections ; and Sweden- 
borg abjures them even more strongly than I do. 
"The faith of the New Church," says he, "cannot by 
any means be together with the faith of the former 
church ; and in case they be together, such a collision 
and conflict will ensue, as to destroy every thing re- 
lating to the church in man." The reason he assigns 
for this is, that the two churches " do not agree in 
one third, no, nor even in one tenth part." * So Mr. 
S. "Worcester says, the members of the New church 
" can not regard the old church and the world, as 
holding the doctrines of the true Christian religion, 
and can not with propriety recognize any communion 
of belief, except so far as the common false doctrines 
are rejected, and those of the New church are re- 
ceived." t 

In representing, however, as I have felt constrained 
to do, that Swedenborgianism is not Christianity, 
and that between those holding the two systems there 

* Brief Exposition, &c, §§ 102, 103. Yet Swedenborg never 
formally separated himself from the Lutheran church, but received 
the sacrament from one of its ministers on his death-bed. 

t Remarks on two Pamphlets, Sc., p. 25. 



SWEDENBORGIANISM NOT CHRISTIANITY. 



245 



can be no proper christian fellowship, I must not be 
understood as saying that no professed Swedenbor- 
gian can be a Christian. I am under no necessity 
of drawing such a conclusion as this. People some- 
times are much better than their religioiis systems ; 
sometimes they are worse. I may decide against 
what seems to me a system of error and delusion, 
without passing judgment on the characters of indi- 
viduals who profess to have embraced it. I trust 
there are true Christians in what is called the New 
church. I hope there are many such. But for 
myself, I do not see how they can long live and thrive 
there as Christians, where the appropriate food, the 
nutriment of Christian piety is so esssentially want- 
ing. 

The question is often asked, How shall it be ac- 
counted for that so many intelligent and sensible 
persons fall into the errors and absurdities of Swe- 
denborg? For if his mind was, to some extent, dis- 
eased and deranged, theirs are not. If he had par- 
tially lost his reason, they retain theirs. And how 
is it that such persons adopt his strange, incoherent 
notions, and become his followers ? In replying to 
these questions, I must be permitted to ask several 
others. How can it be accounted for that the great 
and learned Tertullian, in the second century, should 
have become a Montanist, and should really have 
believed that the crazy Montanus was the Paraclete 
from heaven ? How can it be accounted for that the 
acute and eloquent Augustine should have been for 



246 SWEDENBOKGIANISM EXAMINED. 

years a Manichsean? How can it be accounted for 
that Anna Lee should have collected so many fol- 
lowers, and established so extensively her shaking 
communities, some of which continue to the present 
time ? How can it be accounted for that the Mor- 
mon leaders should have made fools of hundreds and 
thousands of intelligent men and women, niched 
from them their property, and acquired such an un- 
bounded influence over them ? The truth is, that 
man is naturally a religious being. He must and he 
will have some kind of religion. And when he de- 
parts from the plain standard of the Bible, there is 
no accounting for his vagaries. There is no telling 
into what extravagances he may be left to fall. 

It is also true, that some persons are more exposed, 
constitutionally, to extravagances of this kind, than 
others. They are not satisfied to walk in a plain, 
beaten path. They crave something new. They 
are fond of the marvelous, more especially so in 
matters of religion. And the more strange and in- 
credible the disclosures of any pretender are, the 
more Ukely will he be to gain followers from this 
class. 

Some special reasons may be assigned why Swe- 
denborg has obtained followers, and these too, in 
some instances, from the more intelligent classes of 
society. In the first place, his religion may be called 
a poetical religion. He had himself a lively, inven- 
tive imagination ; and as reason faltered under the 
pressure of mental disease, his fancy became more 



FASCINATIONS OF SWDENBOKGIANTSM. 247 

than ever the predominant faculty. His numberless 
analogies and correspondences are almost all fanciful ; 
and they afford abundant scope for the dreams and 
the reveries of his followers. And then this ming- 
ling up of the spiritual world with the natural — this 
perpetual intercourse with invisible beings, our de- 
parted friends among the rest — the thought, too, 
that we are ourselves about to become angels, and 
may almost become such while in the body ; — all 
this is exceedingly fascinating to a certain class of 
minds. Their fancies dwell upon it, and revel in it ; 
they drink it in, and enjoy it, and call it religion ; 
not stopping to inquire whether it is any better than 
the religion of a dream. 

