Letters (Harley) n. 1

1. Letter to Bonde, August 11, 1760

*I am grateful for the honour of your letter and for your gracious invitation to Hesleby.** As to the letter you enclosed from Baron Hatzel of Rotterdam I ought to answer it according to his desire, but since it concerns the Writings which were last published in England, on which my name is not mentioned, it therefore behooves me not to enter into any literary correspondence with any one in foreign lands, for thus I would myself show myself to be the author.*** But it is different in my own country. Yet those abroad may receive a reply by means of others, and I humbly ask you to be so good as to convey my greeting to him and to give him my apology that I am unable to give him a personal answer. Yet please assure him that it much pleases me that he has found delight and enlightenment in reading those Writings. This is a sign that he was then in illumination from heaven, for the things written in them cannot be comprehended without illumination, because they do not belong to the external understanding but to the internal.

With reference to the question as to whether any verses in the Pentateuch have the property and power of bringing about commerce or conversation with spirits, I know of no verses in Scripture possessing that property more than any others;**** but this I know, that the Word of God throughout is so written that when man reads it with affection and attention, spirits and angels have a part in the reading and adjoin themselves to man; for the Word of God is so written as to make a bond between heaven and earth (as can be seen from what is to be found on this subject in the treatise concerning HEAVEN AND HELL n. 303-10). Still the Lord provides that spirits and men should rarely come close enough together to speak to each other reciprocally,***** for by so close a commerce with spirits man might soon come into a peril of soul and danger to his life.****** I would therefore warn against any desire for this. The Lord Himself has been pleased to introduce me into conversation and life together with spirits and angels on account of the matters which are mentioned in the Writings, and for this reason the Lord Himself protects me against the many crafty attempts and threats of wicked spirits.

Spirits and men are kept apart by the spirits being kept in spiritual thought and speech, and man in natural thought and speech. This separates them, and they make one only by means of correspondences, the nature of which has also been treated of. Therefore, so long as the spirits are in a spiritual state, and man in a natural state, they do not get so close to each other as to converse; still they are together in the affections. But when spirits speak with man they are out of the spiritual state, and in a like natural state with man, and they are then able to bring man into danger of his soul and his life, as has been said above. For this reason they are kept apart so that the spirits do not know of man, and man does not know of them, although they are always together; for man cannot live without spirits with him. Through them he has connection with heaven and hell, and through that connection he has life. I make bold to request you, when writing to Baron Hatzel, to be good enough to convey my respectful greeting and apology, and if it please you to give something of the above as an answer, for he writes to me about these matters in his letter and desires information.

I remain etc.,

Em. Swedenborg.

Stockholm
11 August 1760

* Count Gustaf Bonde, member of one of the oldest aristocratic families in Sweden, politician, at one time President of the Board of Mines, at another Chancellor of Uppsala University (see TD ii p. 1130), had corresponded for many years with Baron L. von Hatzel, a German living in Rotterdam about whom little is known beyond his being a student of mystical philosophy.
In the Spring of 1760 von Hatzel, having read one or two of Swedenborg's works that had been published anonymously in London during the previous ten years, wrote to Bonde seeking the name of the author, whom he knew to be a Swede. Bonde replied that he did indeed know who the author was but that he was not at liberty to disclose his name. He promised to act as a mediator however and pass on any correspondence sent care of himself.
On 7 August Count Bonde wrote to Swedenborg enclosing a copy that had been made of a letter from von Hatzel written in German whose handwriting was 'very indistinct and illegible'. Addressing himself directly to the anonymous author, von Hatzel asked him to 'indicate and point out to which of the five books of Moses, in what chapter and in which two verses, lies concealed the means of coming into the company of these spirits [that is, those with whom Swedenborg had "familiar and free interaction"], and moreover, how to use it, and how to comport oneself'.
Swedenborg's reply to Bonde, written immediately after receiving these two letters, took up first the question of the anonymity of his writings, secondly that of open communication with the spiritual world. Von Hatzel's original letter, and copies of Bonde's and of Swedenborg's, are to be found in the Bergius Collection in the Library of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. The original of Swedenborg's letter is now preserved among Riksarkivet (the State Archives) of Sweden's capital city.
** Bonde had a country estate in Hesleby, near Stockholm. In his letter the Count had invited Swedenborg to visit him and examine his 'little garden'.
*** In his first draft of his letter, copied by Dergius, Swedenborg here adds: 'The bookseller who has these writings for sale has also been forbidden to make my name known.'
**** 'The idea that there are two verses in the Sacred Scriptures by which man receives the power of holding converse with spirits has been widely spread among necromancers of all ages' (TD Vol. 11 p. 229).
***** The draft adds: 'for this is more dangerous than man can imagine'.
****** The draft adds: 'unless the Lord Himself brings it about and takes man into His care and protects him individually, as is the case with me. The Lord Himself protects me against the many crafty plots and threats of wicked spirits.'

Letters (Harley) n. 2

Letters (Harley) n. 2

2. Letter to Beyer, April 15, 1766

* With reference to the writings of the Apostles and Paul I have not included these in ARCANA COELESTIA, and this for the reason that they are doctrinal writings, and so are not written in the style of the Word as are the Prophets, David, the Gospels, and the Revelation. The style of the Word wholly consists of correspondences, on which account it effects an immediate communication with heaven. In the doctrinal writings, however, there is another style which indeed communicates with heaven, but mediately. That they were so written by the Apostles was in order that the new Christian Church might commence through these, on which account doctrinal matters could not be written in the very style of the Word, but in a manner that might be more clearly and more directly understood. Nonetheless, the writings of the Apostles are good books for the Church, maintaining the doctrine of charity and its faith as strongly as ever did the Lord Himself in the Gospels and in the Revelation, as can be clearly seen and observed if one attends to the matter while reading those writings.

That the words of Paul concerning justification by faith, Rom. iii 28, have been completely misunderstood, is shown in the APOCALYPSE REVEALED n. 417, as may be seen. It follows that the doctrine concerning faith alone as justifying, which constitutes the theology of our day in the Churches of the Reformed, is built on an entirely false foundation. My most respectful greetings to you and to my friends.

I remain, etc.
Em. Swedenborg
Amsterdam
15 April 1766

* While travelling from Stockholm to Amsterdam where he was about to publish APOCALYPSIS REVELATA Swedenborg was delayed in Goteborg for about a week in July 1765. Here he met the Principal Lecturer in Theology, Dr. Gabriel Andersson Beyer (TD i pp. 623-6), who was immediately impressed by what Swedenborg had to say and who despite persecution became a firm advocate of the new teachings until his death in 1779.
During the winter of 1765-6 Beyer had obtained and read a number of Swedenborg's works, as he himself declared in the letter written from Goteborg on 18 March 1766. In this same letter Beyer questioned Swedenborg about the inspiration of the writings of the Apostles as follows: 'It has troubled me for some time that you nowhere cite the writings of the Apostles as the Divine Word. They likewise had immediate inspiration from God's spirit (theopneuma). In no less degree than the prophets. It has also seemed as if you do not wish to consider their writings and utterances as in every way correct. As to this, several things have occurred to me as some solution, and I respectfully submit them.
Should it be understood that, according to Your thought, the Apostles were certainly moved by God's spirit, even so far that words also were instilled, and this by virtue of the Lord's clear promise; but that a difference should be made as to doctrine, and the Word from which doctrine is drawn; thus the doctrine which they carried was fitted to the comprehension and the received manner of thought in the Churches of that time, so that their words and doctrine could not have a correspondence in spiritual and celestial manners of thought as does the rest of God's Word which we have, but that the Apostles' doctrine was yet pure, correct and divine? So far as I can see, Paul is not at variance with you in the doctrine of faith, works, imputation, etc. And in Hebrews v 11-13 he seems also to confirm my humble thought previously uttered.'
The first two paragraphs of Swedenborg's reply, the original of which is now in the British Museum, have been omitted here.

Letters (Harley) n. 3

Letters (Harley) n. 3

3. Letter to Mennander, September 16, 1766

Reverend Doctor and Bishop!*
I am sending you, most reverend Sir, a study of my youth on finding the longitude of places on land and at sea by means of the moon, which is now published at Amsterdam and has been communicated to scientific and academic societies, earnestly desiring you to hand it on to the Professor of Astronomy at Abo, so that if he finds it worthy of his attention and study, he may put it into practice. In foreign countries Almanacks are nowadays calculated by various authors according to that method, using a pair of stars, which, since they are devised for several years ahead, are expected to give outstanding service.

The Apocalypse is now explained or rather revealed, but I have not yet had a chance of sending it to you, most reverend Sir, and at the same time to the Library; please tell me to whom I may give it here in Stockholm, and I will hand it over.

Certain people are discussing whether the present time is the Consummation of the Age, and also the Lord's coming and the New Church from Him. Some believe that the faith of today, which is to God the Father on account of the Son, is saving faith in itself. But in the APOCALYPSE REVEALED it is demonstrated that that faith has destroyed the Church, done away with religion, and thus laid waste and consummated everything belonging to worship, to such a point that there is no longer any truth or any good; and that the works which are called the fruits of that faith are none other than the eggs mentioned in Isaiah lix 5. Consequently those who have confirmed themselves in that faith together with its web, and who believe that the good actions which they do are the fruits of that faith, are under a delusion and are mad, nor can they be withdrawn from their madness, except by rejecting the confirmations of that faith, and by adopting faith in Jesus Christ, a faith which contains nothing of the kind; on this see THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM ON FAITH n. 34-7
The falsities of the faith of today are these:
1 The Lord took away the damnation of the Law, when in fact He did not take away the smallest part of one letter of the Law; for each person will be judged according to his deeds, Romans ii 10, 13; 2 Corinthians v 10, etc., etc., etc. But the Lord did take away damnation, because but for His coming into the world no one could be saved.
2 It is the truth that the Lord fulfilled the Law, for by that action He alone was made righteousness. But He did not by it free man from the Law, for the Lord fulfils the Law with all those who shun evils as sins and approach Him. For those who shun some sins which they see in themselves are endeavouring to shun all, so far as they know them.
3 It is impossible for the Lord's merit to be imputed to man. His merits are two, subjugating the hells and glorifying His Human; these two cannot be imputed to anyone, but by their means He put Himself in the position of being able to save men who approach Him, and examine themselves, and shun their evils as sins.
4 To approach God the Father so that He may have mercy for the sake of the Son, and send the Holy Spirit, is to turn worship upside down, and also to impart a clear idea of three gods, implying that the Father is one, the Son another, and the Holy Spirit yet another; and if it is said that by the Son is meant His Human, there arises an idea of duality concerning the Lord.
5 It is false that man is justified by the profession of that faith, provided it is done with trust and confidence, Romans ii 10; James i 22. There is no truth in that faith, no good in it, and thus no Church or religion. For the truth of doctrine makes the Church, and the good of life makes religion.
6 It is said that good works or the goods of charity are the fruits of that faith; when in fact ecclesiastical society has not yet discovered the connection of that faith with good works; they actually teach that good works do not even preserve or retain faith, and that therefore no other
fruits of that faith are possible than the works of the Holy Spirit inwardly in man, about which man knows nothing, and if he does any, they are merely moral and civil, contributing nothing whatever to salvation.
7 The saying of Paul, Romans iii 28, on which present-day theology regarding salvation is founded, has been wrongly understood. This has been clearly shown in APOCALYPSE REVEALED n. 417. In addition to these there are many more points which I forbear to mention here. From these it can be established that if anyone creates fruits from that faith, he is creating the eggs mentioned in Isaiah lix 5. For it is taught in the New Church that faith can never produce the goods of charity, as a tree does its fruit, but that what are called the truths of faith teach how one should think about God and act towards the neighbour, and that charity accepts those truths among its goods, as a fruit accepts juices and their flavours from the tree. Thus fruits or good works arising from the faith of today, as mentioned above, have no other juices and consequently flavours than its confirmations, which are falsities. These are contained in its goods, a fact unknown to man, but perceived by the angels.

* Swedenborg's association with Charles Frederic Mennander, Bishop of Abo 1757-75. Archbishop of Uppsala 1775-86 (see TD n p. 1134), began probably during meetings of the Swedish Diet held 1760-2. From that time on, thinking that the bishop was affirmative to the new teachings, Swedenborg sent him copies of his theological works as they came from the press. Mennander's interests were scientific as well as theological, and therefore in his letter of 16 September 1766 Swedenborg referred briefly to the new edition of Methodus Nova Inveiendi Longitudines Locorum Terra Marique per Lunam, previously published in 1721, before indicating at greater length the theological content of the newly published APOCALYPSIS REVELATA. See further TD i pp. 590-7, LM pp. 607-19.

