Debates with Devils: What Swedenborg Heard in Hell [Paperback]

Donald Rose (Author), Leonard Fox (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2000

In 1996, the Swedenborg Foundation published "Conversations with Angels", revealing the wisdom imparted to Swedenborg by heavenly spirits. This companion piece presents Swedenborg's encounters with evil spirits, narratives arranged thematically by Donald Rose and newly translated by Lisa Hyatt Cooper from several of Swedenborg's works. Rose explains the nature of these experiences and of Swedenborg's experience of hell as the provision of a merciful God who seeks restraint rather than vengeance.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Latin

About the Author

Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772), a truly remarkable visionary, began his career as a Swedish mining official and member of parliament and became well known throughout Europe as a scientist and prolific writer on scientific and philosophical subjects. After a series of profound religious experiences during midlife, he devoted the remaining twenty-seven years of his life to being a servant of the Lord@ and wrote energetically to communicate a spiritual vision of reality. Since then, the rigid theologies of the eighteenth century have steadily yielded, and the foresighted lucidity of his perspective has gained widening recognition. The fresh and contemporary appeal of Swedenborg's insights arises from the respect he showed for all religious faiths that stress a useful and loving life.

Product Details

• Paperback: 154 pages
• Publisher: Swedenborg Foundation Publishers; 1st Edition edition (June 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0877853851
• ISBN-13: 978-0877853855
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #314,580 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) was a Swedish scientist, inventor, and theologian who made significant discoveries in many of the natural sciences, including astronomy, anatomy, geology, and mineralogy. At age fifty-five, his intensive search for answers to ultimate questions culminated in an awakening that gave him a unique insight into the workings of the spiritual world. He spent the remainder of his life writing about his experiences and how human beings can come to a deeper awareness of the divine.

Swedenborg's ideas have influenced people as diverse as Helen Keller, Johnny Appleseed, William Blake, Henry James, Ralph Waldo Emerson, D.T. Suzuki, Jorge Luis Borges, and Dr. Mehmet Oz. The continuing appeal of his thought undoubtedly lies in his insights into the afterlife, concepts of divine love, and focus on personal and social development.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A REALISTIC VIEW OF HELL, December 30, 2000

By 

Michael E. Tymn (Kailua, Hawaii) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Debates with Devils: What Swedenborg Heard in Hell (Paperback)

Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772)was referred to as the "scientific saint." According to a Stanford University research team, he is one of three people (Goethe and John Stuart Mill being the others) who might have had an IQ higher than Einstein. At age 56, after a brilliant scientific career, he devoted the last 30 years of his life to spiritual meditation and mediumstic trances. In what apparently were out-of-body experiences, he conversed with numerous souls in the spirit world, including many low-level spirits. For Swedenborg, evil, hell, and the devil are synonymous. When he talks of a "devil" or a "satan," he is referring to an evil spirit or one who has chosen to turn away from God.

In "Debates with Devils," Don Rose offers a compendium of what Swedenborg set forth in some 30 volumes he wrote about his findings in the spirit world. The focus in this book is on what he found in the lower realms of the spirit world. A companion book,"Conversations with Angels," focuses on the higher or heavenly realms.

Hell is not literally a place of fire, as much of orthodox religion teaches. As Swedenborg saw it, it was more a fire of the mind. The souls in this state continue to love the material more than the spiritual. "In the same degree in which angels have wisdom and intelligence, infernal spirits have malice and cunning," Swedenborg wrote. These devils use their cunning to negatively influence those still living on the earthly realms. "As soon as they detect even the smallest thing that a person loves or get a scent, so to speak, of what is delightful and precious to him, they attack it instantly and try to destroy it, and so the whole person," Swedenborg wrote.

Swedenborg says that hell is not God's revenge or punishment. Souls choose hell of their own free will. And yet, God permits them to climb out of hell into better states of mind.

The seeker who wants a view of hell that makes sense -- one that goes well beyond what orthodox religion has offered -- should read this book.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All of My Questions About Hell Answered, May 9, 2003

By 

chara (Philiadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Debates with Devils: What Swedenborg Heard in Hell (Paperback)

All of my questions about Hell were addressed in this simple book. In an upfront, honest, clear, and useful manner Emanuel Swedenborg tells of the conversations that he has had with Devils and Evil Spirits. He does not try to impress, or persuade, he just informs. This book was such a relief. I expected a series of unbelievable encounters, but instead I found accounts of situations that are exlemplary of real interactions. This book is understandable. It is very true. It is helpful and uncomprimising in its integrity. I reccomend it. No matter what you believe about the afterlife, it will help you to understand many of the reasons why life is the way that it is.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Utterly disappointing, February 1, 2009

By 

A. Chesnut (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Debates with Devils: What Swedenborg Heard in Hell (Paperback)

This book is a real lightweight, suitable only for those with a complete ignorance of the tradition of the various branches of monotheism and who are happy with paraphrases of Swedenborg's work. Some of his work is quoted directly, but not much. Swedenborg himself is easy to understand, and there is no need for the condescending paraphrases of the author. His introduction, which takes up a good 20 percent of the book, is not needed for an understanding of Swedenborg and does nothing to provide a context for Swedenborg's work, which is highly original both historically and theologically speaking. I greatly regret having wasted my money on this book.