A Scientist Explores Spirit: A Biography Of Emanuel Swedenborg With Key Concepts Of His Theology

by George F. Dole, Robert Kirven

This book introduces the life and spiritual thought of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772). A Swedish scientist and statesman, he underwent an extraordinary religious experience at age 55 and spent his last twenty-seven years producing thirty volumes that detailed his visionary experiences. Richly illustrated, the book includes a chronology of Swedenborg's life, a bibliography of his works, and an outline of his key theological concepts.

112 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1997

About the author

Rev. Dr. Dole is an Emeritus Professor with Adjunct status at the Center for Swedenborgian Studies at GTA. He was born and currently resides in Maine. He holds a B.A. from Yale, an M.A. from Oxford, and a Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Reviews

[Lee Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short, very informative book on Swedenborg's life and ideas. Organized in chronological order, the book walks through Swedenborg's life, work, and influences. It was quite interesting understanding how Swedenborg was torn between the faith of his father, and his love of science and university. Ultimately, Swedenborg takes on the project of reconciling the two, after spiritual realizations around age 55.

Have to flag the most shocking part for me, is that Swedenborg's PhD thesis was "Selected Sentences from L. Annaeus Seneca and Publius Syrus the Mime with Notes". The first is of course Seneca the Stoic, and it would be interesting to trace the influence of Stoic thought on Swedenborg.

It was very interesting when Dole and Kirven discuss Swedenborg's trips to London. Here, he seems to have studied with a tremendous breadth of scientists and researchers, learning as much as he could, writing it down, and taking it home with him back to Sweden. He sounds like such a curious and driven figure.

Another interesting section was his fight with Kant, who seems to respect Swedenborg, however criticize his claims of talking with spirits. There are some profound antidotes of Swedenborg's clairvoyance, notably when he knew the fire was happening, and knew exactly when he was going to die.

The end gives a good, concise description of his theology. It certainly makes sense, offering a fresh perspective. I want to understand more about Swedenborg's spiritual experiences, and his declarations of the end of the 'old' Christian church, similar to Nietzsche claiming that "God is dead". In particular, it would be interesting to compare Swedenborg's descriptions with similar religious experiences, particularly DMT.