The original of this letter is lost and therefore the Latin text printed here is based on (a) Nordenskjold's transcription (N) now in the possession of The Swedenborg Society, and (b) an incomplete copy (U) to be found in the University Library of Uppsala.

Letters (Harley) n. 4

Letters (Harley) n. 4

4. Letter to Oetinger, September 23, 1766

*It is within the past few days that I have returned home from foreign parts, from Holland and England, and received your two letters, one dated 13 October 1765 together with another; for both of them I thank you.

There are five small works in which I have used the words 'from things heard and seen' - 1. HEAVEN AND HELL, 2. THE NEW JERUSALEM AND ITS HEAVENLY DOCTRINE, 3. THE LAST JUDGMENT, 4. THE WHITE HORSE, 5. THE INHABITANTS OF THE PLANETS. Later on other small works were published-1. THE LORD, 2. THE SACRED SCRIPTURE, 3. THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE FOR THE NEW JERUSALEM, 4. FAITH, 5. THE SPIRITUAL WORLD,** 6. ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE PROVIDENCE, 7. ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM. The latter seven however do not fill more than 72 whole sheets.*** This year APOCALYPSE REVEALED, which was promised in the small work LAST JUDGMENT,**** has been published, from which book one can see clearly that I do speak with angels since not even the smallest verse in the Revelation can be understood without revelation. Surely anyone can see that by the New Jerusalem a New Church is to be understood, and that its teachings can be disclosed only by the Lord alone since they are described in the Revelation by purely figurative means, that is, by correspondences, nor that they can ever be published in the world except by somebody to whom a revelation has been granted! I can solemnly testify that the Lord Himself has appeared to me and sent me to do what I am doing, and that to this end He has opened the interiors of my mind, which are the interiors of my spirit, for me to see those things that are in the spiritual world and for me to listen to those people who are there; and this has now lasted for 22 years. But to make this credible, an attestation does not today carry sufficient weight. Yet anyone who is intelligent enough can find some confirmation from the witness of my writings, especially from APOCALYPSE REVEALED. Who has previously known anything about the spiritual sense of the Word! And who has known anything about the spiritual world, that is, about heaven and hell? Who has known about man's life after death! Are these and yet other matters going to be concealed from Christians for ever? The reason such matters have now for the first time been disclosed is that it is for the sake of the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem, so that those people may know them. Others will indeed know them yet still they do not know them yet because of their unbelief.

All the above-mentioned works are on sale in London, England, at Mister Lewis's, Paternoster Row, near Cheapside. Those writings of mine concerning the New Jerusalem cannot be called prophecies but revelations.

Fare you well and prosper
Yours most sincerely
Em. Swedenborg

Stockholm
23 September 1766
* Friedrich Christoph Oetinger (1702-82), a Lutheran pastor serving in Wurtemburg, was an admirer of Jacob Boehme and had a particular interest in the nature and reality of the spiritual world. In 1762, after reading Swedenborg's pre-illumination work PRINCIPIA, he wrote and published Die Irrdische und Himmlische Philosophie (Earthly and Heavenly Philosophy) in which he related Swedenborg's philosophy to the thoughts of Boehme. Three years later this German prelate was introduced to Volume 1 of ARCANA COELESTIA, and was immediately delighted not with its exegesis, which he seems to have rejected, but with the inter-chapter transactions that deal with the spiritual world. This inter-chapter material Oetinger translated into German and included in the first volume of his Swedenborgs und Anderer Irrdische und Himmlische Philosophie (The Earthly and Heavenly Philosophy of Swedenborg and Others), which he published in that same year, 1765. (The work published in 1762 was then reissued as Volume 11.)
On 13 October 1765 in a letter now lost Oetinger wrote asking for titles of other books which contained descriptions of the spiritual world. This letter, and another written in December, which were sent to Stockholm, Swedenborg did not receive until 8 September 1766 on his return home from Amsterdam.
The original document Swedenborg sent to Oetinger dated 23 September 1766 has been lost, but a copy of it appears on pages 209-10 of H. W. Clemm's Vollstandige Einleitung in die Religion und Gesamte Theologie published in 1767.
** That is, Continuatio de Ultimo Judicio et de Mundo Spirituali, published 1763.
*** 'A sheet made 4 leaves (8 pp.) quarto. The above 7 works fill 561 pages' LM 620.
**** See De Ultimo Judicio. 42.

Letters (Harley) n. 5

Letters (Harley) n. 5

5. Letter to Beyer, September 25, 1766

*On September 8th last I arrived here in Stockholm. The voyage from England took 8 days. There was a raging storm with favourable winds which sped the ship onwards so swiftly. Later I received your letter of September 17. I am pleased to know of your well being and that of my other acquaintances in Goteborg, to all of whom I send my most dutiful greeting.

I wish every blessing on the intended Sermon Library [Praediko Bibliotheket], and send herewith my subscription to it. I venture to assume that you will use every caution in this matter, since the time has not yet come when the essentials of the New Church can be received. The clergy who have confirmed themselves in their dogmas at the universities will be convinced only with difficulty, for all confirmations in theological matters are as if glued fast in the brain, and are budged only with difficulty; and so long as they remain there is no room for real truths. Moreover, the New Heaven of Christians from which the New Jerusalem is to descend from the Lord, Rev. xxi 1-2, is not yet fully established.

Here in Stockholm it is now generally held that faith and charity should go together, and that the one cannot exist without the other, for the reason that good works are the fruits of faith and show themselves in the state of justification. Yet few of the Lutherans think beyond this, although the learned have not yet found any connection between faith and good works, therefore making good works to be only moral and civil matters, thus good, but contributing nothing to salvation - and much else of this kind. They are right too, for from that faith can come no other works. It is otherwise with faith in Jesus Christ.

As regards the Divine Human of the Lord it is in no way opposed to the Formula Concordiae, where it is taught that in Christ God is Man and Man is God, and where Paul's saying is confirmed that in Christ dwells all Divinity bodily, etc.

As to Boehme's writings I can pass no judgment, since I have never read them.

I remain etc.
Em. Swedenborg

Stockholm
25 September 1766

* On 17 September 1766 Beyer wrote to Swedenborg informing him of plans concerning the publication of sermons by himself, Johan Rosen, and others, and inclosing a circular calling for subscriptions. Beyer also asked Swedenborg whether the doctrine of the Lord's Human conflicted with what is stated in the Formula Concordiae, and whether he had anything to say about the writings of Jacob Boehme (1575-1625), the German mystic whose influence lived on among Pietists.

Letters (Harley) n. 6

Letters (Harley) n. 6

6. Letter to Oetinger, November 11, 1766

*1. Whether a sign that I have been sent by the Lord to do what I am doing is necessary?

Reply. Nowadays there are no signs and miracles because they compel outwardly but do not persuade inwardly. What did the miracles in Egypt, and Jehovah's alighting upon Mount Sinai accomplish among the Israelitish nation! Did they not one month later nevertheless make a golden calf for themselves to worship as Jehovah! What did the Lord's miracles among the Jewish nation accomplish? Did they not nevertheless crucify Him! It would be the same today if the Lord were to appear in the clouds together with angels and their trumpets; see Luke xvi 29-31. Nowadays enlightenment will be the sign, and from this will come recognition and acceptance of the truths of the New Church. Among some it will also be an enlightenment that speaks, and that is more than a sign. But perhaps some sign will still be given.

2. Whether I have spoken with the Apostles?
Reply. I have spoken with Paul for a whole year, and even about what he wrote in Romans iii 28. I have spoken on three occasions with John, once with Moses, and a hundred times with Luther, who confessed to having adopted faith alone, contrary to the advice of an angel, for the sole purpose of being separated from the Papists. But with angels I have spoken for 22 years now, and I do so daily; it is with them that the Lord has connected me. There has been no need to mention these matters in the books I have published. Who would believe them? Who would not say, Give me a sign that I may believe? This everyone would say who does not see it.

3. Why I, from being a man of learning, was chosen?
Reply. It was in order that men may be taught and understand naturally and rationally the spiritual things that are being revealed at this day, for spiritual truths have their correspondence with natural truths, for spiritual truths are based on natural truths and owe their continued existence to them. That there is a correspondence of all spiritual things with all things in man, and also with all things on earth, see the work HEAVEN AND HELL n. 87-102, 103-15. I was therefore introduced by the Lord first of all to the natural sciences; in this way was I prepared, from 1710 to 1744, in which year heaven was opened to me. Everyone else as well is led by means of natural towards spiritual things, for man is by birth natural, by upbringing moral, and afterwards by being born from the Lord spiritual. In addition the Lord has granted me to love truths spiritually, that is, not for the sake of reputation nor for gain, but truths for their own sake; for the man who loves truths for their own sake has his sight of them from the Lord, the Lord being the Way and the Truth, John xiv 6; but the man who loves them for the sake of reputation or gain has his sight of them from himself, and seeing them from self is seeing falsities. Falsehoods that have been confirmed have shut the Church, and therefore truths confirmed rationally will open it. Who otherwise is able to understand, recognise, and receive spiritual things that are transcendent! The dogma handed down by the Papists and accepted by the Reformed that in theological matters the understanding must be kept in obedience to faith has again shut the Church. What then is going to open it but an understanding enlightened by the Lord? For these matters, see APOCALYPSE REVEALED n. 914.

4. I am sorry you have suffered on account of your translation of the book HEAVEN AND HELL, yet what suffers more nowadays than truth itself! How many are they who see it, or indeed wish to see it! Do not therefore become weary; you are a defender of the truth.

I am etc.
Yours most sincerely
Eman. Swedenborg

Stockholm
11 November 1766

* During the interval between the dispatch of Oetinger's two letters mentioned above and Swedenborg's receipt of them, Swedenborgs und Anderer Irrdische und Himmlische Philosophie was declared heretical by the government in Wurtemburg. After brief references to having now read the remainder of Swedenborg's works he had received and to having suffered personally on account of his government's declaration of heresy, Oetinger then wrote:
'In your letter you bear solemn witness that the Lord Himself appeared to you, and Himself sent you to do what you are doing. I believe that your sight has been opened like that of Gehazi, to see things that are without parallel. I believe that you, being a renowned philosopher, have become a prophet and seer such as lived in primitive times. But since the spirits of prophets who speak through the spirit are subject to the prophets who are able to speak according to the spirit (I Cor. xii 1), you will readily submit to being put to the proof.'
And later on Oetinger declares:
'Give us a sign that your doctrine of the New Jerusalem is true. God cannot say anything that is opposed to His spirit. I pray you therefore that you beg of the Lord who has appeared to you, that you may talk with John himself as to whether he says yes to your exposition. You may boldly pray to talk with the twelve Apostles, more than with Enoch, and to speak with Paul, whose epistles you do not quote. Would you have yourself believed more than Paul? more than John! Did not Paul say, Let another gospel be to them an open curse? Why is it that we cannot find in your writings that you have talked with the twelve Apostles or the twenty-four elders? Could it not happen, as Paul said, that a feigned angel of light who is opposed to the literal sense of John has concluded and said, I will be a lying spirit in Swedenborg (2 Chron. xviii 21)?'
The primary source of Swedenborg's reply of 11 November is found on pages 211-12 of H. W. Clemm's book mentioned above. Item 3 however, the question 'Why from being a philosopher I was chosen?' is apparently misplaced as it is clearly occasioned by the request coming at the end of Oetinger's letter of 4 December:
'One thing more I ask - that you write an account of your life; how, and by what interior incidents it came about that from a philosopher you became a revelator.'

Letters (Harley) n. 7

Letters (Harley) n. 7

7. Letter to Beyer, February 1767

*Several questions have been put to me by your friend, to which the following will serve as an answer.

1 My opinion concerning the writings of Boehme and L...** I have never read them, and I was forbidden to read dogmatic and systematic books in theology before heaven was opened to me, and this for the reason that otherwise unfounded opinions and notions might easily have insinuated themselves, which afterwards could have been removed only with difficulty. When heaven was opened to me I had therefore first to learn the Hebrew language, and also the correspondences of which the whole Bible is composed, and this led me to read through the Word of God many times. And since the Word of God is the source from which all theology must be taken, I was thus enabled to receive instruction from the Lord, who is the Word.

