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Memorable Occurrences in Swedenborg's Writings

This list of Memorable Occurrences in Swedenborg's Writings was originally compiled by W. C. Henderson in 1960 but has since been updated.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

True Christian Religion #160

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160. The second experience.

I was once walking in the company of angels in the world of spirits. This lies half-way between heaven and hell, and it is where everyone comes first after death; here the good are prepared for heaven, the wicked for hell. I discussed a number of topics with the angels, one of which was that in the world where I am bodily there are to be seen at night-time countless stars of various sizes, and each of these is a sun, emitting only light to the solar system; 'and on seeing,' I said, 'that stars are to be seen in your world too, I hazarded the guess that they are as numerous as in the world where I am.'

The angels were delighted at this remark, and said that they might well be as numerous, since each community in heaven appears at times to those who are beneath shining like a star. The communities of heaven are countless, all arranged as their affections for the love of good vary; these affections are in God infinite, and under His influence therefore countless. Since these were foreseen before creation, I imagine that to agree with that number the same number of stars was provided or created in the world where human beings were to live in natural, material bodies.

[2] While we were talking like this, I saw in the north a paved road, so crowded with spirits there was hardly room to set foot between two of them. I told the angels that I had seen this road previously, with spirits passing along it in as close order as squadrons of troops; and that I had been told that this is the road along which all pass when they leave the natural world. The reason why it is crowded with such numbers of spirits is that tens of thousands of people die every week, and all after death pass into this world.

The angels went on to say: 'The road ends in the middle of this world, where we now are. The reason why it ends in the middle is that on the eastern side are the communities dedicated to love to God and towards the neighbour; on the left, towards the west, are the communities composed of those who oppose these loves. In front, to the south, are communities composed of those who are above average intelligence. That is why recent arrivals from the natural world come here first. When here they are at first outwardly exactly as they had been most recently in their previous world; but later on they are step by step brought into their inward state, and submitted to examination of their nature. After this the good are transferred to their places in heaven, the wicked to theirs in hell.'

[3] We halted at the centre, where the access road ended, and said: 'Let us wait here a little while and talk with some of the newcomers.' We selected a dozen of those arriving; and since they had all just come from the natural world, they did not know that they were not still there. We asked them their opinions about heaven and hell and life after death.

One of them replied as follows: 'Our priestly order has taught me to believe that we shall live after death, and that there are such places as heaven and hell. Consequently I have always believed that those who lead decent lives go to heaven; and since everyone lives a decent life, no one goes to hell. So hell is just a story made up by the clergy to keep people from leading wicked lives. What difference does it make whether I hold one opinion or another about God? Thought is only like froth or a bubble on the surface of water, which bursts and disappears.'

A second next to him said: 'My belief is that heaven and hell exist, and that God rules heaven and the devil rules hell. Since they are enemies and thus take opposite views, one calls evil what the other calls good. Decent people are hypocrites who can make evil appear good and good evil, so they stand on either side. What difference does it make then whether I am with one lord or the other, so long as he supports me? People take just as much pleasure in evil as in good.'

[4] A third, next to the second, said: 'How does it concern me whether I believe in heaven and hell, since no one has ever come back from there to tell me? If everyone lived on after death, surely one out of all that vast number would have come back and told us?'

The next, the fourth, said: 'I will tell you why no one has come back and told us. It is because when a person has breathed out his soul and died, then he either becomes a ghost which is quickly dissolved, or he is like the breath from the mouth, which is just air. How can anyone like that come back or talk to anyone?'

The fifth took up the tale: 'My friends,' he said, 'wait until the day of the Last judgment, for then all will return to their bodies, and you will see them and talk with them, and then each will be able to tell the others what happened to him.'

[5] The sixth, who stood opposite, said with a smile: 'How can a spirit which is just air return to a body which has been eaten by worms, or to a skeleton burnt up by the sun and reduced to dust? And how can an Egyptian, who has been mummified, and then mixed by a druggist into his extracts, emulsions, potions and pills, come back and tell anything? So if that is your belief, go on waiting for that last day, but you will wait for ever and ever in vain.'

