The Character and Possible
Uses of the Spiritual Diary/
Spiritual Experiences
The Rev. Willard L. D. Heinrichs
F
rom time to time during probably the whole of the history of the General
Church, priests and lay people alike have been speculating and making
personal pronouncements about the character and uses of the work which
used to be known as The Spiritual Diary, but which is now generally known as
Spiritual Experiences.
The most fundamental question is whether or not this theological work,
given through the pen of Emanuel Swedenborg, is to be considered as a part of
the inspired Theological Writings – part of the Heavenly Doctrine – gifted to
the New Church by the Lord in His Second Advent.
The purpose of this essay to is offer some brief personal testimony of
what I have come to see as the character and some possible uses of this work.
I should acknowledge from the outset that I hardly think the Lord needs any
finite human to establish the credibility of any part of His Divine Revelation.
Still, I am happy to witness its impact on me.
In respect to what may be termed external evidence that such revelation
may begin with the Spiritual Diary/Spiritual Experiences, I make a special
note of a statement recorded by Swedenborg
that appears on page 20 of the Acton translation
Note: The Rev. Kurt Nemitz,
living in retirement in Pittsburgh,
of the first volume of the Spiritual Diary, and
Pennsylvania, is busily engaged
on page 213 of the first volume of the Odhner
in translating – for the first time –
the Index to The Spiritual Diary/
translation of Spiritual Experiences:
Spiritual Experiences from Latin into
English. Mr. Heinrichs notes that this
“should serve as an important and
wonderful assist to any reader and
student of the Heavenly Doctrine to
find and examine in the text of The
Spiritual Diary/Spiritual Experiences
almost any subject that the Lord
has chosen to discuss there."
1747, 7th August, old style [old calendar]; A change of
state in me, into the heavenly kingdom in an image.
From that time onward, so far as I am
aware, we have the full text of the passages that
constitute this multi-volume work. The passages
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