2 How soon a New Church is to be expected. Answer: The Lord is now establishing a new heaven from those who believe in Him and acknowledge Him to be the true God of heaven and earth, and who also look to Him in their lives, which means the shunning of evil and the doing of good; for it is from this heaven that the New Jerusalem is to descend (see Revelation xxi 2). Daily I see spirits and angels descending and ascending in numbers from 10 to 20,000 and being arranged in order. In so far as this heaven is formed the New Church will commence and grow. The universities of Christianity are now receiving instruction, and from them new priests will come; for the new heaven holds no sway with the old priests who regard themselves as learned in the justification by faith alone.

3 Concerning the promised transaction on the Infinite, Omnipotence, and Omnipresence. Answer: These subjects have been interspersed in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE n. 46-54, 157; and in ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM n. 4, 1-7, 19, 21, 44, 69, 72, 76, 106, 156, 318; and in the APOCALYPSE REVEALED n. 691; and there will be still more concerning them in the ARCANA OF ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING CONJUGIAL LOVE; for to write separately concerning the Divine attributes would be to raise the thoughts too high without the assistance of anything to support them. For this reason the subjects have been dealt with in series together with other things that fall within the understanding.
I have read through your New Attempts concerning the Gospels with pleasure. The interpretations of the text for the first Sunday in Advent are good. Let me here state the meaning of the manger, of John the Baptist, and of Elijah. The Manger meant instruction from the Word, because mules and horses meant the understanding of the Word, see AR n. 298, and their nourishment was in the manger. That there was no room in the inn meant that there was no place of instruction in Jerusalem, on which account it was said to the Shepherds, by whom was meant the Church to be, This shall be a sign to you, that you shall find the Babe lying in a manger, Luke ii 12.

The baptism of John prepared the heavens so that the Jewish people could survive, when God Himself came among them. And John meant every prophecy of the Old Testament concerning the Lord and His advent, as also did Elijah, he being the foremost of the prophets. Since men here are now beginning to think more of charity than before, believing firmly that faith and charity cannot be separated, therefore also faith alone is now also here beginning to be called Herrnhuter Faith.***

Stockholm
the month of February 1767****

* At this time many were showing an interest in the writings of Boehme and therefore one of the group in Goteborg, probably Beyer's brother-in-law, Peter Hammarberg, wrote direct to Swedenborg asking, as Beyer had also done already, for his opinion concerning the German mystic. Having just received as well the first pages of the new sermon library, Swedenborg wrote one letter to Beyer dealing with both matters.
This document has been referred to variously as Pro Memoria (the heading of the original), Memorandum, Answers to Three Questions, and the 3rd, 4th, or 7th letter to Dr. Beyer.
**Jacob Boehme, 1575-1625, the German mystic whose influence was preserved among Pietists; and, probably, William Law, 1686-1761, whose later works were influenced by Boehme.
*** The faith of the followers of Zinzendorf, called Moravians, or Herrnhuters (from their headquarters at Hermhut). See J. Post. 278-80, 282-4.
**** This date was inserted by Dr. Beyer.

Letters (Harley) n. 8

Letters (Harley) n. 8

8. Letter to Oetinger, November 8, 1768

*You raise a doubt, most reverend Sir, about power over all flesh being transferred to Christ,** when angels and heavenly beings do not have flesh, but bodies of light. On this point kindly accept favourably the following reply: In the passage referred to every man is understood by 'all flesh', and therefore in the Word it sometimes says 'all flesh' to mean every man. As for the bodies angels have, they do not appear luminous but as though they were flesh, for they are substantial and not material, and substantial things do not appear transparent before the angels. Everything material has originated from what is substantial. It is into this substantial that every man comes when by death he lays aside his material shell. This is the reason why man is a man after death, but purer, comparatively as the substantial is to the material.

That the Lord has power not only over all men but also over all angels, is clear from His words in Matthew xxviii 18, All power in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.

Since in your letter you mention the natural and the spiritual senses of the Word, therefore to guard against a belief that I have written anything contrary to these, I am attaching a sheet on which these two senses of the Word are described.

I remain etc.
Eman. Swedenborg.

Amsterdam
8 November 1768

ON THE NATURAL AND SPIRITUAL SENSE OF THE WORD
Hitherto it has been entirely unknown in the Christian world that in the Word there is an internal or spiritual sense within its external or natural sense like a precious stone in its matrix or a beautiful infant in its swaddling clothes, and as a result it has also been unknown what is understood by the Consummation of the Age, the advent of the Lord, the Last Judgment, and the New Jerusalem - matters, concerning which many things are said and predicted in the Word of both Testaments, the Old and the New.

Without the unfolding and unswathing of the sense of the letter of the Word by means of its spiritual sense, who can grasp with his understanding the least thing of what is meant by the things the Lord foretold in the 24th chapter of Matthew, and also in the Revelation or by the things in Daniel and in many places in the Prophets! Be so good as to try it. Read the prophetic Word here and there, where it deals now with wild animals and beasts, now with pools and marshes, now with woods and thickets, now with valleys and mountains, now with screech owls, howling creatures (ochim), wild beasts of the desert (tziim), satyrs, etc. Would you be able to perceive anything Divine in these things, unless you believed it to lie hidden within like a gem in its matrix, as just stated, and this because the Word is inspired by God? That the gems or precious things which lie hidden within are the things contained in the internal sense, has been fully shown in the DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE n. 5-26. It is also shown in that work that the literal sense of the Word is the basis, containant, and support of its spiritual sense, n. 27-36; further that the Divine Truth is in its fullness, its holiness, and its power in the sense of the letter of the Word, n. 37-49; as also that the doctrine of the Church is to be drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word and confirmed by that sense, n. 50-61; and still further that there is conjunction with the Lord and consociation with angels by means of the sense of the letter of the Word through the medium of its spiritual sense, n. 62-9.

To the above I wish to add something new from the spiritual world. The leaders of the Church who come into that world after death are first taught, with regard to the Sacred Scripture, that there is a spiritual sense within it, which was unknown to them in the world; and it is also told them that the angels of heaven are in that sense when a man is in the sense of the letter; and further that the translation or change of the sense of the letter into the spiritual sense takes place near to the man*** when he reads the Word in a holy manner, and that there is a certain unfolding or unswathing in like manner as when a shell around an almond is broken, and the shell is scattered and the bared almond passes into heaven and is received by angels. It is also as when a seed is cast into the earth, and is there bared of its coverings and puts forth a shoot. That seed is the Word in the sense of the letter, and the shoot from it is the spiritual sense. This sense passes on to the angels, while the sense of the letter remains dormant with the man. Nevertheless that seed remains with the man in his mind as in its soil, and in time it produces its sprout and this its fruit, provided the man is conjoined to the Lord, and thus consociated with angels, by means of the seeds of life, which are the truths of faith and the forms of goodness that are part of charity.

The leaders are further warned at all costs to accept the belief that the Word is spiritual within, because it is Divine, and that unless they have accepted this belief they call be seduced by satans, to the point of denying the holiness of the Word; and if this is denied, the Church with them disappears. It is also impressed upon them that if they do not believe in this internal sense of the Word, the Word may at last appear to them like an ill-formed and clumsy writing, or like a book of all heresies, since from its sense of the letter as from some pool or other heresies of all kinds may be drawn, and confirmed by means of it.

Later those who believe in the internal sense of the Word are received into companies of angelic spirits who are afterwards lifted up into heaven and become angels. But those who do not believe are sent away to companies of spirits who are afterwards cast into hell and become satans. Those are called satans there who in the world had falsified every truth of the Word, and are therefore so imbued with falsehoods that they no longer see the least thing of truth.****

* At the beginning of October 1768 Swedenborg dispatched three copies of DE AMORE CONJUGIALI to Oetinger, who wrote on the 28th of that month to say he had not received them. In his reply Swedenborg included the document entitled DE SENSU NATURALI ET SPIRITUALI VERBI. The Latin text of this letter and its enclosure is based on what appeared in J. F. I. Tafel's Sammlung (1839).
** i.e. John xvii 2.
*** prope hominem, i.e. in his spiritual environment.
**** Further correspondence is known to have passed between Swedenborg and Oetinger, but none of it is extant; nor has Swedenborg's reply to the letter of 16 December 1767 survived.

Letters (Harley) n. 9

Letters (Harley) n. 9

9. [Not included.]

Letters (Harley) n. 10

Letters (Harley) n. 10

10. Letter to Beyer, March 15, 1769

*I have had the pleasure of receiving your welcome letter of Nov. 23, 1768. The reason I have not answered it until now is that I desired to await the publication of a small work called SUMMARY EXPOSITION OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH WHICH IS MEANT BY THE NEW JERUSALEM IN THE APOCALYPSE, in which the errors of the doctrine hitherto accepted concerning justification by faith alone and concerning the imputation of the justice or merit of Christ are fully exposed. This treatise has been sent by me to every priest in the whole of Holland, and will also go to the more eminent priests in Germany. I am told that they have read it carefully, and that some have already found the truth, whereas others do not know where to turn; for what is written in it affords full conviction that that doctrine is responsible for there being at this day no theology in Christendom.

I am planning to send 12 copies to you by the first ship that sails from here. Of these will you please give 1 to the Bishop, 1 to the Dean, and the rest, except your own copy, to the lecturers in theology and to the priests in the city; for no one can rightly judge the work, except him who has thoroughly learned the secrets of justification. After the little work has been read will you kindly request the Dean to express his opinion of it in the Consistory. All those here who are able and willing to see the truth, give their assent.

Here I am asked concerning the New Church, when it will come; and to this I reply that it will come gradually as the doctrine of justification and imputation is uprooted, which should be done by means of this treatise. It is known that the Christian Church did not come into its own immediately after the ascension of Christ, but increased gradually; which is also meant by these words in the Revelation: And the woman flew into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent, chap. xii 14. The serpent or dragon is that doctrine.

In about a month's time I shall leave for Paris, and this for a purpose which must not be revealed beforehand.

With regard to the visions of several persons, mentioned in your letter, they are nothing but fantastic visions.

And now my respectful greeting to the Bishop and to my other friends in Goteborg.

I remain etc.
Em. Swedenborg

Amsterdam
15 March 1769

* On 23 November 1768, in a letter that is not now extant, Beyer wrote to Swedenborg in Amsterdam seeking his advice concerning certain people who claimed to have had visions of the spiritual world, but Swedenborg delayed his reply until SUMMARIA EXPOSITIO DOCTRINAE had been completed three or four months later.

Letters (Harley) n. 11

Letters (Harley) n. 11

11. Response to Ekebom, April 15, 1769

REPLY TO THE REPORT PRESENTED TO THE CONSISTORY OF GOTEBORG ON 22 MARCH 1769 BY THE DEAN, THE VERY REVEREND OLAF EKEBOM*

There has been communicated to me the Report which the Dean presented to the Consistory concerning the doctrine of the New Church, which is delivered to the world by our Saviour Jesus Christ through me His servant in the DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM and the APOCALYPSE REVEALED. As I find that the Dean's report is full of accusations, as also of untruths to be found here and there, I deem it too prolix to answer in detail, especially as I see that it is written as if by one lacking a bridle to his tongue, or eyes in front to see that what is found in it is in agreement with the Word of God and enlightened understanding. These are they who are described by the Lord Himself in Matthew xiii 13-15.

I will refer only to these words in the Report, namely that that doctrine is in the highest degree heretical and in the most essential parts Socinian.

That doctrine cannot be called heretical, because in it the following are acknowledged and confirmed: 1. The Divine Trinity, see DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD n. 55 seq. And APOCALYPSE REVEALED n. 961, 962. 2. The holiness of the Sacred Scripture, especially as to the sense of the letter, see DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE, n. 27 seq., n. 37 seq., n. 50 seq. and in the APOCALYPSE REVEALED 11. 200, 898, 911. 3. The Christian life, see DOCTRINE OF LIFE FOR THE NEW JERUSALEM FROM THE PRECEPTS OF THE DECALOGUE, from beginning to end. 4. The Conjunction between faith and charity, see many places in the APOCALYPSE REVEALED. 5. And that faith in God ought to be directed to our Saviour according to His own words, John iii 15, 16, vi 40, xi 25, 26, xx last verse, and especially John iii 35, 36 and Col. ii 9. The same is also seen in the Formula Concordiae, that in Jesus Christ Man is God and God is Man, pp. 607, 762, 763, 765, 840 seq. That His Human Nature was exalted to Divine Majesty and Power, pp. 607, 608 seq., 737 seq., 774, 832, seq. 844, 847, 852, 861, 863, 869. That Jesus Christ has all power in heaven and on earth, pp. 775, 776, 780, 833. That He governs all things also as to His Human Nature, being most closely present, pp. 600, 608, 611, 737, 738, 768, 775, 783-6, Appendix pp. 149, 150, besides many places. (See the edition printed in Leipzig 1756.)

