A reader named Rod submitted a spiritual conundrum about Swedenborg and spiritualism. We’ll dig into his question in a minute. First, here’s a thumbnail sketch of what Swedenborg says about contacting spirits.
It is perfectly possible for angels and spirits to talk to people on earth. All that’s necessary is for our spiritual ears to be opened up briefly so that we can hear the angels and spirits who are with us all the time. Angels and spirits commonly spoke to people in the Bible. Many people throughout history and right up to the present have felt the presence or heard the voices of spiritual beings, both heavenly and demonic.
God sometimes sends angels to people who are struggling and in need of spiritual encouragement and inspiration. When we are blessed by a visit from these messengers of God, it is a wonderful thing!
However, when we initiate contact with spirits, we lay ourselves open to many dangers. The spiritual beings who are closest to us while we are living here on earth are not angels, but spirits in an intermediate realm. And due to the dynamics of the spiritual world, the spirits we contact will be very much like ourselves; they will usually just confirm what we already believe, even if it’s not true. So we will most likely end out strongly believing things that are actually false.
In short, when it’s God’s idea to send an angel to us, it is a good and helpful thing. But when it’s our idea to contact the “angels” . . . not so much. Spirits are very good at impersonating angels and revered historical figures. We simply don’t know who we’re really getting at the other end of the line.
To fully understand what’s going on when we contact spirits, we’ll need some background on the spiritual world and how it works. So let’s take a look at Rod’s question, and dig deeper into this fascinating subject.
Swedenborg and spiritualism
Here is the spiritual conundrum Rod posed:
In Michael Tymn’s book, The Afterlife Revealed, he notes that after the advent of Spiritualism in 1848, Swedenborg is said to have appeared to several spiritualists and mediums. More than one writer proclaimed Emanuel Swedenborg as “the father of Spiritualism.” Yet, even though Swedenborg was in contact with the spirit world for 27 years, he warned against attempting contact with unseen spirits. Swedenborg’s writings/theology are Christ-centered, while most spiritualists are not.
First, a quick response to some of these issues about Swedenborg and spiritualism.
Yes, a number of spiritualists and mediums have claimed to be in contact with Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772) in the spiritual world. Sometimes they claim that he has now reversed the positions he took in his books on such subjects as reincarnation and the eternity of the hells.
But if Swedenborg actually did have the ability to be fully conscious the spiritual world for the last twenty-seven years of his life on earth, he would have had plenty of time to investigate these and other spiritual subjects. Why would his views suddenly change when he moved to the spiritual world permanently after he died?
It is far more likely that the spiritualists and mediums were actually in contact with spirits posing as Swedenborg, who told them what they wanted to hear.
It is common for spirits to pose as great spiritual teachers and historical figures. They do this to lend weight and authority to their own opinions, and to get a following. It’s similar to the common practice in ages past—and sometimes even in the present—of writing a philosophical or literary piece and publishing it under the name of some famous philosopher or poet. Spirits can have false and mistaken beliefs just as people on earth do. And they are very skillful at convincing people that their opinions are God’s own truth.
So we can safely take with a grain of salt spiritualists’ and mediums’ claims that they have spoken to Swedenborg and to many other great historical figures. If you want to know what Swedenborg thought on some subject, read what he wrote about it!
As for Swedenborg being the “father of spiritualism,” it is true that he has had a major influence on many spiritualists. However, his ability to be fully conscious with all of his senses in the spiritual world, and to live and travel among angels and spirits over a period of nearly three decades as one of them, is unique in the history of the world. It is entirely different from the experience of spiritualists and mediums, who generally hear voices and feel spiritual influences, but are not fully conscious in the spiritual world.
Finally, it’s a great observation that Swedenborg’s theology and writings are Christ-centered, whereas most spiritualists are not. In his final massive tome on theology, True Christianity, Swedenborg signed himself as “servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.” And in #779 of that book, Swedenborg stated that even though he had been in contact with angels and spirits for many years, he had not accepted any teachings from them, but only what came from the Lord (Jesus Christ) while he was reading the Bible. Swedenborg’s own practice was to not blindly trust what spirits and angels told him.
Now let’s dig into the real subject here, which is whether it’s a good idea to contact spirits.
A thumbnail sketch of the spiritual world
First, let’s demystify the spiritual world, based on Swedenborg’s eyewitness account in his most popular book, Heaven and Hell.
There are three major regions of the spiritual world:
- Heaven: The final home of all people of good will
- The world of spirits: Where all people gather temporarily after death
- Hell: The final home of all people of evil will
Contrary to popular belief, hell is not a place where people roast over fire pits to all eternity while devils brandishing pitchforks dance around them. See the article, “Is There Really a Hell? What is it Like?”
Similarly, heaven is not a place where angels sit on clouds and play harps to eternity. Angels live active, useful, enjoyable lives in community with other angels—as you can see in the article, “Who Are the Angels and How Do They Live?”
All of the angels in heaven and all of the evil spirits—sometimes called “devils,” “demons,” or “satans”—in hell were once human beings living right here in the material world. There is no separately created race of angels or of devils.
However, we do not go directly to heaven or to hell after we die. Instead, we spend a shorter or longer time in a region between heaven and hell called “the world of spirits.”
It is called a “world” because it is so vast that it forms a world all of its own, complete with mountains, hills, and valleys, rivers, lakes, and oceans. And it is the world “of spirits” because it is filled with all the spirits, or souls, of the huge number of people who die day after day, month after month, year after year, and move on to the afterlife.
In the spiritual world, our spirit is just as solid and real as our body is here in the material world. And because the world of spirits is inhabited by human beings, it also has towns and cities, roads and bridges, theaters and libraries, and everything else that we have here on earth. In fact, the world of spirits looks and feels so much like the natural world that when we arrive there we may not even believe that we have died.
Some people find their eternal home in heaven or hell very quickly. For others, it may take the equivalent of twenty or thirty years’ worth of experience to get ready and move on to their final home. You can read about that process in the article, “What Happens To Us When We Die?”
This means that at any given time, there are millions, if not billions of spirits inhabiting the world of spirits.
And these spirits in the intermediate region—not angels in heaven or devils in hell—are the spiritual beings who are closest to us here on earth.
Why is that?
Because spiritually, birds of a feather flock together.
How the spiritual world is organized
In our lives here on earth we move around for many reasons, such as:
- To be near family members
- To get a job or a promotion
- To be where it is less expensive to live
- To be in a region and climate we enjoy
Because of this, we tend to live surrounded by a mixed group of people. Some of our neighbors we feel close to and get along with; others we have little or nothing in common with or are even in conflict with.
That’s not how it works in the spiritual world. There, we fairly quickly sort ourselves out into communities and groups based on our character and personality, our loves and beliefs. That’s why heaven is in a higher region, the world of spirits is in a middle region, and hell is in a lower region. And within each of these regions, there are millions of communities, each with its own character based on the type of angels or spirits who live there.
Even while we are living here in this world in our mixed communities, our spiritual associations operate by the same principle. We have spiritual beings around us all the time. And the ones who are closest to us are the ones who are most like us in character, personality, feelings, and beliefs.
For most of us here on earth, the spirits who are in a state of mind most like ours are not angels or devils, but spirits in the world of spirits. That’s because for much of our time in the world of spirits, we are in a state of mind very much like the one we are in here on earth—which tends to be a mixture of good and bad motives and actions.
Yes, we do have angels from heaven and evil spirits from hell associated with us also. But because their state of mind is generally quite different from ours, they usually work through the spirits from the world of spirits who are most closely associated with us.
That is why, when we seek out contact with angels and spirits, we will rarely make direct contact with an angel—which usually happens only when God sends an angel to us. Rather, when we initiate the contact, we will almost always get in touch with the spirits in the world of spirits who are associated with us.
Spirits aren’t any smarter than we are
Now here’s the trick.
We naturally assume that once people die and go to the spiritual world, they gain access to much greater spiritual information and enlightenment than we have here on earth.
Theoretically, that’s true.
But in practice, it usually doesn’t work that way.
Why not?
Because after we die, we are exactly the same person as we were before we died. Our character, beliefs, emotions, desires, and motives don’t change at all. The only difference is that instead of a physical body we have a spiritual body. But even that looks and feels the same as the body we had before. As counterintuitive as it may seem, dying does not change us at all—especially not in the early stages of our life in the world of spirits.
Further, since we soon group together with people who have a character and beliefs similar to our own, we tend to become even more firmly entrenched in our beliefs—whether true or false—than we were before. Truth is not a popularity contest. But we humans have this funny idea that the more people there are who believe something, the truer it is. And if we surround ourselves with people who believe the same way we do, it only confirms in our minds the idea that our beliefs are absolutely true.
Are you starting to see why contacting spirits is not a good way to learn about God and spirit?
The fact is, most of the spirits we get “on the other end of the line” are not any smarter or more enlightened than we are. In fact, because of the spiritual law that people of like character and beliefs group together, we are almost certain to get in contact with spirits who think and believe very much like we do.
What does this mean?
- If we believe in reincarnation, the spirits we contact will tell us that reincarnation is a true belief.
- If we believe that all people eventually go to heaven, the spirits we contact will tell us exactly that.
- If we believe that we are all part of God, and evil is just an illusion, the spirits we contact will strengthen our belief.
- If we believe that only people who share our particular beliefs—whatever they may be—are enlightened and will go to heaven or nirvana or whatever we believe in, then the spirits we contact will assure us that we are right about that, too.
In other words, spirits are useless for guiding us toward genuine spiritual truth. They will simply tell us whatever we want to hear.
And then they’ll use it to manipulate us.
Why?
Because any spirits who want to teach us things are more interested in having power over us than they are in leading us toward God and heaven.
Real angels don’t want to teach us
You see, real angels value our spiritual freedom above everything else. They know that the only way we can become truly enlightened is if we seek out the truth for ourselves, and learn it through our own effort and experience. Quite often we must learn the truth the hard way, by trying out everything except the best path until we finally are willing to accept God’s guidance and follow the path God is laying out in front of us.
Angels trust God to guide us, and they get directly involved in our lives only when God specifically sends them to help us.
When God does send angels to help us, it rarely involves teaching us things we didn’t know before. Instead, it almost always involves giving us hope and comfort. You see, real angels tend to skip our head altogether, and go right for the heart. They want us to know not intellectually, but in our heart that we are loved and cared for.
When angels come to us, we feel the warmth of God’s love as expressed through the angels who are God’s messengers. This can give us the hope and confidence we need to keep moving forward on our spiritual path. We can then turn toward the usual sources of spiritual knowledge, understanding, and wisdom—primarily the holy books and spiritual teachers of our religion.
Unenlightened and evil-leaning spirits, on the other hand, have no such limits on their approach to us. They do not respect our freedom, nor do they have any interest in moving us toward God and heaven. They are quite happy to fill us with all sorts of ideas that appeal to us, right or wrong, in order to gain our confidence and get power over our minds. They will then begin to lead us step by step toward more and more false and mistaken beliefs.
As a result, if we seek out spirits in order to gain spiritual comfort or enlightenment, and we persist in doing so over an extended period of time, we are likely to be led more and more astray in our beliefs.
Is all contact with spirits bad?
That sounds pretty grim. And it certainly can be. There are many people firmly convinced of beliefs that are not true at all because they believe they were instructed by angels. And those false beliefs can do real damage to our spiritual state.
However, there are also many other influences and sources of knowledge that people interested in spiritual things turn to. And even false beliefs do not cause people of good will to have an evil heart. Many people who believe things that aren’t true still live good lives of loving and serving their fellow human beings. Loving God and loving our neighbor trumps mistaken beliefs.
Further, people who merely dabble in contacting spirits are not likely to experience any deep or lasting harm. Even if the spirit contacted isn’t really their deceased mother or father or sister or brother, but a spirit impersonating their loved ones, people can still gain a sense of hope and a belief in the afterlife based on these contacts.
Though seeking out contact with spirits is generally not a good thing, God can turn it toward good in our lives if we don’t persist in attempting to gain knowledge through spirit contact instead of learning it from the sources of spiritual knowledge that God has given us right here in the material world.
And of course, as mentioned earlier, if we did not seek out spirit contact, but it came to us spontaneously in a time of need, and gave us comfort, hope, and strength, then we can take joy in the knowledge that God has reached out to us through the angels to assure us that even though things may seem dark and hopeless here, we are loved, and God has better things in store for us.
This article is a response to a spiritual conundrum submitted by a reader.
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Lee Woofenden is an ordained minister, writer, editor, translator, and teacher. He enjoys taking spiritual insights from the Bible and the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg and putting them into plain English as guides for everyday life.
Spiritual Insights for Everyday Life 
An interesting piece, Lee. It leaves me wondering however why (according to you or according to Swedenborg) spirits would want to impersonate and gain power.
When reading your text, I thought of Carl Jung’s 1902 dissertation ‘On the Psychology and Pathologoy of so-called occult Phenomena’. Here he analyses a long series of spiritistic sessions he observed, in which a young woman met several spirits in a trance – the phenomena described suggest that there is impersonation.
Of course it is the goal of Jung to explain everything he sees in terms of psychology – as split-off aspects of the ‘unconscious’.
It might be interesting to reflect on the question whether psychology describes what happens in the ‘receiver’ whereas spiritualistic language describes the reality of the ‘sender’ – which would mean that the unconscious of the receiver provides the imaginary material to give recognizable form to something experienced (as we also do in normal communication when we interprete what someone is saying).
Of course the spiritualistic language would than be also an interpretation, but one which, through the images, which it just leaves like they come, is interested in the message coming through. But this is all very philosophical of course (as I am a philosopher ;-)).
Hi Angela,
Thanks for your meaty comment (“substantial,” in philosophical language. 😉 ) There’s enough here for a sequel post, but I’ll resist the urge!
Why does anyone want power? It seems to be one of the major human motivators, for good or for ill. Impersonating powerful people is one way to get it. Have you seen the movie “Dave”? It puts a comic spin on the power of impersonation.
As Swedenborg describes it, though we can make distinctions between psychology and spirit based on the conscious awareness and experience of people on earth and spirits in the spiritual world, the two are in fact interdependent and flow seamlessly into one another. In fact, he says that if we were cut off from the spirits surrounding us, we would be unable to think at all. Our thought processes exist within the spiritual “field” in which we are embedded.
However, because each of us does have a “self” or “self-image” based on our unique set of conscious experiences and choices, we also each have a unique set (or “database”) of memories distinct from the memories of every other human being or spirit. And that’s where it gets interesting.
When spirits speak to us, they ordinarily do not speak from their own memory. Rather, they have the ability to enter into all of our memories, and speak to us from them. That is why spirits are able to “tell us what we want to hear,” and draw out everything from our own experience that confirms it. It is also why, just as in natural perception, each of us hears spiritual communication according to the unique set of memories, experiences, loves, and beliefs that forms our own mind.
When the anomaly occurs of spirits speaking to us from their own memory, or from the memory of some other spirit that they have gotten access to, this gives rise to the phenomenon of “experiencing past lives,” on which much of the belief in individual reincarnation is based.
Even without getting access to the actual memories of another spirit, all the information we have on earth about famous historical figures exists also in the spiritual world. It is a simple matter for spirits to access that information. (The IT in the spiritual world is very advanced!) So they can easily feed us plenty of verifiable information about great historical figures known to us, and pass it off as our own memories of a past life . . . leaving us utterly convinced that we were Plato or Paracelsus in a previous life. It’s a neat trick! 🙂
Interesting article – you make some sound points about manipulation and impersonation in the spirit world. I don’t fully concur regarding limiting spiritual knowledge to those texts that already exist in the material world because the ancient and respected texts were one channeled from a higher source. (I hope I have understood your point correctly).
Hi jahnosecret,
Since this post is focused on the wisdom of our initiating contact with spirits, there is a lot it doesn’t cover.
For example, communication with angels was common among the ancient peoples. This was how they gained their knowledge about God and spirit. This knowledge was later collected and written down to form many of the ancient sacred texts. However, as humanity became increasingly materialistic, our communication with angels was gradually cut off, and became rare.
Those who have an “angelic mind” here on earth can communicate with angels without harm. Their minds are already among angels, and there is little danger of their being misled or corrupted.
The problem is that we humans often think we are far more enlightened and angelic than we actually are. We have a great capacity for self-deception about our own goodness and wisdom. This means we are often mistaken when we “self assess” ourselves as being able to have good and constructive communication with angels. This can result in our believing ourselves to be highly enlightened, when in fact we are wandering in error and falsity. That’s why God has made contact with spirits difficult for people today. (Though really, it is our own materialistic minds that cut us off from contact with the spiritual realms.)
About the ancient and respected texts, I would suggest that they were not “channeled” from spirits, but rather given by God through emissary angels and spirits. This may seem like a subtle distinction, but it makes a huge difference.
It’s a matter of who initiates the contact. If God is the initiator and we are the receiver, the character of the resulting text is revelatory.
However, if we are the initiator, actively seeking out information from the spiritual realm, there is generally an element of ego involved that causes us to contact deceptive spirits rather than angels. The resulting “revelation” is likely to be riddled with error.
The most we can safely do is travel the path and do the work of spiritual growth, leaving our minds and hearts open to any spiritual visitation God may choose to send our way. If it comes, it comes. If not, we are still on our spiritual path–and probably no less enlightened than those to whom God chooses to send angel messengers.
As an example, Swedenborg never sought out contact with angels or spirits. He simply focused his mind more and more deeply on the phenomena of the human body, mind, and spirit, exploring and seeking to understand the deeper mysteries of life. When he was in his mid-fifties, completely unbidden, God initiated contact with him, opened his spiritual senses, and gave him a new spiritual commission, which he spent the last twenty-seven years of his life carrying out.
If we read the accounts in the Bible of angels speaking with the major Biblical figures, we find that similarly, they did not seek out those encounters. Rather, God sent angel messengers to them unbidden in order to accomplish God’s own purposes. Though I am less familiar with the other ancient sacred texts, I suspect that in those texts, too, God was the initiator, and the human authors and characters of those texts were receivers.
I think a truly merciful and loving God would allow us to also be obliterated from existence if this were one’s desire. Since we are born outside of a free will choice it is only just that once born without our consent that we then should be granted the choice of complete annihilation. Consciousness ultimately is either heaven or hell. To be unconscious is the same as that person stating that he wants no part of either heaven or hell. That to me is true freedom of will. Everything else is tyrannical in my opinion. I want no part of any realm of continuing existence, pleasurable or not. Swedenborg and you don’t address this basic issue with the whole God created us because he loves us idea. But I think I know why it isn’t addressed because to do so casts into this neatly interwoven Heaven and Hell world Swedenborg paints a picture of a deity that at its most essential core is not as loving as one is being led to imagine. Hate is also obviously part of his makeup else why torture anyone against their free will?
In the end of it all if the above is false then all that is within Heaven and Hell is for his entertainment and has nothing to do with a creator loving his creation more than anything else. The motivation for creating us was selfish in nature in my opinion and I want nothing to do with any God that would create me so that I would find myself thrown into a situation of being at great risk of suffering for eternity. All this mind you against my so-called free will. You and Emanuel can sugar-coat this all you want but again it all boils down to what is just in the first place regardless of one’s holy definition of a creative God.
All I know is that if I created Lee Woofenden I would justly expect that you my Creation ultimately should have the right to also die entirely, to be obliterated, if you so choose under this supposedly all-encompassing love that is given through creating you with a free will. You cannot have it both ways and then tell me Love is the foundation of it all. I think ultimately entertainment of a once lonely deity was and is the foundation of it all and everything else is secondary in importance to Him regardless of what is said, written, or envisioned. It’s all ultimately theater, and we are but actors, favorable and unfavorable protagonists, in an eternal play with an audience of One. I think this whole Creator’s Creation thing Is manipulation at its finest. Entertaining? Hell yes. Loving? Give me a break already.
I want to get out of acting in this Play entirely even if I have a role to play in the most blissful Heaven possible. Yet I’m being told I can check out from time to time and take a break according to Emanuel but I can never ever leave the Stage. Is this really Love or is it Love of Entertainment?
Hi Dave,
Thanks for stopping by, and for your clearly heartfelt thoughts. It’s a fair point that we had no choice about being born. And I can understand that you (and many others) believe we should have the choice to end our existence entirely. I don’t agree with that, but I do understand why it would be appealing to many people.
But really, the main reason it is appealing to some people, I believe, is that traditional Christianity (and other religions as well) have presented a wrong and faulty picture of hell, and of God in relation to hell. I draw a caricature of that false picture, and then refute the ideas behind it, in my article, Is There Really a Hell? What is it Like? which I recommend to your reading.
There are several fallacies about hell, and about God in relation to hell, that I specifically reject:
1. God sends people to hell.
I completely disagree. As outlined in the above-linked article I don’t believe God sends anyone to hell. Rather, we send ourselves to hell through our own freely made choices.
2. God torments people in hell because they sinned against him.
No, he doesn’t. It may appear that way. But in fact, the people in hell torment themselves and one another. God, in fact, does his best to alleviate their torment. But they reject God’s help and protection, and rush of their own accord into activities and situations that bring pain upon themselves.
3. The purpose of hell is to punish people for their sins on earth.
No, that is not the purpose of hell.
It is true that people do suffer punishment in hell. But none of that punishment is for anything they did on earth. Rather, it is for the evil things they continue to do because they love to do those things. Unfortunately, evil brings punishment upon itself. Not from God. But from the evil itself, and from their fellow evil spirits.
In fact, hell exists in order to provide a place where people who get pleasure from evil instead of from good can engage at least some of the destructive activities that give them their sick pleasure. God does, in fact, allow people to create hell for themselves (God does not create hell) because God loves everyone, and wants even evil people to have as much pleasure as they can, as self-limiting and ultimately painful as their chosen pleasures are.
So from my perspective, and from Swedenborg’s it is true that God loves everyone, and it’s not true that God creates anyone to be punished in hell for his own entertainment.
I’m aware that there are religious philosophies holding that God created the world for his own entertainment. Swedenborg’s religious philosophy is not among them.
Of course, you’re free to believe whatever you want. And if you truly want obliteration of your own life, then even though I don’t agree with that, and don’t think it’s going to happen, I can understand such a desire. But I would suggest first exploring some of the other articles on this website, starting with the one about hell, and considering the possibility that God is not the bastard that you currently believe he is.
After reading the one about hell, you might want to move on to this one, which explores similar themes in more depth, especially in its second part: The Bible, Emanuel Swedenborg, and Reincarnation.
There are more articles here that might be helpful if you’re interested, and I’d be happy to recommend them to you if you have further specific issues or questions.
Once again, you’re free to believe whatever you want. But before making such charges against Swedenborg, and against my beliefs based on the Bible and Swedenborg, I would encourage you to learn more about what Swedenborg does and doesn’t say.
