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Some of what I am going to say will be familiar to you, since you have from time to time been exposed

to my opinions on the rationale for the sequence of Swedenborg's theological works. I want to start

from a somewhat different place this time, though, in the hopes that it may create at least the

illusion of novelty.

Specifically I want to start with nos. 67, 68, and 71 of Arcana Coelestia. As you are aware,

Swedenborg used the device of interchapter material to present theological material in a topical

arrangement rather than simply as it might occur in the course of Biblical exegesis. The first topic

he treats in this way is that of the spiritual world, or life after death, and he introduces this

material in nos. 67, 68, and 71. They read as follows:

67. I write what follows because the Lord, in His divine mercy, has granted me knowledge of the inner

meaning of the Word. This contains most profound matters, which have never before come to anyone's

notice. Further, they cannot be noticed unless people know what the other life is like, since so many

of the things found in the Word's inner meaning focus on or take note of or involve such matters.

This is why I am permitted to disclose things I have heard and seen for several years now, years in

which I have been allowed to be in the company of spirits and angels.

68. I am well aware that many people will say that no one can talk with spirits and angels while

living in the body. Some will say that these are hallucinations, some that I am telling them to gain a

hearing, and some will find other reasons. This does not deter me in the least, for I have seen, I

have heard, I have felt.

71. Since the treatment of this subject would be fragmented and disconnected if I were to deal with it

as it arises in the Biblical story, I have leave, of the Lord's divine mercy, to give it a structure

of its own and to prefix and suffix this material to the exegetical chapters, in addition to whatever

information may be found there.

This is not casually written. It is saying things that we should listen to with some care, things

about Swedenborg's "strategy" in writing Arcana Coelestia. First of all, the material about the other

world is seen as secondary to the exposition of the spiritual meaning of Scripture. It is worth

careful note, that is, that he is about to describe his experience of dying, and he says, "I write

what follows because the Lord, in His divine mercy, has granted me knowledge of the inner meaning of

the Word." "The inner meaning of the Word" comes first, and the material about the spiritual world is

included because otherwise that meaning will not be understood. "This is why" he is permitted to

disclose the things he has heard and seen in the company of spirits and angels.

Second, he has had some reservations about including this material. He knows that some people will

think he is crazy, some that he is a charlatan, and that others "will find other reasons" for

discounting what he has to say. There are not many authors who will write, "I have talked with angels

about this." Swedenborg made this claim both as man of faith and as scientist, well aware that it

would be objectionable to the community of faith and incredible to the community of science. As a good

Lutheran, though, he had no question as to the reality of spirit; and he was wholly convinced that his

extraordinary experiences were gifts of the Lord's mercy. As a good empirical scientist, he was bound

to report his experiences as accurately as he could.

Third, the topical format was quite deliberately chosen. He was aware that much of the material about

his other-world experiencese could emerge as it was relevant to particular Biblical passages, but

recognized that this would leave it "fragmented and disconnected." He therefore gave thought to a more

systematic way to present it, and gave it "a structure of its own."

Lastly, he seems to have regarded this as something permitted rather than as something required. "I

have leave" to do so, he says. The implication is twofold. First, this sounds as though it is his

idea. It sounds like something he considered necessary, but would not have done unless he had been

granted permission. Second, it sounds as though there is something like regret that it is necessary.

Ideally, people would grasp the spiritual meaning without this additional material. However, we must

face the reality that people do not have a clue as to what the spiritual world is like, and will

therefore find spiritual meaning incomprehensible.

What we are presented with in these paragraphs, then, is a considered decision, and now I should like

to look at what led up to it, in a kind of reverse chronological order.

The immediate precursor of Arcana Coelestia was that equally massive work known as the Adversaria or

better as The Word Explained. In this, he set out to cover the whole of Scripture, and in fact covered

some rather substantial chunks. From time to time, he included in the course of his exposition

indented paragraphs describing spiritual experiences that would help the reader explain the exegetical

point being made. Early on, when he was stating that the journeys of the patriarchs represent

spiritual journeys toward the kingdom of God, he made the following comments:

But lest men reject these statements as among fables, I can bear witness, and this in sacred

earnestness, that I have been admitted into that kingdom by the Messiah himself, the Savior of the

world, Jesus the Nazarene; and have there spoken with heavenly genii, with spirits, with the dead who

have risen again, yea, with those who called themselves Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Esau, Rebekah, Moses,

Aaron, and the Apostles, especially Paul and James, and this now for a period of eight months almost

contininuously, except during the journey from London to Sweden, and then continuously while I was

writing these things which now come out in public; nay, they themselves, or their angels, and many

others, proximately brought in the very words. Hence the reader can now know that there is a kingdom

of God, and also, from what is to be said later on, both here and elsewhere, what is its nature. Here

it is granted only to add that, in a certain manner, I have been admitted into heaven itself, not only

with my mind but also with my whole body, as it were, or with the sense in the body, and indeed when I

was fully awake. This may seem so remarkable that one cannot but call it into question; but since I

have seen and heard it, and have experienced it with the very senses of the body, I must needs now

confirm it and give my testimony, and this by leave.

