ANGELS IN ACTION: WHAT SWEDENBORG SAW AND HEARD [Paperback]

ROBERT KIRVEN (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0877851476 | ISBN-13: 978-0877851479 | Publication Date: December 1, 1994 | Edition: 1st Edition

Angels live in communities, wear clothes, and have no wings! So said Emanuel Swedenborg, Swedish scientist and seer who, for the last twenty-seven years of his life, visited heaven and hell almost daily and met angels and evil spirits. Swedenborg's visions and the meaning they can have in our lives are explained in this remarkable book. Author Robert H. Kirven also shows how angels work for us from birth through death and how we can be angels on earth.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

That popular interest in angels has lately revived is manifest in new books and videos considering their existence, their nature, and their interactions with humans. Kirven harks back to the work of an eighteenth-century mining engineer and theoretical scientist who spent most of the last three decades of his life "conversing" with angels. Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) was absolutely sure of the actuality of angels. He did not see them as allegorical or mythical figures, and he spent a great deal of time thinking and writing about them. Kirven presents Swedenborg's ideas and defends and promotes them in modern terms. Premising with his master that angels exist, Kirven describes what they do, explores the differences between them and other spirits, and examines how they live (chapter heading: "Love and Marriage among the Angels"). Ultimately, this is a book about Swedenborg and angels in which the subjects are inextricably intertwined, which no doubt is just as Swedenborg would want it. Mike Tribby

About the Author

Robert H. Kirven was president and professor emeritus at the Swedenborg School of Religion in Newton, Massachusetts. He held degrees from the University of Chicago, Andover Newton Theological School, and Brandeis University, where he earned a Ph.D. in the history of ideas.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Chrysalis Books; 1st Edition edition (December 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0877851476
• ISBN-13: 978-0877851479
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,196,335 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Angels in Action: A review, March 26, 2000

By 

Heidi Katchuk - See all my reviews

This review is from: ANGELS IN ACTION: WHAT SWEDENBORG SAW AND HEARD (Paperback)

This book is a quick read (111 pages) about the functions of angels' work with humans. The book includes a brief bio chapter about Swedenborgs' life which helps the reader understand his scientific background. The book covers how angels "live" in the higher realms and why they care about helping us. It includes beautiful black & white illustrations by John Flaxman which compliment the etheric subject matter. This is a good book for Swedenborg novices because the interpretation is easy to understand. I found some of Swedenborg's direct translation books (Heaven & Hell, Divine Providence) a little difficult to grasp at times due to the language of that period (i.e. "As government from good, which is the kind of government that exists in the Lord's celestial kingdom, is called righteousness, and government from truth, which is the kind of government that exists in the Lord's spiritual kingdom, is called judgement, so the terms "righteousness and judgment" are used in the Word when heaven and the church are treated of, "righteousness" signifying celestial good, and "judgment" spiritual good, which good, as has been said above, is in its essence truth, as in the following passages:...". See what I mean?

I recommend this book highly!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Swedenborg: Scientist, Mystic, Confidant of Angels, September 17, 2005

By 

OAKSHAMAN "oakshaman" (Algoma, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: ANGELS IN ACTION: WHAT SWEDENBORG SAW AND HEARD (Paperback)

_This little volume is probably the best-written and most concise account of Swedenborg's core teachings as you are ever going to find. It is probably also the best introduction to the true nature of angels. This is only to be expected since Swedenborg spent 27 years of continuous communication and learning with angels and spirits. That is where the teachings come from.

_Swedenborg held that all angels started life as human beings. Indeed all human beings are foremost spiritual beings- spiritual beings that subconsciously (and occasionally consciously) intersect with both the physical (neuro-conscious) and spiritual worlds. After death, this spirit is freed from the physical body to eventually become either an angel or hellish entity.

_Indeed, his model of existence was that our physical world interfaces with a spiritual world, as well as heaven and hell. The intermediate spiritual world was a place where spirits sorted out whether they belonged in heaven or hell for themselves based on their own natural affinity. Part of this natural affinity is determined by the character that we build on earth through making hard choices. However, those hard choices are frequently guided by the nudges of angels- if we are receptive to such guidance. By the way, we only draw the attention of angels if our motivations are truly unselfish and heartfelt- otherwise there is a vast array of lower spirits that may answer our call.

_There is comforting satisfaction to the underlying principle of the necessity of human freedom. Without free will there would be no point to existence. We must decide on our own to build personal characters worthy of being God's helpers. That is why life is set up so that, for most, there is no direct revelation of the existence of the Divine. It would impel people to obey or believe, and there by short-circuit free will. Angels and evil spirits can only offer hints and nudges in most circumstances. However, all power, all existence, flows from God. All the evil spirits in existence are failures- and cannot equal the power of one angel (whose power flows directly from God.)

_Then there is also the idea of correspondence- or that all things have their ultimate reality in the spiritual world and not vice versa. Every physical object represents a spiritual one, though sometimes the relationship may not be immediately clear.

_While it is true that Swedenborg's revelation did not include reincarnation, his intermediate spiritual world with its interpenetration of the physical world seems to fulfill the same role. It also seems to correspond with the concept of purgatory.

So, if the immense size of such works as _Heaven and Hell_ or the complete 30 volume collected works have made you despair of ever comprehending Swedenborg, then try this book. It is truly remarkable how much meaning is packed in 112 pages (including the excellent illustrations by John Flaxman.)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Angels in Action: A review, March 26, 2000

By 

Heidi Katchuk - See all my reviews

This review is from: ANGELS IN ACTION: WHAT SWEDENBORG SAW AND HEARD (Paperback)

This book is a quick read (111 pages) about the functions of angels' work with humans. The book includes a brief bio chapter about Swedenborgs' life which helps the reader understand his scientific background. The book covers how angels "live" in the higher realms and why they care about helping us. It includes beautiful black & white illustrations by John Flaxman which compliment the etheric subject matter. This is a good book for Swedenborg novices because the interpretation is easy to understand. I found some of Swedenborg's direct translation books (Heaven & Hell, Divine Providence) a little difficult to grasp at times due to the language of that period (i.e. "As government from good, which is the kind of government that exists in the Lord's celestial kingdom, is called righteousness, and government from truth, which is the kind of government that exists in the Lord's spiritual kingdom, is called judgement, so the terms "righteousness and judgment" are used in the Word when heaven and the church are treated of, "righteousness" signifying celestial good, and "judgment" spiritual good, which good, as has been said above, is in its essence truth, as in the following passages:...". See what I mean?

I recommend this book highly!