On the strength of all this, and from obedience to what the Lord Himself teaches, John xiv 6-11, faith in God according to the doctrine of the New Church is to be directed to the Saviour Himself.

From this alone it can be seen that that doctrine undeservedly and shamelessly is attacked with abusive words, and that by no one of sound mind can it be said to be full of the most intolerable fundamental errors, corrupting, heretical, offensive, and in the highest degree to be rejected. These invectives are poured out, although the Dean in his Report, Article 2, admits in the following words that he has not read my Writings: 'I am not acquainted with the religious system of Assessor Swedenborg, nor do I expect I shall trouble myself to become acquainted with it. It has been told me that it is mainly to be gathered from his published Writings concerning the New Jerusalem, concerning charity and faith, concerning the Lord, etc., works which I have neither owned, read, nor seen.' Is not this being blind in front, and having eyes behind, and having even these covered over with a veil, and in this manner viewing and judging a man's writings! In such a case can any spiritual and civil judge hold an outburst in such terms to be anything but criminal! The Doctrine to which the Dean refers is to be found in Goteborg, and he could have seen it if he had so desired. The Dean also blasphemes against the spiritual sense of the Word which our Saviour has now caused to be revealed, making out that this sense would prevent the Sacred Scripture from becoming the source for the learning of faith, religion, and revealed theology, according to his own words. And yet in the DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE it is fully proved and demonstrated: 1. That the sense of the letter of the Word is the basis, containant, and support of its spiritual sense, n. 27-36. 2. That the Divine Truth is in its fullness, its holiness, and its Power in the sense of the letter of the Word, n. 37-49. 3. That the doctrine of the Church is to be drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word, and to be confirmed by it, n. 50-61. 4. That by means of the sense of the letter of the Word there is conjunction with the Lord and consociation with angels, n. 62-9, besides other things. Concerning the spiritual sense of the Word and its inestimable use, n. 5-26 ibid.; see also APOCALYPSE REVEALED, n. 200, 898, 911, and a thousand other places.

With regard to the second point, calling that Doctrine Socinian, it is an accursed blasphemy and lie, in that Socinianism is the denial of the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, while yet it is His divinity that is principally affirmed and proved in this New Church Doctrine, and that our Saviour has fully made satisfaction and has redeemed men, indeed that no man could have been saved without His advent (see APOCALYPSE REVEALED n. 67 and several other places). I therefore regard the word Socinian as scorn and diabolical insolence.

This, together with the rest in the Report, one may regard as the kind of thing meant by the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth after the woman, to drown her while she was yet in the wilderness, Rev. xii 15; and it may be that what follows immediately afterwards may also come to pass - that the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ, verse 17. That the New Jerusalem means the New Church which is to become the Bride and Wife of the Lamb, see APOC. REV. n. 880, 881. And that it will surely come, because the Lord Himself has predicted it, Revelation xxii to, see also Zech. xiv 7-9; and in the last chapter the following words: 'I Jesus have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the Churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star. And the spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hears say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whoever will, let him take the water of life freely,' Rev. xxii 16, 17.

Eman. Swedenborg
Amsterdam

15 April 1769

I request that this be presented to the Venerable Consistory, as also that a copy be sent to the Bishop.

A copy of this reply by the Assessor was sent to the Bishop, according to the Assessor's own request.

Year and date as above.

Ex protoc.
Arvid Brag.

* When Dean Olof A. Ekebom (1716-84) first met Swedenborg during the week the latter was delayed in Goteborg in 1765, he showed no apparent hostility towards his theological teachings, yet within four years he had begun to attack them so that the spread of Swedenborgianism might be halted. In his report to the Goteborg Consistory on 22 March 1769 the Dean declared:
'I submit to the examination of the Consistory whether the whole of Swedenborgianism is not diametrically opposed to God's revealed Word and the symbolical books of the Lutheran Church; full of the most intolerable fundamental errors which overthrow the very foundation of faith and of the whole Christian religion; and thus, not only schismatic, but in the highest degree heretical, in the most essential points Socinian, and thus in every respect to be rejected?'
(English versions of the whole of this report appear in LM pp. 661-5 and TD ii pp. 287-90.)
One month later while in Amsterdam Swedenborg received the text of Ekebom's report, and in his letter to Beyer on 15 April enclosed the reply that is printed here.
The Swedish text is based not on the original document, which is no longer extant, but on the copy that appears in the printed Goteborg Consistory minutes (G).
For a biographical note on Dean Ekebom, see TD ii pp. 1133-4, and for a further declaration submitted to the Consistory concerning Swedenborgian doctrines in general and the dissemination of them by Dr. Beyer, see TD ii pp. 345-8.

Letters (Harley) n. 12

Letters (Harley) n. 12

12. Letter to Beyer, April 22, 1769

*Before leaving for Paris next week I wish to make the following addition to my reply to the Opinion in the Dean's report. In the report it is claimed that I have written: 1. That the Sacred Scripture has hitherto been explained in a harmful and wrong manner, AR p. 21, n. 1. This is completely untrue, for in the place quoted there is nothing of the kind. 2. That there is no satisfaction for the sins of the world. This too is completely untrue. 3. That justification by faith alone is reviled. This is true; for faith alone is faith separated from charity, that is, from good works; and faith separated from charity has been rejected by the Swea Court of Appeal, and later also by the University of Uppsala, perhaps also by the Universities of Lund and Abo. Apparently the Dean does not yet know that according to the Formula Concordiae itself, the good works that follow faith freely and spontaneously, and are called the fruits of faith, also works of the spirit and works of grace, and are done in the state of justification, have no connection with faith and consequently contribute nothing whatever to salvation, indeed that it would be destructive if they were to join and mingle themselves with faith; and that which has no connection is in itself separate.

In the reply that I sent, some of the quotations from the Formula Concordiae concerning the Divinity of Christ are erroneously referred to as 337, 375. This should be 737, 775. On the same subject there is here added a more distinct and explicit extract from the Formula Concordiae, as follows. (See the edition printed at Leipzig in 1756)

That in Christ God is Man and Man God pp. 607, 765. That Christ is true God and Man in one indivisible Person, and abides to eternity, pp. 600, 762, 763, 840 seq. That Christ, as to His Human Nature, has been raised to the omnipotent power of God, inasmuch as He was such a Man that His Human Nature had so close and ineffable a union and communication with the Son of God as to become one Person, p. 607. That the Human Nature of Christ was exalted to Divine Majesty and Power is according to the Councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon, also according to the Fathers, as Athanasius, Augustine, Chrysostom, Eusebius, Cyril, Bustachius, Gregory, Epiphanius, Theodoret, Basil the Great, Theophylactus, Hilary, Origen, Nicephorus, Nyssenus, Vigilius, Lee, pp. 840-78. This is confirmed from the Word in many places, pp. 608, 844, 847, 852, 861, 863, 869. That the Human Nature of Christ received the most excellent, the greatest, supernatural, and celestial properties, these being the prerogatives of Majesty, Strength, and Power, p. 774; and also the spirit of all wisdom, pp. 781, 782. That Christ operates in, with, and through each Nature, and through the Human as through the organ of Deity, pp. 773, 779, 847. That this takes place by hypostatic union, glorification, and exaltation, pp. 774, 779. That in the state of humiliation He emptied Himself, and that He did not always put forth and manifest that majesty, but did so as often as it pleased Him, until after the resurrection He put off the form of a servant and entered into the Divine Majesty and Glory itself, pp. 608, 764, 767. That by virtue of the hypostatic union He wrought miracles even in the state of exinanition, pp. 167, 767. That Christ is our Redeemer, Mediator, Head, Pontifex, and King as to each nature, p. 773. That as to His Human Nature Christ was actually exalted to the right hand of God, p. 608. That He is at the right hand of God; that He has ascended above all the heavens, and truly infills all things, and rules everywhere not only as God but also as Man, concerning whom the prophets certainly prophesied; into the possession of which properties He actually came as to His Human Nature, p. 768. That the right hand of God is everywhere, and that Christ, being present as to His Human, governs all things, and has them under His feet, p. 600. That by reason of the unity of Person Christ, according to His Human Nature, was given Majesty, Glory, Omnipotence, and Omniscience together with the most immediate dominion over all things, pp. 737 seq., 608 seq., 834 seq., Appendix pp. 147, 148. That Christ by personal union and exaltation as to the flesh, being placed at the right hand of God, received all power in heaven and on earth, p. 833. That Christ also as to His Human Nature has all power in heaven and on earth, pp. 775, 779; confirmed by passages from the Sacred Scripture, pp. 775, 776, 780. That Christ as to His Human Nature is omnipresent, pp. 3, 10, 611, 768, 783, 785, Appendix p. 150. That the royal office of Christ is this, that as God-Man in each Nature, in His capacity of King and Lord of heaven and earth, He might most immediately govern all things in the kingdom of power, grace, and glory, pp. 787, 876, Appendix p. 149. That the flesh of Christ is vivifying, and that Christ as to His Human Nature has the power of vivifying, pp 776, 777, 782, Appendix p. 152. That Christ as to each Nature is to be adored and invoked, according to the Augsburg Confession, p. 226, Appendix p. 151. That Christ overcame the devil, hell, and damnation, p. 767, and also pp. 613, 614, 788, Appendix p. 150.

If twice as many selected passages from the Formula Concordiae concerning the Person of Christ should be desired, as also concerning justification by faith alone, they will be adduced at another time.

Em. Swedenborg

Amsterdam
22 April 1769

Please present either this original or a copy of it in the venerable Consistory. It would be well if the Bishop were shown a copy.

* Only a week after writing to Beyer with a response to Dean Ekebom's negative report, Swedenborg made a further reply to Ekebom. The original letter was lost but a copy of it is found among the Goteborg Consistory Minutes now in Uppsala.

Letters (Harley) n. 13

Letters (Harley) n. 13

13. Letter to Beyer, April 23, 1769

*In the small treatise already sent to you, and as well in my former writings, I do not mean a Son of God born from eternity, but a Son of God conceived and born into the world, in whom is the Divine Trinity. In the Apostles' Creed, which was the Creed of the Apostolic Church, no other Son of God is mentioned, nor is any other meant in the Evangelists, Luke i 32, 35; Matthew iii 17, xvii 5; John xx 31, John v 20, 21. But that the Nicene Council afterwards confessed a Son of God from eternity, and added still another person as God, was for the reason that they found no other way in which to dispel the heresies of Arius. It is especially in this matter that the Church of today insists that one's reason should be withdrawn into and hidden within a blind faith. That it nevertheless falls within man's comprehension, and thus within his faith, can be seen in n. 117 and also in n. 44.

*The day after Swedenborg's April 22 letter to Beyer, he wrote a further letter concerning the dispatch of copies of DE AMORE CONJUGIALI and SUMMARIA EXPOSITIO DOCTRINAE. Added to the letter was the postscript printed and translated here.

Letters (Harley) n. 14

Letters (Harley) n. 14

14. Letter to Hartley, August 5, 1769

ANSWER TO A LETTER FROM A FRIEND
I rejoice in the friendship to which you testify in your letter; for both of them, for your letter, but especially for your friendship, I offer you my sincere thanks. The praises which you heap up upon me I accept only as arising from your love of the truths to be found in my writings; and as that is their origin I redirect them to the Lord our Savior from Whom all truth comes since He is the Truth itself, John xiv 6. I have applied my mind to those matters you write of towards the end, namely these:

If perhaps after your departure from England discussion about your writings should occur, and at the same time too the need arises to defend you, their author, against any hostile critic who is quick to invent lies and wound your reputation, as certain of those who hate the truth are wont to do, would it not serve to refute such slanders if you left with me some details about yourself, about your university degrees, about the official positions you have held, about your acquaintances and relatives, about the honors which, so I have heard, you have received, and about all the other things which could serve to uphold your good name. Thus ill-founded prejudices may be banished, for one ought to employ every lawful means to prevent the truth being harmed in any way.