As to those things that have been written concerning myself I cannot so confirm them as to be able to

testify to them before God; for I cannot know whether the several words of the description are such,

and this in the least detail, as to entirely coincide. Therefore, if God grants, they must be amended

at some other time, and this in such way that I can then seem to myself to speak things absolutely

true. (The Word Explained, Acton translation, n. 475)

The would seem clearly to be an earlier stage of the "argument" that finds its published resolution on

Arcana Coelestia 68-71. The elements are there. There is this spiritual meaning, this fact (in his

eyes) that the physical journeys of the patriarchs are images of a spiritual journey. Such ideas will

seem "like fables" unless people take his other-world experiences seriously. The seriousness with

which he testifies to the reality of those experiences testifies to his awareness of the probable

reaction to such claims. This awareness is explicit in his statement that "This may seem so remarkable

that one cannot but call it into question," and both his reason for publishing it and his sense of

divine permission are the same here as later--"since I have seen and heard it, and have experienced it

with the very senses of the Body, I must needs now confirm it and give my testimony, and this by

leave."

Here, however, there is an express uncertainty. While he is sure of the experiences themselves, he his

not at all sure that his descriptions are adequate. He suspects that these descriptions will need

amendment at some future time, and he looks forward to a startlingly subjective criterion--"until I

seem to myself to speak things absolutely true."

Behind The Word Explained lie two other major undertakings. The passage just quoted is one of several

that indicate that Swedenborg's open experience of the spiritual world began in April of 1745. The

"journey from London to Sweden" mentioned was taken that summer; and there are other dated entries to

the same effect, all pointing to the same time. These other-world experiences were faithfully noted in

that substantial work known as The Spiritual Diary, clearly the predecessor to the early interchapter

material we are looking at.

Recording his spiritual experiences was not all he did, though, and may not even have been what he

regarded as most important. After all, the experiences came unbidden. He himself chose to give himself

an intensive refresher course in the Bible. He reviewed the Hebrew and Greek he had learned at

Uppsala, and he compiled his own extensive index of the Bible. In the phototype edition, this runs to

three full volumes. When you think of what is involved in compiling an index without the aid of file

cards, it is very obvious that this took a great deal of time and effort.

What lies immediately behind this effort? very late in his life, Swedenborg described to Carl Robsahm

a vision which he dated in 1745 and located in a London inn. The accuracy of the account has been

called into question because it comes so late in his life and is relayed to us only at third hand, but

it fits what we do know in two significant respects. One is the date, which as I have indicated is

confirmed by his first-hand notes shortly after the date itself. The second, to which I would call

particular attention, is that he described his commission as follows: "He [the man who appeared to

him] said that he was the Lord God, the Creator and Redeemer of the world, and that He had chosen me

to declare to men the spiritual contents of Scripture; and that He Himself would declare to me what I

should write on this subject" (Sigstedt, p. 198).

I want then to back up just one step further, and note that this commission, in this form, was

absolutely in accord with his Lutheran upbringing. In fact, any other commission would have been

suspect. Luther protested against what he saw as gross abuses in Catholicism. These abuses were

sanctioned by the church, which, especially through the doctrine of the infallibility of the Pope,

claimed a kind of absolute theological authority. In order to substantiate his protests, Luther had to

find an authority that was arguably higher, and he found it in Scripture. This meant that the

cornerstone of his theology was that only in Scripture could one find authoritative, revealed truth.

There are clear indications in Arcana Coelestia that Swedenborg intended to carry it well beyond the

end of Exodus, where in actually stops. In n. 643:4, he refers to Leviticus 14:4, 6, and 7, which he

expects to discuss, of the Lord's divine mercy, at those places--when he gets there, in other words.

According to n. 730:4, he expects to discuss Deuteronomy 8:2, 3, and 16 in due course; and in n.

1616:1 he expresses the same intent concerning a number of passages, including verses in Joshua and

Judges.

