union with the deeper levels of our minds and therefore with our spiritual or inner
person. There is, though, a union with our natural or outer person by correspondences,
which union will be discussed in the next chapter when we deal with heaven's union with us
by means of the Word.
303. People who think from their deeper rationality can see that there is a connection of
all things, through intermediate ones, with a First, and that anything that is not so
connected will disintegrate. When they think about it, they know that nothing can exist on
its own, but requires something prior to itself, which means that everything goes back to
that First. They know that the connection with what is prior is like that of an effect
with its efficient cause, since whan the effecient cause is removed, the effect comes
apart and collapses. Since this has been the thought of the learned, they both see and say
that existence is a constant becoming, so that all things are constantly coming into
being-that is, existing-from that First from which they originated.
But there is no way to explain briefly the nature of that connection with what is prior and therefore
with the First which is the source of everything, because it is varied and diverse. We can say
generally only that there is a connection of the natural world with the spiritual world which results
in a correspondence between everything in the natural world with everything in the spiritual world (on
this correspondence, se ¶¶ 103-1115, and on the connection and consequent correspondence of everything
in us with everything in heaven, see ¶¶ 87-102).
304. We have been so created that we have a connection and a union with the Lord, while
with angels we have only an association. The reason we have only an association, not a
union, with angels is that we are from creation like angels in respect to the deeper
levels of our minds. We have a similar purposefulness and a similar capacity to
understand. This is why we become angels after death if we have lived according to the
divine pattern, and why we then, like the angels, have wisdom. So when we talk about our
union with heaven, we mean our union with the Lord and our association with angels, since
heaven is not heaven because of anything proper to the angels but because of the divine
[nature] of the Lord (on the fact that the Lord's divine [nature] makes heaven, see ¶¶
7-22 above).
Over and above what angels have, though, there is the fact that we are not simply in a spiritual world
by virtue of our inner natures but are at the same time in a natural world by virtue of our outward
natures. These outward things that are in the natural world are all the contents of our natural or
outer memory and the thinking and imaging we do on that basis. In general, this includes our insights
and information together with their delights and charm to the extent that we are skilled in worldly
matters, and all the pleasures that derive from our physical senses. Then too, there are those senses
themselves and our words and actions. All these are ultimate things in which the Lord's divine inflow
comes to rest, since it does not stop in the middle but goes on to its very limit.
We may gather from this that the ultimate form of the divine pattern is in us, and since it is the
ultimate form, it is the basis and foundation.
Since the Lord's divine inflow does not stop in the middle but goes on to its very limit, as just
stated, and since the intermediate region it crosses in the angelic heaven and the limit is in us, and
since nothing disconnected can exist, it follows that there is such a connection and union of heaven
with the human race that neither can endure without the other. If the human race were cut off from
heaven, it would be like a chain with no hook, and heaaven without the human race would be like a
house without a foundation.[12]
305. However, since we have broken the connection by turning our inward natures away from
heaven and toward the world and ourselves through our self-love and love of the world and
have so pulled away that we no longer serve heaven as its basis and foundation, the Lord
has provided a medium to serve in place of that basis and foundation and for the union of
heaven with humanity. That medium is the Word.
Just how the Word serves as that medium, though, has been shown at length in Arcana Coelestia, with
the pertinent material collected in the booklet, The White Horse Described in the Apocalypse and also
in the Appendix to the Heavenly Doctrine. Some of these references are cited in the footnote
below.[13]
306. I have been told from heaven that the earliest people had direct revelation because
their inner natureswere turned toward heaven, and that this was the source of the Lord's
union with the human race at that time. After those times, though, there was not the same
kind of direct revelation, but an indirect revelation through correspondences. All their
divine worship consisted of these; so the churches of those times were called symbolic
churches. They knew what correspondences and representations were and that everthing on
earth was responsive to spiritual things in heaven and the church (or represented them,
which amounts to the same thing). In this way, the natural elements that constituted their
outward worship served them as means for thinking spiritually and therefore with angels.
Once any knowledge of correspondences had been lost, then a Word was written in which all the words
and the meanings of the words were correspondences and therefore contained that spiritual or inner
meaning in which angels are engaged. So when we read the Word and grasp it in its literal or outward
meaning, angelsgrasp in in its inner or spiritual meaning. In fact, all the thought of angels is
spiritual, while ours is natural. these two kinds of thought do seem different, but they make one
because they correspond.
This is why, after we had moved away from heaven and broken the connection, the Lord provided that
there should be a means of union of heaven with us through the Word.
