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Visionary Scientist Visionary Scientist Swedenborg Studies / No. 8 Monographs of the Swedenborg Foundation Visionary Scientist The Effects of Science and Philosophy on Swedenborg’s Cosmology Inge Jonsson Swedenborg Foundation Publishers West Chester, Pennsylvania ©1999 by Inge Jonsson This work was originally published as Emanuel Swedenborg by Twayne Publishers Inc., 1971. All rights reserved. No part of the publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission from the publisher. Swedenborg Studies is a scholarly series published by the Swedenborg Foundation. The primary purpose of the series is to make materials available for understanding the life and thought of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772) and the impact his thought has had on others. The Foundation undertakes to publish original studies and English translations of such studies and to republish primary sources that are otherwise difficult to access. Proposals should be sent to: Senior Editor, Swedenborg Studies, Swedenborg Foundation, 320 North Church Street, West Chester, Pennsylvania 19380. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Jonsson, Inge Visionary scientist : the effects of science and philosophy on Swedenborg’s cosmology / Inge Jonsson. cm. — (Swedenborg studies : no. 8) Rev. ed. of : Emanuel Swedenborg. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–87785–192–1. — ISBN 0–87785–191–3 (pbk.) 1. Swedenborg, Emanuel, 1688–1772. I. Jonsson, Inge. Emanuel Swedenborg. II. Title. III. Series. BX8748.J64 1999 289’.4’ 092–dc21 99–34378 CIP Translated by Catherine Djurklou Edited by Mary Lou Bertucci Cover and interior designed by Sans Serif Set in minion by Sans Serif, Inc., Saline, Michigan Printed in the United States of America. Contents Preface to First Edition vii Preface to Second Edition ix Chronology xi Chapter 1 The Age and the Man 3 Chapter 2 Swedenborg’s Philosophy of Nature 21 Chapter 3 From Inorganic to Organic Nature 35 Chapter 4 Ontology and Psychology 69 Chapter 5 Universal Philosophy and the Theory of Correspondence 93 Chapter 6 The Religious Crisis 123 Chapter 7 The Secrets of Heaven 143 Chapter 8 The Lord and His Word 175 Chapter 9 The New Jerusalem in the World 195 Notes and References 211 Selected Bibliography 231 Index 245 Preface to the first edition It is certainly not surprising that a great deal has been written about Emanuel Swedenborg ever since the end of the eighteenth century. Great authors normally attract a host of critics. But Swedenborgian specialists comprise a rather unusual group in the sense of the words of the Master that he who is not with me is against me. Consequently, there probably is a need for a new study by someone who is neither convert nor maligner. It was thus especially difficult not to accept the offer of the pub- lishers of the Twayne World Authors Series to write about my remark- able compatriot—perhaps the most remarkable of them all—even though it would be preposterous to attempt to compress the entire story of Swedenborg’s life and works into the limited space at my disposition. My main intention has been to approach Swedenborg’s writings from the standpoint of the history of ideas, to try to treat them as a rare fruit on the tree of European science. After an introductory biographi- cal sketch, Chapter 2 is devoted to Swedenborg’s philosophy of nature, with the emphasis on cosmology and the theory of particles. The third chapter discusses his shift from the mechanistic concept of nature to an organic philosophy, which means that the great volumes and the even greater aspirations of the years 1734–1745 are the focus of attention. Chapter 4 provides a more detailed examination of Swedenborg’s at- tempts to force his way into the concealed domains of the soul with the assistance of some metaphysical doctrines. The fifth chapter analyzes in still greater detail what Swedenborg called a mathematical philosophy of universals and his doctrine of correspondence. The reason for such detailed attention is that the theory of correspondence is one of the concepts for which Swedenborg is most widely known and also because vii Preface to the First Edition I hope to report on certain new findings. In Chapter 6, “The Religious Crisis,” I turn to Swedenborg’s activities after 1745, when the gates to the spiritual world, to heaven and to hell, were opened for him; this sec- tion is primarily concerned with the Journal of Dreams and the superb drama of the creation De Cultu et Amore Dei (The Worship and Love of God). The seventh chapter cites a number of examples of the various types of visions encountered in his manuscripts and published works; it also attempts to convey a sense of his completely humanized spiritual world. Chapter 8 discusses Swedenborg’s concept of God and his view of the Bible and other essential