After reflecting on these matters I have been led to accept your kindly advice, that is, to communicate to you some facts about my own life which briefly are these:

Everyone in my own country is eagerly awaiting my return and I have therefore not the slightest fear of persecution there of which you have some suspicion and over which you advise me in a most kindly way in your letter. If men persecute me in other lands that does me no harm. But considerations such as these I take to be of little importance, relatively speaking, for what exceeds them in importance is the fact that I have been called by the Lord Himself to a sacred duty. Of His great goodness He presented Himself in Person to me His servant before my very eyes, in the year 1743, and at that time He opened my sight for me to see into the spiritual world and has allowed me to converse with spirits and angels, which has continued until this day. From that time I began to publish in print the various arcana that I have seen and that have been revealed to me, such as those concerning heaven and hell, men's state after death, true Divine worship, the spiritual sense of the Word, besides other most valuable matters that contribute to salvation and wisdom. I have frequently journeyed from my own country to foreign parts, for no other reason than a desire to be of service and to disclose the arcana that have been entrusted to me. Moreover I have wealth in sufficient quantity, and I neither seek nor desire more. I am led by your letter to record these details in order that, as you put it, ill-founded prejudices may be banished. Farewell. From my heart I wish you all happiness in this world and in the world to come, which I doubt not at all will be yours if you are looking and praying to our Lord.

London, 5th August 1769.
Eman. Swedenborg

I rejoice in the friendship to which you testify in your letter written to me; for both of them, your letter and your friendship, I offer you my thanks. Continue, I beseech you, in the truth of faith you have embraced.

As for the dual Humanity that was in Christ, you can see what it was like from the explanation given in n. 117 Of BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH which you have in your possession. The Humanity He had already was the Divine Celestial Humanity, while the second was the natural Humanity He took to Himself to fight against the hells and to restore to order everything in them and in the heavens, and on earth as well. He also took this second Humanity to Himself to be more nearly present and within men in the world, all of whom are natural. The Divine Celestial Humanity was inwardly in the Lord when He was in the world, and He drew upon it as much as He pleased, especially when He worked miracles; but He hid it away within Himself when He underwent temptations, most of all when He endured the cross, and on every such occasion as He was in a state of exinanition. Afterwards He fully united this Human to His Divine Celestial, and this state in His state of glorification. From these few considerations you can see what is understood by these words of His:

Father, glorify Me with the glory I had before the foundation of the world.

In a state of exinanition He prayed to the Father as if He were someone different from Himself, but in a state of glorification He was that very One Himself. This however will be shown fully in the very work concerning the doctrine of the New Church which I am about to write under the Lord's guidance on my return to Sweden.

*The Reverend Thomas Hartley, the absentee rector of Winwick (Northamptonshire) who lived in East Malling (Kent) became personally acquainted with Swedenborg, together with Dr. Husband Messiter, during the last three years of the seer's life.
Hartley's letter to Swedenborg of 2 August 1769 contains (i) an expression of joy in having conversed with Swedenborg; (ii) thankfulness that Divine Providence had led him to his Writings; (iii) two theological questions that are set out below; (iv) a request for biographical details to refute possible adverse criticism; and (v) the offer of his own and Dr. Messiter's services to secure a suitable permanent home in England should persecution drive Swedenborg out of his native land.
This, together with a further letter Hartley sent to Swedenborg on 14 August, is now in the Possession of the Royal Library, Stockholm.
Though the actual letter of 5 August AMICUM RESPONSUM that Swedenborg sent in reply has been lost, its contents are known from (a) the version Hartley printed and circulated in that same year, which however omits the answers to the two theological questions, and (b) a copy Swedenborg sent to Dr. Messiter which the University Library of Uppsala acquired on the death of Dr. Waller of Lidkoping in 1955. A transcription and translation of the opening paragraphs of the copy to Messiter which contain the answers to the two theological questions are printed separately here.
For reasons that are not clear Swedenborg sent to Hartley at the end of the same month the document known as APPENDIX AD CODICILLIUM DE EQUO ALBO, though it did not reach him in East Malling until 10 September. The original has been lost, and so too at a later time was the copy Swedenborg sent to Messiter from which an English translation was made and published in 1824. The text given here is that contained in Swedenborg's own rough draft, which is now lodged in the Royal Academy of Sciences, Stockholm. Variant readings found in the text issued by the Swedenborg Society in 1935 in DE EQUO ALBO are here referred to as Ac.
QUAESTIONES NOVEM DE TRINITATE were first published by Robert Hindmarsh in 1785 from a manuscript that is no longer extant. It is almost certain that Hindmarsh revised in places the exact wording of the document(s) he had before him. Hartley's questions seem to arise out of the answers Swedenborg gave in his letter of 5 August 1769 to the former's two questions of 2 August, yet references to VERA CHRISTIANA RELIGIO in the second and seventh answer suggest that this material belongs to correspondence that passed between the two men not earlier than 1771. (BIBLIOGRAPHY: LM pp. 673-86; TD i pp. 3-11, 599-601, TD ii pp. 500-22, 539-40; REV. THOMAS HARTLEY AM, A. E. Beilby, 1931.)

Letters (Harley) n. 15

Letters (Harley) n. 15

15. [Not included.]

Letters (Harley) n. 16

Letters (Harley) n. 16

16. Letter to Beyer, October 30, 1769

*Your letter of the 18th instant has duly reached me. Perhaps a brief account in reply with regard to what happened to me on my arrival here will not be displeasing.

I did not arrive here in Stockholm until this month, and I found both high and low very pleased and favourable; and I was then soon invited to a meal with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, with whom and the Crown Princess I indeed conversed. Later I have eaten with members of the Privy Council in their own houses or together with them. I have talked with the most prominent men in the Diet, and also with the bishops who are present here, all of whom, except Bishop Filenius, showed themselves well disposed.

When I learned that my copies of CONJUGIAL LOVE were placed in sequestration in Norrkoping I asked Bishop Mennander of Abo, Bishop Benzelstierna of Westerahs, Bishop Lutkeman of Gottland, and Bishop Lamberg how the matter stood. They all answered that they knew no otherwise than that the books were in safe-keeping until my arrival, in order that meanwhile they might not get lost, and that Bishop Filenius had reported the matter in the House of the Clergy in some such way; also that the House had not said a word about it, still less agreed to any sequestration, for which reason his report is not entered in the Minutes. Thus the most revered House of the Clergy has no part whatever in the matter, but only Bishop Filenius with whom I have exchanged some words on the matter. He insists on revision before they are released, and as yet is unwilling to hear that a revision of this book, which is not theological but rather moral in nature, is unnecessary and therefore unreasonable, and that such a step would pave the way for a dark age in Sweden. The reason for this animosity on the part of Bishop Filenius is presumably partly domestic, partly a matter of bias, and partly representative of the persecution of the dragon or the sting of the locusts in the Revelation. (Such reasons have suggested themselves to me; but if they are it is a matter that can be left open, since they may turn out to be different.)

Bishop Filenius' action, however, in no way affects me, since I brought 38 copies with me, and previously have sent 5, more than half of which I have already distributed to the bishops, to members of the Diet, to members of the Privy Council, and to their Majesties; and when the rest have likewise been distributed there will be more than enough in Stockholm. The copies kept in Norrkoping will be sent abroad where undoubtedly they are wanted.

I am sending herewith a small treatise on THE INTERACTION OF THE SOUL AND THE BODY, published by me in London, which has been presented to the societies and universities in England and France. Will you please read the very last lines there. I believe it is by now also translated into English.

The small treatise BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH I have passed on only to Bishop Benzelstierna here, with the strict provision that it shall not be handed out to any one else. The reason is that there are few in Sweden who admit the understanding into anything theological. Thus no enlightenment can be received in and from the Word of God, as for example Rom. iii 28 and Gal. ii 16. There faith imputative of the merit of Christ is not meant, but the faith of Jesus which is faith from Jesus in Jesus; nor are the works of the law of the Decalogue meant, but the works of the Mosaic law which were for the Jews alone; nor is the imputative faith of the present day Church meant in Rom. iv - and more of this kind. Nor do they allow themselves to be enlightened in the language of the Scripture with reference to the Son of God, namely that by the Son of God is not meant any Son of God born from eternity, but the Son of God conceived of Jehovah God in time and born of the virgin Mary, according to the plain words in Luke i 32, 35; Matthew iii 17, xvii 5; John xx 31; I John v 20; and several other places; likewise in accordance with the Apostles' Creed, where no other Son of God is named, as the result of which the Primitive Church knew of none other. That a Son of God from eternity has been accepted in the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds is for the reason that, at the time, they found no other way of refuting and banishing the heretical views of Arius. By all means see the Apostles' Creed. Therefore I keep with the Apostolic Church.

Invoking God the Saviour cannot be forbidden anywhere in the whole of Christendom, least of all by the Lutherans according to the Augsburg Confession itself, p. 19, and later the Apologia, p. 226; and in addition this, that in Christ Man is God, and God Man; besides many things which
I adduced at a previous occasion.

The Formula Concordiae also declares that there is a divine trinity in those who are reborn by faith, p. 695, APP p. 130. What then is not the Divine Trinity in God the Saviour Himself! etc., etc., Col. ii 9. But all of this and more will be fully demonstrated in the work itself to be published 2 years from now. The BRIEF EXPOSITION, which is a forerunner, will prepare the way for its reception. This little forerunning treatise is found everywhere in Christendom, except here in Sweden, because theology is now in its winter, and there is then a longer night here in the north than in southern places. Therefore, in their darkness they would kick at anything that belongs to the understanding or reason in the New Church; yet with exceptions for those in the ecclesiastical order. I also apply to myself what the Lord said to His disciples, Matthew x 16.

The occurrence which is related concerning your wife in her dying hours came about through an impression, especially from two priests, who put her thoughts into association with those spirits from whom she then spoke. At the hour of death it happens to some that they are in the state of the spirit. The spirits who then first talked through her were among the followers of the dragon, who had been cast down from heaven, Rev. xii, and these then become so hateful of the Saviour, and consequently of the Word of God, and of all that belongs to the New Church, that they cannot bear to hear Christ mentioned by name. If the sphere of our Lord is falling down upon them from heaven, they come into a rage, and straightway flee into holes and caves, according to Rev. vi 16.

Your late wife was with me yesterday, and she related much of what she had thought, and what she had spoken of with you her husband, and what with her seducers. Were I present with you, I would be able to tell you much about these things, but it is not permitted to write it.

As to the lad whom you mentioned, I have at present no time to say anything about it.

And now fond greetings to our friends, especially to Councillors Wennergren and Hammarberg. I remain etc.

Eman. Swedenborg

Stockholm
30 October 1769

P.S. This letter can be shown to others at your pleasure, and can also be copied and printed. Two honourable men in London have invited me to England, and I am contemplating going there next spring.

I am told that a letter is supposed to be printed in Goteborg, which claims that in Paris I was ordered to leave. This is completely untrue. Count Creutz, our Envoy in Paris, can testify to this.

* By 1769 Dr. Beyer's adherence to the new doctrines was quite obvious to all, and efforts were being made by enemies to deprive him of his appointment of principal lecturer in theology. In August his wife died in childbirth, having been attended by two priests who endeavoured to turn her, and through her to turn Beyer himself, from Swedenborgianism. On 18 October Beyer informed Swedenborg of these matters in a letter that is now lost, and in addition he sought guidance concerning a boy in Skara who had had visions of white serpents in his early years and who had powers of healing. He also asked for some information concerning Swedenborg's early life.
In his long letter of 18 October, written from Stockholm, Swedenborg briefly mentioned first of all what had been happening to him since his return home. A discussion of the sequestration in Norrkoping of copies of DE AMORE CONJUGIALI is followed by a brief reference to the recently published DE COMMERCIO ANIMAE ET CORPORIS and fuller comment on SUMMARIA EXPOSITIO DOCTRINAE. An answer to Beyer's query concerning his late wife appears at the end of this letter while information concerning the boy from Skara and Swedenborg's early years came in the letter of 14 November.
In addition to the actual letter sent on 30 October, Codex 52 in the Swedish Academy of Sciences contains a primary draft (Ap) i, the author's own hand.

Letters (Harley) n. 17

Letters (Harley) n. 17

17. Letter to Beyer, November 14, 1769

In my last letter, because of lack of time, the story about the lad from Skara was not answered. If the case is actually such, it testifies to the communication of spirits with men. A well-to-do and rich home here in Stockholm has expressed the desire to have the lad live with them, and are willing to defray the cost of educating him in whatever he would seem to be inclined. Should this appeal to the lad, and should there be an occasion of bringing him here with some traveller, then this would be agreeable to those in that house; and in such case 30 daler s.mt could be placed in his hands for travelling expenses and support; and if on his arrival he be directed to me, he will be taken to the house.

