Life on Other Planets

Description

Is there life on other planets? This intriguing question is still being debated in scientific circles, but Emanuel Swedenborg attested that he had actually spoken with spirits from other planets in the afterlife.

Originally published in 1758, this startling book details Swedenborg’s conversations with spirits from Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Saturn, Venus, and the moon, who discuss their lives on other planets and how their cultures differed from those of earthly life.

Translated by the late Cambridge scholar John Chadwick and co-published with the Swedenborg Society of London, this volume also offers an introduction by Dr. Raymond Moody, who ruminates on how modern science is validating some of Swedenborg’s assertions.

About the Author

Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) was a Swedish scientist, nobleman, and theologian who spent his life investigating the mysteries of the soul. Born in Stockholm to a staunchly Lutheran family, he graduated from the University of Uppsala and then traveled to England, Holland, France, and Germany to study the leading scientists of the time. He gained favor with Sweden’s King Charles XII, who gave him the position of overseer of the Swedish mining industry. Later, he was given a seat on the Swedish House of Nobles by Charles XII’s successor, Queen Ulrika Eleonora. Between 1743 and 1745 he began to have visions of heaven, hell, and Jesus Christ which resulted in a stream of books about the nature of God, the afterlife, and the inner meaning of the Bible. He devoted the last decades of his life to studying Scripture and presenting his own unique theology to the world.

Translator John Chadwick (1920-1998) was the decipherer, along with Michael Ventris, of Linear B, the script of the Mycenaean civilization. For over thirty years, he lectured in classics at Cambridge University, during which time he wrote The Decipherment of Linear B and The Mycenaean World. Mr. Chadwick also translated several of Swedenborg’s works for the Swedenborg Society.

Reviews

“Written by visionary Emanuel Swedenborg and translated by Cambridge scholar John Chadwick, Life on Other Planets is a metaphysical text originally published in 1758, recounting the author’s otherworldly travels and conversations with spirits from Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Saturn, Venus, and the moon. Of particular interest is Swedenborg’s assessment of “The Reasons Why the Lord Chose to Be Born in Our World and Not in Another”. Written in point-by-point paragraph style, Life on Other Planets weighs Swedenborg’s transcendental experiences and his deep and abiding Christian faith in equal measure, and is as deeply spiritual as it is far reaching.”

—The Midwest Book Review: The Bookwatch “The Metaphysical Studies Shelf”, November 2006

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