Lee,
I understand your viewpoint. I can see your position could make sense because of convictions whether Bible-inspired, Swedenborg-inspired or a mix of both. Except for one very crucial flaw which you in fact point out in your comment innocently.
This flaw gives me a lot of problems. The flaw is that no one nor thing prevents God from rendering anyone unconscious. As far as I know rendering a creation (in this case Man) unconscious is not a sin. I know it’s not a sin because God rendered Adam involuntarily unconscious in order to remove a rib.
My ultimate point is this: Having fun in Hell some of the time while the rest of the time one is being tortured while incarcerated with no possibility of parole nor possibility of being rehabilitated back into a good-loving society is in my opinion either outright cold cruelty or manipulation to use that incarceration as instruction for those that are already in Heaven. What other sane purpose could it have if true as indicated by Swedenborg’s observations about Hell? What value is there for keeping someone in Hell conscious forever?
If you can answer this without resorting to we must rely upon God through faith, then let’s hear it.
Dave
Hi Dave,
Did you read the two articles I linked for you in my previous reply? Those will, I think, answer some of your questions.
When you say, “no one nor thing prevents God from rendering anyone unconscious,” do you mean rendering us unconscious, or annihilating us altogether?
As you’re probably aware, there are some sects, such as Seventh-day Adventists and Jehovah’s Witnesses, who do not believe in hell, but instead believe that the evil are snuffed out and cease to exist. So you are certainly not alone in thinking this way.
However, I believe that both the good and the evil in the afterlife will, and would, choose to remain alive.
Read Swedenborg’s conversation with an evil spirit from hell as quoted in the reincarnation article. This evil spirit does not desire annihilation. He desires to be able to enjoy his evil pleasures.
I believe it will be the same for everyone who arrives in the spiritual world. Unfortunately, those who enjoy evil pleasures also bring pain upon themselves. But it is not all that different from what goes on here on earth in many corrupt societies in which there is continual conflict and intrigue, and those engaging in it get great pleasure from outwitting and overpowering their enemies.
Yes, from the outside it does look like a sad and horrible scene. But for those engaged in it, it is intensely pleasurable. And the pain, when it comes, is seen as an unfortunate side-effect that one just has to deal with. In fact, people in some cultures thrive on pain, glorying in the amount of pain and punishment they can take, and considering themselves stronger and more virile (the men, that is) the more pain they can take without flinching. I never understood those pain games myself. Whacking each other on the shins with a stick until one of you cries uncle is not my idea of fun. But some people thrive on that sort of thing!
So it’s all well and good for us to pass judgment on people whose pleasures look terrible and evil to us. But they themselves will reject both our judgment and our pity, and get on with the pursuit of their own kind of pleasure. It’s really not any different from hardened criminals here on earth, who, as soon as they get out of prison, go right back to their own crimes. On this, see my article, How Can a Criminal Get to Heaven?
If you truly want to understand these things, you’re going to have to do the work of reading and studying up on them. Beyond the two articles I linked, I would recommend that you get yourself a copy of Swedenborg’s book Heaven and Hell and read it. You can even download it for free by clicking on the link at the end of my review of the book linked here. Of course, it’s 100% your choice whether to spend the necessary time and effort.
Hell may appear to outsiders to be incarceration. And even those within hell do sometimes experience incarceration. But make no mistake about it: they are there because that’s where they prefer to be. No one in hell is prevented from leaving. But when they do, and attempt to go up to heaven without special protection, they experience the love and light there as terrible, wracking pain. They can’t stand the loving and wise atmosphere of heaven, so they quickly throw themselves back down to hell.
It’s not God who keeps them there. It’s they themselves who insist upon being there. If God could draw them out and rehabilitate them, as you suggest, God would certainly do so. But they rejected every effort of God to do so while they were on earth, and they continue to reject, hate, and revile God and everything God stands for in the spiritual world. So it’s not due to any lack of love for them on God’s part, or lack of desire to save them on God’s part. It’s due to their own choice to reject God and God’s love and salvation.
Please do read the reincarnation article if you haven’t already. That’s where I delve into these issues in the most depth. And please do get yourself a copy of Heaven and Hell, and give it a read.
But of course, if you prefer to believe differently, you’re perfectly free to do so. I won’t try to argue you out of it. But I will present my beliefs and my understanding of who God is and why our human situation is what it is, as long as you’re interested in hearing it.
Thanks for replying, Lee. I understand the gist of not wanting to leave Hell because the alternative is worse from the perspective that Swedenborg espouses. Makes sense to come to that conclusion from his observations. I’ve recently read Heaven and Hell. There are more questions now than answers btw.
Now back to the main focus of our discussion. Making this a bit more difficult, suppose that one is accepted into the very lowest section of Heaven but decides that for whatever reason they want to leave not because they love doing evil but because they just don’t want to exist anymore. If they petitioned God would they be denied? Apparently the answer is yes they would be denied this request. The Big Question is why since again Free Will to not exist should mean just that in my opinion. It’s also a choice, right? Is it evil to not want to exist anymore? After all Hell is a choice. Heaven is a choice. Then why not neither too?
Now I’ve been told many times through different ways that the soul of Man is immortal. Why is it immortal if it ends up in Hell solely to pursue sinful pleasures? It doesn’t make any sense. And it specifically doesn’t make any sense that a God who loves us would also allow his creation to continue doing that which he hates the most which is to sin. To wit, why would God which is supposedly equal to pure love, want to give the Soul in Hell evil pleasures which further harm that Soul? Is that truly love? Is it truly love of Free Will? I would completely understand the purposes of Hell within the Swedenborg definitions if its purpose was ultimately to rehabilitate the inhabitants someday as worthy of Heaven. But what Swedenborg is telling me is that apparently no one ever leaves Hell voluntarily and then stays in Heaven. So again if this is true what’s the point of denying annihilation? This whole Hell thing is like an endless loop of pleasure and misery but with no value because no one can de facto be improved from it. The only value I can see from it is to provide instruction to those in Heaven and to give them something to do as Swedenborg indicates is one of the roles for Angels – in effect they act as prison guards.
I’ve so far concluded then that Hell exists not because God loves its inhabitants so much that they can continue sinning for eternity and consequently suffer pain, but because the Purpose of Hell isn’t for the inhabitants sake but for Souls that are in Heaven. So that’s the price that’s paid. In other words, Hell exists because it has to exist in order for Heaven to exist. So while you’re in Heaven take comfort knowing that Souls in Hell are paying an equilibrium price fo you. And that’s why I don’t want to exist even if I was given Heaven, Lee. It doesn’t feel right to me.
Lee, Swedenborg is asking me to understand Heaven and Hell without explaining these fundamental holes in his writings. And they are very big ones.
Dave
Hi Dave,
Thanks for sticking with it. And thanks for letting me know that you’ve already read Heaven and Hell. I see that you have done your homework! 🙂
I may or may not be able to satisfy your head and your heart on this issue. As I’ve said already, it’s entirely up to you what you will believe. However, since this seems to be a very troublesome issue for you, I’ll take another stab at it.
First let’s go at it from the perspective of the head. Though I may or may not be able to satisfy your thinking mind, I can at least do my best to explain exactly what Swedenborg does and doesn’t say on this subject.
And right from the top, according to Swedenborg, hell is specifically not a matter of “not wanting to leave Hell because the alternative is worse.” The evil spirits in hell are not there because the alternative is worse. Rather, they’re there because that is exactly where they want to be.
If you haven’t already, please do read my article on reincarnation. And if you’re not interested in reincarnation itself, scroll down and start with the section titled, “What’s wrong with reincarnation?” That’s where I dig into why I think reincarnation is not a good belief, and specifically, why I believe it would not be a good thing for everyone to end out in heaven. The same reasoning applies, in my mind at least, to people being annihilated rather than going to hell.
Short version: if there is no eternal hell, we are not truly human, because we actually have no real choice about our own life; we are merely programmed robots or rats in a maze, conditioned by outside forces to do what we ultimately do.
But back to the reason people are in hell, as I said, the evil spirits in hell are there, not because they have to be or because it’s better than the alternative for them, but because that is where they actively want to be. Here is a shorter excerpt from the story of a conversation with some evil spirits from hell that I mentioned before:
As these devils from hell go on to say, they also suffer hard things because of their foul pleasures. So they are quite well aware of their situation. And yet, the main point they want to communicate is that they love the sorts of pleasures they can indulge themselves in where they are in hell. They have no desire to be anywhere else. They are exactly where they want to be.
So according to Swedenborg, it’s not true that evil spirits are in hell because they’re forced to be there, or even because it’s better than the alternative. Rather, they’re there because that’s where they can live the sort of life, and engage in the sort of pleasures, that they love, even if they do also suffer pain as a result.
Have you ever had someone say to you, “I know smoking is going to kill me, but I’m not going to quit”? It’s really no different. There are people who are dying of lung cancer, who can barely breathe anymore, but who still continue to smoke even though they are well aware that their current suffering and their imminent death is a direct result of their cigarettes. And if anyone tries to take their cigarettes away from them, they will get angry and lash out at that person for denying them their pleasure.
Please read the whole story in the reincarnation article. You will see that these evil spirits are quite lucid and quite well aware of their situation. And that they not only love the sorts of foul pleasures they enjoy, but they also intellectually justify them, and bristle at the idea that they should not be allowed to indulge in their own pleasures.
I could go on, but I really encourage you to read that article, especially from the section I mentioned to the end of the article, so that I don’t have to repeat here the things I’ve already said there.
Hi Dave,
Now about your hypothetical person who petitions God to end their existence, I’ll just come right out and say that yes, their petition would be denied.
The reality is that we are not radically free. There are limits to our freedom. And in a poetic way, those limits exist at the beginning and the end of our lives. Specifically:
There are many things about which we don’t have a choice:
The list could go on and on. The main point is that we humans don’t have radical free choice, in which we can choose anything we want. Rather, we have a choice that has limits and boundaries. We must make our choices within the particular circumstances in which we find ourselves. And by our choices, we are able to change some of our circumstances. For example, if we’re born into poverty, and we don’t live under a highly repressive regime, we can work hard and use our brains, and better our situation.
And of course, we do have a zone of spiritual freedom that makes it possible for us to choose, within our particular circumstances, whether we will head toward heaven or toward hell. That is the subject of many articles on this website.
According to Swedenborg, one of the things we don’t have a choice about is whether or not we will exist eternally. One of the essential characteristics of being human, he says, is that we have eternal existence, not merely a temporary existence. If we did not continue to exist to eternity, we would not be human.
We do have a great deal of influence on who we are and what we will become. But there are certain “ground rules” over which we have no choice or influence. Biology and Zoology tells us that one of the basic characteristics of all living organisms is that they have a strong drive to live, often called the “survival instinct.” And even if individual members of a species may sometimes override that survival instinct, they usually do so in order to ensure the survival of their group, or their species. For example, the reproductive drive can and sometimes does override the survival instinct. Mother birds sitting on their nests will draw predators away from their nest to save their young even if it puts them in danger of dying themselves. Male animals of some species will fight to the death in order to gain or maintain access to females so that they can reproduce and pass on their genes.
This same survival instinct, or will to live, is built into human beings as well. And even though we do override it in certain circumstances, including extreme depression that leads us to suicide, I believe that the will to live is a basic part of our nature as human beings.
So although it is possible that someone would petition God to end their existence, I believe that (if they still had consciousness with which to do it), they would ultimately be angry at God for granting that wish.
What God does instead is to require us to face the issues that are causing us to want to end our lives. And as I say in the suicide article, even if we do take our lives here on earth, we still don’t get away from facing the emotional turmoil and trauma that brought us to that point. We carry all of it with us, and must then face it on the other side—although we will have better help there in doing so.
Ultimately, God’s love means that every one of us does have a reason to live, even if we sometimes may not know what that reason is, and may therefore want to end it all. Ultimately, once we face the circumstances, both inner and outer, that are driving us to want to end our existence, we will find that underneath it all we do have a reason to live, and something constructive (or, in the case of evil spirits, destructive) to do with our life that gives us joy and pleasure.
So no, from a Swedenborgian perspective, God does not grant anyone’s wish to end it all and be snuffed out of existence. And that is specifically because God does love us. God will not allow us to foolishly snuff out or lives, and never experience the joys and pleasures of the person we can become. And on the evil side, God respects us enough to let us make our own choice as to what pleasures we wish to pursue and get our enjoyment from.
If there were no purpose for our life, God would not have created us in the first place.
Even the devils in hell have their purposes in the larger scheme of things, some of which you’ve mentioned. Yes, they provide object lessons for good people, and they provide a balance with heaven in order to keep us in spiritual freedom, without which we are not human. And yet, they are not forced to do these things. They choose their life, because it is the life they want. And although God still loves them, and wishes they had made a different choice, God will not deny them what pleasure they can gain from the sort of lives they have chosen. And God will also cause them to have a use and a purpose in the larger scheme of things. Nothing God creates or does is useless.
In other words, souls in hell are not “paying an equilibrium price” for souls in heaven. Rather, they are pursuing their own pleasures out of their own free will. And one of the effects of this that transcends their own existence is that they provide balance for the good that reigns in heaven.
So hell is both for the sake of its inhabitants and for the sake of people on earth, who are still making their eternal choices and require a balance between good and evil in which to make that choice. Hell is somewhat less for the sake of angels in heaven, most of whom have no contact or connection with hell. But even angels are not perfect, and even angels sometimes require the influence of evil to spark new growth toward good. So yes, the devils in hell do provide a “service” even to the angels in heaven.
But the main point is that they do so, not because they are required to do so, but because they want to do so and have chosen to do so.
The basic fallacy in the problem you have presented, from a Swedenborgian perspective, is that it posits that the evil people in hell are there because they are somehow required by outside forces, or for the sake of angels and good people on earth, to be there.
But that is simply not true, according to Swedenborg. Every single one of the evil spirits in hell is there precisely because he or she wants to be there, and has chosen to be there, and likes being there. And if their presence there serves a constructive purpose for others, they simply don’t care about that. They are focused on pursuing their own pleasures, and that’s what gives them their desire to live despite any pain that may come to them as a result.
“and something constructive (or, in the case of evil spirits, destructive) to do with our life that gives us joy and pleasure.”
I have anhedonia due to a severe brain injury. It is permanent and progressive. I have exhausted the limits of both western and eastern medicine. I will literally never feel any positive emotions for the remainder of my existence. There is no “find your joy”. What I need to “overcome” is the prison of my damaged brain which is preventing me from enjoying anything in this existence. If I can’t do that, then I will find a way to cease to exist. 3 years ago, I would have agreed with you. But once you have your very ABILITY to feel emotions and have desires taken from you, you will realize how much of who we are ON A FUNDAMENTAL LEVEL is dependant upon neurology. If I die, I will no longer be inhibited. If I find that I am a spirit, then I will, once again, be able to feel the full spectrum of emotions and, therefore, be able, once again, experience joy and love and desires like I was able to before that brain injury. I should not be forced to endure this life without the ability to experience some sort of payoff. Otherwise. I exist solely for the purpose of making others feel the happiness I will never again be able to experience due to the particular nature of my brain damage. That is actual hell against my will. The is imprisonment… And telling me I have to “learn to be okay with that” -the reality that I will never, in this lifetime, be able to experience love or enjoy composimg music ever again, while chronically suffering to the point where I self harm to alleviate the symptoms… It’s barbaric. Why do other people get to feel joy and desire?
I don’t expect you to believe me. If you haven’t already researched anhedonia and damage to the reward system and hypofrontality, I strongly encourage you to do so.
Either way, “facing our problems” isn’t always the answer, especially if the “problems” are those which interfere with perception and cognition, itself.
The reason I want to end my existence is because I am suffering and UTTERLY UNABLE to find any peace or pleasure in it. I am being held against my will in a reality where the only emotions I can feel are “traumatized”. There is no break. There is no “bright side”. No matter how beautiful the music I play to try to cheer myself up, it will always sound like noise. No matter how much I try to force myself to want to create like I used to, it will ALWAYS feel like a prison sentence, instead of a hobby. I LITERALLY can’t enjoy anything, anymore.
So, what? Does that mean god will tell me: “You can’t escape your ‘problems’. So, you HAVE to exist while never knowing the ability to feel love, happiness, passion or joy, ever again. Face your ‘problems’.”
If that is the case, then why don’t other people have to do that? Why do they get to have a functional brain which allows them to feel the full range of emotions?
75 failed trials. I have no family or friends so no one will hurt when I die and, even if someone does miss me, due to the nature of the permanent and progressive deteriorating brain matter, I will not be capable of caring how my death affects them. But I do know they will get over it. And anyone who would want to keep me alive in this torturous condition is a monster. Maybe they deserve to mourn me for that.
But I’m not sure good at determining what others “deserve”.
There is one more experimental treatment I am on a waiting list to try. Who knows! Maybe it will give me back my quality of life. If that’s the case then sure! I’ll be happy to stick around. Because with the full range of my emotions returned to me, then I will actually be able to CHOOSE what I want to feel, rather than have the choice I want to make taken off the menu, and inaccessible, altogether.
Because obligation only keeps one fueled until the novelty of it wears off. Then nothing, not even duty, is enough to prevent a person from DYING.
Hi JF,
I see that you are still with us here on this earth six months since your last comment here. I presume that is because, as you say in this most recent comment, there is still one more treatment that gives you hope that you may be able to get your emotions back. I am not a physician or a neurologist. All I can say is that I, too, hope for your sake that this treatment will work so that you can have your life back.
What I can say is that whether or not you get healing from your anhedonia here on earth, it will be gone once this life is over and you move on to the spiritual world. As you say, anhedonia is a neurological condition. It results from a malfunctioning of the physical brain. When we leave our physical brain behind at death, we also leave behind all its injuries and dysfunctions. See:
Will Sick or Disabled People Return to Good Health in the Spiritual World?
As long as we are still living in our physical body, our mind, which is part of our spirit, depends upon our physical body for its functioning. That’s because our consciousness is present in this physical world, and is in a full and mutual relationship with physical things, especially our physical body and brain. That’s why even physical injuries, especially brain injuries and malfunctions, can affect our mind.
In the spiritual world, this is not the case. There, our spiritual body does not have a semi-independent existence as our physical body does here on earth. No environmental or genetic factors can damage our spiritual body. Rather, it fully expresses and responds to our loves and desires, thoughts and beliefs. There are no permanent injuries or handicaps that prevent us from expressing the full range of our humanity.
As for your life, that is in your own hands. Whatever you or anyone else may believe about suicide, the practical reality is that you are not forced to continue your life here. You do have the ability to take your own life if that is what you choose to do. I say this not to recommend suicide, but to make the point that no one, not even God, can tell you that you have to exist in this physical world. The fact that you have not yet taken your own life suggests to me that it is still your decision to continue your life here.
As for your ongoing life in the spiritual world, it is true that you cannot choose to end that. But there, the reasons you have a desire to end your life here will no longer exist. You will have left behind your physical brain, and its neurological problems along with it. In plain terms, you will once again be able to feel emotion.
The reality, then, is that it is your decision whether or not to continue living here on earth. You are making and will continue to make that decision based on your own assessment of whether there is any reason remaining to remain in the physical world.
And no, suicide will not punch you a one-way ticket to hell, as some churches teach. That will depend, not on the way you died, but on the way you lived while you still had mental capacity.
My sense is that even without emotions, you are still able to make moral choices. Otherwise this wouldn’t even be a matter of angst and discussion for you. But if your brain injuries were so severe that you could no longer even make rational and moral choices, its spiritual effect would not be to consign you to hell, but to put your spiritual development on pause until you either regain the ability to make rational and moral choices or you die. If you died before you regained that ability, your life in the spiritual world would continue from where it was when you last did have the ability to make rational and moral choices.
I do hope that you are able to find a cure for your anhedonia. But if not, please know that this is not something that will afflict you “for the remainder of your existence.” Only for the remainder of your existence on this earth. After that is over, if not before, you will be released from your anhedonia and will be able to resume a fully feeling and human life for the rest of your existence—which will be eternal.
Meanwhile, our thoughts and prayers are with you.
Hi Dave,
Now to go more for the heart. You say:
I’ve already addressed the issue of “souls in hell paying an equilibrium price for you.” That’s just not how it works, according to Swedenborg.
What I’m more concerned about is that you yourself seem to want to end your own existence. If this means that you are suicidal, then I would highly encourage you to seek help. Call a suicide hotline. Reach out to someone who cares about you. Do whatever it takes to get yourself out of the inward spiral in which you’re stuck.
If this isn’t a matter of suicidal desires, then I will breathe a sigh of relief for you. But you still seem to be facing existential angst that makes it difficult for you to pursue your own life with a sense of peace and purpose.
The first part of dealing with that is, I believe, to understand some of the things I’ve explained above, about how everyone, whether in heaven or in hell, is living the life he or she wants to live, even if for some it may have unpleasant side effects. No one is being forced to live in hell. And no one has to suffer as a direct requirement for you to have goodness and joy in your life.
To use my earlier example, the fact that some people are addicted to cigarettes and are being slowly killed by their habit is neither required for you to not be a smoker nor is it something that anyone else besides themselves is forcing them to do. Yes, it’s an addiction. And it is a very difficult one to break. But every day thousands of people are breaking that addiction. And every smoker could do so if he or she truly desired to do so. But the fact of the matter is that most of them simply don’t want to stop smoking. At least, not enough to actually do it. They find it pleasurable, despite the fact that they know it’s bad for them and will probably kill them. So they go ahead and smoke anyway.
The fact that others don’t smoke has nothing to do with it. Their smoking may serve as an object lesson to non-smokers who are thinking about smoking. But the fact that they serve as object lessons to others has no influence whatsoever on their own own addiction. That is in their own hands, regardless of its effects on anyone else.
So the first thing is, I believe, for you to disabuse yourself of the notion that others must suffer so that you can have joy. That’s just not how it works. Your joy does not cause or require anyone else to suffer.
And the second, and deeper thing, if I may be a bit presumptuous, is for you to search out and discover the purpose and meaning of your own life.
It sounds to me as if you’re at sea about why you exist in the first place, and are questioning whether there really is any reason for you to exist. And that probably goes back to a question about whether you yourself are a good and constructive person, who can add something positive to this world and the next, and bring joy to others.
I suspect, from your focus on this issue of hell and annihilation, that you are sensitive to the suffering of others, and do not want to see others suffer. And that your life seems meaningless if others must be in pain.
Those are good and noble thoughts and desires. And they can lead us to live a very good and spiritual life of serving the needs of others and helping to alleviate their suffering.
Unfortunately, we cannot end all of the pain and suffering that exists on this earth, or in the spiritual world. Unfortunately, some people choose to bring pain and suffering upon themselves, and refuse all efforts by God and by everyone else to pull them out of it.