Then the seventh said: 'If I believed in heaven and hell and so in life after death, I should believe that birds and animals would live on too; some of them are as decent and rational as human beings. But they say that animals have no life after death, so I say that people do not either. The cases are identical, one follows from the other. What is man but an animal?'

The eighth, who was standing behind him, came forward and said: 'Believe in heaven if you like, but I do not believe in hell. God is omnipotent, isn't He, and can save everyone?'

[6] Then the ninth shook his hand and said: 'God is not only omnipotent, but also gracious. He could not send anyone to everlasting fire; and if there is anyone there, He would take him out and raise him up.'

The tenth left his place and hurried to the middle saying: 'Neither do I believe in hell. Did not God send His Son, and did not He make expiation and take away the sins of the whole world? What power then has the devil against that? And if he has none, what then becomes of hell?'

The eleventh, who was a priest, was angry to hear this and said: 'Don't you know that those who have acquired faith, on which Christ's merit is imprinted, are saved, and that those whom God chooses acquire that faith? So the choice is at the discretion of the Almighty, and it depends upon His judgment who are worthy. Can anyone dispute this?'

The twelfth, who was a politician, kept silence. But when asked to sum up the replies, he said: 'I shall not offer any profound statements about heaven, hell and life after death, because there is no one who knows anything about them. But still you should not abuse the priests, but allow them to go on preaching about them. For in this way the minds of the common people are kept by an invisible bond subject to the laws and their rulers. And is this not the key to the preservation of Society?'

[7] We were astonished to hear such sentiments and said to one another: 'Although these people call themselves Christians, they are neither human beings nor animals, but human animals.’ However, to rouse them from their sleep we said: 'Heaven and hell do exist, and there is a life after death. You will be convinced of this when we dispel your ignorance about your present state. For everyone for some days after death is totally unaware that he is no longer living in the same world as formerly. The time that has passed is like a sleep, and when anyone wakes from it, he feels he is exactly where he was. It is the same with you at present, and this is why you spoke exactly as you thought in the previous world.'

Then the angels dispelled their ignorance, so that they saw they were in another world and among people they did not know. 'Oh, where are we?' they cried. 'You are no longer,' we said, 'in the natural world, but in the spiritual world and we are angels.'

Then, when they had woken up, they said: 'If you are angels, show us where heaven is.' 'Stay here a little while,' we replied, 'and we will come back.' After half an hour we returned and found them waiting for us, so we said: 'Follow us and we will take you to heaven.' They did so, and we went up with them, and since we were with them the guards opened the gate and let us in. We told those who received the newcomers on the threshold to examine them. So they turned them around, and saw that the backs of their heads were largely hollowed out. Then they said: 'Begone from here, for you find pleasure in the love of evil-doing, so you can have no link with heaven. In your hearts you have denied the existence of God and have despised religion.' 'Don't delay,' we told them, 'otherwise you will be thrown out.' So they hastened back down and were gone.

[8] On the way home we talked about the reason why those in this world who take pleasure in evil-doing have the backs of their heads hollowed out. I stated the reason, that human beings have two brains, one in the back of the head, which is called the cerebellum, the other in the front of the head, which is called the cerebrum. The cerebellum is the seat of loving on the part of the will, the cerebrum that of thinking on the part of the understanding. When the thought of the understanding does not guide the love of the will, the inmost regions of that person's cerebellum, which are in themselves heavenly, collapse; this causes the hollowing out.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Survey of Teachings of the New Church #120

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120. The third memorable occurrence taken from Revelation Unveiled. Since the Lord has allowed me to see amazing things in the heavens and below them, I have been commanded and am obligated to pass on what I have seen.

I saw a magnificent palace that had a chapel in its center. In the middle of the chapel there was a golden table that had the Word on it. Two angels were standing next to the table. Around the table there were three rows of chairs. The chairs in the first row were covered in pure silk of a purple color, the chairs in the second row in pure silk of a sky blue color, and the chairs in the third row in white cloth. High above the table a canopy was suspended beneath the ceiling. It gleamed so brightly with precious stones that it created an effect like a glowing rainbow [that appears] when the sky begins to clear after a rain shower.