307. I should like to use a few passages to show how heaven is united with us through the
Word. The New Jerusalem is described in Revelation as follows:
I saw a new heaven and a new earth, and the former heaven and former earth had passed away. And I saw
the holy cityJerusalem doming down from God out of heaven. The city was foursquare, its length equal
to its breadth. And the angel measured the city with the reed at twelve thousand furlongs, the length,
breadth, and height were equal. And he measured its wall, 144 cubits, the measure of the man which was
that of the angel. The construction of the wall was jasper, but the city itself was pure gold and like
pure glass; and the foundation of the wall was decorated with every precious stone. The twelve gates
were twelve pearls, and the streeet of the city were pure gold like transparent glass
Revelation 21:1, 2, 16, 17, 18
People who read this understand it simply according to its literal meaning, namely that this visible
sky and earth are going to perish and that a new heaven is going to be established, that on a new
earth the holy city Jerusalem is going to descend, and that all its measurements will be as described.
But the angels who are with us understand it very differently, understanding spiritually what we take
in a natural sense. For them, the new heaaven and the new earth mean a new church, the citu Jerusalem
descending from God out of heaven means its heavenly doctrine revealed by the Lord, the length,
breadth, and height, which are equal at 12,000 furlongs mean all the good and true elements of that
doctrine grasped as a single whole, the wall means the truths that protect it, the measure of the wall
being 144 cubits which was the measure of the man, that is of the angel, means all those protective
truths grasped as a single whole, and their quality, he twelve gates which were made of pearls mean
the introductory truths (pearls mean that kind of truth), the foundations of the wall which were of
precious stones mean the acknowledgments on which that doctrine is based, and the gold like pure glass
of which the city and its streets were made means the good of love which makes doctrine and its truths
transparent. This is how angels understand all these things, so it is not the way we do. This is how
our natural concepts cross over int o spiritual concepts with angels without their knowing anything
about the literal meaning of the Word-aabout the new heaven and the new earth, for example, or the
holy city Jerusalem, its wall, the foundations of the wall, and its measurements. Still the angels'
thoughts make one with ours because they correspond. They make one almost the way the words of a
speaker and the understanding of those words by a listener who is focused not on the words themselves
but on understanding them. This may enable us to see how heaven is united to us through the Word.
For another example from the Word,
In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt and Egypt
into Assyria, and the Egyptians will serve the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be a third for Egypt
and Assyria, a blessing in the middle of the land whom Jehovah of hosts will bless, saying, Blessed is
my people Egypt, and the work of my hands Assyria, and my inheritance Israel.
Isaiah 19:23, 24, 25
We can see how mortals think and how angels think when they read this if we look at the literal
meaning of the Word and at its inner meaning. We think, on the basis of its literal meaning, that
Egypt and Assyria are going to be converted to God and received, and that they will become united to
the Israelite nation. The angels, though, think on the basis of its inner meaning about people of the
church, whose spiritual level is Israel, whose natural level is Egypt, and whose rational level, which
is the intermediate level, is Assyria.[14] Still, these two meanings are one because they correspond.
Consequently, when angels are thinking spiritually like this and we are thinking naturally the way we
do, we are united almost like a soul and a body. The inner meaning of the Word is its soul, and the
literal meaning is its body.
The Word is like this throughout; so we can see that it is a means of heaven's union with us and thaat
the literal meaning serves as its basis and foundation.
308. There is also a union of heaven through the Word with people who are outside the
church, where the Word is not found; for the Lord's church is everywhere and exists with
everyone who acknowledges something divine and lives in charity. People like this are
taught by angels after their decease and accept divine truths.[15] There will be more on
this below in its proper chapter, where we discuss the gentiles.
In the Lord's sight, the universal church on earth is like a single individual just as heaven is (as
noted above in ¶¶ 59-72). However, the church where the Word is and the Lord is known through it is
like the heart and lungs of that person. The human race that is outsice the church where the Word is
derives its life in the same way and constitutes the members of that person. Heaven's union through
the Word with people who are at a distance can be compared to light that spreads in all directions
from a center. The divine light is in the Word, and the Lord is present there with His heaven. People
who are far off also receive light from that presence. It would be different if there were no Word,
which can be more fully understood by reference to what has been presented above about the form of
heaven which determines its gatherings and communications.<4>
Still, this arcanum is understandable to people who are in siritual light but not to people who are
only in natural light. People who are in spiritual light, that is, see quite clearly countless things
that people who are in natural light alone either do not see at all or see only as a single vague
entity.