That is very sad. In fact, it is heart-breaking.
But it doesn’t mean life is meaningless for those of us who have mercy on others and want to see their suffering end.
What it means is that we have a lot of work to do, both within our own soul and in our world. We are here specifically to love and serve God by loving and serving our fellow human beings. I sense that you have a particularly strong desire not to have others suffer.
If I am right about this (and please forgive me if I’m presuming too much), what I would suggest is that you:
Each one of us is just one human being. We can’t fix everything. Not even God can fix everything when we humans steadfastly refuse to accept God’s love and God’s help.
But each one of us is still a human being. And each one of us can do something each day to bring help and comfort to our fellow human beings in our own circle of life.
Just because we can’t do everything, that doesn’t mean we can do nothing.
So my suggestion for you is that, yes, you recognize your limitations, and recognize that there is going to be pain and suffering in human life; but more than that, that you look for ways every day that you can lessen the amount of pain and suffering that your fellow human beings endure each day.
If you do so, you will find that you no longer have a desire to have your existence end. You will be too busy doing what you can to make life better for the people around you.
You won’t always succeed. People can be very stubborn!
But when you see that your efforts have made life a little better for someone who is struggling, that will make your own life feel worthwhile.
Speaking for myself, that is what keeps me going with this blog. It’s a lot of work, and takes a lot of time. But when I hear someone saying that my words have helped them along their path of life, I feel that it is all worthwhile.
Dave, God has put you here on earth to accomplish something. You are here for a reason. And I believe that if you seek out and find that reason for your existence, you will find that you no longer have any desire for your existence to end, because you will be too busy pursuing your joy, which is to give help, comfort, and joy to others.
Hi Dave,
On that note, I’ll recommend one more article for you: If God is Love, Why all the Pain and Suffering?
Lee,
Don’t concern yourself with suicide. Not in my cards.
I haven’t told you everything I know. Things that are extraordinary. I know about certain things which are a factor in bringing me here. I’m here for an important reason not apparent to you at this time.
I will read everything you requested. Now I will ask in return that you go on YouTube and look up Elliot Miller. He works for the Christian Research Institute (CRI) as editor in chief. I knew him a long time ago. I also request that if you’re ready and willing to ask him as minister to minister to come on this Blog and comment. It’s important that you two connect.
That’s all for now.
Dave
Hi Dave,
I’m very glad you’re not actually contemplating ending your life. But this latest comment of yours does leave me wondering why annihilationism is so important to you. And what’s your interest in CRI? Has it come out in favor of annihilationism?
You’re going to have to give me more to go on than that. I have no particular interest in connecting with a fundamentalist Christian apologist who has a major axe to grind against any group that disagrees with his particular non-Biblical dogmas. (See: “Christian Beliefs” that the Bible Doesn’t Teach.) I’ve dealt with his type before, and the results weren’t pretty.
Lee,
I don’t know what CRI management’s position is on annihilationism. Probably not acceptable from their preferred public image perspective would be my guess. So let’s leave it at that. I also don’t know what Miller’s personal beliefs are outside of CRI. So to classify him as a particular “type” may be presumptuous. He’s highly intelligent, discerning, and spiritually advanced this much I also know. Anyway, it appears there’s too much water under bridges herein so to speak for there to be meaningful exchange of viewpoints without delicate feathers being ruffled. Indeed, there will be angels in the mix of it all for everyone when all’s said and done. Including you, me, and even Elliot Miller.
I will say this though, it’s a shame in my opinion that highly intelligent adults from all points within both sides of many common aisles concerning the afterlife also reach unfortunate impasses in their spiritual growth when differing spiritually-based opinions impede them from understanding things further. Such further understandings which could strengthen them. And if they laid their own swords down simultaneously for just a moment they might then learn that they won’t get cut down so readily. You all should at least have the most important thing in common if you are indeed all bound for heaven and are True. That thing is Love.
It is quite possible that Miller personally understands the plausibility of Swedenborg’s extraordinary experiences better than you would surmise. In fact, I will say that if he completely denied Swedenborg for being a charlaton, then I would personally opine that Miller was not telling the whole truth of what he knows. I say this because I too know certain extraordinary things borne directly from my own experiences.
As I said before I am here on this nearly obscure blog for a reason.
Now life goes on doesn’t it?
Dave
Hi Dave,
It might be easier if you simply showed your hand, and told me why you think I should talk to Elliot Miller. The last substantial conversation I had with someone from one of those fundamentalist “Christian apologetics ministries” ended with him telling me that I am going to hell, and me responding that I’m glad that’s God’s decision, and not his.
That’s ok, Lee. It looks like prologue is likely epilogue with something this touchy considering your experiences. As such I can’t say I blame you. JMO, but I don’t think ministers these days for the most part see any worthwhile advantages in opening up communications with one another when they’re convinced their particular esoteric approach towards reaching God is the most correct one and the other’s approach is basically heresy – and they let them know it no uncertain terms. Everyone’s almost without exception very sensitive and thin-skinned when beliefs are challenged. If you think about it in depth though, the ones that ultimately don’t benefit from civil discourse in these ethereal matters are of course the lesser-enlightened or essentially the followers.
I am not a follower in case you wondered. I lay no wreaths of reverence at the feet of any man. Nonetheless everyone has a voice and so I listen. I did lay the annihilism thought in front of you to better see what your eternally derived convictions are about. Now I know more. You believe what you already believe and that’s that.
You have good things to say that should be heard. I think your heart’s in the right place.
Dave
Hi Dave,
The issue isn’t so much my rejecting their doctrines as their rejecting mine. That’s because Protestants, in general, think it’s what you believe that’s critical, and not so much how you live. So they think that wrong belief means a person is going to hell. On the other hand, I believe that people can have very wrong beliefs and still go to heaven because they have a good heart and they practice love and concern to their fellow human beings through a life of service to others.
Yes, I think the Christian fundamentalists have fallen into severe, non-Biblical doctrinal error. However, most of them that I’ve met have good hearts, live a reasonably moral life, and do practice love and service to their fellow human beings. So most of them, in my estimation, will be going to heaven, not hell, after they die.
Unfortunately, the feeling is not mutual. I could not count on the fingers of both hands and the toes on both feet how many times I’ve been personally told by a fundamentalist that I’m going to hell. And I’ve read more articles than you can shake a stick at by fundamentalist Christians saying that vast numbers of Christians who disagree with their dogmas are going to hell, and that all non-Christians are going to hell, all because they believe the wrong thing.
From my perspective, that’s simply wrong, and contrary to the plain teachings of the Bible in hundreds, if not thousands, of places. For more on my view of people who have differing, even quite false, beliefs, see these articles, among many others on tis site:
In the very same conversation with the fundamentalist Christian apologist that I mentioned earlier, in which he told me I’m going to hell, I had already told him that I believed he was going to heaven.
I simply don’t think it would be useful for me to carry on a conversation with yet another fundamentalist Christian apologist who believes that everyone who disagrees with his dogmas is going to hell.
Lee,
Well then let them say you’re going to Hell. So what, they can say whatever they want. Why should their mere words affect you? Do they have command on who goes to hell or who doesn’t? You in turn pointed out their good attributes, the things that both of you have in common as Ministers.
I believe that this is Biblically known as putting hot coals on their heads if I am correct. (I am in no way shape or form a Bible expert btw.) Yes I know that verse was generally aimed at those that will hate and persecute you because you state the Truth was it not? But it sounds to me that if there’s anyone that truly needs the most help in “seeing the light” it’s these same ministers that lead flocks themselves, no? IOW, I was hoping that you could be that person. It has to start somewhere, right?
Your adherence to Swedenborg’s perspective threatens the very core of their spirit and even their means of making a living. For after all one will tend not to even try to understand certain things if one’s salary requires one foremost not to understand certain things at all. Perhaps that’s the real reason Jesus and his Apostles had but the clothes on their backs.
True Believers, they.
All of you that chose to walk down the path of a Minister did you all think that all those in the pews wouldn’t notice that even amongst yourselves the vast majority doesn’t practice what they preach towards one another? How much less those certain ones in the pews should follow any of you then. I am one of those.
If it isn’t first based on Love, Lee, then all else that one thinks he holds is False. That’s what this is all about. The armor of True Love is impenetrable.
Dave
Hi Dave,
I do understand. About interfacing with Elliot Miller, if I thought it would be useful, I would be happy to do it. But it’s unlikely that such an exchange would bear any fruit. He’s happy with his beliefs, and I’m happy with mine. My ministry is to reach out to those who are searching for answers as they travel life’s path here on earth, and encounter its difficulties and struggles. I am happy if I reach and help some of those people. Others are not seeking the answers I have to offer, and I wish them well as they move along their own spiritual paths.
Yes, it is quite true that ministers who make a living preaching certain doctrines are very loath to abandon those doctrines even if they encounter problems with their beliefs that would knock laypeople who don’t depend on them for a living out of a position of faith with respect to those doctrines. Swedenborg commented on this phenomenon in several places. And he himself was a layman, not an ordained minister, which eliminated those financial conflicts that might have prevented him from accepting the new understanding of Christianity that the Lord wanted to show to him, and to the world via his pen.
Speaking for myself, though I aspired to ministry as a teenager, I spent the first decade of my adult life scraping together a living doing other things. And after a decade of that, I realized that if I wanted to devote my whole life to spreading the good spiritual news, I would have to make my living at it, rather than doing it on the side while doing other work for a living. I am no longer a pastor of a church, but I continue to work full-time spreading the teachings of the Bible as understood in the light of Swedenborg’s writings.
It is quite true that Jesus and his disciples had only the shirts on their backs and the staffs in their hands when they went about preaching, teaching, and healing. And yet, they were supported in that work by the people they served in the towns where they went. As Jesus said to them, “Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid” (Luke 10:7). Personally, I keep only enough money to pay the bills and satisfy the unavoidable demands of this world, plus a little extra for enough R&R to keep my mind and body reasonably healthy. The rest goes into spreading the message. I have little respect for “ministers” who get rich and live in fancy houses while many of their flock remain in poverty, both physical and spiritual.
Yes, my adherence to Swedenborg’s perspective does threaten the very core of the power and livelihood of those ministers who enrich themselves in that way, and who, for purposes of self-aggrandizement, hold onto power over their flocks’ spiritual and financial lives. And yet, all of this is under God’s eye and God’s providence. They have their reward, but it will be the worse for them when their time on this earth is over, and they must face God with all the trappings of their worldly empires stripped away from them. Their judgment is in God’s hands.
My work here is not to reach those who have already shut themselves off from the flow of God’s love and wisdom, but to reach those who are seeking and broken-hearted, and who are looking for the message of reconciliation and peace. I will continue to reach out to those people, while letting the (spiritually) dead bury their own dead (Matthew 8:22).
“Unfortunately, the feeling is not mutual. I could not count on the fingers of both hands and the toes on both feet how many times I’ve been personally told by a fundamentalist that I’m going to hell. ”
70×7.
Dave
Hi Dave,
Forgiveness isn’t the issue. I’ve been called names all my life. It doesn’t bother me much. I forgive them as a matter of course. They don’t know any better.
The issue is that there is no openness to any real dialog. People don’t listen to other people who they think are going to hell. And I’m not going to waste my time banging my head against a brick wall. I have better things to do with my time. Like reaching out to people who are listening.
Lee,
70×7 applied on both sides of the aisle not just your’s. If they can’t apply it, or better said won’t apply it, all else is indeed moot. Without it to begin with there’s no viable way of uniting the flocks towards a unified vision regardless of doctrinal position is there? No wonder angels according to Swedenborg are working full-time in the “waiting room” straightening out all the misguided souls who just happened to attend the wrong church under the wrong pastor.
Now I have a question regarding the chasm between the doctrine you stand behind and the typical fundamentalist doctrine you run up against.
What did Swedenborg specifically say that convinced you the most that he was telling the Truth?
Dave
Hi Dave,
Unfortunately, I don’t think there is going to be a unified vision among the various churches and religions. Not any time soon, anyway. The differences are too deep, and change is hard.
The short answer to your question is that I find Swedenborg’s teachings about the nature of God to be more worthy of belief than any other teaching about God that I’ve encountered. And everything else in a religion’s belief flows from its belief about God.
Specifically, Swedenborg presents God as a being who truly is pure love, pure wisdom, and pure power for good, with no hate, anger, rejection, judgmentalism, or exclusivism. God, in Swedenborg’s theology, loves and saves all people of all religions who are willing to be saved, as shown by their willingness to believe in God and live a good life according to the teachings of their own religion, practiced from a good heart. And though Swedenborg doesn’t specifically say so, I believe this extends even to good-hearted atheists who practice love and kindness toward their neighbor according to the second of the two Great Commandments taught by Jesus. (See: Do Atheists Go to Heaven?)
For more on why I believe a God of pure love, wisdom, and action to save all people who are willing to be saved is so important, see these two articles:
I should mention that I grew up with this (Swedenborgian) belief. There are Swedenborgian ministers on both sides of my family. I received these beliefs almost literally “with my mother’s milk.” However, during my late teens I faced a choice of whether to continue believing the things I’d been taught growing up, or to believe something else, or to reject any religious or spiritual belief altogether. I turned that over in my mind for quite some time, recognizing that whichever way I went, I would intellectually confirm myself in that belief.
What ultimately kept me in the faith was not so much any intellectual superiority of one belief over another. Rather, it was that of all the beliefs I’d encountered (and I took a comparative religions class in high school specifically due to my interest in exploring other faiths), the one that I grew up in was, I believed (and still believe) most characterized by universal love on God’s part, and would, if practiced, lead to the most good among human beings.
Since then, I have never looked back. Though some of my peripheral beliefs have been moderated and molded over the years, the core of my belief has remained a constant companion throughout my life.
Lee,
I didn’t expect that you were essentially raised as a Swedeborgian. Interesting. Obviously this was and is your destiny calling.
Regarding the unification improbability if I understand Swedenborg within context, he states that the End of the Age is premised on a total lack of Charity within the existing churches. If ministers aren’t talking to one another to the degree you describe then I have a feeling that the death of Charity can’t be far behind. But this kind of dis-unification seems to me has been around since the beginning of Christianity. Maybe it’s a lot worse now.
Dave
Hi Dave,
Yes, Swedenborgian born and bred. I’m fifth generation Swedenborgian on my father’s side, and I believe the same on my mother’s side, through her father. My father was a Swedenborgian minister, and my mother’s brother, sister, father, and grandfather were (or are) all Swedenborgian ministers. So yes, you could say it’s in my blood! However I do have seven siblings who are not Swedenborgian ministers. In the next generation, one of my nieces is also a Swedenborgian minister.
Hi Dave,
Yes, Swedenborg said that the end of the age comes when there is no more faith because there is no more charity (caring and kindness) in the church. He believed that this was the state of the Christian Church in his day, which he said was the end of the first Christian age.
Theoretically, things should be getting better, not worse, since we’re two and a half centuries into the new church that began when the old Christian church came to its (spiritual) end. And despite all the upheaval in the world, I do think that we’re on an upward track now socially and spiritually. See my article: Christianity is Dead. Long Live Christianity!
Lee,
I think the main reason that typical “fundamentalists” as evidenced in your interactions typically reject “your” doctrine is that it appears to be human-centric. That is, as appearing to originate from the beliefs of a particular person in this case named Swedenborg. Cults originate from esoteric beliefs of one person who starts the ball rolling. Cultism is rampant these days, no? Swedenborgism by connotation is cultism because of its emphasis with identifying with the beliefs of Swedenborg the man himself. To state that one is a “Calvinist” for example intones a doctrinal foundation derived not from the Bible so much but rather the unique interpretations of the Bible by Calvin. The key word here of course is interpretation. I think this human-centric doctrinal identification is the root of all these inter-minister and doctrinal disputes because essentially if one is truly following the most important message of the Bible which is to love your neighbor as yourself then whether a Swedenborg or a Calvin says the same thing it’s still the same message.
So it isn’t unexpected that you can predict the reaction of an Elliot Miller to your Swedenborg perspectives even though what you believe in is essentially the same thing that Elliot Miller believes in – just that this same message comes from Swedenborg. But again Swedenborg didn’t invent this message as it was already there. Now, what Swedenborg is bringing to the table is a different perspective that is according to him a spiritually-based reinterpretation of what is in any version of Bibles out there.
My question for you then is this:
If all these things had been revealed to Lee Woofenden instead of Swedenborg, would you be comfortable with anyone saying that they were Woofendenian believers? Or rather would you be more comfortable with anyone saying that they DISCERN that what Woofenden is saying is the Truth but the Truth is not nor ever will be Woofendenian.
In my opinion identifying oneself as a doctrinal follower of Swedenborg, Calvin, or with the thoughts of any other human being, is Cultish in nature or at the least in common perception.
Dave
Hi Dave,
Thanks for your thoughts and questions.
About the term “Swedenborgian,” as is common for groups holding beliefs that differ and dissent from the mainstream, that term was coined, not by Swedenborg or by the believers in the doctrines he taught, but by others. The term “Swedenborgianism” came into use in Swedenborg’s own lifetime, especially among his Swedish Lutheran detractors, who fought a bitter battle against his teachings, and attempted, mostly unsuccessfully, to get his books banned from Sweden.
Swedenborg himself never used the term “Swedenborgian” except in private letters related to a committee of Swedish Lutheran bishops and professors who convened a committee “on Swedenborgianism,” and in general reference to the term as used by his contemporaries. Swedenborg never really accepted that term, but given that it had already taken hold, he seems to have taken a pragmatic approach, defining it to convey the essence of what his teachings were all about. In several of his letters he wrote variations on this theme:
And in a letter on April 12, 1770, to Dr. Gabriel Beyer, who had accepted the doctrines Swedenborg taught, he wrote, in reference to the ongoing conflict in Sweden over those doctrines:
So as I said, Swedenborg was aware of the term, and defined it to mean what it actually meant, but he himself didn’t think of the doctrines he published as “Swedenborgianism.”
Ever since that time, many people who have accepted the doctrines he published in his books have had an ambivalent view of that term. But given that it came into general use in society well before there was even a church body devoted to those teachings, it’s not practical to avoid that term, so many have embraced it, and, taking their cue from Swedenborg’s reactions to it, have focused on saying what “Swedenborgianism” really is.
Personally, I don’t much like the term because, as you say, it makes it sound like these beliefs are mere human doctrines. But I use it from time to time anyway because that’s how these beliefs are best known (to the extent that they are known) in the wider society.
Taking my cue from Swedenborg, I myself also don’t think of it as “Swedenborgianism,” but simply as true Christianity.
Hi Dave,
As for the “cult” charge, that’s common among conservative Christians against any group or belief that disagrees with their own. Some of them even call the Catholic Church a cult. So I don’t pay much attention to that charge against Swedenborgian beliefs and church denominations.
In fact, the conservative Christians who make those charges are much more cultish than many of the groups they accuse of being cults. They commonly use fear of damnation to scare their people into toeing the line doctrinally, and to scare them away from listening to or joining with any other Christian church or denomination besides their own. And that’s really the essence of cults: they use fear and (spiritual) intimidation tactics against their own members to ensure membership, belief, and compliance with their doctrines and practices–including soliciting a lot of money from their members.
Mind you, there really are some very damaging and destructive cults out there. And those cults should be outed as cults. However, to indiscriminately call everyone who disagrees with your particular dogmas a “cult” is to introduce confusion and fear into the minds of their followers. It’s all part of their own rather cultish religious culture.
Finally, other churches are named after their human founders, and are not accused of being cults. The Lutheran Church is one of the leading mainstream Protestant denominations. Are they a cult because they use Martin Luther’s name in the name of their denomination?
So as I said in my previous comment “Swedenborgian” is not ideal. But other than religious prejudice and bigotry, there’s no particular reason it should be treated differently than any other vernacular term for various religious groups, which are often connected to the human theologians whose doctrines they follow.
Hi Dave,
One more response:
Those who accuse “Swedenborgianism” of being human-centric are often quite ignorant of the human beings who originated and promulgated their own doctrines.
I have often found that the conservative Protestants who most commonly make such charges against “Swedenborgian” doctrine are largely, if not entirely, unaware that their own distinctive doctrines were originated by Luther and Calvin, and were not part of Christian belief during the entire 1,500 year history of Christianity before the Protestant Reformation.
The fact of the matter is that no Christians derive their doctrines purely and simply from the Bible. All Christians rely upon human interpreters and explainers of the Bible for their doctrines, even if they don’t realize it. It’s not a question of whether there are human beings behind the doctrines. Rather, it’s a question of which human beings, and how enlightened they were in the truth from the Lord.
As I’ve illustrated in many articles here, I’m willing to put Swedenborg up against any other human theologian you care to name as having come closer to true Christianity than the entire body of those theologians. I believe that the basic doctrines in both Protestantism and Catholicism are pure human inventions that have no sound basis in the Bible at all.
So I’m not concerned with those who charge that my beliefs are “human-centric.” The reality is that the foundations of their doctrines are not stated at all in the Bible, whereas the foundations of mine are. On this, see these two posts, and the articles linked from them:
I’ve had, and continue to have, extensive debates with fundamentalists, or conservative Protestants, if you prefer. Not once has a single one of them ever been able to point to a passage in the Bible that actually states clearly and unequivocally any of the doctrines on which they disagree with me.
However, as shown in the second article above, I can point to many passages in the Bible that state clearly and unequivocally the basic doctrines I believe in.
And that’s good enough for me.
Lee,
Astute responses. I’d like to be a fly on the wall with a you and Miller extended discussions. Knowing what I think I personally know about Miller, of all the ‘apparently’ entrenched doctrinally cogent minds out there I believe that the two of you would find more common ground than not. I say this because I believe there’s more flexible depth to him than appears reflective through the constrictions of the CRI eye. IMO both of you are present-day potential Giants in extrapolating analytical theological thought and applying those reinterpretive thoughts within the cultural and societal realities of today. One of you may already be this and not be aware of it. Essentially this is why I tried to facilitate a meeting of minds so to speak. There’s more to this than I can bring out at this time.
Everything happens for a reason.
Dave
Lee,
All this jogged my memory of controversies and CRI as awhile back I had googled the same. This came up which IMO illustrates in part the evolving fluidity of organizational doctrinal discernment at any given point in time. Whether true discernment is unchanging or whether anything that changes true discernment is false is the issue when it comes to entrenched doctrine and their perceived genuineness of discernment by an outside observer. As it pertains to here on this blog there’s a whole lot of individual ‘trust’ involved in believing everything that Swedenborg said was true, isn’t there?