Suddenly members of the clergy appeared, occupying all the chairs. They were all wearing the robes of their priestly ministry.

To one side there was a cabinet with an angel guard standing nearby. Inside the cabinet there were shining pieces of clothing laid out in a beautiful array.

[2] It was a council that had been called by the Lord. I heard a voice from heaven that said, “Discuss.”

The participants said, “About what?”

“About the Lord the Savior and about the Holy Spirit,” the voice said.

When they began thinking about these topics they had no enlightenment, so they prayed. Then a light flowed down from heaven that first lit up the backs of their heads, then their temples, and finally their faces.

Then they began. They started where they had been told to, with the first topic, the Lord the Savior. The first issue to be discussed was, “Who took on a human manifestation in the Virgin Mary?”

An angel standing next to the table where the Word lay read to them the following words in Luke:

The angel said to Mary, “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a Son, and you will call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest.” And Mary said to the angel, “How will this take place, since I have not had intercourse?” The angel replied and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will descend upon you, and the power of the Highest will cover you; therefore the Holy One that is born from you will be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:31, 32, 34, 35)

Then the angel read Matthew 1:20–25; he raised his voice when he read verse 25. In addition, he read many other things from the Gospels, such as Matthew 3:17; 17:5; John 20:31; and other passages where the Lord in his human manifestation is referred to as the Son of God, and where from his human manifestation he calls Jehovah his Father. The angel also read from the Prophets where it is foretold that Jehovah himself is going to come into the world. Two of the latter passages were the following from Isaiah:

It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him to set us free. This is Jehovah; we have waited for him. Let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.” (Isaiah 25:9)

A voice of someone in the wilderness crying out, “Prepare a pathway for Jehovah; make level in the desert a highway for our God. The glory of Jehovah will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together. Behold, the Lord Jehovih is coming in strength. Like a shepherd he will feed his flock.” (Isaiah 40:3, 5, 10, 11)

[3] The angel said, “Jehovah himself came into the world and took on a human manifestation and by so doing redeemed and saved people; therefore in the Prophets Jehovah is called the Savior and the Redeemer.”

Then the angel read them the following passages:

“God is only among you; and there is no God except him.” Surely you are a hidden God, O God of Israel, the Savior. (Isaiah 45:14, 15)

Am not I Jehovah? And there is no God other than me. I am a just God, and there is [no] Savior other than me. (Isaiah 45:21, 22)

I am Jehovah, and there is no Savior other than me. (Isaiah 43:11)

I am Jehovah your God. You are to acknowledge no God other than me. There is no Savior other than me. (Hosea 13:4)

. . . so that all flesh may know that I, Jehovah, am your Savior, and your Redeemer. (Isaiah 49:26; 60:16)

As for our Redeemer, Jehovah Sabaoth is his name. (Isaiah 47:4)

Their Redeemer is strong; Jehovah Sabaoth is his name. (Jeremiah 50:34)

. . . Jehovah, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalms 19:14)

Thus says Jehovah your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, “I am Jehovah your God.” (Isaiah 43:14; 48:17; 49:7; 54:8)

You, Jehovah, are our Father; our Redeemer from everlasting is your name. (Isaiah 63:16)

Thus says Jehovah your Redeemer: “I am Jehovah, who makes all things, doing so alone, by myself.” (Isaiah 44:24)

Thus says Jehovah the King of Israel, and Israel’s Redeemer, Jehovah Sabaoth: “I am the First and the Last, and there is no God other than me.” (Isaiah 44:6)

Jehovah Sabaoth is his name, and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. He will be called the God of the whole earth. (Isaiah 54:5)

Behold, the days are coming when I will raise up for David a righteous branch who will rule as king. And this is his name: Jehovah our Righteousness. (Jeremiah 23:5, 6; 33:15–16)

On that day Jehovah will become king over all the earth. On that day Jehovah will be one, and his name one. (Zechariah 14:9)

[4] With the support of all these passages, the clergy sitting in the chairs unanimously stated that it was Jehovah himself who took on the human manifestation, and that he did so in order to redeem and save humankind.