309. If there had not been this kind of Word on our earth, the humanity of our earth would
have separated itself from heaven, and once separated from heaven would have had no
rational ability. Our human rational ability in fact arises from an inflow from heaven.
We on this earth are by nature incapable of accepting any direct revelation and being taught about
divine truths through by that means, as the inhabitants of other planets can (which has been dealt
with in its own separate booklet<5>). We more than they are engrossed in worldly concerns and
therefore in superficial matters (externis), while it is the deeper levels that are open to
revelation. If the outer levels were open, they still would not understand the truth.
This nature of ours is clearly visible in members of the church. Even though they know from the Word
about heaven, hell, and life after death, they still deny these things at heart. This includes people
who have made a name for themselves for outstanding learning, who you would think would therefore be
wiser than others.
310. I have talked with angels about the Word on occasion, and have told them that it is
looked down on by some people because of its pedestrian style.<6> They know absolutely
nothing about its deeper meaning and therefore do not believe that this kind of wisdom
lies hidden within. The angels have told me that even though the style of the Word may
appear pedestrian in its literal meaning, it is qualitatively incomparable because divine
wisdom lies hidden not just in the overall meaning but in every word, and that this wisdom
shines out in heaven. They have asked me to declare that because it is divine truth, it is
heaven's light, since divine truth in heaven is radiant (see above, ¶ 132). They have
added tht without this kind of Word there would be no light of heaven among the people of
our earth; for the amount of heaven's light there is among us determins the union and
therefore the extent to which we have any revelation of divine truth through the Word. The
reason people do not know this union exists (through the spiritual meaning of the Word
corresponding to its natural meaning) is that the people of our earth do not know anything
about angels' spiritual thinking and conversation. They do not know that this is different
from our natural thinking and conversation; and anyone who does not know this cannot
possibly know what the inner meaning is and therefore cannot know that it can make this
kind of union possible.
They have also said that if we know that this kind of meaning existed and when we read the Word did
our thinking with any knowledge of it, we would come into a deepre wisdom and be more closely united
to heaven, because in this way we would have access to concepts like those of angels.
4) Heaven and Hell Are from the Human Race
311. People in Christendom are totally unaware that heaven and hell are from the human
race. They actually believe that angels were created in the beginning and constitute
heaven, and that the devil or Satan was an angel of light who became rebellious and was
cast out together with his gang, resulting in hell.
Angels are utterly amazed that there can be this kind of belief in Christendom, and even more so that
people know absolutely nothing about heaven, even though this is a primary doctrine of the church.
Knowing that this kind of ignorance is prevalent, they are profoundly delighted that it has now
pleased the Lord to reveal to us so much about heaven and about hell, and so as much as possible to
dispel the darkness that is rising daily because this church is drawing to a close. So they wanted me
to testify on their behalf that in all heaven there is not a single angels who was created as such in
the beginning, nor is there in all hell a defil who was created an angel of light and cast out.
Rather, all the people in heaven and in hell are from the human race-in heaven, the ones who have
lifed in heavenly love and faith, and in hell the ones who have lived in hellish love and faith. Hell
as a whole is what is called the devil and Satan. The hell at the back, where the people called evil
genii live, is the devil, and the nell that is in front, where the people live who are called evil
spirits, is Satan.[16] We will describe later what one or another hell is like.<7>
They insisted that the reason Christians have adopted this kind of belief about people in heaven and
people in hell is that they have taken a few passages of the Word, understanding them only in their
literal meaning, with no enlightenment or instruction based on genuine doctrine from the Word. Yet the
literal meaning of the Word, without the light of genuine doctrine, leads the mind astray in all
directions, leading to ignorance, heresy, and error.[17]
312 This belief among church folk is also the cause of their belief that no one will
arrive in heaven or hell before the time of the last judgment, which they have come to
believe will be a time when everything they can see perishes and new things come into
being, when sould will return into their bodies and then begin once more to live as people
because of this reunion. This faith implies the other, about angels having been created in
the beginning, for it is not possible to believe that heaven and hell are from the human
race when you believe that no one is going to get there until the end of the world.