In effect to know whether discernment is true even within well-established theological organizations such CRI remains at its core ultimately an individualistic endeavor – by the originator and the individual exposed to it. That Miller changed his mind in this instance shows that his once steadfast incontrovertible ‘true’ discernment can change even in the face of intense flak from CRI followers – much less his initial convictions. That IMO takes bravery.
To wit, people can change what they once thought and prayed to be their true discernment into something that is now perceived by others as the opposite of that ‘truth’. Abrupt change of mind isn’t much publically welcome, nor appreciated, nor tolerated when it comes to long-standing theological convictions. You better be perfect, no? Of course that isn’t possible. That Miller changed his personal and public stance for whatever reason after 6 years of LSM/LC denouncement is in itself interesting to say the least about revealing his inner character.
As you have so many times stated here on your blog a part of what it means to be human is to err and to even err when you just absolutely ‘know’ something is true even when it’s not. Maybe Miller is still in error on this particular subject. Who really knows? We all change, Lee. It’s just that some of us change slower than others it seems. Then again according to Swedenborg apparently some of us never change. I’d like to think though that while here on earth the die or the love that I have cast here isn’t always cast forever regardless of what they uncover in that spiritual ‘waiting room’. I think we’re all capable of changing no matter what – so long as that inner ‘God Core’ remains in us even in Hell. After all we’re just Human.
Anyway I digressed a bit here. The Miller change of discernment and its repercussions is the basic gist of this post.
Dave
http://www.thebereans.net/forum2/showthread.php?t=47516
Hi Dave,
I looked up the issue of the Christian Research Journal referred to (which is here) and read about a third of it. This was enough for me to draw the conclusion that Elliot Miller and the Christian Research Institute (CRI) did not change their mind about their doctrinal beliefs. Rather, they came to the conclusion that Watchman Nee, Witness Lee, and their “Local Church” movement didn’t actually disagree with their (CRI’s) beliefs as they (CRI) had previously thought.
Specifically, while CRI had previously believed that the Local Church movement denied the Trinity of Persons, they came to the conclusion, on further study of Local Church (LC) teachings, that the LC did affirm the orthodox Trinity of Persons, but expressed their beliefs in somewhat unorthodox ways that could be easily misunderstood by traditional Western Christians.
So when the CRI proclaimed, in that issue of the Christian Research Journal, that “We Were Wrong,” they were not saying they had changed their minds doctrinally. Rather, they were simply saying they had made a mistake in identifying the Local Church movement as doctrinally aberrant—i.e., as teaching false doctrines.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s good to admit it when you realize you’ve been wrong in your assessment of the character and beliefs of another person or organization. And I do give CRI some credit for being willing to take a second look at the Local Church and its beliefs, and admit that their previous assessment was mistaken. Yes, that does take courage.
However, the reason they were willing to make that admission and publicly admit their mistake was that they came to the conclusion that the Local Church actually agrees with their own (CRI’s) doctrinal position.
In other words, CRI still holds to their traditional trinitarian orthodoxy; they haven’t changed their minds one iota on that. Rather, they’ve simply welcomed the Local Church into their circle of Evangelical churches that affirm the Trinity of Persons.
So quite honestly, I don’t see any real change of mind or heart on what really matters. CRI still condemns as heretical anyone who does not affirm the Trinity of Persons.
And that, to me, is their fundamental error—which is the same fundamental error as that of the entire body of the traditional Christian church, Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox.
From my perspective, the Trinity of Persons is not only not taught in the Bible, but it is the fundamental non-Biblical falsity that has corrupted the doctrine of the entire Christian church into something that is Christian in name only, and not in reality and essence.
Hi Dave,
Having said that, you seem to have something in mind that you’re not saying, but that you think is very important in all of this. If so, I’ll await your finally saying what’s truly on your mind.
Oh, and about “believing everything that Swedenborg said was true,” I don’t actually believe that. See my article: Do the Teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg take Precedence over the Bible?
Lee,
The interesting dichotomy to me with regards to CRI and their revamped position on LSM was that LSM essentially disavowed themselves of prominent denominations such as Protestantism.
In that Berean thread I linked above, go to Page 52, Post 766.
Don’t know what to make of this with regards to LSM’s contrariness of a main-stream denomination and CRI’s latent leniency of their doctrinal position.
As far as what else I could say about Miller, Swedenborg, and all the rest, I can’t on this forum. Too personal.
Dave
Hi Dave,
I read just read post you referred to. However, I don’t know enough about either LSM or CRI to wade into the fray. I think they’re both wrong doctrinally. But as I’ve said elsewhere, people can be doctrinally wrong, but still sincere in their faith and in the good graces of God. I’m not a Protestant. I don’t believe that it’s what you believe that matters, and that everything else is secondary.
And if the issues you’ve been alluding to are too personal, I do understand that, and wouldn’t want you to divulge them in this public forum.
One other thing, Lee. Why exactly do you think that falsely believing in the Trinity doctrine alone (as objected to by Swedenborg) is so damaging to anyone who believes in 99.99% of all else that Swedenborg espouses?
It seems to me that if Swedenborg can claim that creatures (spirits) exist on Mars and Venus, then even a heretical in your eyes organization such as CRI or LSM could rightly counter-claim that Swedenborg’s extraordinary extraterrestrial anecdotal claims are also greatly damaging to all doctrines, churches, and denominations for various reasons I won’t go over here. I’ll just let your imagination run wild with all the possibilities a radio talk show personage per an ‘Ask Hank’ could doctrinally reflect upon for example.
My ultimate point here is that focusing on just one part of any doctrine whether by CRI or LSM and then disclaiming the rest of what’s within those doctrines entirely is something that you’ve experienced under Swedenborg. What I’m saying here is that it appears you are guilty of the same things that you accuse others of being.
Look, I think you’re doing some great and yes some brilliant things here on this Blog. Just remember that your interpretation of certain things may end up to be false not because the rest of Swedenborg is false but that other’s have a different viewpoint based on many factors unbeknownst to you and they could turn out to be the Truth. The ugly earthbound fact of the matter Lee is that there are many things in the Bible which are at this time humanly impossible to prove except solely through an existential sense. A very personal individual sense.
To me misunderstanding the Trinity thing won’t keep you from Heaven and it won’t send one to Hell. I think there are way more important things to focus on while on earth. This shallow self-made chasm between great theological minds like your’s and Miller’s is one of those important things that should be focused on instead.
Dave
Hi Dave,
As I’ve said a number of times, I, too, do not think that a wrong understanding of God will keep a person from heaven. From my perspective, while beliefs are important, what’s most important is whether a person keeps the two Great Commandments in action in their lives, from a good heart. Beliefs are meant to get us to love God above all and love our neighbor as ourselves. If a particular belief accomplishes that in a person’s life, then they are accomplishing God’s work in that person’s life, whether or not those beliefs are actually true.
Strange but true: falsity can function as truth for people who have love in their hearts. Swedenborg spends a lot of time talking about this, but in somewhat technical language that even many Swedenborgians don’t quite grasp. Bottom line: if you love God and your neighbor, you will interpret even false teachings in a way that serves as truth in your life because you will interpret them to support your heart in loving God and the neighbor. That’s why many very good people are walking around with very false beliefs, but those false beliefs are doing minimal to zero damage to their eternal souls.
That’s also why I simply don’t find it useful or constructive to try to convince people that their beliefs are false. I still get bitten by the debate for debate’s sake bug, which was a psychological scourge of my own youth. But these days, if I see that someone is satisfied with his or her beliefs, and is living a good life pursuant to those beliefs, I won’t waste my breath trying to convince them that those beliefs are, in fact, mistaken and unbiblical.
(Of course, if people attack me for my beliefs, and say all manner of false things about them, I am quite willing to defend those beliefs against such attacks.)
The reason I am highly resistant to initiating any sort of dialog with Elliot Miller and CRI is that I find it highly unlikely that such a dialog would bear any fruit for either one of us. Miller and his organization are clearly quite settled in and satisfied with their beliefs, and I am quite settled in and satisfied with my beliefs. What purpose would be served by getting us into any sort of discussion or debate with one another?
Hi Dave,
Now to take up the first question in your comment.
There is a big difference between one’s beliefs about God and one’s beliefs about extraterrestrials. Beliefs about God are central to any religion and any faith. Beliefs about extraterrestrials, while some people do become fanatical about them, are really quite peripheral to religion and faith because they have little effect on a person’s spiritual life, and specifically, on whether or not a person is saved and goes to heaven.
For the most part, I consider Swedenborg’s writings about extraterrestrials, as fascinating as they are to a science and science fiction buff like me, to be largely unimportant and tangential to the important issues of God, salvation, and the life that leads to heaven.
As I said in my article on the subject (Aliens vs. Advent: Swedenborg’s 1758 Book on Extraterrestrial Life), I think Swedenborg wrote that book primarily to deal with the hot issue of his day (and for some Christians, still a big issue today) of how Jesus Christ could be the unique Son of God and the sole means of salvation if there are whole races of humans on other planets (as many people had come to believe even in the 18th century) who did not even know about Jesus’ existence.
So even Swedenborg’s book on aliens was, I think, really a book about the nature of God.
That’s how central one’s concept of God is to one’s whole faith.
Swedenborg’s, and my, objection to the Trinity of Persons is that it opens the door to every other false and non-Biblical doctrine that has taken over Christianity.
To give just one example, Penal Substitution, the basic theory of atonement in Protestantism, simply doesn’t work if the Father and the Son aren’t two distinct “persons” of God.
In Penal Substitution, God the Father is required to punish us for our sins due to his own sense of justice (or his own anger), whereas God the Son takes on that punishment from God the Father in order to satisfy God’s justice (or wrath).
This belief requires God to be at least two different persons.
If the Trinity of Persons is false, then Penal Substitution also falls to the ground–as do most of the other basic doctrines of Protestantism, such as justification by faith alone.
So the Trinity of Persons is the root of all the false doctrines that form the branches of traditional Christian theology.
That’s why Swedenborg, and I, trace all the doctrinal fallacy and falsity in traditional Christianity back to the fallacious and false doctrine of the Trinity of Persons.
Lee,
And lastly I show you this in case you missed it. Interesting that such stalwart doctrinally -inept as CRI may be in certain eyes for subjective or sound Biblical reasons, IMO Miller et al really stuck their neck out on this one. Miller got big time flak from the flock too.
The more I think about it though TPM is not so far from Swedenborg’s oft times extraordinary observations either in view of it being non-traditional in a purely doctrinal and traditionally-entrenched denominational sense.
It took a pair for Miller to stand behind it.
Dave
http://www.equip.org/article/theophostic-prayer-ministry-part-one/
Hi Dave,
I believe God is working in all the religions and movements, regardless of whether I happen to think they’re doctrinally right or wrong. I believe we are now in the era when the New Jerusalem is descending out of heaven from God, and that it is affecting all of the religions of earth, and gradually moving them closer to the truth and to God. (See: Is the World Coming to an End? What about the Second Coming?)
I also don’t believe it’s my job to fix and correct all the religions and movements of the world. That’s far more than I can handle. That’s God’s job. I am only one person, and I have only so many working hours in a day, which I must devote to what I think will be most effective in reaching and helping those who will find peace, comfort, and enlightenment in the teachings and perspectives I have to offer.
Lee,
Ok I understand better where you’re coming from and so I’ll synapsize all your comments here.
The Trinity Concept (TTC) if I understand the Protestant et al motive supporting it derives mainly from Christ referring to God as ‘The Father’ in many Bible verses – in effect defacto already establishing that at least 2 distinct persons (Father AND Son) or personalities coexist within the Godhead. Other supporting verses such as when Christ replied that only to paraphrase that The Father is ‘Good’, or when Christ told the apostles that The Father would send them a ‘helper’ in this case the Holy Ghost. But for a moment forgetting about the Holy Ghost being the 3rd element, one can see why this particular Protestant doctrine is so widely accepted.
I understand the Penal Substitution problem if TTC is eliminated. Indeed that ALONE is a huge issue on many levels and literally represents the widest chasm between interlacing Swedenborg with mainstream denominational doctrine and vice versa. Forget about extraterrestials, the Spirit World, the levels of Heaven and Hell. This is the Swedenborg Showstopper.
In essence what I’m saying here is that TTC and how Swedenborg disavows it is likely the biggest wall in your mission to reach people who are raised in a traditional denominationally based environment. To wit, if Swedenborg had endorsed TTC I think his writings could’ve been Paulinesque in impact. Swedenborg very effectively basically alienated 99.99% of his potential audience though when he didn’t endorse it – back then moreso when accusations of heresy were as common as inhaling and exhaling.
It’s kind of like when you started to read Miller’s apologetic missive on CRI’s discernment error regarding LSM and then stopped reading after 1/3 into it because of his reconcialment of their understanding of TTC with CRI’s. The baby got thrown out as it were with the bath water right then and there, no?
Dave
Hi Dave,
Yes, Swedenborg certainly could have been more popular if he’d just accepted the foundations of traditional Christian theology, and only tinkered around the edges as the great mass of Christian theologians do.
But then his work wouldn’t be any more worthy of reading and study than those of that great mass of Christian theologians who spend their mental energy hacking at the branches—while Swedenborg laid his ax to the root of the tree.
The Trinity of Persons is not a Protestant doctrine per se. It goes all the way back to Tertullian in the third century, though his particular version was rejected when the Nicene Creed, and later the Athanasian Creed, were written and adopted in the ensuing centuries in order to define that doctrine for the main body of institutional Christianity. (Among the welter of heresies about God that arose in the second to fourth centuries of Christianity, the Trinity of Persons was the winner.)
Historically, Protestantism adopted the doctrine of the Trinity of Persons from Catholicism—which is the source of most Protestant doctrine. But Protestantism distinguished itself from Catholicism by inventing its own new doctrines, primarily the doctrine of justification by faith alone, which goes hand-in-hand with its other primary newly invented doctrine: penal substitution.
Swedenborg passed over all human creeds and invented doctrines, and looked to the Bible itself under the Lord’s guidance (according to his account), in formulating the doctrines that he published in his theological works. And that is precisely why his works are worth reading among the mass of other Christian theological writings.
As for the Biblical basis of the Trinity, of course Swedenborg was well aware that the Bible speaks of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But as with many other words and concepts used in the Bible, we misunderstand these names for different parts or aspects of God if we think of them in material, biological, and human terms. God is not a mortal man. The attributes of God are on a whole different level of reality than our material and biological relationships of parents and children.
In other words, the Bible uses these human terms as metaphors for greater divine realities, in order to bring the nature of God into the realm of human comprehension to at least some extent.
Unfortunately we humans, with our materialistic minds, have dragged what the Bible presents to us about God down into the realm of mere human thought, rather than seeing the spiritual and divine realities that the human metaphors are pointing to. For a fuller explanation of these things, please see these articles:
Lee,
I think Swedenborg misunderstood what he ‘thought’ he understood with regards to The Father and The Son. Remember that Swedenborg was not infallible. He admits as such.
I also think you’re trying to provide cover for Swedenborg because of this misunderstanding in the form of extraordinary convolutions of logic to make what he said make sense. It ultimately doesn’t no matter how you spin the logic to fit.
It’s absolutely obvious that Christ was talking to the Father Directly as his divine Son. He was not talking to himself pretending that he was his Son while inwardly knowing he wasn’t. That would make him a liar to himself. Impossible if God the Father is perfect, no?
So here’s what it is. God the Father created his Son for whatever divine reason he chose. This Son is not as completely perfect as his Father but is more perfect when standing on his own than any other of God’s ethereal creations. Therefore his Son sits at the right hand of God The Father and has also been given dominion over all of God the Father’s ethereal and earthly creations – including all other creations in the universe. There are indeed two separate divine personalities. The Holy Ghost however is not a personality like The Father and The Son but is rather the divine energy that is able to communicate and help mankind in its present earth-bound sinful state. The Holy Spirit is nothing more than the Divine Energy of God the Father as given to man THROUGH only his Son. It’s again that simple.
To wit, I I agree there is no Trinity. Or perhaps better understood there is no third Divine person. There is however absolutely a Duality. As Christ said, “I am the way, the truth, and the light. There is no way to the Father but through me.”
Christ IS a separate divine personality and is the conduit that the Father has deemed worthy of worship as much as if directly to Him. When you worship Christ as Lord you also by God the Father’s decree worship Him as well. That’s where the Oneness comes in. IOW Christ is the utmost holy conduit possible to become one with God the Father. In effect being one with Christ allows becoming One with the Father as MUCH as Christ is. And that’s pretty darn close and much.
Christ is indeed THE literal Son of God. Not metaphorically, not conceptionally, but literally in the Divine spiritual sense. Swedenborg got it wrong because in this particular case not even angels nor other spirits understood what I just told you and so they told him only what they knew much less understood. Humans or mankind which according to Swedenborg become eventually angels only know as much as they carry with them from earth. The Angels that became so before Christ was born only personally know what they know from that earlier state. These are the Angels that Swedenborg likely conferred with. Remember that Angels don’t typically interact with mankind unless sent by The Lord to so. Every other angel doesn’t know what these Angels know and hence even like Christ himself don’t know the hour of when the Son Of Man will return. That’s God The Father’s call as it were.
Once you understand that Swedenborg in this instance wasn’t just innocently incorrect however unintentional his error was nor by what or who caused his erroneous thinking, but that the Father and Son are what they are because they just Are. Remember “I am that I Am”? Well that “I” is actually two I’s, The Father AND the Son.
What Christ always said was that his Divinity came from his Father. Literally. Nothing more nothing less. It’s that simple so that every human could understand it. Not just the Swedenborg’s or Woofenden’s of this world. If this were the case only you two could be saved. Anything else besides this simple understanding denies the obvious relationship that Christ had while here on earth with His Father and thereafter.
There’s no need to convolute the simplicity of that relationship. The Father and Son are indeed ‘One’ but that doesn’t mean they also could not have separate Divine Natures with Christ again being the most perfect conduit to the Supreme Perfect Divinity of his Father, The Grand Creator of all including even Christ himself.
Keep it simple, Lee. Because it is.
Dave
Hi Dave,
On all of this we’ll just have to agree to disagree.
Lee,
Yes that’s probably the best course. Even with this disagreement there’s still much left to agree upon.
Being Human isn’t exactly a cake walk, is it?
Dave
Hi Dave,
I should also add that this doctrine you’ve outlined is also very much at odds with the doctrine of the vast bulk of traditional Christianity, Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox. For example, the concept of the Trinity of Persons accepted in all three of those major branches of Christianity explicitly denies that the Son is a created being. If anything, your concept of God is even more at odds with the traditional Christian concept of God than mine—which also affirms that the Son is not created, but begotten, even if I interpret “begotten” differently than traditional Christianity does.
And though I may have asked before, I am curious: does your position on Father, Son, and Holy Spirit represent the teaching of some particular church, denomination, or theologian, or was this something you came to on your own? Do you belong to any church or community of believers that shares these views?
Hi Dave,
To address another of your points, I am not so much reaching out to people who were “raised in a traditional denominationally based environment” as I am reaching out to people who are no longer satisfied with the traditional Christian church, its institutions, and its teachings.
Swedenborg stated that an old church, or religious paradigm, must cease to exist, spiritually speaking, before a new one can take its place.
In terms of human history, this means that the old religious perspective must cease being the primary source of spiritual enlightenment in the culture before a new religious perspective can take its place.
Christianity has effectively ceased to fulfill that role in the Western world, as people vote with their feet and abandon traditional Christian institutions, and as the culture generally looks more to science and “spirituality” for their engagement and enlightenment than they do to institutional Christianity. (See: Christianity is Dead. Long Live Christianity!)
A similar evolution must take place in an individual person’s life for that person to adopt an entirely new spiritual paradigm such as the one that Swedenborg offers.
Anyone who is content with traditional Christian teachings and institutions will simply not be interested in what Swedenborg has to offer. Why would they be looking for something else when they’re happy with what they’ve got?
The people who are interested in the ideas and beliefs presented on this website are those who are either questioning traditional Christian beliefs or have abandoned traditional Christianity altogether. These people, and not those still engaged in the institutions, teachings, and practices of traditional Christianity, are the ones I’m reaching out to here.
Hi Dave,
And I have to ask, What baby?
I find reading traditional Christian theology and apologetics to be highly tedious. It strikes me as thoroughly unenlightened. In every sentence, I see things that I disagree with. And in every paragraph, I think, “If only they understood the spiritual basics related to this subject!” Some of them are trying mightily to reach for understanding. But they are hamstrung in their efforts by the fundamental dogmas of their own church.
I used to think that Swedenborg was being hyperbolic and rhetorical when he said that traditional Christianity had so utterly falsified the Bible that there was not one truth left in their doctrine. And perhaps to some extent he was.
And yet, when I read their theology, I find that I disagree with almost everything in it. I more and more think that Swedenborg was simply stating the objective reality when he said that there was not one truth left in traditional Christianity that had not been falsified.
The only saving grace, as it were, is that most traditional Christians do live good and loving lives, regardless of what their church teaches doctrinally. That’s why, Swedenborg said, the average Christian layperson understands what Christianity is really all about better than their priests, pastors, and theologians, whose minds have been so utterly scrambled by false teachings that they simply cannot even see the truth.
I experience this all the time whenever I get into a debate with a traditional Christian who is heavily versed in the doctrines of Protestantism or Catholicism. I can point out until I’m blue in the face that the Bible simply doesn’t say those things—and yet they still maintain that their doctrines are true.
It is very frustrating. It is simply not possible to penetrate the mind of someone who is so steeped in traditional Christian fallacy and falsity. It is too deeply ingrained in them. When they read the Bible, they don’t see anything else—even though the words of the Bible itself just don’t say what they believe.
I still do sometimes engage in debate with traditional Christians. But the purpose of that is not to try to change their minds. Rather, it is for the sake of people reading in, whose minds are still not made up, and who may be able to see something of the truth because their minds have not yet been crystallized into the false dogmas of the previous church.
Here on Spiritual Insights for Everyday Life, I delete without approving the comments of many evangelical Christians who come here to tell me how wrong I am (see points 6 & 7 of our comments policy). It would take too long and be too tedious to rebut and dubunk every one of their false statements one by one. It’s not worth my time to do so.
However, I do sometimes approve and respond to those that are not too insulting and bigoted. Sometimes I sense that the person posting may actually be amenable to some questioning of his or her own beliefs. But usually, I do it so that those reading in can hear responses to common evangelical falsities in order to inoculate themselves against their pervasive presence in much of Western society.
I find it tedious and distasteful to do this. I would much rather spend my time explaining what is the truth than pointing out what’s not the truth. But it has to be done in order to combat and overcome those old falsities in the minds and hearts of those who are ready and willing to accept a clearer light on God, spirit, and the meaning and purpose of our life here on earth.
