Ever wonder who was the smartest person who ever lived? Plato? Confucius? Newton? Aquinas? Madam Curie? Einstein? I’m sure we could add many other names to the list of highly intelligent people of history. Some human beings are simply born with an extraordinary level of native intellect. In modern times scientists have published instruments that can supposedly measure a person’s Intelligence Quotient (IQ). There is even a club, the Mensa Society, that only allows as members those with officially recorded IQs in the 98th percentile or above (50 percentile is the mean).
History
One of the most brilliant men in all of history, whose IQ was most likely far above even Mensa’s requirements, was Swedish scientist, mathematician, cosmologist, and religious visionary Emanuel Swedenborg. Swedenborg was born in 1688 in Stockholm, the son of a Lutheran bishop. He graduated from Uppsala University in 1709. He then moved to London, England, to continue his scientific studies. In 1715 he returned to Sweden where he published numerous papers and books on various topics including engineering, mining, physiology, and geology. He was regarded as Sweden’s, and one the world’s greatest, scientists.
Beginning about 1733, Swedenborg reported that he began having strange dreams and visions. In 1747, at age 59, he suddenly made a major change in his life. He left the world of science and mathematics to delve head-long into a lifetime investigation of the spiritual world. For more than twenty-five years he wrote dozens of books on theology and metaphysics. He felt God had called him to revive what he saw as a dying and lifeless church. His most famous religious works included Arcana Coelestia (“The Heavenly Knowledge”); Heaven and Hell; The True Christian Religion; The Four Doctrines; The Divine Providence; and Miscellaneous Theological Works.
Swedenborg claimed he had numerous communications with spirits of the dead and angels who told him the true understanding of the Bible. He even claimed to have talked to the spirit of Martin Luther who he convinced to recant the doctrine of salvation by faith alone. He later wrote that, according to his spiritual sources, the Scriptures all must be understood in a three-fold sense. The first sense is for this life (natural sense). The second is for the next life (spiritual sense). And the third is the sense for the angels (celestial sense). As a result of his visions and odd allegorical interpretations of Scripture, Swedenborg imagined bizarre descriptions of God, heaven and hell, and spiritual beings. Swedenborg died in 1772 in England at the age of 84.
Beliefs
Today the teachings of Swedenborg are the basis for the General Church of the New Jerusalem (or simply the New Church) and several other Swedenborgian sects. Its teachings are based on the interpretations of the Bible and the divinely inspired visionary revelations of Emanuel Swedenborg. Today, the New Church and other Swedenborgian groups claim about 7,000 members in the United States. Perhaps the most famous adherent of Swedenborgianism in America was Helen Keller. Its website (www.newchurch.org ) states this about his importance for understanding Scripture:
“Emanuel Swedenborg, an eighteenth century theologian and scientist, provided a framework for understanding the Bible’s internal meaning, as well as writing many additional volumes which shed light on why we’re here and how to develop a functional relationship with God.”
Evangelicals would respond by saying that no one, including a genius like Swedenborg, has any right to claim exclusive understanding of the Bible or to claim to have received new revelations equal to or superseding Scripture. Such claims are indicative of all cults and sects. The Bible alone is the uniquely inspired Word of God. In his case, Swedenborg’s interpretations were supposedly transmitted to him by spirits and angels who he encountered in the spirit world during his visions. This is, of course, in direct contradiction to the Bible’s warnings against engaging in occult practices like spiritism, necromancy, divination, and false prophecy. As God told the Hebrews:
9″When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 12 For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord; and because of these detestable things the Lord your God will drive them out before you. 13 You shall be blameless before the Lord your God. 14 For those nations, which you shall dispossess, listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners, but as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do so.” (Deut. 18: 9-13 NASB)
20 “But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ 21You may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’ 22 When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him” (Deut. 18: 20-22 NASB). (see also: Lev. 19:31; 20:6,27; I Sam. 28; I Chron. 10:13; Isaiah 8:19 & 19:3; 2 Kings 23:24)
It is an interesting fact that many of the major cults had their origins in the occultic activities of their founders. Joseph Smith, Jr. (Mormonism), Charles Taze Russell (Jehovah’s Witnesses), Rev. Sun Myung Moon (Unification Church), and Mary Baker Eddy (Christian Science) all dabbled in one form of the occult or another before establishing their heretical movements. Swedenborg is another prime example.
As for as the doctrine of God, Emanuel Swedenborg and the New Church can probably be regarded as having a Theistic Worldview. However, Swedenborg’s greatest error was to reject the biblical concept of the Trinity as his spirit guides instructed him. The New Church’s website states its theology about deity this way:
“There are not three gods, nor three persons in one God, but rather one God with three aspects to His being. Just as we all have a soul, a body and the actions of our lives (and are one person), so it is with God. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are names given for the soul, body and activity of the Lord God Jesus Christ.”
Swedenborg’s understanding of the incarnation of God in Christ is somewhat similar to the modalism of Oneness Pentecostalism. Jesus is the one person who became man in order to unite man with God by overcoming evil as a man.
Swedenborg also taught that Jesus’ resurrection was spiritual, not physical. Likewise, human life after death will be entirely spiritual.