I will pass by his vision of white serpents, because that took place in his early childhood. Therefore the meaning may be passed by, especially too since it could be interpreted this way or that in whatever way you like. But his knowledge of the uses of herbs, and knowledge of certain diseases, if he has such knowledge, does not derive its cause from similar diseases and cures in the other life among spirits and angels. But in that life there are spiritual sufferings and spiritual uses, which correspond to natural sufferings and cures here in the world. Therefore, when it occurs, it is correspondence that produces such an effect. And since there are none of the sicknesses of this natural world among spirits in the spiritual world, so there are no hospitals, but instead there are spiritual madhouses, where they live who have denied God in their thinking, and in others those who have done so by their actions.

Those who were insane in the world are on their first arrival in the other world similarly insane and crazy; but when externals are removed, and internals opened, as takes place with all men, they then receive understanding according to their previous nature and life; for actual stupidity and insanity reside in the external or natural man, and not in the internal spiritual.

Here I will relate something of my early youth. From my 4th to my 10th year I was constantly thinking of God, salvation, and the spiritual sufferings of men, and several times made observations at which my father and mother wondered, saying that angels must be speaking through me. From my 6th to my 12th year my delight was to discourse with priests concerning faith: that its life is love, and that the love that gives life is love to the neighbour; also that God gives faith to every one, but that only those receive it who practice that love. I then knew of no other faith than that God created nature and supports it; that He imparts understanding and a good nature to men; and more of this kind that follows as immediate consequences. The learned faith, namely that God the Father imputes the justice of His Son to whomsoever He wills and whenever He pleases, even to those who have done no penance and repentance - of this I then knew nothing, and had I known it, it would then, as now, have been far above my comprehension.

I remain, etc.
Eman. Swedenborg

Stockholm
14 November 1769

Letters (Harley) n. 18

Letters (Harley) n. 18

18. Letter to Von Hopken, November 17, 1769

Count Hopken.
Most Well-Born Sir Count and the Nation's Council!

Not until the 14th instant did I have the honour of receiving your very gracious letter of 5th Nov. I am pleased that the last two books have arrived. It is certain that the BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH will meet with criticism, as you foresee. Yet this [is to be expected] only in the beginning while there is still darkness from previously accepted and confirmed principles, but since the rational has light within itself in theological matters too, therefore the truth will gradually be seen and acknowledged. It has been so in many places abroad. Still, as I doubt that such a change will as yet have taken place in Stockholm, I have dispatched only one copy of this work to Bishop Benzelstjerna, and this with the strict proviso that it shall in no way be communicated to any other person; for in my opinion Benzelstjerna takes theology too into his rational, and does not accept irrational things from obedience to faith.

The reasons why the Catholics are preferred are set forth in n. 105 seq., but in addition there is also this, that the reference is to a universal Church in the whole of Christianity.

When this preliminary treatise was finished the whole of heaven, from east to west and from south to north, appeared to me covered with deep scarlet roses, this to the amazement of all present in the world of spirits - a testification to the consent and pleasure of the New Heaven.

In the little work I sent to you, as in my previous writings, I do not have in mind a Son of God born from eternity, but the Son of God conceived and born in the world, in whom is the Divine Trinity. In the Apostles' Creed, which was the confession of faith of the Apostolic Church, there is no mention of any other Son of God, nor is any other meant in the Gospels, Luke i 32, 25; Matthew iii 17, xvii 5; John xx 31; I John v 20, 21. But that the Nicene Council later assumed a Son of God from eternity, adding one more person as God, was because they found no other way to drive out the heresies of Arius, and it is particularly in regard to this that the Church of today insists that the understanding is to be drawn into a blind faith and hidden away in it. Yet that it falls within the reason of man to see and believe how the matter is, may be seen in n. 117 and then in n. 44.

Your regard for my writings pleases me deeply. Respectfully thanking you,

I remain, etc.
Em. Swedenborg

Stockholm
17 November 1769

* Elected to the Diet 1738, Prime Minister 1752-61, founder member and the first secretary of the Swedish Academy of Sciences, Chancellor of Uppsala University 1760-64, Count Anders Johan von Hopken (1712-89) first met Swedenborg c. 1730, though the two did not become intimately acquainted until 1759 when he began eagerly to acquire copies of the theological works as they became available.
In 1761 when his friend was compelled to resign the premiership Swedenborg sprang to his defence in a memorial he presented to the Diet; and von Hopken in turn was to defend Swedenborg during the period of the Goteborg tribulations.
From Swedenborg's letter of 17 November 1769 printed here we learn that von Hopken, in a letter no longer extant, (i) acknowledged the receipt Of SUMMARIA EXPOSITIO DOCTRINAE NOVAE ECCLESIAE and of (probably) DE COMMERCIO ANIMAE ET CORPORIS, (ii) asked why so much attention was given to Roman Catholicism in the first of these two books, and (iii) posed a theological question concerning the term' Son of God'.
Swedenborg's original letter has been lost and therefore the Swedish text here is based on two different copies in the possession of the Royal Library in Stockholm (C1 and C2) and on a reprint in A. Kahl's Nya Kyrkan och des inflytande pa Theologiens Studium I Swerige. In most cases variations in these three texts are purely orthographical.

Letters (Harley) n. 19

Letters (Harley) n. 19

19. Letter to Beyer, December 29, 1769

*Not until today did I get your letter of December 2. The cause of its late arrival lies with the letter carriers, who allowed it to remain with them for so long. The previous letter, with 30 Daler Silvermynt, has also been duly received, for which I thank you. I have also received the printed letter, about which a large number in the House of the Clergy at first made a lot of noise. Such noise, however, does no harm, for it acts in the same way as ferment in the making of wine, by means of which it later becomes clear; for unless what is unjust is ventilated and rejected, that which is just cannot be seen and accepted.

I have indeed heard about the Ecclesiastical Committee of the revered House of the Clergy, but nevertheless have taken no steps to defend the matter, because I know that the Lord Himself our Saviour defends His Church, especially against those who refuse to enter through the door into the sheepfold, that is, into the Church and so into heaven, namely those who are called thieves and robbers. This is what the Lord Himself says - 'He who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs up some other way, that man is a thief and a robber. I am the door: by Me if any man enters in, he will be saved, and will find pasture', John x 1, 7-9. Also, I have been told by means of an angel from the Lord that I may rest securely on my arm at night, by which is meant the night of the world at the present time with regard to matters of the Church.

I have also read the Appendix to the Spionen** n. 48, and in the last statements I see the interior meaning of the author - which is not difficult.

With regard to the two priests of whom your departed wife spoke, since she did not name them, neither can I do so. It is well known that there are deceitful spirits among priests too, and this both in this country and in the whole world. After saying this and more besides she went to the dragonists, who had first spoken through her on the day of her death, and is still with them.

Another communication I have received is your and the Dean's extract from the Minutes of the Consistory of Dec. 6, in which he continues with his usual shameful statements which I may regard as the yapping of a dog, at which I need not trouble myself to pick up a stone to throw and to drive away.

It pleases me that you are translating the little work on the INTERACTION OF THE SOUL AND THE BODY into Swedish. It is very well received everywhere abroad and also by many intelligent persons here in Stockholm.

I remain, etc.
Eman. Swedenborg

Stockholm
29 December 1769

* After receiving the letter of 30 October Beyer acted on Swedenborg's permission to publish it, with the result that he lost the support of all except Rosen in the Consistory. Public disquiet ensued concerning the two priests who had brought Beyer's late wife into association with dragonist spirits, and in an anonymous letter printed as an Appendix to number 48 of the Goteborg Spionen the demand was made that they be named.
Not knowing who these two priests were, Beyer sought Swedenborg's help in his letter dated 2 December. Codex 52 contains the author's primary draft (Ap) as well as the actual letter.
** Den Goteborgske Spionen (The Goteborg Watchman).

Letters (Harley) n. 20

Letters (Harley) n. 20

20. Letter to Wenngren, January 18, 1770

*I have received your communication, and also the notes concerning the boy who is able to cure diseases. With regard to the boy I cannot now express myself, because here as elsewhere in the country my inspiration in religious matters is in dispute, and this would have some slight bearing on the case in point.

In the last few days the revered House of the Clergy have now reached a conclusion in the case that concerns me personally. Whether the Dean will now be pleased as he has been hitherto, will best be learned in Goteborg. Clergymen and others are likely to give a definite report by letter on that point in the course of next week. There have been quite deplorable slanderers among his followers, whose utterances have fallen down like fireballs from the sky to the ground, and have there been extinguished.

I remain, etc.
Emanuel Swedenborg

Stockholm
18 January 1770

* During his stay in Goteborg in July 1765 Swedenborg made friends with Sven Wenngren, the secretary of the prosperous East India Company. This man had served on the city council for a brief period in 1746 and therefore came to be known as Councillor for the rest of his life. Asked by Beyer to investigate further the case of the boy in Skara who had seen visions and had the gift of healing (see Letter to Beyer, October 30, 1769), Wenngren communicated his findings to Swedenborg in January 1770. The original document containing the reply has been lost and therefore the text printed here has been reproduced from the Samlingar for Philantroper, 1787.

Letters (Harley) n. 21

Letters (Harley) n. 21

21. Letter to Beyer, April 12, 1770

*Only two days ago I received your letter of March 21, and in reading it I was astounded by the reports which I understand have arrived in Goteborg from Stockholm, to the effect that you and also Doctor Rosen were to be deposed and exiled. To this I can by no means give any credence, for to condemn someone by depriving him of his position and sending him into exile on a charge of high degree heresy without an examination into the main question, I find contrary to reason.

In the printed Minutes I find no evidence that they have gone into the matter itself, but they have only adopted the means of attacking by intolerable words of abuse; when yet the real matter and the case in question is this: whether it be permitted to go directly to our Redeemer and Saviour Jesus Christ, or whether one is bound to go the roundabout way, namely to God the Father, in order that He may impute the merit and righteousness of His Son and send the Holy Spirit. But that one may also go the other way, which is the short way, namely to our Saviour Jesus Christ, is according to both the Augsburg Confession and the Formula Concordiae, and also according to our prayers and hymns, and is in entire agreement with the Word of God.

In the Augsburg Confession p. 19, there are the following words: 'Since [the Sacred Scripture] places before us one Christ, Mediator, Atoner, High Priest, and Intercessor, He is to be invoked, and He has promised that He will hear our prayers; and the Sacred Scripture highly approves this worship, namely that He be invoked in all affliction, 1 John ii.' In the Formula Concordiae, p. 226, there are the following words: 'We have a command that we are to invoke Christ, according to this: Come unto Me, all who labour, etc., which is certainly said to us also; and Isaiah says in chap. xi [10]: In that day the Root of Jesse shall stand as an ensign to the peoples, on Him shall the nations call; and Psalm xlv [12, 13]: All the rich among the People shall entreat Thy face; and Psalm lxxii [11]: All the kings of the earth shall fall down before Him; and a little later [verse 19]: They shall pray before Him continually; and in John v [23]: Christ says that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father; so also Paul, 2 These. ii [16, 17].' These are the actual words from the Formula Concordiae.

In our Hymnbook there are prayers and hymns which are addressed to Jesus Christ alone, such as Hymn 266, from which I will include only the following: 'Jesus is my protection and my heart's delight. O Jesus, hear my voice. In Christ I find my support, therefore I am safe, and free from sin. Satan I do not fear, however he may rage: Jesus stands by my side. Now I throw all sorrow that weighs upon my heart upon the back of my Jesus He cares well for me, when day begins. I now live secure.' Verses 1, 3, 8.

In addition to all this there are in my two letters, which are inserted in the Goteborg Minutes and printed, very many proofs adduced from the whole of the Formula Concordiae, showing that our Saviour is equally God as to His Human Nature, which both Luther and the Formula Concordiae confirm with all their might, and which is in agreement with the whole of the Word of God. As proof only Col. ii 9 and 1 John v 20, 21, may now be referred to. More passages of the same content are adduced from one of my books, extracts of which are to be found in the printed Minutes of the Goteborg Consistory. All this they there call Swedenborgianism, but I for my part call it true Christianity.

This is the state of the question now in dispute, which however the members of the Consistory on their side have not in the least touched upon, but have merely gone forth with abusive language such as concerns not only my person and honour, but also our Saviour Himself and His Holiness. As to how they will be able to account for such conduct after death, I leave unanswered.

With reference to the Son of God from eternity which also has become a subject of dispute, it has also been proved by me that in the Apostles' Creed, which is received in the whole of Christendom, and which contains the doctrine of the Apostles themselves, no other Son of God is mentioned than the Son of God born in time, who is our Redeemer Himself, to whom every man can go, and to whom also, as confirmed in the Augsburg Confession or Formula Concordiae, he is permitted to go, and thus to seek his salvation. Were this to be taken away I would choose to live in Tartary rather than in Christendom. If another wishes to rise up and go over to a Son of God from eternity, he is free to do so.