Lee,
The baby in this case was further reading about Miller’s fine-edged struggles to reconcile CRI’s doctrinal position and perhaps even his own personal ones with what was considered for a long time a cult with regards to LSM. The point is Miller doesn’t appear to be quite as dyed in the wool doctrinally dogmatic as you may surmise. There is some interesting intellectual and logical pragmatism at work there too. If you had bothered to read the rest.
Dave
Oh, and Miller’s TPM (Theophostic Prayer Ministry) examination is one that’s quite enlightening on how his critical theological mind works too. He is IMO one of the finest theological minds out there today. And he knows more about Swedenborg’s spirit realm at a level that you likely are not closely aware of as I personally am. But this is now irrelevant because you slammed the door shut.
Dave
Hi Dave,
If you would say something specific about what he knows about Swedenborg’s spirit realm, and why, and where he got it from, that might be of interest to me. But as of now, it’s all generalities. I went and read more than I had planned to of that issue. But I simply didn’t see anything in the 18-20 pages I read that gave me reason to think that a discussion with Miller—if he were even interested in such a thing—would accomplish anything. If you think such a conversation should take place, you’re going to have to get to the point and tell me why, and not require me to read dozens or hundreds of pages of material to try to find the baby in all that bathwater.
Hi Dave,
I understand that some evangelicals do over time inch toward a somewhat less hidebound view of Christianity. And that’s good. It’s also in God’s hands. Miller is still light years away from where I am doctrinally. And you simply haven’t given me any good reason why a conversation between the two of us would be worthwhile and fruitful.
Hi Dave,
Here is a fuller response to your most recent comments:
As I’ve said in previous comments, I believe that we are now living in the times after the Second Coming, when the New Jerusalem is descending out of heaven from God. (I suspect Elliot Miller would entirely reject such an idea.) And I believe that this new spiritual era is affecting all of humankind, and all of the religions of the earth—even the evangelical Christian ones that still await the Second Coming and the New Jerusalem.
Based on that, I certainly don’t reject the idea that Elliot Miller may be making some forward moves in his spiritual thinking and perspective. We can see this happening in all of the religions of humankind, and in all of the branches of Christianity. Now that the old religious order of Christianity has been largely smashed and sidelined from its former position of the leading spiritual and intellectual light in the Western world, things are changing in our world, and they are changing very fast. The existing church institutions are quickly being left behind due to their snail’s pace of change.
Just as Judaism was completely transformed by the events following the First Coming (historically, by the destruction of the Temple) into a religion that would hardly be recognizable as Judaism by the ancient Jews who lived up to the time of Jesus Christ, so Christianity is in the process of being transformed into something that would hardly be recognized as Christianity by the Christians who lived from the third to the eighteenth centuries of Christianity. Already in most of Europe Christianity has become the religion of a minority of the population, the bulk of whom are secular or “spiritual but not religious.” And I predict that within a few centuries there will not be much left of the old religious institutions. Many of the big ones will still hang on, but they will be faint shadows of their former selves.
The other possibility is that they will radically change their doctrines and practices. But institutions do not change easily—and churches least of all. The more likely course is that they will cling to their doctrines and practices to the bitter end, because these are what define them as institutions.
In my view, Elliot Miller and CRI are part of this old Christianity that is now dying. They continue to cling to the basic dogmas of traditional Christianity, even if they may give those dogmas their own flavor, and even if they may at times incrementally open their minds to include people and groups whom they had formerly excluded.
When I look at these old religious institutions, whether Catholic, Protestant, or Orthodox, while I wish them well, my primary feeling is that this is what Jesus meant when he said, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead” (Matthew 8:22). He did not mean the physically dead. The people he was referring to were still alive and walking this earth. But they remained stuck in the old (ancient Jewish) paradigm, and were thus spiritually dead compared to those who saw and accepted the new spiritual light that Jesus brought to the world.
I’m aware that Elliot Miller and other evangelical Protestants, not to mention traditional Christians generally, are very much alive, and even have a spiritual path to follow. But from my perspective, it is a dead-end path because it is guided by doctrines that are fundamentally false, and that will, as the decades and centuries pass, gradually fade into insignificance as more and more people vote with their feet and abandon those old doctrines.
You appear to still accept those old doctrines, the root and foundation of which is the doctrine of the Trinity of Persons. And you appear to hold some hope that I may come to accept those doctrines as well, perhaps in some more modern interpretation of them.
If that is your purpose here, and the reason you are trying to get me connected with Elliot Miller, then I will say simply and directly: Don’t bother. You are wasting your time.
To use plain language, there is not a snowball’s chance in hell that I will accept the doctrine of the Trinity of Persons, or any of the old Christian doctrines that depend on it. I regard the Trinity of Persons as the root and source of all of the doctrinal error and falsity of traditional Christianity. I see it as the beginning of the rottenness that eventually consumed and destroyed Christianity, and made it necessary for Christ to make his Second Coming, in the form of new spiritual light and truth, in order to once again prevent the complete spiritual destruction of humankind.
In short, the Trinity of Persons is horrible and odious to me.
I have devoted my life to proclaiming a renewed Christianity that utterly rejects the Trinity of Persons, and instead worships the Lord God Jesus Christ as the one God of heaven and earth. That one God consists of a divine soul (the Father), which is love; a divine body (the Son), which is divine truth; and divine power flowing out (the Holy Spirit), which is everything God says and does. You can see this all clearly laid out in my article, Who is God? Who is Jesus Christ? What about that Holy Spirit?
When I contemplate this beautiful understanding of the Christian God as Swedenborg presents it, the old tri-personal God of traditional Christianity looks to me like a dark shadow. It has no appeal whatsoever. In my eyes, it is hardly different from pagan polytheism. Though the lips say one, the mind thinks three, and the believer in this doctrine worships each of the three as a distinct god even while the lips insist that there is one God. It is utter confusion. Even its strongest proponents admit that it cannot really be explained or understood.
God as I understand God can be explained and understood. It is not a contradiction or a mystery. Of course, we can never grasp the fullness of the infinity of God. But when that infinity descends down into human concepts, it makes perfect sense, and can be understood by a five year old child with no theological training whatsoever.
So if you are asking me to get into conversation with Elliot Miller because you think and hope that Miller may be able to “enlighten” me from his astute theological mind, then you are on a fool’s errand. That’s not going to happen.
What Miller has to offer theologically has no appeal whatsoever for me. It is a dark shadow and an old, fading ghost compared to the bright and beautiful understanding of God, spirit, and the life that leads to heaven that I was brought up with and still believe with all my heart and mind. If your purpose is to try to get me to change my theological stance by getting me into contact with someone whom you think has the theological chops and the mental agility to bring about that change in me, then I would suggest that you give up right now, because you are wasting your time.
If that is not your purpose here, and you have something else in mind, then I would once again ask that you state your purpose simply and clearly.
I dislike it when people beat around the bush and take a long time to get around to saying what their real purpose and message is. It’s a waste of my time and theirs. I know my own mind fairly well, and I do not require “handling” to try to bring about some purpose for me. If you would simply state what you have in mind here, then I will tell you plainly and simply whether or not it’s something I’m interested in pursuing.
Until you are ready and willing to do so, I question whether there is any further use in this conversation.
If you have questions for me related to my beliefs, then of course I am willing to answer them.
But if you’re trying to get me to do some thing for some purpose, you’re going to have to state that purpose plainly and clearly. If it is indeed too personal to state in public, feel free to submit a Spiritual Conundrum and communicate it to me in that way. I won’t however, promise to respond, since I receive far more Conundrums than I can possibly answer. And if you continue to beat around the bush, hinting at this and that but not stating clearly what’s on your mind, then I can guarantee you that I will not respond.
I now have at least 100 unanswered questions submitted by people who are seeking spiritual understanding on issues they are facing in their lives. I dearly wish I had the time to answer them all. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. If you want me to spend more of the time I do have responding to your wishes and needs, you’re going to have to tell me plainly and clearly why I should do so.
Lee,
It’s not what you think regarding Elliot Miller. Miller could be more influenced by your thoughts than the other way around IMO. I think Elliot benefits from Lee at this critical stage of the New Church. As I said before essentially Miller personally knows the realm that Swedenborg saw and understands it. I know this personally too. Hence a doctrinal flexibility you wouldn’t normally expect. All spirituality is mystical but not all things mystical are spiritual. But it goes beyond that.
Miller won’t outright defacto condemn you as rightfully through experience with others you now expect. He has seen a lot, knows a lot, and he understands that each of us including even himself is woefully still imperfect. He also knows the vast spiritual changes at hand as described. So if two of the present-day great theologically analytical and discerning minds during this point of change can’t even say “Hi” to one another then we all suffer because of it – in effect even if it gets to agree to disagree on certain views. The point being that both of you will learn from each other and then all can greatly learn more from both of you. This I know.
I completely understand however your higher positional mission. The Trinity thing isn’t cast in stone precisely because it was mainly presuppositional apologetically derived logic expeditiously enacted to deal with the politically and socially uncomfortable vacuum of a unifying Godhead solution during those tumultuous Nicaea times. Miller likely understands this and therefore current doctrinal perceived chasms may not be so resolute as you now expouse.
Perhaps someday one will outreach to the other even if obtusely. What comes out of it will either immediately wither or it’ll flourish. I personally think you have inherently more flexibility because you don’t depend on a ‘CRI’ to make a living but you certainly have the right and experience to believe otherwise.
Fear of the unknown in this case means, “What if he actually agrees with me and we see eye to eye on some hereto momentous spiritual matters, now what?” “I subconsciously fear that potential the most because then he in turn might influence me and I don’t want that because I already know I know everything there is to know.” And of course vice-versa.
With that, it’s time for me to sign-out for good from here. Best to you and endeavors.
Dave
Hi Dave,
Has Miller had an NDE?
Hi Dave,
Also, I’m wondering: Are you having a similar conversation with Elliot Miller encouraging him to get in touch with me?
Hi Dave,
See Elliot Miller’s comment below.
He is now! I got an anonymous letter in the mail alerting me to this discussion. I’m not sure who “Dave” is but obviously one of my old pals on Palomar Moutain. Hi “Dave”! I appreciate the nice things you said about me but Lee is right. We would both be wasting our time. Lee is very clear about the fact that he is not open to seeing things from my perspective and the odds of my converting to Swedenborgianism are equal to a snowball’s chance to survive in hell. Which, by the way, I’m not consigning Lee or anyone else to. There is only one Judge of the universe and we will all have to answer to Him. I do appreciate the polite dialogue here, though. Keep it up!
Hi Elliot,
Nice to hear from you. Thanks for stopping by and giving a shout. What’s “Palomar Mountain”? I presume you weren’t deep space telescope buddies!
Dave’s last comment was a couple of weeks ago. I don’t know whether he’ll see yours. But I’ll ping him just in case he’s paying attention.
I’m glad to hear that you do not consign anyone to hell, but leave that to God. I do hope you’ll have a moderating effect on some of your more judgmental brethren.
Palomar Mountain is where the world-famous observatory with its 200-inch Hale telescope is located. Many things have been discovered there, including the fact that the Milky Way galaxy is not synonomous with the universe: there are other galaxies! It is located in northeast Sand Diego County and in my opinion is the most beautiful mountain area in Southern California — almost miraculously rceiving an average of 42 inches of precipitation (much of it snow) a year while San Diego below receives less than 10, and therefore boasting huge white firs, incese cedars. big-cone spruces, and a variety of large oaks and pines and fern meadows. The mountain is home to approximately 350 full-time residents, and so you basically know everybody. My wife and I lived there for 17.5 years but are now having new adventures in south Florida.
As for consigning people to hell, you might be surprised to know that this is not a practice evangelcial Christians generally approve of.
Hi Elliot,
Sounds like a beautiful place to have spent a span of your life! Do you think Dave was another resident there?
And yes, our concept of the universe has been expanding by many orders of magnitude over the past several centuries.
In Swedenborg’s 18th century Latin texts, the words mundus (“world”) and universum (“universe”) are sometimes still used in their old Ptolemaic sense in which the “world” or “universe” of God’s physical Creation was about the size of the area out to the orbit of Saturn (the most distant planet then known), plus a surrounding sphere of fixed stars. In some contexts we have to translate these words as “solar system” in order to convey Swedenborg’s meaning to modern readers.
Of course, Swedenborg was well aware that the physical universe is much larger than that. He spoke of other solar systems complete with planets, and even seems to have had some nascent concept of our galaxy, and of the possibility of other galaxies.
I believe that our concept of the physical universe is expanding right along with our concepts of God and spirit.
About that not consigning people to hell thing, my experience shows that unfortunately, quite a few of the faithful in the evangelical and fundamentalist wings of Protestantism have not gotten the memo.
Thanks for sharing that interesting point about Swedenborg’s use of the words mundus and universum. I am aware of his many contributions to physical science.
“Dave” identified himself to me as “someone by your old haunts around Palomar.” It’s always nice to hear from someone on the Mountain, even when his specific identity is withheld.
Hi Elliot,
Did Dave communicate with you privately?
Incidentally, I was talking about Swedenborg’s theological works. I’m much more familiar with them than I am with his earlier scientific works. It wouldn’t surprise me, though, if he sometimes used mundus and universum in the same way in his scientific works. For him it was a quasi-poetic use rather than a technical and scientific use of those words. Of course, in those days the lines between poetry, science, and theology were nowhere near as sharp as they are today.
Very true. We live in an age of specialization, but the result is increasing fragmentation and people lose sight of the big picture. Much of modern science is ruled by the philosophy of naturalism without realizing it is a philosophy and equating it with science itself. Thus any knowledge claims that invoke nonphysical sources are excluded a priori on the basis that they are not scientific, but it is not science that excludes them but rather scientifically unprovable philosophical materialism. It is entirely possible and arguably true that knowledge derived from spiritual sources can be compatible with the findings of physical science and can provide understanding of the big picture that physical science never can give. “Science” means knowledge and any quest for knowledge should not exclude possible sources of knowledge simply because they invoke nonphysical dimensions of reality but rather test them to see if they are coherent with reality and, if they are, integrate them with the findings of physical science to provide a comprehensive worldview by which we may live and flourish. We need once again to have Renaissance men such as da Vinci, Newton, and yes, Swedenborg (though I reject his departures from biblical revelation, I applaud what he was attempting to do) to lead us out of this fragmented view of reality that fragments society and undermines the very foundations of civilization.
Dave merely notified me of the discussion that was going on and where to find it. What I learned I learned by perusing the posts here, not from his letter.
Hi Elliot,
So Dave was the one who sent you the anonymous letter alerting you to the discussion here?
I’m assuming that. The name Dave is not on the letter. There could be a third party here for al I know.
Hi Elliot,
Of course, I agree with you about about the error of naturalists ruling out all non-physical sources of knowledge. That’s covered in my article, “Where is the Proof of the Afterlife?”
However, creationists make a similar error when they think that the Bible is intended to provide us with knowledge about the material world and God’s physical creation. Reading Genesis as if it were a science textbook that disproves what science has discovered about the physical history of the universe is just as untenable as naturalistic scientists looking at the material universe, discovering that it is internally coherent, and jumping to the conclusion that therefore God and spirit do not exist.
I agree with you that knowledge derived from spiritual sources can be (and is, from a Swedenborgian perspective) compatible with the findings of physical science. But each source of knowledge applies primarily to its own realm of reality. And just as physical science is a poor source of knowledge about the nature of God and spirit, so the spiritual writings of humankind, especially including the Bible, are a poor source of knowledge about the nature of the physical universe. That’s simply not what those two pursuits are designed to do, respectively to each other.
It was one of Swedenborg’s basic epistemological principles that good science and true theology do not contradict one another, but rather complement and support one another. But he differed from present-day evangelicals in believing that each must proceed on its own level, and that drawing conclusions from one to the other inevitably leads to errors both about the material universe and about the spiritual universe and God.
And that, I believe, is precisely what Christian evangelicals have done. They have made the category error of thinking that the Word of God is a proper source of knowledge about physical and material things. Swedenborg stated (and I agree with him) that God did not give us the Bible to teach us about material things, which we can discover for ourselves, but rather to teach us about spiritual things, which we would never discover on our own.
Hi Elliot,
Now about Swedenborg departing from biblical revelation, it is precisely the opposite.
It is traditional Christianity, and especially its Protestant wing, that has departed very far from biblical revelation. So much so that none of its most basic doctrinal tenets are actually stated in the Bible, but are, instead, the product of human theologians and councils. I point this out in my article, “‘Christian Beliefs’ that the Bible Doesn’t Teach.”
To enumerate the first three of the five points covered in that article:
I think it’s fair to say that these three doctrines—the Trinity of Persons, justification by faith alone, and penal substitution—are the primary foundation stones of Protestant doctrine generally, and especially of evangelical Protestant theology.
And yet, not a single one of them is stated in the Bible!
I have the annoying habit of actually looking up the long streams of Bible references found in evangelical Christian tracts and articles purporting to support the dogmas asserted in them. And what has struck me ever since I adopted that annoying habit decades ago is that in most cases the Bible verses referred to don’t actually say what the tract or article says they say.
I would challenge you, also, to find me a single verse anywhere in the Bible that clearly states any of these three doctrines that are foundational to evangelical Christianity. I don’t mean verses that can be interpreted as saying these things, but verses that actually state these things plainly and clearly.
You simply can’t do so, because the Bible doesn’t state any of these things. All of them are the products of human theologians and human interpretations.
How can a doctrine be foundational to Christian belief and faith if it simply isn’t stated anywhere in the Bible?
Is the Bible so incompetent to state its meaning that it must be “helped” by human theologians, in the same manner that Uzzah “helped” the ark of God stay on course, and was struck down by God for doing so? (2 Samuel 6:1-11).
Isn’t the Bible capable of directly, clearly, and plainly teaching us the most basic doctrines on which our faith and salvation depends?
And yet, none of the most basic, foundational doctrines of evangelical Protestant Christianity, or of traditional Christianity generally, are stated in the plain, clear language of the Bible itself. They are all human formulations.
Swedenborg skipped over Luther, Anselm, Constantine, Tertullian, and all of the other human theologians, councils, and creeds, and went directly to the Bible with no one but the Lord to enlighten his mind. And what he found stated there clearly, in the plain words of the Bible itself, was very different than what he’d been taught growing up as the son of a Lutheran priest. In fact, he struggled over a period of several years to free his mind from the false, non-Biblical human doctrine he’d been inculcated with throughout his youth, before he could see the Bible’s clear, plain, and true teachings in their own light.
Unlike Protestant theology, the essential, foundational doctrines Swedenborg taught in his theological writings are stated plainly and clearly in the Bible, as you can see in this article: “Christian Beliefs that the Bible Does Teach.”
It is, in fact, traditional Christianity, including its evangelical Protestant wing, that has departed from biblical revelation, “teaching human precepts as doctrines” (Matthew 15:9).
Although Swedenborg penned many volumes explaining the spiritual meaning of the Bible, when it came to formulating Christian doctrine, he stated that “the church’s body of teaching has to be drawn from the Word’s literal meaning and supported by it” (True Christianity #225).
I submit to you that Swedenborg’s doctrine, or “body of teaching” is drawn from the plain, literal meaning of the Bible, whereas evangelical Protestant doctrine is drawn from human theologians, and is stated nowhere in the plain, literal meaning of the Bible itself.
Hello Lee!
Been following this thread and the rest of your wonderful blog with keen interest! So does Elliot Miller (of Christian Research Institute) essentially agree with you and Emanuel Swedenborg’s interpretations if he doesn’t respond with scripture to the exceptions you mention in reply to his comments? It’s my understanding that true born again evangelical Christians are biblically required to challenge with scripture whenever anyone publicly quotes scripture that is misleading or doctrinally false.
Thanks!
Frank
Hi Frank,
Thanks for stopping by, and for your comment and your kind words. Glad you’re enjoying the blog!
My interpretation is that Elliot Miller opted not to engage in doctrinal debate with me here on my blog. Based on the comment I was responding to, it seems that Mr. Miller appreciate’s Swedenborg’s broad intellect, but believes he was mistaken in his doctrines and his interpretation of the Bible.
For my part, I could not allow Mr. Miller’s comment about Swedenborg’s (supposed) “departures from biblical revelation” to go unchallenged.
Thanks, Lee!
It’s curious that he didn’t challenge you back with even one verse that could cause you to rethink at least one of your comments. “Departures from biblical revelation” sounds to me like a one size fits all cop out.
It’s kinda like if someone with a megaphone shouts on a super busy street corner, “Hey people listen up! I represent a respected scientific organization that are THE astronomy experts! The moon is actually DEEP DEEP PURPLE and that’s THAT people! You can’t see its real color like our special instruments can so stop believing your eyes dammit!”, and then walks away before anyone can say anything back. lol
I don’t know what that means about Christian Research Institute credibility (or if they even care because you and this blog don’t matter in comparison to them) but silence to me here says tons!
Oh well! 🙂
Frank
Frank, your comments are frankly unfair. I refer you back to Lee’s original comments about me and my original post. Both Lee and I agreed that it would be pointless for us to attempt to change each other’s minds. I am only here because someone from Palomar Mountain, CA wrote me a letter suggesting I check out this blog because I was being discussed; I never joined to engage in dialogue about Swedenborgianism. My comment was meant as the best compliment about Swedenborg I could offer, not as a challenge to his followers, but Lee couldn’t resist defending his teacher (or whatever he would call him). I understand that, but I saw that for me to respond to Lee’s comments would be to engage the very debate that Lee and I both agreed would be pointless. All of your baiting will not get me to change my mind, and I think you need to respect the original understanding Lee and I had and not attempt to provoke us to change it midstream. It’s not that I don’t engage in such discussions but rather that I am very busy and I need to choose my “battles” carefully and not spread myself too thin. Again, I meant my comment as a compliment and not a provocation. I will not continue to reply to further posts.
Hi Elliot,
Thanks for popping in and responding to Frank’s questions, provocatively stated though they may be. You, of course, are in a much better position than I am to respond to questions about why you did or didn’t do this or that.
I did understand that you were being as complimentary about Swedenborg as you could be here on this website devoted to Swedenborg’s theology and to Bible interpretation in its light. And I did appreciate that—and gained some sense of why our friend Dave might have thought that a dialog between the two of us would be constructive.
However, quite frankly, I didn’t expect that you would respond at any length, if at all, to my defense of the biblical basis of Swedenborg’s teachings since it would involve major outlays of time on your part to engage in a theological debate that both of us agreed would be highly unlikely to change either your mind or mine.
Further, it would be a debate that, for you, would take place in a forum where I have the home court advantage. Similarly, it’s unlikely that I would go to your website and engage you in debate there, especially since to my knowledge your website has no significant material about Swedenborg, so there’s nothing I would feel the need to respond to. (I have, in the past, attempted to get corrections made to false statements made on other websites about Swedenborg and his teachings; but for the most part it was not a very productive use of my time.)