At that point, though, we heard a voice from Roman Catholics who had hidden behind the altar. The voice said, “How could Jehovah the Father become human? He is the creator of the universe!”

One of the clergy sitting in the second row of chairs turned and said, “Who then was the human manifestation?”

The man who had been behind the altar before, but was now standing beside it, said, “The Son from eternity.”

He received this reply: “In your confession the eternally begotten Son is the same as the creator of the universe. What is a Son or a God who is eternally begotten? How could the divine essence, which is one indivisible thing, be separated? How could one part of it come down and not the whole essence at once?”

[5] The second issue for discussion related to the Lord: “Surely then the Father and he are one as the soul and the body are one.”

They said that this would follow, because his soul was from the Father.

Then one of the clergy sitting in the third row of chairs read the following words from the statement of faith known as the Athanasian Creed: “Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and a human being. Yet he is not two, but one Christ. Indeed, he is one altogether; he is one person. Therefore as the soul and the body make one human being, so God and a human being is one Christ.”

The reader said, “The creed that contains these words has been accepted by the entire Christian world including Roman Catholics.”

The participants said, “What more do we need? God the Father and he are one as the soul and the body are one.”

They added, “As this is so, we see that the Lord’s human manifestation is divine because it is the human manifestation of Jehovah. We also see that we must seek help from the Lord’s divine-human manifestation. Only in this way, not in any other, can we have access to the divine nature that is called the Father.”

[6] The angel supported their conclusion with more passages from the Word, among which were the following in Isaiah:

A Child has been born to us; a Son has been given to us. His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, God, Hero, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

Abraham did not know us and Israel did not acknowledge us. You, Jehovah, are our Father; our Redeemer from everlasting is your name. (Isaiah 63:16)

And in John,

Jesus said, “Those who believe in me believe in the one who sent me; and those who see me see the one who sent me.” (John 12:44, 45)

Philip said to Jesus, “Show us the Father.” Jesus said to him, “Those who have seen me have seen the Father. How then can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” (John 14:8, 9, 10, 11)

Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30)

Also,

All things that the Father has are mine and all things that I have are the Father’s. (John 16:15; 17:10)

And finally,

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

When the participants had heard this they all said with one voice and one heart, “The Lord’s human manifestation is divine. For us to gain access to the Father we have to go to his human manifestation, since this is how Jehovah God, who is the Lord from eternity, put himself in the world and made himself visible to human eyes. Through this he became accessible. Jehovah God also made himself visible and therefore accessible in a human form to the ancients; but back then he used an angel.”

[7] The next discussion focused on the Holy Spirit. First there was a disclosure of the way many people picture God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They picture God the Father sitting on high with the Son at his right hand. Both of them send out the Holy Spirit to enlighten and teach people.

Then a voice was heard out of heaven saying, “We do not support these mental images. Jehovah God is omnipresent, as everyone knows. If we know and acknowledge this, we also must acknowledge that Jehovah God is the one who enlightens and teaches us. There is no mediating God who is distinct from him as if they were two separate people, let alone a God who is distinct from two other gods. That earlier meaningless picture needs to be removed and this proper picture needs to be accepted. Then you will see this point clearly.”

[8] Then we again heard a voice from the Roman Catholics. They had hidden behind the altar in the chapel. The voice said, “What then is the Holy Spirit mentioned in the Word by the Gospel writers and Paul, by which so many learned clergy say they are led, especially in our denomination? Surely no one in the Christian world nowadays denies the existence of the Holy Spirit and its actions.”

One of the clergy in the second row of chairs turned and said, “You are saying that the Holy Spirit is a person on its own and a god on its own; but what is a ‘person’ going out and emanating from a person if not an influence going out and emanating? A person cannot go out and emanate from another person through yet another, but an influence can. To put it another way, a god going out and emanating from a god is actually a divine influence going out and emanating. One god cannot go out and emanate from another through yet another, but a divine influence can. The divine essence is one indivisible thing. And since the divine essence or the underlying divine reality is God, therefore there is one indivisible God.”

