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Debates with Devils: What Swedenborg Heard in Hell

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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.

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.

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.