I did, however, feel the need to respond to a couple of your statements here, not with any thought that I might change your mind, but for the sake of others reading our exchange.
In particular, you happen to have stumbled upon perhaps the one Swedenborgian minister who is most intent to show that Swedenborg’s teachings are based upon and in accord with the plain, literal statements in the Bible that are key to Christian theology, whereas the foundational doctrines of traditional Christianity, including Protestantism, are not. This I believe to be the truth.
So I hope you will understand that here on my website I could not let your passing comment about your rejecting Swedenborg’s “departures from biblical revelation” go unchallenged, lest it seem to my readers that I was tacitly accepting that characterization of Swedenborg’s teachings. I do not cede the ground of biblical basis to anyone, even while recognizing that in the spectrum of Christianity there are sharply divergent interpretations of the Bible.
I agree that a debate between you and me on this point would probably not be very fruitful—which, as you point out, is what I had said to Dave in the first place.
Incidentally, even Swedenborgians have no agreed-upon term or title by which to refer to Swedenborg. The only generally agreed-upon points are that Swedenborg’s spiritual experiences were genuine, that his writings do constitute some form of revelation (exactly which form is a matter of debate), and that Swedenborg himself is a human being like everyone else, even if a particularly gifted human being.
For my part, I categorically reject the belief of a minority of Swedenborgians that Swedenborg’s writings constitute a “Third Testament” of the Word of God. I believe Swedenborg himself would find such a characterization of his writings to be false and highly objectionable. He was nothing if not utterly devoted to the Bible, and he did understand the difference between his writings and the Bible. I explore the issue of Swedenborg’s writings in relation to the Bible in this article, written in response to a reader’s question: Do the Teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg take Precedence over the Bible?
Once again, I appreciate your stopping by to say hello and engage in a friendly and respectful exchange. If nothing else, this shows that Dave was not entirely wrong in his sense of you and your character, which led him to believe in the first place that a dialog between the two of us might be productive.
Thanks for your kind explanation Lee. I completely understand your position and why you felt you needed to respond to my comment here on your website. If I ever feel the need to address Swedenborg in my own work I will certainly be back. Bye for now.
Hi Frank,
Mr. Miller has now responded for himself, so there’s no need for me to do so.
I would only add that I don’t think his statement about “departures from biblical revelation” was a cop-out, but rather a somewhat understated way of presenting a balanced picture of his view of Swedenborg without being too provocative. It’s just that in making such a statement here, he inadvertently stepped into a hornet’s nest! 😉
Further, it is common among among non-Swedenborgians to think that Swedenborg based his theology primarily on his spiritual experiences and on what he heard from spirits and angels, and not on the Bible, and to think that his followers therefore don’t even claim that their theology is based on the Bible. However, in my view that is a major error made even by some less-well-versed Swedenborgians. Swedenborg himself stated categorically that:
Hello Elliot!
If I offended you deeply I sincerely regret that because I do agree after reading this most interesting thread and some of your CRI journal articles that you have the big “chops” as ‘Dave’ mentioned to contribute something meaningful to all of us here that visit this AMAZING blog. I certainly agree with Dave that you’re a bit brilliant as is Lee! This is very very rare these days when it comes to spiritual matters! I think that’s what Dave was trying to convey – a flexible at ease sharing of common ground insights which would be a wonderful breath of fresh air from all the denominational and doctrinal constant bickering that’s so prevalent! Man I’m so sick of everyone including ministers to ministers fighting with one another tooth and nail just because we don’t see EVERY spiritual thing EXACTLY eye to eye! Understanding though that indeed certain main differences between your faith and Swedenborgianism are insurmountable. That’s ok though. We can handle it!
I believe most of us here are open minded and adult enough to hear differing opinions and insights without being offended. I think that’s just one of the very special unique things that Lee has put together here! I don’t think there’s any other blog out there quite like this. This is foremost a loving place. I believe that’s ultimately Lee’s central intent above everything else regardless of differing opinions. And like Lee has said many times, sometimes we just have to agree to disagree. And that’s ok too. Life goes on. It doesn’t end here and there.
Again I regret if my comments offended you! It wasn’t intended to be disrespectful even if I in hindsight regretably now see I came across that way. I hope you change your mind and contribute to those areas of common ground and share your brilliant spiritual insights and many years of experience! You have a lot of them! Just even your comments about Palomar were really interesting and made me want to know more about it. Heck, so many modern day topics discussed here are real tough ones and I think they touch upon areas that you’ve already tackled. Not that Lee needs per se help in tackling them mind you. But it would’ve been cool to hear your thoughts even if they were moreso pragmatic or secularly based from time to time. It’s even ok to discuss new ground breaking scientific principles here and how they relate universally to a spiritual God whom we ALL will ultimately at some point interact with no matter what doctrines we follow on earth. I think we already have this common ground right off the bat.
Well I guess that’s it or at least it’s the best way I can say it! Please come back, ok? Fair enough?
Frank 🙂
” Further, people who merely dabble in contacting spirits are not likely to experience any deep or lasting harm. Even if the spirit contacted isn’t really their deceased mother or father or sister or brother, but a spirit impersonating their loved ones, people can still gain a sense of hope and a belief in the afterlife based on these Contacts” Sorry but you are contradicting yourself by earlier stating about the dangers of trying to contact spirits. and even the ” Swede” AND the Bible warns us against this ! As you stated the spirit could be just a ” mixed up ” spirit or a spirit conveying a evil message because that what that spirit is close to -or as I believe -it could be an actual evil spirit or demon in the appearance of a departed loved one.Contacting spirits is extremely dangerous and must always be avoided ! And this includes ouiji boards !
Hi Roy,
All of this is why I don’t recommend that people seek out spirit mediums. As for ouija boards, I have never used one, and I never intend to.
However, there are many people who have sought out spirit mediums when someone they love has died and there are many people who have done a ouija board session out of curiosity and their lives were not destroyed, but they went on to live a good and decent life. Dabbling with spirit mediums and ouija boards can be a slippery slope, but for many people it is not, just as many people try a cigarette or a beer or a joint, but don’t become smokers or alcoholics or potheads.
Let’s be realistic. One puff on a cigarette won’t give you lung cancer, and one consultation with a spirit medium or one session with a ouija board won’t destroy your eternal soul. Is it a good idea? Probably not. But will it inevitably suck you down to spiritual destruction? No. That depends upon what you do next.
Some people simply are going to consult spirit mediums after someone they love dies, in order to gain some assurance that their loved one is still alive. If that’s as far as it goes, there’s no harm done.
Thank-you for your comments but I could not disagree with you more.People’s lives have absolutely been -without any doubt whatsoever- destroyed by even one ” spiritual consult ” or one ouiji board session and I would use the analogy of using crack or shooting heroin up once with a dirty needle – instead of one puff on a cigarrette or drinking a beer -to show the great danger.An evil spirit posing as a ” good spirit ” or your passed loved one makes the whole exercise totally useless -as well as being extremely dangerous.The whole goal is to keep you doing it by either leaving you unsure and thereby in need of ” just another session ” so you can make up your mind on it -or to feed you with just enough information to make you believe and therefore come back again for more .Nothing of any value can ever be gained by this extremely dangerous practise which is the reason why the Bible in many places strongly warns against it ! ( As well as Swedenborg himself.)
Hi Roy,
Well then, we’ll just have to disagree on this one.
As a kid I witnessed kids playing with a ouija board, while not doing it myself. Their lives were not destroyed. And on this very website I’ve had comments from people who lost a wife, husband, or other loved one and consulted a spirit medium (not at my recommendation). They gained some reassurance, and that was that.
Life just isn’t painted in stark blacks and whites. Not everyone slides down the slippery slope.
I agree that we just have to agree to disagree but some things in life I believe are painted in stark blacks and whites and although not everybody who tries them slides down the slippery slope ( for example trying heroin or crack just one time to see how it is etc.) but enough do to never do it .( By the way I live in Uppsala in Sweden where Swedenborg is buried in the main State Church in a vault . )
Hi Roy,
My wife and I hope to visit Sweden one day to see the various areas where Swedenborg lived and worked. Though I would of course like to see his tomb, I am especially interested to see his summer house, which has been preserved in the Skansen park in Stockholm.
Hi Lee
Whats your opinion on James E Padgett ? Dont know if you have read about him, alot of of what he says is very similar to swedenborg but then some of it is different.
My question is then, is it possible for good spirits to initiate contact for good reasons but give false information?
if that dosent make sense then ill try and explain it more
Hi AJ749,
I’ve read only a few snippets of what Padgett wrote, particularly his supposed “communications” with Swedenborg in the spiritual world. Based on that scant bit of reading, it is clear enough to me that he was not in contact with Swedenborg, but with some spirit impersonating Swedenborg and telling Mr. Padgett what he wanted to hear. The things that “Swedenborg” said to Mr. Padgett simply don’t sound like Swedenborg. Everything I said in the above article applies to Mr. Padett as it does to other spirit mediums. Padgett heard voices. Swedenborg was fully conscious and aware in the spiritual world regularly for nearly thirty years. You can decide for yourself which one has a more complete and accurate understanding of the spiritual world. For a related article, see:
Do the Teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg take Precedence over the Bible?
If Padgett’s spirit communications help some people in their spiritual life, I have no problem with that. But it doesn’t mean that what he said was a true and accurate portrayal of the realities of God and spirit.
Padgett saw Jesus as basically a super-human being, who was the biological son of Joseph and Mary, but all mashed up with the Catholic notion that Jesus was born without sin. This all sounds like the sort of thing that unenlightened spirits would say to a spirit medium to get him to think that he has special “insider information,” which is really just spirits misleading people who are susceptible to this sort of thing.
The spirits who give this sort of false information are not good spirits, but evil ones. However, they are generally evil spirits that are still in the world of spirits, not in hell, so they are generally just confused and full of themselves rather than blatantly and obviously evil. I’m sure Mr. Padgett was sincere, but he was misled by unenlightened spirits.
If you have more particular questions, or particular “spirit communications” of Mr. Padgett that you want me to take a look at, just let me know. But for the most part, the bit I’ve read does not incline me to spend much time with, or give much credence to, Mr. Padgett’s writings and claims.
Hi Lee your answer was one that i thought of myself but wasnt sure if it was right.
One essence im confused in with things like this is that A few times with certain things like Mr Padgett is that some of the stuff he says does agree with swedenborg even if not in the same terminology.
If the spirits are evil who are telling him this false information then my question is why?
I understand like really evil spirits tell us these things to lead us away from god but with some of the more tame aspects is it a case of it just being a joke to them ?
Sorry for the many questions but last one haha 😂😂
Can and do spirits use some real information about the spirit world to lead us in to a false security about their authenticity before saying wrong things ?
Hi AJ749,
A couple of things:
Why? For liars and fakers, it’s enjoyable to fake people out.
It’s also possible that some of the spirits on the other end actually believe what they’re saying. Just because people go to the other world, that doesn’t necessarily mean they learn the truth. The truth comes only to people who are interested in the truth. People who have convinced themselves of false ideas will continue to believe them in the other life, and they’ll continue to do their best to make converts.
Hi Lee , i know swedenborg makes clear we dont become all knowing when we cross over
Would you say sometimes that spirits speak from what they think is true and then say its 100% true?
Do you think their are spirits who try and speak to people thinking its for the right reason even if it has false information ?
I know that last one might not make sense
Hi AJ749,
The thing is, people in the spiritual world who cling to false beliefs do so because their minds are not open to the truth.
In our first stage after death (see “What Happens To Us When We Die?”), we may still casually hold on to faulty ideas that we’ve picked up here and there along the way. But once we reach our second stage, any loosely held beliefs that don’t reflect our true inner character, values, and loves will be stripped away. At that point, if we continue to hold false beliefs, it is because they support wrong desires in our heart.
The spirits that mislead spirit mediums such as James Padgett are not just innocent spirits who mean well but are misinformed. They are spirits who have a dog in the fight, and want to put forward false beliefs because it accords with their wrong desires.
One of the major wrong desires is the desire to control people’s minds by filling them with false ideas, which the spirit can then use to make them dance like marionettes as controlled by the strings that the spirit is holding. And there are many other wrong desires that cause lying spirits to tell their lies.
Meanwhile, the spirit medium thinks that because this “information” comes from the spiritual world, it is supremely true, and everything that anyone else on earth says that conflicts with it is false. This whole dynamic is covered in the above article.
Hi lee 😂 i feel like an idiot i meant to also say thank you once again for talking to me .
And to also say ive found alot of blogs and websites that deal with spirituall matters and loads of them agree with what swedenborg says without ever mentioning him or even knowing about him which i find really encouraging
Hi AJ749,
You’re very welcome.
Some of those websites might actually be by Swedebnorgians who simply don’t mention Swedenborg’s name. There are whole books of Bible interpretation written by New Church (Swedenborgian) authors that never mention Swedenborg once, but are based entirely on Swedenborg’s correspondential method of interpreting the Bible. Back when I was selling Swedenborg books on eBay, there was a gentleman in Canada who would buy as many of these books as I could find for him. He would give them to Christian friends who read them and loved them without ever knowing that they were reading Swedenborgian Bible interpretations.
Others of those websites, I think, are because Swedenborg’s theology is gradually suffusing the Christian world. The harsh old unbiblical Christian theology that has been considered “Christianity” for so long is rapidly falling out of favor as humanity moves forward into a more enlightened time. Swedenborg’s theology picks up where that old and outdated theology left off.
Hi lee
Loved the last comment you made , i always like to think for these websites when they come to the same conclusion as swedenborg that they have found out the the universal truth even if they did not mention swedenborg
In your own opinion lee dont you find it suspicious / quite funny that swedenborg gave these warnings about Trying to access psychic abilities / spiritual world without asking god . And yet things like spiritualism, new age, and stuff like that all stsrted after all the expierience?
If that dosent make sense i guess im trying to say that some of these New age type people claim swedenborg is wrong yet their beliefs started after swedenboeg had these unreal expieriences and their beliefs are based of everythig he warned against.
I personally find it quite entertaining . 😂😂
Hi AJ749,
Well . . . yes. Swedenborg is sometimes called “the father of spiritualism,” even though he warned against spiritualism. Plus, Swedenborg’s experiences in the spiritual world are nothing like what mediums experience. Mediums hear voices from the spiritual world. Swedenborg was fully awake and aware in the spiritual world, so that he could travel around, talk to people, sit down to dinner with them, and so on, as if he himself were already dead and living in the spiritual world. Comparing Swedenborg to spirit mediums is comparing apples to peanuts.
Still, many people who consult spirit mediums are desperate because they’ve lost someone they love, and they want to have some assurance that their loved one is still alive and well, and that they will be able to reunite with them in heaven. And if they gain that assurance from a spirit medium, it’s not all bad. But if they keep going to the spirit medium with the idea of learning what the afterlife is like, and how to live a spiritual life, they’ll get led astray more and more, for all the reasons given in the above article.
Many thanks for this lee its always a pleasure discussing Spiritual matters with you
Hi Lee im sorry for disturbing you with these comments , but i have two more questions if thats ok .
1. How do people who have been talked to by spirits know if they are good or bad ?
2. Why if as has been mentioned only bad spirits are the most eager to get in touch do certain mediums have consistent information given to them which agrees with swedenborg ?
Hi AJ749,
No problem. In answer to your questions:
Hiya Lee, based of what you have said and other websites that say similar,
Good spirits/Angels/Recently deceased relatives dont want to teach us about the spirit world or stuff like that but only want to reasure us , give us hope and cheer us up ?
And then evil spirits want to control/Teach wrong facts / etc if im reading this correctly
Also i know what your answer will be but what is your take on The Seth material by Jane roberts as well as other material channeled by the likes of Edgar cayce and so on ?
Hi AJ749,
Yes, that’s about the size of it. But these are generalizations, not hard-and-fast rules.
I haven’t read much, if anything, of the Seth, Jane Roberts, and Edgar Cayce material. We did have an Edgar Cayce follower who became a member of the Swedenborgian Church that I was pastor of a decade ago. She was a good person. But I don’t put a lot of stock in channeled material, so I don’t spend any time with it. Swedenborg is so much better and clearer than the snippets of channeled material that I’ve read that I really don’t feel any need for it.
Hi Lee me again aha,
I was intrigued as to how the ancient people/people in biblical times had contact from angels ?
And how it differs to forms of channeling, automatic writing, mediums so on
Alot sounds like modern forms of ADCs where loved ones return to reassure us and speak with us . Most of these are when the person in asleep.
Hi AJ749,
Yes, not only according to Swedenborg, but according to the Bible, it was fairly common in ancient times for people living on earth to be visited by angels and receive messages from angels who were sent by God to deliver those messages.
They saw the angels with their spiritual eyes, not their physical eyes. This was more possible then than it is today because the ones who received these messages were less materialistic and more open to the presence of God and spirit than the bulk of the people are today.
Unlike mediums, channeling, and so on, these people received the messages personally, not for others who were present—although they were sometimes instructed to deliver the messages received to important people such as kings or Pharaohs. They did not indiscriminately seek out spirits in response to people who came to them to contact spirits, but rather received angel messengers sent to them by God with a message that God wanted delivered.
They also did not practice automatic writing, though some of them did afterwards write down the messages they had received—notably, the Old Testament Prophets.
And yes, the messages sometimes came in the form of dreams while the person was asleep. An example of this is Joseph’s dreams whose meaning were that there would be seven years of plenty in Egypt, followed by seven years of famine. In the book of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar also received a vision that came to him in a dream, which Daniel then recounted for him and interpreted for him.
After-Death Communications (ADCs) are also quite different from what happens with mediums, channeling, automatic writing, and so on. Once again, ADCs are instances of angels or spirits coming to an individual to make their presence known and provide comfort, reassurance, and sometimes specific messages for that particular individual. That is not at all the same as people seeking out spirit contact through a medium.
Hi Lee
2 questions:
What are your own personel take on ADCs to me they seem like they are more reliable than mediums, channelers and such like them.?
And
Im not sure which book of swedenborgs its in, but their is a section that is used by most swedenborg websites and some that arent about the dangers of channeling, mediums automatic writing that say about do not believe anything spirits say as they lie.
In that section he mentions about not believing spirits when they talk whilst possessing someone, this sounds alot like channeling so the question is.
Do you think this was included because god could see the later trend of spiritualism when people contacted the spirit world and how people abused it ?
Hi AJ749,
About ADCs, if they come to a person unbidden, that is usually because the Lord sees that some good, probably a sense of comfort, will come from someone here on earth receiving some sort of contact or communication from a loved one who has died. These are usually just a sense of someone’s presence rather than a communication of specific information. I have talked to a number of people who have felt the presence of a husband, wife, parent, child, or other dear loved one after their loved one had died, and it has given them great solace.
However, seeking out contact with loved ones who have died, if it goes beyond gaining a sense of assurance that they are still alive in the spiritual world, and continues to seeking specific information about them and their life in the spiritual world, is risky. It invites contact with deceptive spirits who will say what the person wants to hear, and confirm what they already believe, even if it is not true. Still, for people who have a deep faith, and who look to the Bible and their church for spiritual knowledge rather than to spirits, it will do no harm.
Here are some of the passages in Swedenborg’s writings where he warns against contact with spirits at the present day:
Swedenborg wrote these statements, I believe, because he saw that many people who did not have a strong faith, and no clear doctrinal structure in their mind, would fall prey to deceiving spirits if they were to contact spirits, and would fall into all sorts of falsity and error, and in some cases, do horrendous things after being misled and urged on by evil spirits. I suspect this is what’s happening in many of the cases of cult leaders committing murder, including mass murder, using their followers for sex, making themselves gods in the eyes of their followers so that their followers will wait on them hand and foot, and so on.
Hi Lee thank you for the links they were very useful, especially #2861 as it sounds like when people attend mediums and the person who comes through could be a deceiving spirit pretending to be a loved one even if no harm comes to the person.
I have been reading a blog by two ladies who had multiple ADCs by their partners, their website has links to some of your older stuff from your church days and one of the ladies calls you a good friend.
I just wanted your opinion on the ladies adcs as they were both told to read the bible, one was told to read swedenborg and both were given some information on the spirit world and none of what they were told disagrees with swedenborg.
Hi AJ749,
You’re welcome.
About the ADC website, I presume you’re talking about egogahan.com. That website has been inactive for some time. However, I knew one of the two women, Judy E., personally. She hosted my old sermon site there when I was a pastor between 1996 and 2007. The sermons are still there, at http://www.egogahan.com/leewoof/index2.htm. Not everything works at my old sermon site, partly because I switched the leewoof.org domain name to this site when I started it in 2012, and partly because some of the applications she used are no longer functioning.
I can’t say much about Barb, because I’ve never met her, online or in person. Judy, however, is a full-fledged Swedenborgian, though not a member of any of the organized Swedenborgian churches. She has read both the Bible and Swedenborg’s works heavily, such that she measures her ADCs against what she knows from the Bible and Swedenborg, rather than the other way around. She’s an example of someone for whom there is no danger in spirit communications because she is a person of strong and well-informed faith. And she knows far more about ADCs than I do. I’ve been mostly out of touch with her since the egogahan site went inactive, and she stepped back from actively engaging in spiritual conversation with people online. I believe she’s living in quiet retirement now. Wonderful person.
It was quite a pleasant suprise when i found your old sermons lee loads of them are really inspiring , what are your opinions on Judys ADC though ??
As you previously mentioned most ADCs are to the point and usally just a presence but Judy seems to have two way communication with her partner who tells her to read the bible and swedenborg.
Part of me thinks this is a real ADC but then a part of me thinks what if this was a lying spirit because it told her what to do and gave her info on the spirit world
Hi AJ749,
Glad you’re enjoying the old sermons. Judy not only provided the web space for my sermon site, but very lovingly did all the beautiful web page design for each one, completely gratis. I sent her the text of each sermon, and she did the rest, for nearly ten years worth of sermons, plus a number of lectures and some other material.
I did also publish (by POD) one book of a sermon series that I preached on the Parables of the Kingdom in Matthew:
On Earth as it is In Heaven: Reflections on Jesus’ Parables of the Kingdom and Emanuel Swedenborg’s Heaven and Hell
About Judy’s ADCs, the short version is that lying spirits don’t tell people to read the Bible and Swedenborg. That is the last thing a lying spirit would do, because lying spirits want the person to trust them (the lying spirit), and believe everything they say, not go to independent sources that would “test the spirits” and contradict any falsities that the lying spirit would tell the person.
It is perfectly possible for people on this earth to have extensive contact and conversation with people living in the spiritual world. We just have to have our spiritual senses opened so that we can see and hear things in the spiritual world. (Though Judy says that she heard Jim with her physical ears, if that is so, then it was because her spiritual ears, which would have been the ones to hear Jim’s voice, then “flowed into” her physical ears.)