In Swedenborg’s system the Holy Spirit is not a person at all, but merely the divine energy of Jesus at work in the world. “The Holy Spirit corresponds to the Lord’s activity in the world.” The Bible clearly teaches that the One Infinite and Eternal God exists eternally in Three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (Deut. 6:4; Isa. 43:10; 44:6-8; Matt. 28:19; John 4:24; 17:3)
As for salvation, the New Church teaches that it is available to all who sincerely seek God, not by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, but by repenting of sins and working to do good in the world. “The goal and purpose of Divine Providence is to create heaven from the human race and to allow each human being to live a life that leads towards heaven. Everything that the Lord does is in service of this goal. He leaves us in our freedom to make decisions that will either lead us closer to or further away from His love. This freedom is one of his greatest gifts to us, for it enables us to choose our own life-paths.”
The Bible teaches that salvation is entirely by grace through faith in Jesus Christ received by repenting of sins and accepting His sacrificial death on the cross and resurrection from the dead (Rom. 3:20; 10:9-10; Eph. 2:8-10).
Swedenborg and the New Church have a spiritualist perspective on life after death.
“Death is merely a transition of the spirit between different states of being… The soul, that is to say, our true nature beyond our physical form, awakens in the world of spirits and continues the journey that was begun on earth… We are still ourselves, we’re reunited with those we love, and we complete our personal development, choosing a home in the location most appropriate within the spiritual world.”
They do have a form of belief in heaven and hell. The final destination depends on the way a person lives life now and in the spirit world.
“The spiritual world is made up of three places: heaven, hell, and a transitional place between the two called ‘the world of spirits’. The New Church teaches that, besides being places, heaven and hell are essentially states of being. We construct our spiritual states according to the way we live. Leading a life of kindness and goodwill builds heaven in our hearts, whereas doing evil creates hell inside of us. The condition which predominates while we live on earth becomes the foundation for our eternal state.”
According to Swedenborg, those righteous people who go to heaven will become angels. This belief is similar in some ways to Mormonism.
“Once in heaven, people become angels. Angels are not a superior race of beings, but rather humans who have developed into their highest selves. Much like a caterpillar becomes a butterfly, the earthly state is a preparation for life as an angel in heaven. To become an angel, reject self-centered longings, do what is good, and love God.”
The clear teaching of Jesus and the New Testament is that life after death is determined by whether or not someone has received salvation through faith in Christ, not by works. There will be eternal life in the presence of God for those who have trusted in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. (Matt. 5:12-30; 25:41; Rev. 20-22) Hell will be final state of those who have rejected Christ (Matt. 5: 22; 10:28; 18:8,9; 25:41-46; Mark 9: 47-48; 2 Thess. 1: 8,9; Rev. 20: 10). There is no indication in Scripture that human beings ever become angels. They are two different and distinct orders of created beings.
Conclusion
Emanuel Swedenborg certainly ranks as one the most intelligent persons to ever have lived. His scientific writings and mathematical studies are among the world’s greatest publications. Whether or not he became mentally deranged, was deceived by Satan, or was simply a fraud we cannot say. Nonetheless, we can say his spiritual visions and vast body of religious writings and the doctrines of The Church of the New Jerusalem or The New Church can only be regarded as unbiblical and false.
Witnessing to Swedenborgians
You may never have the chance to meet a member of the Church of the New Jerusalem or a follower of Emanuel Swedenborg. But if the opportunity ever presents itself, here are some basic principle to keep in mind.
1. Have a clear understanding of your faith and the Bible. Know what you believe and why you believe it. Develop a sharp sense of discernment so that you can recognize unbiblical teaching because some movements may appear Christian on the surface but, when analyzed closer, are outside the bounds of historic Christianity.
2. Acquire a basic knowledge of Swedenborgian beliefs and practices. This article has presented a basic overview of some of its doctrines. Study it and other resources that explain that movement’s errors.
3. Seek to build a personal and respectful relationship with the Swedenborgian. Take time to befriend them if you can. Try to engage them in friendly nonthreatening discussion. Start by asking them how they got involved in Swedenborgianism. Were they born into it or did they join on their on?
4. Focus the discussion on the essential elements of the Christian faith. The only real issues are who is God, who is Jesus, and what is the way of salvation. Everything else is secondary.
5. Explain why you cannot regard the visions and writings of Emanuel Swedenborg as inspired by God. You may want to cite biblical passages that warn against occult revelations and trying to communicate with the dead. (Deut. 18: 9-13, 20-22; Lev. 19:31; 20:6,27; I Sam. 28; I Chron. 10:13; Isaiah 8:19 & 19:3; 2 Kings 23:24)
6. Be prepared to cite (in context) and explain specific biblical passages supporting Christian doctrines, particularly the biblical basis for the Trinity, the historic understanding of the nature and work of Christ, and salvation by grace through faith.
7. Share your personal testimony of God’s grace and your faith in Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior.
8. Present the basic plan of salvation and encourage the Swedenborgian to receive Jesus Christ as his or her personal Lord and Savior.
9. Pray and trust the Holy Spirit to lead you as you share.
© 2018 Tal Davis