So to convince people that this is not the case, I have been allowed to associate with angels and to
talk with people in hell for several years now, sometimes constantly from morning until evening, and
so to learn about heaven and about hell. The purpose of all this is that church folk should not remain
any longer in their mistaken beliefs about a resurrection on judgment day and about the state of their
souls in the meanwhile, or about angels and the devil. Because this faith is a mistaken one, it brings
darkness with it; and for people who think about such things on the basis of their own intellect, it
leads to doubt and eventually to denial. They are actually saying in their hearts, "How can such a
vast heaven and so many stars be destroyed and disappear, along with the sun and the moon? How can
stars which are larger than the earth fall on the earth? How can bodies that have been eaten by worms
and destroyed by decay and scattered to the four winds be brought back together to their souls? Where
have these souls been in the meanwhile, and what have they been like without any of the senses they
had in their bodies?" There are many other questions like these which do not accord with belief
because they are incomprehensible. and for many people they are destroying any belief in a life after
death, in heaven and hell, and along with these the rest of the contents of the faith of the
church.<8> This destruction can be observed in people who say, "Who has come back from heaven and told
us that it exists, or from hell, to say that it exists? What is this business about people being
tortured to eternity? What is thes jusgment day? Haven't we been waiting for it for centuries, all in
vain?" logn with any number of other things that imply a denial of everything. To prevent people who
think like this (as many do who are particularly skilled in worldly affairs) from further disturbing
and misleading people of simple faith and simply heart and bringing on a hellish darkness concerning
God, heaven, eternal life, and the other matters that follow from them, the deeper reaches of my
spirit have been opened by the Lord, enabling me to talk after their death with all the people I have
ever known during their physical lives. I have talked with some for days, with some for months, and
with some for years. I have talked with so many others that it sould not be exaggerating to talk in
terms of a hundred thousand, many in heaven and many in hell. I have talked with some just two days
after their deaths and told them that now their funerals and burial rites were being performed so that
they could be interred; to which they have responded that it was a good thing they had cast off what
had served them as a body for their functions in our world, wanting me to say that they were not dead
at all. They were just as alive and just as human as ever, having simply crossed over from one world
to another. They were not aware of having lost anything, since they were just as much in a body as
before, enjoyed volition and understanding jsut as before, and had similar thoughts and affections,
similar sensation and similar desires to the ones they had in our world.
Many people who have just died, when they see that they are living persons just as they were before,
and in a similar state (for our first state after death is like the one we were in on earth, but this
changes gradually for us either toward heaven or toward hell), they were moved by a newfound joy at
still being alive. They said they would not have believed it. They were amazed that they had been in
such ignorance and blindness about the state of life after death, all the more so that this is true of
people within the church, which could be in more light about such matters than all the rest of the
whole world.
**FOOTNOTES**
. An odor in the Word means a perception of something pleasant or unpleasant,
depending on the quality of the love and faith of the entity described (3577, 4626,
4628, 4748, 5021, 10292). An odor of quietness, when predicated of Jehovah, means a
perception of peace (925, 10054). So frankincense, various kinds of incense and, the
fragrances in oils and salves, came to be representative (925, 4748, 5621, 10177).
. In the highest sense, the Sabbath means the oneness of the Divine itself with the
divine human in the Lord; and in the inner sense the union of the Lord's divine human
with heaven and the church. In a general sense it means the union of the good and the
true and therefore the heavenly marriage (8495, 10356, 10730). So the rest on the
Sabbath day meant the state of that oneness, because then the Lord has rest, through
which peace and salvation come to the heavens and to earth; and in a relative sense
it means the union of the Lord with us, because then we have peace and salvation
(8494, 8510, 10360, 10367, 10370, 10374, 10668, 10730).
. The union of the good and the true in people who are being regenerated takes place
in a state of peace (3696, 8517).
. The state of peace in heaven is like the state of morning or spring on earth
(1726, 2780, 5662).
. The cravings that arise from love of self and the world totally destroy peace
(3170, 5662). Some people find peace in restlessness and in other such things that
are the opposite of peace (5662). There is no peace until the cravings of evil have
been taken away (5662).
. There are angels and spirits with every individual, and through them we have
communication with the spiritual world (697, 2796, 2886, 2887, 4047, 4048, 5846-5866,
5976-5993). Apart from these spirits with us, we could not live (5993). We are not
visible to the spirits, nor are they to us (5885). Spirits cannot see anything in our
subsolar world of humanity, only things [visible] to the individual they are talking
to (1880).
. All freedom is a matter of love and affection, because what we love, we do freely
(2870, 3158, 8907, 8990, 9585, 9591). Freedom is a matter of love, which is its life
(2873). Nothing seems to be ours unless it comes from our freedom (2880). We need to
have some freedom in order to be reformed (1937, 1947, 2876, 2881, 3145, 3146, 3158,
4031, 8700). Otherwise, the love of what is good and true could not be sown in us and
given to us as though it were ours (2877, 2879, 2880, 2888, 8700). Nothing unites us
that is forced upon us (2875, 8700). If we could be reformed by force, then everyone
would be reformed (2881). The use of force in reformation is harmful (4031). The
state of some people who had been compelled (8392).