The reason we usually do not have contact with people living in the spiritual world is that in general, people today are materialistic and physical-minded, and also ignorant of the true nature of the spiritual world. For such people, as Swedenborg said, contact with spirits is very dangerous, because they will most likely come in contact with lying spirits who will mislead them into all sorts of error, and even into wrong behavior.
But for people who have a strong faith in God (which Judy obviously did, even before she began reading Swedenborg), and who have a living belief in the reality of God and the spiritual world, and who are also willing to “test the spirits” against what God has revealed to us in the Bible, and now also in Swedenborg’s writings, there is no such danger in spirit contact, and God will allow such contact, and even send angels and spirits to make contact with the person if it is needed for the spiritual good of the person on earth. This, I believe, is what happened with Judy.
Lee i cant begin to tell you how grateful i am for the dedication and time you put in to this website , its truly inspiring and i cant thank you enough for never (as far as i can tell 😂) getting annoyed at my silly questions.
Im so glad you said that about judys ADC because that has given me added confidence in swedenborgs writings. Your answer also agrees with with what Barbaras partner said as he said he couldnt contact her because of what she believed it was inly until she had a more open understanding of the spirit world that he could.
Hi AJ749,
You are most welcome. I’m glad to help, and glad it’s helpful to you. That’s why Annette and I run this blog.
Hi Lee ive found many accounts of people who were involved with ocult, new age , theosophy traditions who had contact with spirits/supposed masters. And when the person used the name jesus christ to question the masters they screamed and became agressive, annoyed and so on.
What is your take on these accounts ?
To me the notion of all that god is would send devils/ evil spirits running scared
Hi AJ749,
It wouldn’t surprise me if those accounts are true. Or they could be by conservative Christians who plug in what they expect to happen. I don’t have enough information about that to say for sure. If the spirits on the other side are evil spirits, they will probably not like to hear the name of Jesus Christ, because the presence of Jesus Christ even in thought interferes with the lies that they tell.
The Bible is full of accounts of people who saw God as darkness, thunder, lightning, storms, earthquakes, and so on. It’s not that God actually is those things intrinsically. Rather, because God is pure love and wisdom, God’s effect on people who are bent on evil and falsity is to cause disruption and destruction, because love and wisdom destroys and casts out evil and falsity. That’s why evil spirits, and evil people, avoid God’s presence. For a related article, please see:
What is the Wrath of God? Why was the Old Testament God so Angry, yet Jesus was so Peaceful?
Hi Lee,
I absolutely love your articles and spiritual insight. I have referred many friends to your site as I find your depth of knowledge of the Bible and spiritual teachings, and how they apply to life’s challenges incredibly helpful.
I do have a question. I unexpectedly lost my life partner this past summer to suicide. Your Article “Suicide; Does it Work?” I have recommended to members of my Survivors Of Suicide support group.
Never in my lifetime did I expect to seek the services of a medium. I did a lot of research to find one who is authentic and not a “carnival act”. I was given great comfort by her being able to contact my departed partner. She was able to provide validation well beyond the typical. She relayed things that she was confused and frustrated by because they didn’t make any sense to her, but as she relayed them, they made perfect sense to me. And it was something that only the two of us would have found meaning.
I continue to use her services on a monthly basis. My reason is not to seek out guidance of any kind, but to simply have an ongoing conversation with my partner. It brings me much comfort and makes me realize that love doesn’t die, and they we will be reunited. And you are absolutely correct; they ARE the same exact people as they were when they were here, with the exception of the shroud of depression/mental illness has been lifted and they have clear conscious.
Is it really that bad to be seeking these services if my goal is simply to continue a conversation with my departed loved one? I’m not sure I understand the danger.
I have in no way changed my faith and love of Christ. When I ask for advice, I only trust that to God. So I’m not sure why wanting to stay in contact with a loved one is not recommended and may damage my spirit.
Any light you can shed is greatly appreciated.
Peter
Hi Peter,
Thanks for stopping by, and for telling your story. I’m glad to hear that our website is so helpful to you and your friends. And I’m very sorry to hear about your partner’s suicide.
As covered in the above article, the main danger in seeking out contact with spirits is that the spirits on the other end will be unenlightened or lying spirits who will convey and confirm many false ideas that the person on earth will believe to be absolutely true because they came from the spiritual world. In the worst-case scenario, evil spirits will use this sort of deception to lead a person into destructive beliefs, attitudes, and actions.
When the purpose of the person on earth is simply to make contact with a deceased loved one, this danger is greatly diminished, or eliminated altogether, if the person sticks to that purpose, and doesn’t move on to seeking information about God, spirit, religion, and so on, from spirits.
The conveying of “information” can also be initiated from the other side. If you find your medium sessions veering over toward “teaching” you things about about God, the afterlife, and how to attain spiritual life, or even about past, present, or future events here on earth, this is a warning sign. At minimum, no such information should be considered any more trustworthy or authoritative than if someone here on earth were telling you the same thing. It is possible that what they are telling is is true. But it is also possible that what they are telling us is not true. We must “test the spirits” just as we test people here on earth, and make our own informed decisions about what to believe, regardless of its source.
One other caveat is that in the spiritual world, it is relatively easy for spirits to access the contents of one another’s minds. You mention that the medium passed on things that would have meaning only to you and your partner. However, since thoughts can be shared as easily as words in the spiritual world, other spirits could well learn and know these things as well. Yes, they would still come from your partner. But just as they are coming to you through a medium here on earth, they could be coming through other spirits who serve as mediums on the other side. Even if it feels like you’re having a direct conversation, be aware that there may be more than one intermediary (your medium) in on the conversation.
The danger here is that if there are indeed intermediaries on the spiritual-world side of the conversation, one of them could at some point attempt to hijack the conversation, and begin misleading you, while pretending to speak as your partner. I say this, not to make you distrust that your partner is indeed on the other side, but to encourage you to keep your wits about you. If there comes a time when something doesn’t feel right about the conversation, and it is leading you somewhere you don’t want to go, trust your gut. Don’t allow yourself to be led down that path. Forewarned is forearmed.
Meanwhile, if it is simply a matter of gaining confidence that your partner is indeed still alive and well in the spiritual world, and the same person as before, and of having some ongoing contact, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Just be sure you are continuing to live your life here on earth. Since you are still here, God still has work for you to do here. You must keep your head and your shoulders turned toward that work, even if a part of you is with your partner in the spiritual world.
I hope this helps.
Thanks Lee!
I always keep my wits! That’s actually a scary thought that in the spiritual world that pranksters and evil spirits have unfettered access to your memories.. yikes! I was hoping there’d be some sort of protection for this.
Meanwhile much of what has been conveyed is what he has been working on completely in line with your article “Suicide; does it work?”
That’s what I spend my time talking with him about
Hi Peter,
I wouldn’t say they have unfettered access. However, thoughts and feelings are shared much more easily in the spiritual world than here. Angels are able to read the entire memory of newcomers to the spiritual world, both to provide them with the care and guidance they need during their transition and to confront those who attempt to deny their immoral and criminal actions during their lifetime on earth. Further, before long, everyone’s facial expression and spoken words express exactly what they think and feel. However, it is possible to remain silent, and it is possible to withdraw from spirits who have negative or nefarious reasons for reading one’s thoughts. The main point is that you can’t take it for granted that people’s private thoughts and feelings will remain private in the spiritual world. As Jesus said, what is whispered in the ear will be shouted from the rooftops.
Hi lee, swedenborg says that nearly apl of the world of spirits is full of evil spirits, i notice he mentions enthusiastic spirits are the most likely to come through during spirit contact. Swedenborg says that enthusiastic spirits think that they are the messiah and assume they are highest truth.
Question is although swedenborg says that enthusiastic spirits think that they are christ is it possible that they can think they are other masters or a persons higher self ?
To further explain this there seems to be a trend in channeling where people talk of speaking to ascended masters , others like edgar cayce talk about recieving their information from the akashic records, Theosophy speaks of recieving i formation from mahatmas or tibetan masters.
In all of these the apparent source of information comes from infallible sources yet there is clear problems in them such as talks of atlantis, conflicting reincarnation theories amongst others.
Would you say that this is evidence that these people are receiving information or being given visions by enthusiastic spirits ?
Hi AJ749,
It was only before the Last Judgment in 1757 that the world of spirits was mostly full of evil spirits. As part of that Last Judgment, God cleared them out of the world of spirits, and sent them packing to hell. Since then, no one is allowed to stay in the world of spirits for more than the equivalent of a few decades before going to their final home in heaven or in hell. This means that the world of spirits is no longer choked with evil spirits as it was before the most recent Last Judgment. (There is a “Last Judgment” at the end of every major spiritual era.)
As for “enthusiastic spirits” (which really means “fanatical spirits”), yes, they can impersonate all sorts of historic personages, not just Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit. An example recently brought up here is the “Swedenborg” who was supposedly channeled by the medium James Padgett. This “Swedenborg” sounded nothing like the real Swedenborg, and proceeded to repudiate everything Swedenborg wrote. It is very easy for spirits, even non-fanatical ones, to pose as figures known to history, and mislead mediums, people who consult mediums, people doing “psychic regressions” to “experience past lives,” and so on. The “Jesus” that James Padgett channeled was also clearly a fake, who contradicted much of what Jesus himself said in the Gospels.
Precisely because these communications come from the spiritual world, people who do not understand how the spiritual world works, and who therefore don’t know how easy it is for evil spirits to deceive people, commonly come away from these encounters thinking that they have “infallible sources” from “ascended masters,” and so on. This is precisely why, as covered in the above article, spirits and spirit contacts are not a good source of information about God, the spiritual world, and our spiritual life. Most of it is just plain wrong. But much of it is mixed together with plausible-sounding stuff to give it a deceptive veneer of truth.
Hi lee thanks for that it does make sense and especially why for instance the with the james padgett writings he was a medium for so many people but as well especially if the enthusiastic spirits are deluded which would explain the more sillier notions like atlantis, root races ascended masters etc
Hi Lee,
More on James Padgett – I read one volume of his channeled messages and you are very right. He started channeling first his deceased wife, then his colleagues, then “Jesus”. Jesus supposedly professed to be not the “Son of God” but a human being who retained all of God’s divine love within himself, which he was to teach. His death held no symbolism for salvation or absolution, he was simply an embodied divine love spirit, unlike all the rest of us.
Additionally, Mr. Padgett, in messages from his wife, mother, Jesus, and others – claimed that all human souls prior to birth were “duplex” or double entities who split from their counterparts. In other words, we’re all walking around in separation from our eternal soulmates and will be reunited upon death…..IF we can be reborn of spirit in Jesus’ name and make it into God’s celestial kingdom, vs simply “paradise”. Considering this material is a century old, this is unusual. I doubt Padgett had access to information on Taoism/Confuscianism (yin/yang polarities) and he certainly beat out the New Age movement on soulmates by many decades. Interestingly, he claims that his 9 years of channeled material entailed Jesus’ Second Coming, starting in 1914 – which aligned with the actual Jehovah’s Witnesses predictions for Christ’s return and the beginning of the End-Times.
Would love to hear your thoughts on this “Padgett-ry”. 🙂
~JR
Hi Jonathan,
Thanks for stopping by, and for your thoughts. Padgett-ry. Haha!
I’ve only read a few parts of Padgett’s messages, including the ones from “Swedenborg” and some of the ones from “Jesus.” It is based on these few messages that I concluded that he was speaking with spirits impersonating various figures, and using those impersonations to mislead him.
About human souls originally being “duplex” entities, there is a major ancient source for this idea that could have been quite familiar to Padgett or to the spirits with whom he was in contact. Check out:
Wikipedia -> Symposium (Plato) -> Aristophanes
The speech of Aristophanes in Plato’s Symposium is regarded by Classics buffs as one of Plato’s best pieces of writing.
And . . . it would be highly ironic if Christ’s Second Coming involved a denial that Christ is God. Sort of defeats the whole purpose, doesn’t it?
Oh yes, I definitely knew about Aristophanes and even a kabbalistic text, TREATISE ON THE THE LEFT EMANATION from the 13th Century.
I also don’t preclude basic psychology either – Padgett twas a deeply bereaved widower who contacted a psychic spiritualist at seances to get in touch with her. She then encouraged him to cultivate his gift of automatic writing. As you know, the crux of his content about Jesus as the messiah is that it had nothing to do with absolution, resurrection, or original sin – it was to teach mankind how to be reborn of spirit and convert one’s soul from mortal to divine. Most souls never progress beyond “paradise” (the 6th Sphere) to the true Kingdom of God (7th/Celestial). Also, the soulmate issue – most humans are not incarnated with their soulmate during life (which means everyone’s earthly relations are all for naught) although HE certainly was.
Spirit communication is real. But, there are a LOT of tricksters/interlopers out there. I have heard of “multiple Jesus’s” too – supposedly several dozen masquerading as the true Nazarene. Authentic messages, to ME, are akin to something like brief visitations from the recently departed to comfort and assure us they are fine (I can vouch for that), but NOT a decade’s worth of expository writing proclaiming the biblical writers got it all wrong…… ;-/
Hi Jonathan,
I agree that brief contacts with the spiritual world on the part of bereaved people can be reassuring and good for the person’s emotional and spiritual state. But yes, when that gets extended into a long series of contacts, it gives the spirits on the other side an opportunity to worm their way into the person’s mind, and impart many misleading messages.
Many of these “alternative” spiritual paths appeal to people’s ego. “I’m going to be one of the enlightened ones, and attain to the highest levels of the spiritual realms.” But as Jesus made abundantly clear, walking the spiritual path is not about being the highest and ruling over other people, but about serving other people. Many people aspire to be gods. But we are meant to be willing servants. As for me, if my lot is to be “a gatekeeper in the house of my God” (Psalm 84:10), that will be enough for me.
I do have a different view of Jesus’ mission here on earth, and its effects, than that of Nicene Christianity—as you can see if you read some of the articles here on those subjects. However, this does not involve demoting Jesus to the status of a super-enlightened human being, but rather promoting him to being the one and only God of the universe, who came personally to save us. See:
The Logic of Love: Why God became Jesus
I also reject the reincarnationist view of things, which obviates the issue of whether our soulmate will be “incarnated” at the same time we are. But I do believe that true spiritual marriage is eternal. There are articles here about all of these topics.
Read your article on Jesus as being God (love) incarnate. That makes perfect sense. Interestingly, this IS what Padgett was arguing so I wouldn’t call that errant. However, in his duplex soul argument, he is claiming that all human beings EXCEPT Jesus “split” dualistically from their counterparts in order to adopt form and individuate each half. The miracle of Jesus’ incarnation, accordingly, was that he retained both dualities/polarities and was therefore divine love incarnated. Padgett trashes the Virgin Birth and blood atonement. As you pointed out, it makes perfect sense that an accomplished lawyer, who no doubt was well learned in philosophy, would have had prior exposure to the Platonic framework of soul existence (double-faced, 4-armed, 4 legged beach balls 😀 ). Throw in the bereavement factor, and it made him a ripe target for tricksters.
I had read before Swedenborg’s take on the marriage-in-heaven and he was the first Christian I’d ever come across who left open the possibility of heavenly matrimony. If that is true, I don’t think EVERYBODY will partake in that or even have an interest in it. And it’s certainly not a “pre-birth” betrothal, a la soul duplexity, but rather a continuation of what transpired between living human beings who MET one another. Minus of course the cloying drama that wrecks human relationships on Earth now…..
Hi Jonathan,
I would not say that Jesus is simply (abstract) love incarnated, though that is true. Rather, Jesus is God incarnated. And not some supposed “second Person” of God (which is not biblical), but the one God in totality taking human form: “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Colossians 2:9).
It is complicated, because during his life on earth, Jesus also had a finite human part from his human mother Mary. But that was temporary, not permanent. His inner soul was God. There was no “Son born from eternity” (another non-biblical idea), but a Son born in time, which was God becoming flesh and dwelling among us, as stated poetically in John 1. Here is my general article on the actual Trinity that exists in God:
Who is God? Who is Jesus Christ? What about that Holy Spirit?
It really isn’t much like what Padgett says, from what I know of Padgett.
Swedenborg did accept the Virgin Birth as a key part of his theology. He rejected the Catholic dogma of the immaculate conception of Mary.
He did not, however, accept the blood atonement as taught in traditional Christianity, especially in Western Christianity. He rejected satisfaction theory and substitutionary atonement altogether. His view of the atonement is closer to the much older Christus Victor view of atonement that is still held to in Eastern Christianity, I believe. He saw the blood of Christ as symbolic, not literal. Here is an article that covers the meaning of the flesh and blood of Jesus as represented in the Eucharist:
Eat My Flesh, Drink My Blood
The concept held to in Western Christianity of the Jewish sacrifices, and of the meaning of Christ’s sacrifice, is deeply flawed. It has little to do with the meaning of sacrifice in the Bible. This will be the subject of a future two-part article here.
Hi Jonathan,
Since I don’t believe in reincarnation or in pre-existing souls, of course I don’t believe that human souls were originally dual, and then split from one another and were born separately.
There is symbolic meaning to this idea, however.
In the first two chapters of Genesis, God creates humans male and female in God’s image, and together they are called adam, or “humankind,” as summarized a few chapters later:
But after Genesis 2:18, when the first mention is made of something that is “not good,” adam, or humanity, is symbolically split so that the female is now separate from the male.
I do not believe this literally means that humans were originally androgynous. Rather, I believe this means that men and women originally were in a full union of mind and heart such that a married couple formed, in a sense, one human being. Once again, one human being not literally and physically, but in mind and heart, such that the two of them thought, felt, and acted together as if they were one. This is also the state of true spiritual marriage.
I also believe it means that originally there was not the separation, division, and inequality between man and woman that developed subsequently, and that has been the state of fallen humankind ever since—though we are now finally working our way back to God’s original plan for man and woman.
I believe this original oneness of mind and heart between man and woman, which was later broken when humans began falling away from the original state in which God created us, is the origin of the ancient myths about humans originally being a single “dual” being that was later split when the gods became angry with them. For a related article, please see:
Man, Woman, and the Two Creation Stories of Genesis
As for how it actually works for people who become “soulmates,” I have come to believe that it is a combination of couples being born for each other under God’s providence and couples growing into one another’s partner through married life with one another. But that is a complex subject—more than can be covered in a comment.
In particular, I believe that each human being is a brand new soul created at the time of conception from unique offshoots of both parents’ souls in a spiritual process parallel to the physical process of gamete formation and union to create a new physical human being. I do not believe there are any pre-existing souls, nor do I believe that a soul is infused into a human being at some point between conception and birth. Rather, I believe that a new soul is formed in parallel with the formation of the new body, and in fact, is the spiritual source of the formation of the physical body.
About marriage in the afterlife, I believe it is available to all people who have learned and chosen to live from love for other people rather than for love of self. Some such people may choose to be celibate in heaven, but experience with humans here on earth suggests the vast majority will choose to be married. As you say, this will be when the dramas that destroy relationships and marriages here on earth have been put behind us in the spiritual world.
Contrary to popular belief, Jesus did not say that there is no marriage in heaven. See:
Didn’t Jesus Say There’s No Marriage in Heaven?
If “non-ceremonial magic” – that didn’t involve working with spirits – really worked in the natural world (like “telekinesis”), would such be sinful? I don’t see how it would, unless it was rebelling against God (1 Samuel 15:23) or otherwise was against the Ten Commandments.
Hi K,
Magic was forbidden to the ancient Israelites because they (like most people on earth) were very physical-minded. Magic (not the sleight-of-hand that today’s show “magicians” do) involves using mental and spiritual forces to accomplish things. Since the Israelites were physical-minded, they were also very superstitious about anything that they couldn’t see, hear, taste, touch, and so on with their physical senses. If they had engaged in magical practices, it would have pulled their minds off into superstition and darkness, and pulled them away from focusing their lives on following God’s commandments.
The same is true of physical-minded people today, which is probably the bulk of the world’s population. For such people, the Old Testament ban on magic is still in effect—or should be. This includes fundamentalist and most evangelical Christians, who still take that biblical ban literally, and avoid magical practices—as they should.
For people whose minds have moved away from a physical focus and toward a spiritual focus, many such bans in the Bible are no longer necessary or binding. Of course, people still have to follow the basic laws of the Ten Commandments, no matter how advanced they are spiritually. But the multitude of other laws in the Old Testament mostly don’t apply anymore, as even traditional Christians generally recognize. (But they still pick and choose which ones to enforce and which ones to ignore.)
This transition from physical-mindedness to spiritual-mindedness is what Paul was referring to in his letters when he spoke of no longer being under the Law, but under faith. But that’s a whole subject unto itself!
About magic specifically, for spiritually-minded people, there are still dangers involved, but nothing that requires a total ban. There is such a thing as black magic, and there is black magic that masquerades as white magic. In my view, it’s still best for people of faith to avoid magic altogether. Why is it necessary at all?
But for those New Agey types who want to do “magical” things, and are spiritually-oriented in their thinking, while also being good-hearted and caring people, there is not the same kind of danger in dabbling in magic as there was for the ancient Israelites, and as there still is for physical-minded people today, including literalistic and physical-minded Christians.
In the afterlife, what we consider “magic” is possible there – like spirits being able to fly, or an angel boy appearing as a dove (IIRC). I take it that such “magic” has no danger there?
(thanks for the reply)
Hi K,
Yes, these sorts of things happen all the time in heaven, with no danger at all. Angels can fly if they want to, though more often they walk on the ground like the rest of us. And from a distance people often look like animals that correspond to their state of mind. A dove represents spiritual truth, or faith. People who are thinking about faith and spiritual understanding may look like a dove from a distance. But as you approach them, they will look like themselves—human beings.
BTW, you said “In my view, it’s still best for people of faith to avoid magic altogether. Why is it necessary at all?”. I think that if magic were possible, a good use of it would be to overcome the limitations of the physical without having to rely on technology. It’s like reality crippled us, and we have to build wheelchairs to move around. But as far as I know, magic is at least normally impossible in life, so we have to rely on tech to overcome limits.
If magic did work, we could purify water without expensive water treatment plants, preserve food without refrigeration, be able to fly so cars aren’t needed, or explore the universe with “remote viewing” instead of expensive and risky space travel with technology.
It’s good the afterlife isn’t as limiting as the physical though.
Hi K,
Yes, the afterlife is where we can do all those things without the need for technology. Though given the crop of people entering the spiritual world in the past few centuries, I suspect there is now technology in the spiritual world as well. Many people from our world wouldn’t feel comfortable without it.