theological problems, and the last chap- ter traces some of the channels of his influence on Western literature up to our own times. I wish to thank the Royal Swedish Academy of Science for eco- nomic support and for the use of their library resources. Inge Jonsson Stockholm August 1969 viii Preface to the second edition Since this book has been out of print for many years, it was difficult not to accept the invitation from Swedenborg Foundation Publishers to issue a revised edition of it. Returning to my text after thirty years has been a rather complicated experience, including quite a few tempta- tions of substantial changes of some parts, but I have tried to confine myself to making only necessary corrections and additions. There has been very little time for systematic research work in later years because of other academic duties, so maybe my revision has unintentionally be- come too restrictive. Nevertheless, I hope that it may serve as an intro- duction to one of the most fascinating writers in Western literature. I wish to convey my deep gratitude to the publishers for having given me this opportunity to return to old hunting grounds, and par- ticularly to Mary Lou Bertucci for her work as editor. Inge Jonsson Stockholm 1999 ix Chronology 1688 Emanuel Swedberg born (January 29) in Stockholm, son of Regimental Chaplain Jesper Swedberg and Sara Behm 1692 Jesper Swedberg promoted to a theological professorship at Uppsala University. 1696 Sara Behm dies June 17 1699 Emanuel Swedberg matriculates at Uppsala University 1703 Jesper Swedberg and his second wife, Sara Bergia, leave Uppsala for Skara, where he has been appointed bishop 1709 Emanuel Swedberg graduates with a thesis in moral philosophy 1710–1715 Young Swedberg makes his first journey abroad to Eng- land, Holland, France, and Germany; publishes a collec- tion of Latin poems in Greifswald 1716 Publishes Daedalus Hyperboreus, Sweden’s first scientific journal, and is appointed extraordinary assessor of the Board of Mines 1719 Is ennobled and assumes the name Swedenborg 1721–1722 Goes to Holland and Germany, where he publishes A Spec- imen of a Work on the Principles of Natural Philosophy and Miscellaneous Observations on Natural Things 1733–1734 Goes to Germany and Bohemia to publish his Philosophi- cal and Mineralogical Works and The Infinite 1735 Bishop Swedberg dies July 7 1736–1740 Travels to Holland, France, and Italy for research work in anatomy and physiology; publishes The Economy of the Animal Kingdom in Amsterdam 1743–1745 Swedenborg’s fifth foreign journey, during which he expe- riences his religious crisis and publishes The Animal King- dom and The Worship and Love of God 1747 Leaves the Board of Mines xi C h r o n o l o g y 1749–1756 Publishes eight great volumes of Heavenly Secrets in London 1758 Publishes five works in London: Earths in the Universe, Heaven and Hell, The Last Judgment, The White Horse, and The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 1760 Johann August Ernesti attacks Swedenborg’s doctrines in his New Theological Library 1763–1764 Publishes Divine Love and Wisdom, Divine Providence, The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Lord; con- cerning the Sacred Scripture; concerning Life; concerning Faith and The Last Judgment Continued in Amsterdam 1766 Publishes The Apocalypse Revealed in Amsterdam; is at- tacked by Immanuel Kant in Dreams of a Spirit-Seer 1768 Heresy trial of two of Swedenborg’s disciples begins in Gothenburg; Swedenborg publishes Marital Love in Amsterdam 1769 Publishes Brief Exposition of the Doctrine of the New Church and The Intercourse between the Soul and the Body in Amsterdam and London 1771 Publishes The True Christian Religion in Amsterdam 1772 Dies in London March 29 xii Visionary Scientist 1 The Age and the Man The Intellectual Climate T.S. Eliot coined the phrase “dissociation of sensibility” to define the impact on Western intellectual history of the scientific breakthrough of the seventeenth century. As a result of a tremendous expansion in knowledge combined with attacks on the closed medieval interpreta- tion of the world, the traditional view of humankind and of the world was thoroughly shaken and in its place came confusion and anguish. In his agonized The First Anniversary, John Donne bewails the fact that the new science “calls all in doubt” and demolishes all harmony—“all coherence gone.” Nature’s great book was no longer open for all to read of the glory of the Creator, as the psalmist said, but was intelligible only to those who spoke its tongue, the language of mathematics. That gift, then as now, was reserved for the few, and the poet was rarely one of them. A rift appeared between the exact language of formulae and the symbolism of poetry; in our time this rift has become what many regard as a threatening abyss.
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