. The difference between us and animals is that we can be raised by the Lord to
himself, can think about the Divine and love It, and so can be united to the Lord and
have eternal life, which is not true of animals (4525, 6323, 9231). Animals are in
the pattern proper to their lives and are therefore born into things that are suited
to their natures; but we are not, so we need to be led into the pattern proper to our
lives by intellectual means (637, 5850, 6323). Thought descends into speech and
intention into actions for us according to a general inflow (5862, 5990, 6192, 6211).
On the general inflow of the spiritual world into the lives of animals (1633, 3646).
. The difference between us and animals is that we can be raised by the Lord to
Himself and can think about the Divine, love It, be united to the Lord, and therefore
have eternal life, which is not true of animals (4525, 6323, 9231). Animals are in
the pattern proper to their life and are therefore are born into things suited to
their natures; but we are not, so we need to be led into the pattern proper to our
life by intellectual means (637, 5850, 6323). Thought descends into speech and intent
into actions for us according to a general inflow (5862, 5990, 6192, 6211). On the
general inflow of the spiritual world into the lives of animals (1633, 3646).
. There is a direct inflow from the Lord and also an indirect inflow through the
spiritual world (6063, 6307, 6472, 9682, 9683). The Lord's direct inflow is into the
most minute details of all (6058, 6474-6478), 8717, 8728). The Lord flows into our
first and our last things at the same time, and how this happens (5147, 5150, 6473,
7004, 7007, 7270). The Lord's inflow is into the good within us and through that good
into the truth, and not the reverse (5482, 5649, 6027, 8685, 8701, 10153). The life
that flows in from the Lord varies according to our state and according to our
openness (2069, 5986, 6472, 7343). In evil people, the good that flows in from the
Lord is turned into evil and the truth into falsity, from experience (3643, 4632). We
accept the good and the consequent truth that are unceasingly flowing in from the
Lord to the extent that evil and its consequent falsity do not block the way (2411,
3142, 3147, 5828).
. People who do not have a conscience do not know what a conscience is (7490, 9121).
There are even people who laugh at conscience when they hear that it exists (7217).
Some people believe that conscience is nothing, some that it is a kind of natural,
distressing sadness that arises either from events in the body or events in the
world, and some that it is something common folk get from their religion (950). There
is a true conscience, an imitation conscience, and a false conscience (1033). Pangs
of conscience are an anxiety of mind because of anything unjust, dishonest, and evil
that we believe to be contrary to God and contrary to the welfare of the neighbor
(7217). People who are in love for the Lord and charity toward the neighbor have
conscience, but not people who are not (831, 965, 2380, 7490).
. Nothing arises from itself, but only from something prior to itself; so all things
come from a First, and endure from what they originated from, so that existing is a
constant becoming (2886, 2888, 3627, 3628, 3648, 4523, 4524, 6040, 6056). The divine
pattern does not stop in the middle but keeps on to its limit, and its limit is in
us; so the divine pattern ends in us (634, 2853, 3632, 5897, 6239, 6451, 6465, 9216,
9217, 9824, 9828, 9836, 9905, 10044, 10329, 10335, 10548). The inner elements flow
sequentially into the outer all the way to the end or limit, and there they take form
[existant] and endure (634, 6239, 6465, 9216, 9217). The inner elements take form and
endure in the outer in a simultaneous arrangement, which is described (5897, 6451,
8603, 10099). So all the inner elements are kept connected together from the First to
the ultimate (9828). For this reason, "the First and the Last" mean everthing in
detail, the whole (10044, 10329, 19335), and for this reason, strength and power are
in ultimate things (9836).