Another thing which recommends Swedenborgian- 
ism to not a few, is its utter rejection of offensive 
gospel doctrines. Some are dissatisfied with the 
Christian doctrine of the trinity ; and still they do 
not wish to become Unitarians, in the more common 
acceptation of the term. And so they adopt the 
Swedenborgian theory on the subject, which they 
think removes all difficulties, and makes the matter 
perfectly plain. Others are unwilling to renounce 
their own righteousness as a foundation of hope, put 
their trust in the Saviour, and receive salvation as 
the gift of his grace ; and so they embrace a religion 
which sets aside the atonement and righteousness 
of Christ, and encourages them to seek for heaven 
in some other way. Others still are offended with 
the Bibl»doctrine of future punishment — with the 



248 SWEDENBOEGIAXISM EXAMINED. 



nature and grounds of it, as well as its duration ; and 
so they flee to a religion, which assures them that 
" God casts no one down to hell, but the spirit casts 
himself down ; " that the very devils are " the ob- 
jects of infinite mercy," and are " made as happy as 
they can be," consistently with their characters. 

Then it is to be considered, that the religion of 
Swedenborg is a very easy religion, with regard to 
its acquirements and restraints. " It is not so diffi- 
cult," says he, " to live the life that leads to heaven, 
as some people suppose." "The Scriptures," says 
Mr. Noble, " never represent the life that leads to 
heaven as a thing of great difficulty." Gross immor- 
alities, of most kinds, are indeed condemned, and 
persons are required to " avoid evils as sins." But 
the question arises, What are evils ? Not fashion- 
able diversions and amusements, such as " convivial- 
ities, feasts, entertainments, and all kinds of merry 
makings ; cards, dice, billiards, dancing parties," &c. 
Not conformity to the world, and "the concupiscences 
of the body and the flesh." These are rather encour- 
aged, than otherwise. They are recommended, and 
not forbidden. But to " walk continually in pious 
meditation about God, salvation, and eternal life " — 
to spend one's days "in prayer, in reading the word, 
and other pious books " — this is " to procure a sor- 
rowful life, which is not receptible of heavenly joy." 
Now it is not strange that a religion such as tins 
should be highly pleasing to a large class in society. 
It is not strange that numbers, who wish to^have the 



IMPOSING TITLES OF SWEDENBORGIANISM. 249 

credit and the comfort of a religion, without its re- 
straints, should stand ready to embrace it. 

Especially is this not to be wondered at, when the 
religion of their choice comes recommended to them 
under the imposing title of "the New Jerusalem, 
descending out of heaven from God " — a " new 
church " — " the crown of all churches " — built on 
the ruins of the proper christian church, and as much 
superior to it in light and privileges, as that was su- 
perior to the Jewish. Here are individuals who, 
only a few days ago, had no thought that they be- 
longed to any church, or that they possessed any re- 
ligion. They made no pretensions to it, and some- 
times felt a painful sense of their need of it. But 
now, without any change of character or pursuit, or 
so much as the requisition of any, by merely adopt- 
ing the Swedenborgian peculiarities, they find them- 
selves suddenly and marvelously exalted. They 
are in a church, which is above aU churches ; and are 
in possession of a religion which as much transcends 
the old fashioned, God-seeking religion of christians, 
as theirs does the twilight and shadows of Judaism. 
No wonder that such persons become giddy, at times, 
with their fancied elevation, and are captivated with 
a religion which they think has done so much for 
them. 

I might add, in this connection, that not a few pro- 
fess the religion of Swedenborg, while they are in 
comparative ignorance of its doctrines. They have 
caught some single feature of the system, with which 



250 SWEDENBORGIANISM EXAMINED. 



they are gratified ; they have read, it may be, a few 
selected tracts ; and they swallow down the whole 
without any further scruple. Most heartily do I wish 
that the entire works of Swedenborg were put into 
the hands of such persons, and that they were doomed 
to read them through. I can think of no more effec- 
tual method of dispelling the delusion, and reclaim- 
ing them to the paths of soberness and truth. 

But I must not enlarge. Let all Avho read these 
pages be thankful for the Bible, — the whole Bible, — 
that "sure word of prophecy whereunto we do well 
to take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark 
place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in 
our hearts." Let us love the Bible more than we 
have ever done. Let us study it with greater dili- 
gence and fidelity. Let us interpret it with fairness 
and honesty. Let us steadfastly cling to it, — and 
cling to it all. There are wandering meteors all 
about us ; and we need a pole-star, — need a Sun. 
God, in his great mercy, has condescended to give 
us one. Let us not, then, turn away from it in pride 
and scorn, and plunge into the blackness of darkness 
forever. 



Date Due 




