new church life: september/october 2017
any angel or spirit, but from the Lord
alone while he read the Word, was lead
to present the teachings contained in
the Earths In The Universe, regardless
of what people of his age or any future
age might judge concerning them.
Still some have suggested that
while it is clear that Swedenborg
was totally serious and believing
about what was revealed in this
book through him, perhaps he was
somehow misled by spirits and/or
angels, at least in some cases, as to the
planets or moons with which spirits
and inhabitants were to be associated.
It is thought that the information in Swedenborg’s own mind would be a
limiting factor in this regard, not that angels, especially, would deliberately
mislead him.
I find such a position impossible to sustain in the light of what is said
in the opening passage in Arcana Coelestia, that introduces the whole inter-
chapter series there “On The Inhabitants Of Other Earths.”
Speaking of the identity of the angels, spirits and inhabitants in the
discussion to follow, Swedenborg notes that he was given “open instruction
from heaven as to whence they were.” (Arcana Coelestia 6695) What does this
mean? Were the angels responsible for the identification of the various earths? I
think not, because of how the Lord elsewhere describes how revelations are
given from heaven and indicates what is meant by such a frequently used
phrase as occurs in this number.
“Whether it be said, that these revelations are out of heaven, or are from the
Lord, it is the same; because the Divine of the Lord with the angels constitutes
heaven, and nothing whatever from the angels’ proprium (selfhood, or what
is their own).” (Apocalypse Explained 8; see also the explanation given in a
passage such as Apocalypse Revealed 943)
From other teachings I believe it is apparent that if angels unintentionally
were misleading Swedenborg as to the correct identity of some earth or moon,
Swedenborg would have perceived a sensible check within himself not to
believe them. There just does not seem to be even a whisper in any of the
relevant teachings that Swedenborg was wrong as to what planet or moon
that inhabitants were from. There are instances in which, at least for a while,
Swedenborg was not certain where some people were from, but in these cases
he is led to make this fact plain in the passage. We are not left to guess.
In general, when it
comes to where people
were from, the “open
instruction from heaven”
given to Swedenborg,
in the accounts that
were published, is
rather unequivocal.
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