It is by reason of your letter and your fear of harsh treatment that I have been induced to examine this matter and throw light upon it. For theological questions are of such a nature that one may easily grope around in darkness in respect to them, if supposedly learned accusers obscure them with coarse language and seek to kill the child with murderous words.

But I am assuming, and feel assured, that His Royal Majesty and his enlightened Councillors will bring this matter to a conclusion according to its true nature, and not in the manner of the Dean and others' glossary. Therefore, should you be deposed and exiled, what else would the present and coming generations say than that it was because he went directly to our Lord the Saviour, and yet did not deny the Trinity. What astonishment and commotion would not this cause in every individual! This matter in all its scope is soon to be laid before the whole of Christianity, and later I will submit its judgment to His Royal Majesty and thus further to the most excellent Estates of the Realm in general; for when the Diet is in session the estate of the Clergy is not allowed separately to submit the kind of recommendation to the King that would have legal force. Theological matters belong also to the other estates.

With reference to your coming here I do not see that your presence would greatly contribute to your defence. If it please you it would be enough to make copies of this letter and to send one of them to Privy Councillor Stockenstrom and one to Privy C. Hermanson with the statement that this is done at my request. I myself intend to send a copy to the Chancellor of Justice and one to Count Ekeblad.

I remain, etc.
Em. Swedenborg

Stockholm
12 April 1770

* On 21 March and again on 18 April, Beyer wrote of rumours that he and Dr. Rosen were about to be dismissed on account of their Swedenborgian sympathies, to which Swedenborg replied on 12 April and 30 April respectively.
Both TD ii p. 369 and LM p. 714 declare that the original letter of 30 April is at the Royal Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, but in November 1970 the editor did not find it there. Photo-copies of this original that has gone astray are however available.

Letters (Harley) n. 22

Letters (Harley) n. 22

22. Letter to Beyer, April 30, 1770

*I received your letter of April 18 together with that which was communicated by you to His Royal Majesty, and with this a reference to a story that had reached Goteborg concerning a decision that was supposed to have been issued in the Council Chamber. But after the copies of the letter I sent to you had been dispatched to Privy Councillor Ekeblad and to the Chancellor of Justice, the matter has been taken up again, and resulted in the conclusion contained in the statement of the Chancellor of Justice to the Consistory in Goteborg, of which I beg a copy from you.

Had the matter stopped at the first scheme, that Swedenborgianism - which however signifies the worship of the Lord - was not to be mentioned or discussed, what else would this have produced than a fear among priests to speak of Christ and His care for human beings; for there would be the risk of being arraigned on the ground that this is Swedenborgianism; and as a consequence Christianity would decline in Sweden and lapse into Socinianism, and finally into heathendom, as may be concluded from Matt. xii 30 and Mark ix 40. Such would have been the progeny of the first scheme. For this reason, when certain zealous priests here in the city first heard of the rumours, they were astonished and thought that thus would Christianity decline in this country. I have learned that the bishops and several of the revered estate of the Clergy, when the Diet was in session, expressed themselves handsomely about the matters of doctrine that were dealt with then.

Nothing of what the consistories submitted against my Writings was communicated to me, so that I have been in total ignorance of what transpired in the Privy Council.

Next June I go to Amsterdam where I intend to Publish THE WHOLE THEOLOGY OF THE NEW CHURCH. The worship of the Lord is there the foundation, and if the true house or temple be not built upon it, others would build lupanaria or brothels on it.

As regards the Dragonists they are all being removed far to the south. There the learned are allotted a certain location, and there each is given his own cell in which to confirm justification by faith alone, and those who confirm it by means of the Word of God passing on from there into a desert place, and so on. As for the others, having been let out they receive no homestead. Where they afterwards betake themselves I do not yet know. There is no place for them in heaven. They experience what is described in APOCALYPSE REVEALED n. 421; but the abyss there described is now, as was said. removed further to the south.

I remain etc.
Eman. Swedenborg

Stockholm
30 April 1770

* On 21 March and again on 18 April, Beyer wrote of rumours that he and Dr. Rosen were about to be dismissed on account of their Swedenborgian sympathies, to which Swedenborg replied on 12 April and 30 April respectively.

Both TD ii p. 369 and LM p. 714 declare that the original letter of 30 April is at the Royal Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, but in November 1970 the editor did not find it there. Photo-copies of this original that has gone astray are however available.

Letters (Harley) n. 23

Letters (Harley) n. 23

23. [Not included]

Letters (Harley) n. 24

Letters (Harley) n. 24

24. Letter to Alstromer, July 19, 1770

*Since I shall leave for Amsterdam next week, and understand that the religious process in regard to Doctor Beyer and Doctor Rosen has been settled in an unexpected manner in the council, and since this matter is likely to be talked about for a long time in Goteborg, I shall therefore have the honour of sending you what I have addressed to His Royal Majesty concerning it, and this for the purpose of offsetting the malicious judgment which can be expected without fail to issue from the mouths of certain persons, and indeed from their interior folly and petulance.

I heard from two gentlemen of the Supreme Court of Appeals that the privy council is Pontifex Maximus in religious cases. To this I made no reply at the time, but in case I shall again hear such an assertion from them I will reply that they are by no means the Pontifex Maximus, but only the vicar of the vicar of the Pontifex Maximus, since Christ our Saviour is alone Pontifex Maximus. The estates of the Diet are His vicar, wherefore too they have the responsibility, and the Privy Council is the vicar of the estates, being empowered by them, and is thus the vicar of the vicar of the Pontifex Maximus. Nor do I see in what the pontificate of the Privy Council consists, for they have simply assented to the opinion of the Goteborg Consistory, and have in no way searched in my books for any matter of religion, and have nonetheless forbidden them. That the Pope of Rome calls himself Pontifex Maximus is due to presumptuous arrogance, he having taken and ascribed to himself all the power of Christ our Saviour, and would have the people believe that he is Christ on earth.

I have not yet received an answer from the council. When the matter was before the council last week it was decided to let it rest until the return of those members from the country who had previously been over it. I am well aware that they smite me on my right cheek, but as to how they may rub off what is anointed on the other, I know not.

I send my fond greetings to Doctor Beyer and Doctor Rosen, and to the others in Goteborg who believe in our Saviour.

I remain, etc.

Em. Swedenborg.

Stockholm
19 July 1770

* Another member of the group of sympathisers in Goteborg was the wealthy textile manufacturer Augustus Alstromer to whom Swedenborg sent, together with the letter printed here, a copy of the petition he had sent to the King on 25 May 1770 concerning the persecution of Swedenborgianism in that city.
The Swedish text here is based on a copy in Swedenborg's own hand. This copy is now the property of the Royal Academy of Sciences, Stockholm.

Letters (Harley) n. 25

Letters (Harley) n. 25

25. Letter to Mennander, July 20, 1770

Most Well-Born Sir Doctor, Bishop Pro-Chancellor!
*In a few days I shall leave for Amsterdam, where I shall publish the WHOLE THEOLOGY OF THE NEW CHURCH, the foundation of which will be the worship of the Lord our Saviour. If a temple will not now be built on the foundation of this worship, brothels are likely to rise up upon it later.

As I have learned that the religious matter concerning Doctors Beyer and Rosen has been settled in an unexpected manner in the council, and as it is likely to be talked about here and there in my absence, therefore in order to offset malevolent opinions which without fail may be expected from the mouths of certain persons, and this from their folly and internal perverseness, and therefore because of the importance of the matter, it devolves on me to communicate what I have submitted to his Royal Majesty.

I heard from two gentlemen of the Supreme Court of Appeals that the Privy Council is Pontifex Maximus in religious cases. To this I made no answer at the time, but if I should again hear the same thing from them, I shall answer that the council is in no way Pontifex Maximus, but only the vicar of the vicar of Pontifex Maximus. For Christ our Saviour is alone Pontifex Maximus, the estates of the realm are His vicar and are therefore responsible to Him, and the Privy Council is the vicar of the estates because authorised by these, and so the council is the vicar of the vicar of Pontifex Maximus. It is arrogant of the Pope of Rome to call himself Pontifex Maximus, because he has taken to himself and ascribed to himself all the power of Christ our Saviour, and has placed himself on His throne, and allows the people to believe that he is Christ on earth.

Every lesser pontifex or vicar of Pontifex Maximus ought to have his consistory. The estates of the realm have theirs in the revered Estate of the Clergy, and the Privy Council has its especially at the universities; but in concluding the present case it has made the Goteborg Consistory its own consistory, and, as I understand, has abided by its report word for word; not knowing that this case has been the most important that has appeared before any council for 1700 years, because it concerns the New Church proclaimed by our Lord in Daniel and in the Revelation and because it agrees with what the Lord said in Matthew xxiv 22.

I remain, etc.
Eman. Swedenborg**

Stockholm
20 July 1770

P.S. I have not yet received an answer from the council. The matter was before it once, and it was decided that it should rest until the return of those members of the Council who had examined it.

* The day after writing to Astromer, Swedenborg sent a similar letter to Bishop Mennander again enclosing a copy of the appeal to the King. Copies of this letter were also sent by Swedenborg to the Universities of Lund (through his nephew, C. J. Benzelius) and of Uppsala.
The Russian conquest of Finland in 1809, in which land the bishopric of Abo was situated, accounts for the unexpected present location of this letter in the Leningrad State Public Library.
** Except for the personal courtesies the identical letter was sent to the University of Lund through Swedenborg's nephew C.J. Benzelius, then a professor there and later Bishop of Strangnas, and also directly to the University of Uppsala. Bishop Mennander of Abo, Finland, was at the same time Pro-Chancellor of the University there. Thus Swedenborg sent the same message to all three universities of the realm. Finland was at the time part of Sweden.

Letters (Harley) n. 26

Letters (Harley) n. 26

26. Letter to Beyer, July 23, 1770

Copy of letter to the Academies in Uppsala, Lund, and Abo.*

In a few days I am leaving for Amsterdam where I shall publish the WHOLE THEOLOGY OF THE NEW CHURCH, the foundation of which will be the worship of the Lord our Saviour. If no temple be now built on that foundation, brothels will most likely be established upon it later on. Now as I have learned that the religious proceedings in Goteborg with regard to Doctors Beyer and Rosen have been taken up directly by the Council and have been settled in an unexpected way, and as it is likely to be talked about here and there during my absence; therefore, to offset the ill-minded judgments which are likely to issue from the mouths of certain persons, and this from 'their folly and interior perversity, and also because of the importance of the matter, it devolves on me to communicate what I have submitted to His Royal Majesty in this matter, which is done herewith.

I heard from two gentlemen of the Supreme Court of Appeals that in religious cases the Privy Council is the Supreme Pontiff. To this I made no answer at the time, but should I hear again such a thing from them, I should answer that the Council is by no means the Supreme Pontiff, but the vicar of the vicar of the Supreme Pontiff. For Christ our Saviour alone is the Supreme Pontiff; the Estates of the Realm are His vicar, wherefore also they are responsible to Him; and the Privy Council is the vicar of the Estates, being empowered by them, and is thus the vicar of the vicar of the Supreme Pontiff. The fact that the Roman Pope calls himself the Supreme Pontiff is from presumptuousness, because he has assumed and laid upon himself all the power of Christ our Saviour and has set himself upon His throne, letting the people believe that he is Christ on earth.

Every lesser pontiff or vicar of the Supreme Pontiff ought to have his own consistory. The Estates of the Realm have theirs in the revered Estate of the Clergy. The Privy Council has its consistory especially in the academies; but in deciding the present case it has made the Goteborg Consistory its own, by whose opinions it seems to have abided word for word, not knowing that this case has been the weightiest and most important that has come before any Council** for 1700 years, for it concerns the New Church which was predicted by our Lord in Daniel and in the Revelation, and agrees with what the Lord said in Matt. xxiv 22.

I have not yet received an answer from the Council. The matter was before it once, but it was decided that it should rest until the arrival of those in the Council who have been over it before.

Em. Swedenborg

* On 5 May 1770 Beyer had been deprived of his position as Principal Lecturer in Theology by the Bishop, who had acted on a judgment received from the King concerning Swedenborgian theology. Learning of Beyer's dismissal, Swedenborg wrote to the King on 25 May. On 23 July, Swedenborg wrote to Beyer enclosing a copy of a letter which he had written to the universities of Uppsala, Lund, and Abo.
** Swedenborg here uses both the English word Council and the corresponding Swedish word.

