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Genesis 1–8
By Emanuel Swedenborg
Translated by Lisa Hyatt Cooper
Secrets of Heaven is a verse-by-verse exposition on the books of Genesis and Exodus. In volume 1, Swedenborg describes the inner meaning of the creation story. This is volume 1 of 15 of the NCE translation (portable volumes 9 – 15 upcoming).
What’s unique about this book:
- translation only
- fewer pages
- paperback
Description
Secrets of Heaven is a verse-by-verse exposition of Genesis and Exodus, showing the correspondences (connections through symbol between the material and spiritual world) in which, according to Swedenborg’s analysis, the Bible is written. Each chapter includes embedded sections describing Swedenborg’s spiritual experiences and expounding his theological views.
This book series is Swedenborg’s largest and in many ways most challenging title, but it contains abundant points of interest to reward the adventurous reader. In addition to a deep exploration of biblical inner meaning, it presents Swedenborg’s transcendent visions of heaven and correspondingly horrific views of hell; his reports on the process of dying and entering life after death; his spiritual anthropology (specifically, his descriptions of the spiritual state of the earliest people); and his views on many other topics, including the correspondences of the organs and systems of the human body, the theory of a higher and more perfect level of memory above our conscious memory, the existence and nature of human life on other planets, the dual nature of visions and dreams, and the nature of the human mind and its developmental stages.
Volume 1 covers Genesis 1–8, in which Swedenborg describes the inner meaning of the creation story, the fall of Adam and Eve, and Noah’s deliverance from the flood. He understands the days of creation as an image of the stages of human spiritual transformation; Adam and Eve as symbols for the earliest ancient “church,” a people who eventually fell away from God; and Noah as a symbol of the good individuals who were spared from the evil thinking that flooded human minds during that decline. Interspersed with Swedenborg’s explorations of these narratives are his accounts of stages in the transition to the afterlife. He also describes the nature of the soul after death and the joy experienced in heaven, before concluding with descriptions of hell.
Reviews
“With regard to Swedenborg’s Secrets of Heaven, there never was a time more pressing than now to understand that the internal spiritual meaning of the Christian Bible refers not to the special dispensation of one sect, but to the evolution of a higher spiritual consciousness within each individual.”
—Eugene Taylor, Ph.D., director of the Cambridge Institute of Psychology and Religion
.
Contents of the Portable Edition
[Author’s Table of Contents]
Genesis Chapter 1
§1–5 / [The Essential Nature of the Word]
Text of Genesis Chapter 1
§6–13 / Summary of Genesis 1
§14–63 / Inner Meaning of Genesis 1
§64–66 / [Content and Mode in the Word]
Genesis Chapter 2
§67–72 / [Secrets of the Other Life]
Text of Genesis Chapter 2:1–17
§73–80 / Summary of Genesis 2:1–17
§81–130 / Inner Meaning of Genesis 2:1–17
Text of Genesis Chapter 2:18–25
§131–136 / Summary of Genesis 2:18–25
§137–165 / Inner Meaning of Genesis 2:18–25
§166–167 / [Representations of Inner Meaning]
§168–181 / Our Resurrection from Death and Entry into Eternal Life
Genesis Chapter 3
§182–189 / Our Entry, Once Revived, into Eternal Life (Continued)
Text of Genesis Chapter 3:1–13
§190–193 / Summary of Genesis 3:1–13
§194–233 / Inner Meaning of Genesis 3:1–13
Text of Genesis Chapter 3:14–19
§234–240 / Summary of Genesis 3:14–19
§241–279 / Inner Meaning of Genesis 3:14–19
Text of Genesis Chapter 3:20–24
§280–285 / Summary of Genesis 3:20–24
§286–313 / Inner Meaning of Genesis 3:20–24
§314–319 / Our Entry into Eternal Life (Continued)
Genesis Chapter 4
§320–323 / What the Life of the Soul or Spirit Is Like
Text of Genesis Chapter 4
§324–336 / Summary of Genesis 4
§337–442 / Inner Meaning of Genesis 4
§443–448 / Several Examples from Spirits of Opinions They Adopted
during Their Physical Lives Concerning the Soul or Spirit
Genesis Chapter 5
§449–459 / Heaven and Heavenly Joy
Text of Genesis Chapter 5
§460–467 / Summary of Genesis 5
§468–536 / Inner Meaning of Genesis 5
§537–546 / Heaven and Heavenly Joy (Continued)
Genesis Chapter 6
§547–553 / Heaven and Heavenly Joy [Continued]
Text of Genesis Chapter 6:1–8
§554–559 / Summary of Genesis 6:1–8
§560–598 / Inner Meaning of Genesis 6:1–8
Text of Genesis Chapter 6:9–22
§599–604 / Summary of Genesis 6:9–22
§605–683 / Inner Meaning of Genesis 6:9–22
§684–691 / The Communities That Make Up Heaven
Genesis Chapter 7
§692–700 / Hell
Text of Genesis Chapter 7
§701–704 / Summary of Genesis 7
§705–813 / Inner Meaning of Genesis 7
§814–823 / The Hells (Continued): The Hells of Those Who Spent Their Lives in Hatred, Revenge, and Cruelty
Genesis Chapter 8
§824–831 / The Hells (Continued): The Hells of Those Who Spent Their Lives in Adultery and Lechery; in Addition, the Hells of Deceivers and Witches
Text of Genesis Chapter 8
§832–837 / Summary of Genesis 8
§838–937 / Inner Meaning of Genesis 8
§938–946 / The Hells (Continued): Misers’ Hells, the Foul Jerusalem and Outlaws in the Wilderness, and the Feces-Laden Hells of Those Who Have Pursued Sensual Pleasure Alone
Index to Secrets of Heaven, volume 1
Biographical Note
Additional information
| Author | Emanuel Swedenborg |
|---|---|
| Translator | Lisa Hyatt Cooper |
| Foreword | Wouter J. Hanegraaff |
| Format | deluxe e-book, deluxe hardcover, deluxe paperback, portable e-book, portable paperback |
| ISBN | 978-0-87785-408-1, 978-0-87785-486-9, 978-0-87785-504-0, 978-0-87785-606-1, 978-0-87785-685-6 |
| Length | Deluxe: 768; Portable: 552 |
| Series | New Century Edition |
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