Meanwhile, technology does provide jobs and a livelihood for billions of people, and makes it possible for the earth to support a larger community. Yes, we have some kinks to work out so that we don’t destroy the earth with our technology. But those efforts are already well underway, mostly driven by individual entrepreneurs and investors who are rapidly moving technology in a greener direction.
Some argue that too much tech is bad for mental health and a healthy society. I think it’s also possible that given spiritual capabilities, people who are used to tech could go for the “magic” way of doing the same thing, like how someone who is healed from being unable to walk would ditch the wheelchair or crutches. Like why use a phone when there’s “telepathy”, for example?
Anyway it’s good to know that reality won’t always be so limiting.
Hi K,
Technology can be bad for us, depending on the particular tech, and how it is used. Obviously if a nuclear bomb is dropped on a city, it is very bad for physical and mental health. And to use a less extreme example, playing music way too loud through speakers or headphones can cause long-term damage to people’s ears.
But in general, there are more of us, and we’re living longer, than ever before, thanks in part to our technology. So it’s hard to make a good argument that the overall effects of technology on humans is deleterious.
Also, easier ways to do things aren’t always preferred. Why climb a mountain when you could take a helicopter to the top? Because the experience of climbing has its own rewards, and you appreciate the view from the top more if you had to work to achieve it. Doing things by magic wouldn’t necessarily be better for us than having to work to achieve them.
But yes, reality won’t always be so limiting. In the spiritual world, we have a lot more choices about how to get things done, and where we want to put our energy.
PS: Also if something like money can go away in Heaven, I think it’s also possible that excess tech could go away in Heaven as well for this reason too. Many things people are used to in the physical (like being a banker or a prison guard) obviously won’t be in Heaven.
Hi K,
There actually are prison guards in heaven, though technically they work in hell. Swedenborg speaks of angels whose job it is to monitor various parts of hell and keep the evil spirits’ destructive activities within certain boundaries, so that they don’t get out of hand.
Everything that exists here on earth does exist in the spiritual world, though in a spiritual form. There is “currency” in the spiritual world, but that currency is information and ideas. In heaven it is shared freely. In hell it is guarded jealously. And it does indeed appear as gold, silver, jewels, and other valuable objects, via correspondences.
As for whether we’ll still use tech, that’s an interesting question. I tend to think that many people still will, because that’s what they’re used to, and that’s what they enjoy. Will someone who peaked in the 1950s have to give up their muscle cars and 8-tracks in heaven? It probably wouldn’t feel like heaven to them if they couldn’t have those things.
“Everything that exists here on earth does exist in the spiritual world, though in a spiritual form.”
I still think there’d be exceptions – at least in Heaven. Like I don’t think they’d use medieval torture devices in Heaven, or wear face masks forever (as there’s no COVID-19 in Heaven).
I think the World of Spirits would resemble this world more than Heaven or hell, and like you write in the article above, that’s where spirits being contacted could be from.
Hi K,
Yes, I meant in the spiritual world as a whole, which includes heaven, the world of spirits, and hell.
Another question:
Despite what Swedenborg says about animals not having immortality (IIRC), is it possible that beloved pets could be brought back in Heaven? What about people contacting the spirits of departed pets?
Hi K,
On the question of our pets in the afterlife, please see:
Will We See our Pets Again in Heaven?
We can continue the conversation there if you wish.
Can god send angels to us in our dreams, or do we have to be fully awake and conscience? I once had a vivid memorable dream that I hope was a real person, and not my mind playing tricks on me while sleeping.
Waking up from the dream gave me great hope and comfort. I just hope it pertained to future events.
Hi tammi85,
Yes, it is very common for God to send angels to give us messages and experiences that will be helpful to us in walking our spiritual path. This happens many times in the Bible, and many people today also have that experience.
I’m of the opinion that most psycics are frauds taking advantage of suffering people for their own financial gain.
Hi tammi85,
I tend to agree.
You’ve obviously never been to a very good one.
I have been to at least two mediums who told me very detailed personal things about both me and the deceased that defy any other explanation.
Especially one where the medium seemed confused by what she was telling me and thought that it made no sense and yet it made perfect sense to me.
It was something so arcane that only the deceased and I knew about it.
Hi Peter,
Thanks for stopping by, and for your comments.
I’ve never been to a spirit medium at all, for reasons detailed in the above article. I’m sure some of them are sincere, and that they do help a lot of people to feel that their loved ones are still alive in the spiritual world and are still the same person they knew here on earth. Beyond that, though, I simply don’t think they’re a good source of information about the spiritual world, as covered in the above article.
Hi Lee, I agree with you!
The genuine ones will tell you they don’t get any impression at all about what it’s like there and that spirits usually will not tell them much about it.
Some can tell you who the deceased is with (family members, friends), oftentimes in detail.
If they are an empath, they can tell you how the person is feeling, their regrets and their accomplishments while here.
It’s quite fascinating to watch the medium as they go through the process and the level of energy exhaustion when it’s over.
I had one who went on for almost two hours; barely asking me a single question. She provided detail with 90%+ accuracy.
You simply cannot keep up a “trick” for almost two hours with that kind of accuracy no matter how good an actor the person is.
There are also the documented cases where they have helped police solve crimes. One in Louisiana where the psychic from California actually took the stand for the prosecution.
Hi Peter,
Very interesting. If a medium is not trying to tell you about the spiritual world and what it is like, then that is one indication that the communication may be genuine.
I don’t reject the possibility of communication with the spiritual world. Even in the Bible, God often sends angels to carry messages to people on earth. But I am generally skeptical of communication with the spiritual world when it is initiated from our side. Once again, I don’t reject it altogether, but in my mind there’s a fairly high bar for authenticity. And in general, though I know many people will consult mediums after a loved one has died, I think it’s best to get our understanding of the spiritual world from other sources.
You haven’t been to a good one. There are a lot of frauds out there, but there are also the genuine ones as well.
In Deuteronomy 18:12 (KJV) it says:
“For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.”
I imagine that contacting spirits is not inherently morally wrong (although it can be risky), yet such was forbidden to the ancient Israelites because of their (lack of) spiritual state? And the other peoples in the land at the time weren’t exactly in the best moral state, making them appear to be “abominable” to God?
PS: And of course, working with evil spirits is probably not a good idea anyway.
Hi K,
Yes. The ancient Jews were forbidden to contact spirits precisely because they were not spiritual people. That is very clear even from a cursory reading of the Old Testament with this in mind. There is hardly a word about any afterlife. But there are long passages about all the material rewards that will be showered upon people who obey God’s commandments, and all the pain, misery, destitution, and death that will be meted out to those who don’t.
People whose minds are in a materialistic state will attract to them materialistic spirits appropriate to that state. And materialistic spirits are generally not good spirits. They are likely to lead such people astray rather than leading them in a good direction. That’s why there are strictures against contacting spirits in the Old Testament.
And all who did those things in those lands were “an abomination unto the LORD” – or rather it appeared that way – and those things were “abominations” because of their spiritual state?
(thanks again for the responses BTW)
Hi K,
You’re welcome. I do enjoy thinking and writing about these things.
Presumably those people and their practices were abominations because the materialistic spirits they contacted led them to engage abominable actions such as child sacrifice and temple prostitution.
Hi Lee,
I have a question.
There is a group of people that are part of the parapsychology community called Society for Psychical Research they’ve been around a long time I think 1800s? but they where saying that all NDEs or anything spiritual is “Super Psy” so it’s just the NDEr / person that’s creating the spirits and afterlife via (psychokinesis / telekinesis) or (‘secondary personality’) or they are just tapping into the subconscious of other people /the collective which is how they are experiencing the afterlife, not from a real afterlife or real spirit / angel.
I feel like the parapsychology community is always trying to debunk in any way possible from the fact that spirits and the afterlife are real. To them it can’t be true it has to be something else.
They have their own “peer reviewed journal” on this stuff “ Psychophysiology is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Society for Psychophysiological Research.“ I just copied what came up on google.
Here is their website below:
https://sprweb.org/
But I have a hunch they are looking at this through a materialist view.
This was bothering me so I just wanted to ask for your guidance on this.
Thank you so much Lee
Hi Sam,
First, a little bit of digging showed that the Society for Psychical Research, which was founded in 1882, is not the same organization as the Society for Psychophysiological Research, which, according to its About/History page at the link you posted, was founded in 1960.
I don’t have any particular knowledge of either organization. However, the statement on “What is Psychophysiology?” on the Society for Psychophysiological Research’s History page makes it pretty clear that this organization considers consciousness to be a function of the physical brain and body. In particular, that statement says:
And:
While the statement doesn’t come right out and say that it is talking about physical organisms, I would be very surprised if a body that bills itself as a scientific organization would include Swedenborg’s concept of spiritual organisms in its definition of “organism.”
As I said in a recent comment in response to another reader here, as long as our mind—which, from a Swedenborgian point of view, is a purely spiritual phenomenon—is connected to our physical body, it does operate in connection with the body, and has limits imposed upon it by the physical body that are not intrinsic to itself. Do give that comment a read also. (The first part of the comment is on a different subject.) The mind/spirit also expresses itself in the physical body, so that the physical brain and body are correlated with the thoughts, desires, and intentions of the mind.
Whether or not this organization’s members are trying to “debunk” the idea that NDEs and such are spiritual phenomena, and take place in the spiritual world, since this is a scientific organization, and its definition of its area of study fairly clearly means that it is assumed that human consciousness and psychology is a function of the brain and of the physical organism as a whole, the idea that NDEs could be non-physical probably just isn’t considered a valid idea.
That doesn’t mean their research is useless. As I just mentioned, the mind/spirit does express itself in the body, including in the brain, as long as we are alive in our physical body. This means that there is indeed a correlation and relationship between the mind and the physical body and its functions. Therefore the study of physical phenomena that are associated with consciousness and psychology can yield some interesting knowledge and information.
Ultimately, though, I do not believe that the study of the physical organism of the human body will yield any sound understanding of the nature of consciousness itself. As of now, scientists still have no idea what consciousness is or how it works from a scientific perspective. There are theories, but nothing that really nails down consciousness. And I do not believe physical science will ever be able to nail down consciousness, because I believe consciousness is spiritual, not physical.
Also, this organization, the Society for Psychophysiological Research, would likely object strenuously to being included in “the parapsychology community.” Parapsychology is all about psychic phenomena, which is not what the Society for Psychophysiological Research is studying. I presume that that part of what you mention in your comment probably comes from the other, older organization, the Society for Psychical Research.
But to get to the point, the idea that spiritual experiences are not experiences of any actual spiritual realm, but are simply generated by the person’s unconscious mind, or the subconscious mind of other people, or some collective unconscious, has been around for a long time. In ordinary language, it’s called “hallucination.” It’s experiences of things generated by the human mind that have no reality outside the mind.
Swedenborg’s experiences of the spiritual world, of course, were rejected as hallucinations right from the start by many of his opponents. Other theories were that he was fabricating the whole thing, and that he was possessed by evil spirits. Many people have claimed that Swedenborg was insane or had a mental illness. There is even an entire biography of him (Emanuel Swedenborg, Scientist and Mystic, by Signe Toksvig, first published in 1948) that considers all of Swedenborg’s spiritual experiences to be experiences generated by his subconscious mind. For several decades after its publication, it was the most popular biography of Swedenborg. Now, however, it seems quite dated.
Of course, people who don’t believe in the reality of the spiritual world have to come up with such explanations. They can’t accept that there could be any genuine spiritual experiences that actually take place in the spiritual world precisely because they don’t believe there is a spiritual world. So it’s not surprising that such people reject not only Swedenborg’s spiritual experiences, but all spiritual experiences, including NDEs, OBEs, visions of Christ, and so on, as being actual spiritual experiences. They are bound to consider them phenomena generated by the brain, if not outright fabrications by the people who report them.
As for me, none of their views and opinions concern me. I feel no need to reject the reality of God and spirit. I therefore have no problem thinking that, although there certainly are liars and charlatans who fake spiritual experiences and phenomena, in general when people report spiritual experiences, those experiences are genuine.
Of course, the spiritual realm is very complex. In particular, not every spiritual experience is a waking experience of the spiritual world such as Swedenborg had. Many of them are generated visions and dreams that are more like spiritual movies than like walking around in the streets of the spiritual world. But once we understand this, and several other principles describing how the spiritual world works (its laws are not the same as the laws of the physical world), then the various dreams, visions, and spiritual experiences fall neatly into place, and form a coherent pattern.
I don’t know if I’ve answered your question, but I hope these thoughts help you to wrap your head around all of this.
Hi Lee,
So sorry for the confusion of the different groups, I didn’t even realize but thank you for catching that!
And thank you for your response as well. I just have to realize that people are always going to reject God, the spirit world, and angels. And when peoples starting point is the physical to explain the spiritual, no wonder it’s all matter based so all results they get will only follow suit.
What about psychokinesis? (movement or production of physical objects by the mind without use of physical means) I didn’t understand this one as one of their “explanations”.
Also, yes I’ve remembered hearing I forgot the name of the university but it wasn’t long ago they came up with a new “explanation” of “hallucinations but still being able to live a normal life” along with a form of schizophrenia as a “diagnosis” for Swedenborg. Of course this is from a materialist perspective. And they don’t see the body as a tool of the spirit but the actual source. So I have to keep in mind of course they’re going to arrive at a conclusion like that.
Which this has been going on for thousands of years like you said, “the idea that the soul is some sort of wispy ethereal physical thing goes back thousands of years.” And “…its definition of its area of study fairly clearly means that it is assumed that human consciousness and psychology is a function of the brain and of the physical organism as a whole, the idea that NDEs could be non-physical probably just isn’t considered a valid idea.”
Thank you again Lee, this has helped me put things into perspective of how our starting point of looking at things either materialistically or spiritually really do determine the outcome.
Hi Sam,
Yep, that about sums it up.
And yes, various materialists and skeptics have “diagnosed” Swedenborg as schizophrenic. I find it very funny that some of them have resorted to inventing a form of hallucination or schizophrenia that still allows a person to live a normal life.
The problem for them is that Swedenborg did live a very normal life. Yes, shortly after his death some of his theological enemies started rumors of him going crazy. Those rumors have even made it into some biographies. But the rumors were investigated thoroughly at the time, and were found to have no basis. Not a single person who knew him said that anything like that had ever happened. It was all pure fabrication by his enemies. The people who knew him said that although they found his visions strange, he was always fully rational, very kind, and a complete gentleman. Swedenborg even continued to take his seat in the Swedish House of Nobles, and to submit position papers to that body, for the rest of his life whenever he was in Sweden.
Do we really diagnose a person with an illness when there’s nothing wrong with him, and he’s living a completely normal, stable, and rational life?
No. This is just an attempt by people who don’t believe in God and spirit to write off Swedenborg’s spiritual experiences, so that they can continue to reject God and spirit. It’s the same thing they do to all spiritual experiences and spiritual literature. They reject it all out of hand, and then go looking for “scientific” and “rational” reasons to reject it.
In reality, this is the opposite of the rationality and scientific method that they claim to follow. Science and reason do not form a conclusion first, and then go looking for evidence to support it, accepting what does support it and rejecting what doesn’t. That’s not science and reason. It’s confirmation bias.
I meant to write in my last reply my follow question would be
What about psychokinesis? (movement or production of physical objects by the mind without use of physical means) I dont understand this one as one of their debunking “explanations”. Like if it exists how would that mean anything in relation to the spiritual reality? Wouldn’t both be able to co exist? Why would they interpret something like that as debunking? Plus would this psychokinesis be considered physical reality since it’s happening in the material reality?
Thank you so much again Lee!
Hi Sam,
I’m not sure what “debunking” you’re referring to. I’m also not an expert on psychic phenomena. I’ve looked into it a little over the years. But honestly, I’m just not that interested in it, for reasons I’ll go into shortly.
Theoretically, from a Swedenborgian point of view, telekenesis and psychokinesis should be possible. Although the physical cannot see or act upon the spiritual, the spiritual can see and act upon the physical. So I don’t reject the possibility that some people can move physical objects with their mind.
Back in the 1960s or 1970s there was a big hubbub about some guru who claimed to be able to bend spoons with his mind. Perhaps he could. But I suspect most of the people who claim to be able to do telekinesis and psychokinesis are magicians and fakers out to make a buck and make a name for themselves.
Besides, what’s so great about bending spoons? When you’re all done, what do you have? A bent spoon that you can no longer use to eat your soup! I can tell you right now that if my siblings and I had gotten busy and bent all the silverware in the house with our minds, our mother would not have been happy! 😀
Really, it’s just parlor tricks. Who cares if you can bend a spoon with your mind? What does it really accomplish?
Why do people put such great importance on physical things? Some fundamentalist Christians are all hyped up about faith healing and walking on hot coals and handling poisonous snakes. Yes, it is nice for handicapped people to be fully able again. And it’s nifty to be able to handle venomous snakes and walk on hot coals. But these are just earthly things. Compared to spiritual things, they are short term and unimportant.
The real miracles are miracles of the heart. When hard-hearted, mean, and selfish people are reached by the Gospel, their heart is softened, and they begin to live a new life of love for God and the neighbor, that is a real miracle! And it’s a miracle that has positive effects to eternity.
So . . . I’m just not that interested in telekinesis. It doesn’t impress me. It’s great for the tabloids, but it doesn’t make much difference in anyone’s life—especially in their spiritual and eternal life.
This is also why for the most part, miracles died out in Christianity not long after the lifetimes of the original Apostles. The miracles recorded in the Bible were aimed at getting the attention of people in a very materialistic, physical-minded culture. But the purpose of getting their attention was to lift their minds and hearts up to a more spiritual level, if they were willing to be lifted up.
Once that was accomplished with the initial round of converts, miracles were no longer necessary because the early Christians were focused on the spiritual miracles of salvation and a new life in Christ.
Now, for genuine Christians, the point of Jesus’ miracles is their inner meaning, symbolizing miracles of the healing of the human heart when the power of the Lord enters into it.
Even today, there are Christian preachers who claim to be able to do this or that miracle. Most of them are charlatans. But even if some of them are genuine, it doesn’t show that they are especially great Christians. It shows that their minds are still mired in physical and earthly thinking. Otherwise they would not be interested in physical miracles. They would be focused on the spiritual miracles of repentance, personal reformation, and a new life of love and kindness.
When I see Christian pastors doing miracles, and people flocking to see them, it does not impress me. Rather, I think of it as a throwback to the early days of Christianity before the early converts were raised up to a more spiritual level. God still allows those pastors to operate because there are still many physical-minded people on this earth. But true Christianity is not a religion focused on outward behavior and physical miracles. It is a religion focused on “faith,” meaning on an internal understanding of and dedication to spiritual truth, and to living by it.
This transition from external, behavioral religion to inner, understanding-driven religion was the great paradigm shift from ancient Judaism to early Christianity.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for the Christian Church itself to become worldly and corrupt. That is why, according to Swedenborg, that church has reached its end, and a new church is now taking its place. See:
Is the World Coming to an End? What about the Second Coming?
Well, this response took off in its own direction! 😉 But I hope it gives you some further thoughts as you do the good work of sorting out your own mind and your own thoughts on these important subjects.
Hi Lee,
Thank you so kindly what you wrote it makes a world of difference and really puts things into perspective of how people make up all kinds of excuses as an attempt to write off spiritual experiences like claiming telekinesis is what is creating the spirits. (That’s what they say to debunk)
Along with what they said about Swedenborg. It reminds me of how anything against the religion of scientism is automatically wrong.
And thank you for explaining telekinesis (and also for the good laugh about bending spoons!) and all the ideas and history that surround that and how at the end of the day that is something physical which is nothing really important to spiritual reality and growth.
I really appreciate your guidance because you always put things into perspective and make me realize my worries and anxiety over such topics aren’t even worth stressing about. It’s like a breath of fresh air.
Thank you very much again Lee
Hi Sam,
You are most welcome. It is my pleasure and my joy.
What about Deuteronomy 18:9-13? It clearly forbids contacting and summoning the dead.
When I meditate, I must filter out demons and all of the dead. I must just let God’s Holy Spirit come to me. I would like to have an out-of-body experience with God alone… Well, I will have visions if God wants me to.
If I involuntarily make an encounter with the dead, or more likely demons, I should say “get behind me Satan” or however the Greek word Satana should be translated, just like Jesus said to the demon possessing Peter in Matthew 16:23 and Mark 8:33. Am I right? Or wrong?
Hi World Questioner,
The above article is all about how it’s not a good idea to seek answers from spirits. You might want to read it. 😛
It’s completely different when God sends angels to speak to people. One is initiated by us from our side. The other is initiated by God from heaven.
Hi Lee,
I think it’s a little more nuanced than that. As we discussed previously, so many of us who experience prolonged grief find great comfort from being able to contact loved ones in the spirit world through a medium. If God is a loving God, he would want to allow us to alleviate grief; one of mankind’s most destructive forces.
The real question is; are you seeking “advice” from loved ones in spirit or are you simply wanting to receive messages that can help in one’s grief journey?
I would never seek “advice” from the spirit world, but I have had many of my questions answered that would have mentally ravaged me otherwise (and I see so many in my support group who continue to suffer bc they think it’s a “sin” to engage the services of a medium when it could be therapeutic)
Hi Peter,
Good point, and good distinction.
I don’t really think it’s a sin to seek contact with spirits. I just don’t think it’s a reliable source of information. But as you say, for seeking comfort about deceased loved ones, it does have its uses.
For the ancient Israelites, who were very materialistic and earthly in their thinking, seeking contact with spirits was prohibited, and was sinful, because they could not help falling into superstition and wrong practices if they were to seek out spirits. The spirits they contacted would also be materialistic spirits, corresponding to their own materialism, and they would mislead them.
Today, many people think much more spiritually than the ancient Israelites, and can therefore contact spirits without being dragged away into superstition. However, those who then get pulled into heavy spiritualism, and rely upon spirit contacts for building their religion or spiritual system, are likely to be fed a lot of beliefs that aren’t really true.
In general, my suggestion is that if people must seek out contact with their deceased loved ones, do so, but once they are satisfied that their loved ones are well and happy in the spiritual world, move on with their lives. Don’t keep going back to the medium over and over again. It will only drag people away from the realities of this life, making it harder for them to focus on the work they’re here to do.
Beyond that, Swedenborg’s writings provide us with a comprehensive view of God, the spiritual universe, the physical universe, and how they all work together. Learning how things work, what our purpose is here on earth, and what our life will be like in the spiritual world after we die, can do more to heal people who have lost a loved one than anything else.
Speaking for myself, I have no need to go to mediums about anyone I know who has died—including my parents, who I love very much—because I already know and understand where they are, and what life is like for them. See:
When Death is a Celebration
I do look forward to seeing my parents again when it comes my time to die, not to mention other people I have known who are no longer living in this world. Meanwhile, I have plenty to keep me busy here on earth.