. The Word in its literal sense is natural (8783) because the natural is the
ultimate in which spiritual and heavenly things (which are more inward) come to rest,
and on which they rest like a house on its foundation (9430, 9433, 9824, 10044,
10436). In order to be of this nature, the Word was written in pure correspondences
(1404, 1408, 1409, 1540, 1615, 1659, 1709, 1783, 8615 10687). Since the Word is like
this in its literal meaning, it is a vessel for spiritual and heavenly meaning
(9407), and it is adapted to mortals and to angels at the same time (1769-1772, 1887,
2143, 2157, 2275, 2333, 2396, 2540, 2541, 2545, 2553, 7381, 8862, 10322). It is what
unites heaven and earth (2310, 2495, 9212, 9216, 9357, 9396, 10375). The Lord's union
with us through the Word by means of its inner meaning (10375). This union takes
place by means of every detail in the Word, so it is more marvelous than any other
writing (10632, 10633, 10634). Now that the Word has been written, the Lord speaks to
us through it (10290). Relative to people who do not have the Word and know the Lord,
the church where the Word is and where the Lord is known is like the heart and lungs
relative to the other parts of the body, which derive their life from the heart and
lungs as from a wellspring (637, 931, 2054, 2853). The whole church throughout the
world is like a single person in the Lord's sight (7395, 9276). This is why the human
race would perish if there were not a church in our world where the Word was found
and the Lord was known (468, 637, 931, 4545, 10452).
. Egypt and Egyptian in the Word mean the natural, and therefore the informational
(406, 5079, 5080, 5095, 5460, 5799, 6015, 6147, 6252, 7353, 7648, 9230, 9319).
Assyria means the rational (119, 1186). Israel means the spiritual (5414, 5801, 5803,
5806, 5812, 5817, 5819, 5826, 5833, 5879, 5951, 6426, 6637, 6862, 6868, 7035, 7062,
7198, 7201, 7215, 7223, 7956, 8234, 8805, 9340).
. The church in specific is where the Word is and where the Lord is known because of
it, so it is where divine truths from have been revealed from heaven (3857, 10761).
The Lord's church exists throughout the whole world with people who live in good
according to their religions (3263, 6637, 10765). All people who live in good
according to their religions and acknowledge something divine are accepted by the
Lord, wherever they are (2589-2604, 2861, 2863, 3263, 4190, 4197, 6700, 9256, and
especially all infants, wherever they may have been born (2289-2309, 4792).
. The hells as a whole, or hellish people en masse, are called the devil and Satan
(694). People who were devils in the world are devils after death (968).
. The church's doctrine must be derived from the Word (3464, 5402, 6832, 10763,
10765). Without doctrine, the Word is not understood (9021, 9409, 9424, 9430, 10324,
10431, 10582). True doctrine is a lamp for people who read the Word (10401). Genuine
doctrine must be provided by people who have enlightenment from the Lord (2510, 2516,
2519, 9424, 10105). People engaged in the literal meaning apart from any doctrine do
not attain any understanding of divine truths (9409, 9410, 10582), and are carried
off into many errors (10431). The nature of the difference between people who teach
and learn from the doctrine of the church derived from the Word and people who do so
solely from the Word's literal meaning (9025).
2
**ENDNOTES**
. Cf. especially ¶¶ 421-431.
. melancholia.
. Cf. ¶¶ 491-498.
. Cf. ¶¶ 200-212.
. The reference is to "The Earths in Our Solar System Which Are Called Planets and
the Earths in the Starry Heaven and Their Inhabitants; Also the Spirits and Angels
There; from Things Heard and Seen," tr. J. Whitehead, in Miscellaneous Theological
Works (New York: Swedenborg Foundation, 1913. Reprints), first published as De
Telluribus in Mundo Nostro Solari, Quae Vocantur Planetae: Et de Telluribus in Coelo
Astrifero: Deque Illarum Incolis; Tum de Spiritibus et Angeli Ibi; Ex Auditis et
Visis (London: (N.p.), 1758), the same year as the Heaven and Hell (see the
translator's preface).
. In eighteenth century Europe, high style was virtually synonymous with ornate.
. Cf. ¶¶ 582-588.
. Both F. C. Oetinger and Friedrich von Schelling lamented this skepticism and
welcomed Swedenborg's rebuttal of it. On Oetinger, see especially Ernst Benz,
Swedenborg in Deutschland: F. C. Oetingers und Immanuel Kants Auseinandersetzung mit
der Person und Lehre Emanuel Swedenborgs. Frankfurt am Main: Vittorio Klostermann,
1947. On Schelling, see Friedemann Horn, Schelling und Swedenborg: Ein Beitrag zur
Problemgeschichte des deutschen Idealismus und zur Geschichte Swedenborgs in
Deutschland, nebst einem Anhang über K. C. F. Krause und Swedenborg sowie Ergänzungen
zu R. Schneiders Forschungen (Zürich: Swedenborg-Verlag, 1954), English version,
Schelling and Swedenborg: Mysticism and German Idealism, George F. Dole, Tr., (West
Chester, Pennsylvania: Swedenborg Foundation, 1997).