It was only when the importance of this struck me that I realized what was being said in the

advertisement for the second volume of Arcana Coelestia. It is dated February 5, 1750, and reads in

part as follows:

ADVERTISEMENT by JOHN LEWIS, Printer and Publisher, in Paternoster Row, near Cheapside, London. Be in

known unto all the learned and curious, that this day is published the First Humber of ARCANA

COELESTIA 5or HEAVENLY SECRETS, which are in the ;sacred Scripture, or Word of the Lord, laid open; as

they are found in the SIXTEENTH CHAPTER OF GENESIS: together with the Wonderful Things that have been

seen in the World of Spirits, and in the Heaven of Angels.

" This Work is intended to be such an exposition of the whole Bible, as was never

attempted in any language before. (Hindmarsh, Rise and Progress, p. 2)

The advertisement goes on at some length concerning the depth and quality of the book, the generosity

of its author, and some favorable reaction to the first volume. As another indication of the

centrality of Scripture in Swedenborg's mind, it notes that the author "gave express orders that all

the money that should arise in the sale of this large work should be given towards the charge of the

propagation of the gospel." It anticipates future volumes--"As the copy comes from a foreign country,

and as one Number may contain near double the quantity of another, it is utterly impossible to fix a

certain regular time for the publication of each. . . . Those who are pleased to give their orders to

the news-carriers, will have every Number as certainly as though they were apprised of the certain

time of its coming out. And the price will be printed on the title of each English Number; (and every

Latin Number will be of thesame price with the English;) so that the readers may be sure that they

will not be imposed upon: for sometimes the bulk of the book will plainly appear to be worth five

times as much as will be required for it."

The advertisement is clearly the work of John Lewis and not of Swedenborg himself, but I find it

unthinkable that Lewis would have described the project as "an exposition of the whole Bible" without

Swedenborg's express consent. In fact, given the size of the first volume and the fact that it covered

only the first fifteen chapters of Genesis, he might well have decided it was better salesmanship not

to indicate that this was to be the first of a set of some sixty-four volumes, which is about what it

would have taken at the rate he was going.

We can now, I hope, go back to nos. 67, 18, and 71 of Arcana Coelestia and pick up some of the sense

of urgency they must have had for Swedenborg when he wrote them.

67. I write what follows because the Lord, in His divine mercy, has granted me knowledge of the inner

meaning of the Word. This contains most profound matters, which have never before come to anyone's

notice. Further, they cannot be noticed unless people know what the other life is like, since so many

of the things found in the Word's inner meaning focus on or take note of or involve such matters.

This is why I am permitted to disclose things I have heard and seen for several years now, years in

which I have been allowed to be in the company of spirits and angels.

68. I am well aware that many people will say that no one can talk with spirits and angels while

living in the body. Some will say that these are hallucinations, some that I am telling them to gain a

hearing, and some will find other reasons. This does not deter me in the least, for I have seen, I

have heard, I have felt.

71. Since the treatment of this subject would be fragmented and disconnected if I were to deal with it

as it arises in the Biblical story, I have leave, of the Lord's divine mercy, to give it a structure

of its own and to prefix and suffix this material to the exegetical chapters, in addition to whatever

information may be found there.

He set out to write what is in effect a kind of miniature Heaven and Hell, but with some interesting

differences from the later work. That later work begins theologically, with an emphasis on the Lord as

the God of heaven. In this interchapter material, he begins experientially, with an account of his own

experience of dying. He then proceeds to say a little about heaven, then quite a lot about hell, and

then spends a still longer time on various aspects of heaven. Toward the close, as he has sections on

children, gentiles, and marriages in heaven, he alternates between these and sections on the Word; and

once these two series are completed, he turns to the treatment of "Representations and

Correspondences" which introduces The Universal Human.

This means that ideally, before readers get to the part excerpted in the Paulist Press volume, they

have a fair amount of information about what the spiritual world is like. The rather startling notion

that one may wind up living in the spleen or the left eyelid is not introduced until after

descriptions which are much more accessible.

I want to spend the rest of my time this morning talking about the section on Correspondences and

Representations. I see it as just as purposeful an introduction to the Universal Human material as

nos. 67ff. are to the other-world material in general. That is, if the universal human material is not

to seem utterly bizarre,the reader must have a kind of correspondential mind-set. We need to be able,

for example, to think of the tongue not as that coarse, red, muscly thing that flops around in our

mouths, but as an instrument for tasting and for communicating. We need then to see tasting and

communicating as profoundly human capacities, capacities that apply to spirit as well as to matter.

Only then can we begin to have access to the vast amount of psychological and spiritual information

that is implicit in the descriptions that are to follow.

That is a premise that will be tested as you get farther and farther into the book. I want to leave it

simply as a suggestion, and look at the section in greater detail. We do have it in first draft, and

there are some interesting decisions reflected in the changes between that and the published version.

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