[9] After hearing that, the clergy sitting in the chairs unanimously concluded that the Holy Spirit is not a person on its own or a god on its own; it is the holy divine influence that goes out and emanates from the unique and omnipresent God, who is the Lord.

The angels who were standing by the golden table that held the Word responded to that by saying, “Good! Nowhere in the Old Covenant does it say that the prophets spoke the Word of the Holy Spirit. They spoke the Word of Jehovah the Lord. When the New Covenant speaks of the Holy Spirit, it means the divine influence that goes forth enlightening people, teaching them, bringing them to life, reforming them, and regenerating them.”

[10] After that another issue related to the Holy Spirit came up: “From whom does the divine influence meant by the Holy Spirit emanate? Does it emanate from the divine nature, which is called the Father, or from the divine-human manifestation, which is called the Son?”

While they were discussing this a light shone down on them from heaven. In that light they saw that the holy divine influence meant by the Holy Spirit emanates from the divine nature in the Lord through his glorified human manifestation, which is the divine-human manifestation. It is comparable to the situation with human beings. Our actions emanate from our souls through our bodies.

An angel who was standing by the table supported this point with the following passages from the Word:

The one whom the Father sent speaks the words of God; God has not given him the spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. (John 3:34, 35)

A shoot will go forth from the trunk of Jesse. The spirit of Jehovah will rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and intelligence, the spirit of counsel and strength. (Isaiah 11:1, 2)

The spirit of Jehovah has been put upon him and is in him. (Isaiah 42:1; 59:19, 20; 61:1; Luke 4:18)

When the Holy Spirit comes, whom I will send to you from the Father . . . (John 15:26)

He will glorify me, because he will take of what is mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are mine. That is why I said that he will take of what is mine and declare it to you. (John 16:14, 15)

If I go away, I will send the Comforter to you. (John 16:7)

The Comforter is the Holy Spirit. (John 14:26)

There was not the Holy Spirit yet because Jesus was not yet glorified. (John 7:39)

After he was glorified, Jesus breathed on his disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:22)

And in the Book of Revelation,

Who will not glorify your name, O Lord? For you alone are holy. (Revelation 15:4)

[11] The angel continued, “Since the Holy Spirit means the Lord’s divine influence that results from his divine omnipresence, when he told his disciples about the Holy Spirit that he was going to send to them from God the Father he also said, ‘I will not leave you orphans. I am going away and coming [back] to you; and on that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you’ (John 14:18, 20, 28). And just before he left the world he said, ‘Behold, I am with you all the days, even to the close of the age’ (Matthew 28:20).”

After reading these passages the angel said, “It is clear from these passages and many others in the Word that the divine influence called the Holy Spirit emanates from the divine nature in the Lord through his divine-human manifestation.”

In response the clergy sitting in the chairs said, “This is divine truth!”

[12] At the end the participants produced the following declaration: “From the discussions in this council, we have come to see clearly and to acknowledge as the sacred truth that the divine trinity exists in the Lord God the Savior Jesus Christ. The Trinity is made up of the divine nature as an origin called ‘the Father,’ the divine-human manifestation called ‘the Son,’ and the emanating divine influence called ‘the Holy Spirit.’ We proclaim then that ‘all the fullness of divinity dwells physically in Jesus Christ’ (Colossians 2:9). Therefore there is one God in the church.”

[13] After the events of this magnificent council came to an end, the participants stood up. The angel guarding the cabinet came over and brought shining clothing to each one of those who had been sitting in the chairs. The clothing was interwoven here and there with golden threads. The angel said, “Please accept these wedding garments.”

The participants were led in glory to the new Christian heaven, which is going to be connected to the church of the Lord on earth, which is the New Jerusalem.

Zechariah 14:7, 8, 9:

One day that is known to Jehovah will not be day or night, because there will be light around the time of evening. On that day living waters will go forth from Jerusalem. Jehovah will become king over all the earth. On that day Jehovah will be one, and his name one.

THE END

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.

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