From seeing a more intimate relationship between heaven and earth to recognizing a depth of meaning beyond the letter of the Bible, the parallels found between Swedenborg and the kabbalah shed some light on how these two great traditions may share a common ground in understanding the reality of the Divine.
Continue ReadingScholars on Swedenborg
Our Scholars on Swedenborg blog features articles written by Swedenborgian academics with an emphasis on how religious pluralism has been used to solve some of the most pressing issues of the past and present.
Bringing Comfort and Hope to Others through Swedenborg’s Ideas of the Afterlife
Renowned nineteenth-century American feminist and abolitionist Lydia Maria Child waged fierce battles for human rights in this world yet often turned her thoughts to spiritual justice for those who died young.
Continue ReadingScholars on Swedenborg – Swedenborgians and the Original Black Lives Matter Movement: How the First George Bush Confronted Racial Justice Passivity in the Churches
A direct ancestor to two U.S. presidents, Swedenborgian George Bush emerges today as a courageous voice in the original American Black Lives Matter movement.
Continue ReadingScholars on Swedenborg: Homeopathy’s Journey into Swedenborgianism
Homeopathy as a vital alternative to traditional medicine since the late eighteenth-century has both parallels to Swedenborg’s philosophy and a vigorous history of Swedenborgian participation.
Continue ReadingScholars on Swedenborg: Swedenborg and the Present-Day Apocalypse in Blake’s “The Everlasting Gospel”
Scholars have debated energetically the nature and extent of Swedenborg’s influence on Blake for a century. Rebecca Esterson argues that the most apt metaphor for Blake’s relationship to that other seer is sparring partner.
Continue ReadingScholars on Swedenborg: Crosscurrents of Swedenborgianism and Zen Buddhism
Famed Zen Buddhist author and teacher D. T. Suzuki saw Emanuel Swedenborg as the key to mutual understanding between East and West.
Continue ReadingScholars on Swedenborg: Islamophobia, Swedenborg and the Birth of Religious Pluralism
The time is right to hark back to the Swedenborgian origins of religious pluralism for some useful reflection as we contemplate where we are today and how to respond to the beast of Islamophobia.
Continue ReadingScholars on Swedenborg: Did Swedenborg See the Bible as Historically True?
According to Swedenborg, parts of the Bible’s literal content may be both apparently untrue and yet critically important to the structure of the Bible’s truth. How can this be?
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