Letters (Harley) n. 27

Letters (Harley) n. 27

27. Reply to Dr. Ernesti, 1770

I have read what Dr. Ernesti has written about me on p. 874 of his Theological Library and have seen that it contains nothing but insults against me personally; nor have I noticed there one grain of reason against any matter that is in my writings. It is contrary to the rules of chivalry however to attack anyone with such poisoned weapons, and I therefore consider it beneath my dignity to fight this gentleman in like terms, that is, to hurl back insults and answer accusations with insults. For this would be like two dogs barking and snarling as they fight, or like the lowest type of women who in quarrelling hurl mud from the street into each other's faces. Please read what is written about the mysteries that have been disclosed by the Lord through me His servant in nn. 846-511** of my latest work entitled TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION and then make a judgment about my revelation; but do so from reason.

Moreover a 'memorable occurrence' against this same Dr. Ernesti has been written and inserted in the above-named work TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, n. 137.** Please read this too.

* Dr. Johann August Ernesti, professor at Leipzig University, edited the Neue Theologische Bibliothek (New Theological Library) in which he wrote hostile reviews of Swedenborg's theological works. In 1770 Emesti reviewed Prof. H. W. Clemm's Vollstandige Einleitung in die Religion und Theologie. (A Complete Introduction to Religion and Theology), in which the author offered three explanations of Swedenborgian phenomena. 'There is a fourth explanation,' wrote Ernesti 'which without doubt is the correct one. They could be fictitious inventions wherewith he desires to deceive the world; and in his heart he may be laughing at the people - as they deserve - who believe him and do not understand his artfulness. Are there not, in church history, examples enough of such fictitious inventions whereby men have wished to give authority to their own erroneous religious opinions which also have had this effect! And our times are becoming more and more suitable for such deceptions, when learned people find themselves inclined to allow and to substantiate such dreams and fantasies. This Swedenborg well knows.'
Two versions of Swedenborg's immediate reply to Ernesti's accusations of fraud and deceit are extant: (1) the autograph which the Dutch merchant J. C. Cuno failed to have printed and distributed as Swedenborg requested, and which is to be found pasted on p. 104 of a copy of the first edition of VERA CHRISTIANA RELIGIO, in the Thysian Library, Leyden, and (2) the printed slip which Swedenborg himself distributed. The text of the latter has been preferred in this edition, and variant readings of the former appear in the critical apparatus. (Bibliography: C. Th. Odhner, Swedenborg and Ernesti, New Church Life, March/April 1912; Ernst Bent, Swedenborg in Deutschland. Vittorio Klostermann, Frankfurt.)
** The Latin text also gives the page numbers of the first Latin edition.

Letters (Harley) n. 28

Letters (Harley) n. 28

28. Letter to Beyer, April 30, 1771

*Yesterday I received your latest letter, together with one from Doctor Rosen, and previously I had one from Assessor Quickfeldt, in which the thought is advanced that the case would take another turn if I presented myself to the Royal Senate as a third and intervening party (tertius interveniens); but nothing whatever would be gained from it, especially since not long before my departure I in fact did this, and with very weighty reasons defended the cause itself as well as you both. I am astonished that they are still going on with the matter in Goteborg, of which I am going to complain at the next Diet when I will send over the WHOLE THEOLOGY OF THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW CHURCH, which will leave the press no later than June next. Of this work I will send two copies to each Estate with the request that a deputation of all the Estates be appointed to consider the matter for the purpose of bringing the case to an end. Of this I am certain, that when this book has been published the Lord our Saviour will operate mediately as well as immediately to establish the New Church, which is founded on this Theology, throughout Christendom. The new heaven, from which the New Jerusalem is to descend, will now soon be completed, see Rev. xxi 1-3. The antagonists will have their allotted places when they arrive in the other life. I pity them.

Sending my kind greeting to Doctor Rosen

I remain etc.
Em. Swedenborg

Amsterdam
30 April 1771

* At the end of July 1770 Swedenborg left for Amsterdam to see VERA CHRISTIANA RELIGIO through the press, and on 30 April 1771 he wrote to Beyer announcing its imminent publication.

Letters (Harley) n. 29

Letters (Harley) n. 29

29. Letter to Landgrave, June 18, 1771

Most Noble Duke and Landgrave,*
When I received your most kind letter, I was in doubt whether it had been signed by yourself, most noble Duke. I disclosed the reason for this doubt to the Reverend Mr. Venator who was with me; but after learning from him that this was not so, and having my doubts set aside, I became worried, and I delayed until I had finally just received from the press my recently published theological work entitled, THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION that contains the complete theology of the New Church foretold by the Lord in Daniel vii 13, 14, and in Revelation xxi 1, 2 ff. I have today, most noble Duke, sent off to you two copies by the coach which leaves this city for Germany twice a week. I beg you to give this work your favourable attention, for it contains pure truths disclosed from heaven.

As regards the book called ARCANA COELESTIA published in London, this is no longer available, since all copies, those in England as well as those that were in Holland, have been sold. I know that certain people in Sweden have it, and I will write to two of them and ask whether they are willing to sell it at some price or other. I will, with your permission, communicate their replies to you as soon as I receive them.

In your kind letter I was asked how I came into contact with angels and spirits, and whether this gift can be passed on from one person to another. Please accept the following reply from me:

Our Lord and Saviour had foretold both in the Gospels and in the book of Revelation that He would come into the world again and establish a New Church; and because He cannot now come into the world in person, it was necessary for Him to do this by means of a man who could not only grasp the doctrines of this Church with his understanding but also publish them in print. And because the Lord prepared me from childhood for this, therefore He showed Himself in person before me and set me on this task. This took place in the year 1743; and after this He opened the sight of my spirit for me, and thus introduced me into the spiritual world, and granted me to see the heavens and the wonders there, as well as the hells, and also to speak with angels and spirits; all this now for 27 consecutive years. I swear to the truth of this. It is only for the sake of the New Church mentioned above that this has been done with me. The gift of conversing with angels, as I have with them, cannot be passed on from one person to another. It does happen occasionally that a spirit comes in and babbles out some word or other to a man, but still it is not granted to speak with him face to face. It is also extremely dangerous, since the spirit enters into the affection belonging to a man's self-love, which does not accord with the affection belonging to heavenly love. As regards that man who was plagued by a spirit, I have heard from heaven that this arose from the meditation in which he indulged, but that he need not fear any danger, because the Lord protects him. The sole remedy is for him to be converted and pray for help to the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

I remain respectfully, most noble
Duke and Landgrave,
Your most humble servant,
Eman. Swedenborg
Amsterdam
18 June 1771

* Ludwig IX (1719-90), a man who was 'ardently devoted to military matters' and who became the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1768, was also 'fanatically devoted to what is now called spiritism'. Having learned of Swedenborg and of his communication with the spiritual world through Oetinger's Swedenborgs und Anderer Irrdische und Himmlische Philosophie, he then instructed his minister at The Hague, de Treuer, to call on Swedenborg who, he learned, was at that time residing in Amsterdam. De Treuer wrote to his master on 7 June 1771 of his visit, and soon afterwards the Landgrave sent direct to Swedenborg a letter that has not survived, though its contents may be deduced from Swedenborg's reply of 18 June.
Probably because of its flattering language and because he certainly doubted the genuineness of the signature, Swedenborg ignored the letter until Pastor Venator, whom the Landgrave had sent to speak on his behalf, assured him that the signature was quite genuine. (It is probable that this pastor was in fact named Jager which means "Hunter," as does Venator.)
From Swedenborg's letter of 18 June, the original of which, like all his letters to the Landgrave, is now among the state archives in Darmstadt, it is clear that this German prince sought (i) to obtain a set of ARCANA COELESTIA, (ii) to know how Swedenborg had entered into communication with spirits, the nature of that communication, and whether anybody else could receive the same gift, and (iii) information concerning a certain deceased person.

Letters (Harley) n. 30

Letters (Harley) n. 30

30. [Not included.]

Letters (Harley) n. 31

Letters (Harley) n. 31

31. Letter to Langrave, July 13, 1771

Most Noble Duke and Landgrave,*
It gladdened me, most noble Duke, to receive and to read your letter written to me on 1 July. I trust that the work most recently published entitled TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION came subsequently into your hands.

If it please you, would you arrange for some learned members of the clergy in your duchy to pass judgments on it and publish them; but I beg of you that learned members of your clergy be selected who love truths and are delighted with them because they are truths. Others will not see a gleam of light in that work, but everything in darkness.

What is being said about me having predicted the death of the daughter of the Margrave of Schwedt is a fabrication coming from some gossiping newsmonger or other. I was not present there, nor did I know anything about that lady. What is being said about the brother of the Queen of Sweden however is true, yet this must not be regarded as some miracle but only as a noteworthy occurrence like those noteworthy occurrences concerning Luther, Melancthon, Calvin, and many others, which have been recounted and set out in that work. For occurrences such as these are not miracles but only witnesses to the fact that I have been introduced by the Lord as to my spirit into the spiritual world and that I therefore speak with angels and spirits.

As for the persons named on the paper you enclose, I have not spoken with four of them, to wit, Belie Isle, de Bombelles, Kameke, and Beck. I did speak six months ago with Stanislaus the King of Poland. It was in some gathering where he was and in which nobody knew it was he, for he found it a joy in life to wish to remain incognito when he was in groups of people and so be with angels and spirits as one of them and converse with them as equals. At a later time I saw him when he had been transferred to a northern part, and I heard that he had been removed to that place to administer a certain society of Roman Catholics over which he is set as the principal ruler.

I have spoken frequently with the late Roman Pontiff. After his death he remained in my company for three days, and when he left he went down to congregations of Jesuits whom he presided over for a full month. I also saw him coming up from there when I was again allowed to speak with him, but I am not permitted to divulge more about his course of life and state. Concerning him who served as Pope 30 or 40 years ago, please see what appears in n. 820 of that work.

Furthermore I shall remain most zealous and attentive in all things touching your honour and command.

Most noble Duke and Landgrave
Your most humble servant
Eman. Swedenborg
Amsterdam
13 July 1771

* On 22 June in another letter that is now lost, the Landgrave apparently asked for a list of books published by Swedenborg, for in a brief reply of 3 July 1771 the latter refers to such a list and also to the enclosure of the recently printed RESPONSUM AD ERNESTI.
In a letter dated 1 July, written in German, as were all his letters presumably, the Landgrave expresses his thanks for trouble taken to obtain ARCANA COELESTIA and then continues as follows:
'I certainly hope to find in this book things which are in harmony with the marvellous stories that have been brought to me from time to time concerning your visions and prophecies. Up to the present I find the following, among other stories, to be the most remarkable: that on a certain occasion, what at the home of Princess Ferdinand, daughter of the Margrave of Schwedt, you expressed yourself to a Young lady who sat at table as follows: "The young lady is sad, but she has indeed reason to be, for she will soon die, but yet will first be married." This prophecy was confirmed by its early fulfilment.
'Attentive as I have been to stories of this kind, I would be yet more attentive to stories involving your having the gift of being able to give news concerning the state of deceased persons. But I must confess that I all but conjecture that these stories might be unfounded as that which was told concerning a lady in Leipzig for whom, after previous discourse with her deceased husband, you recovered the receipt for a considerable sum of money which was claimed from her a second time, and pointed out the place in a cupboard where it was to be found, which story you yourself told my consistorial councillor Venator in a different way. That I may have some assurance in this matter, and may convince myself to my own satisfaction, I ask you to send me some news concerning the state in that life of the deceased persons on the enclosed sheet...' [Though the Landgrave's actual list has been lost, Swedenborg's reply of 13 July indicates the names that were on it.]

Letters (Harley) n. 32

Letters (Harley) n. 32

32. [Not included.]

Letters (Harley) n. 33

Letters (Harley) n. 33

33. Letter to Landgrave, August 24, 1771

Most Noble Duke and Landgrave,*
I have received your gracious letter, most noble Duke, written at Pirmassens on 6th August. I note that you are still awaiting an answer concerning the state of life of the four persons whose names you previously gave on a sheet enclosed in your letter, namely Marshal Belle-Isle, de Bombelles, de Kameke, and Madame de Beck. What I have been led to know concerning King Stanislaus and Pope Benedict,** I have related already, but with regard to the other four I have not yet had the opportunity to see them. This is because they are so far away from me, and perhaps in societies from which they cannot be summoned. The main reason why I have not met them is that I have no idea of what they are like, and all who come into the spiritual world never retain their own baptismal name which they had in the world, but receive another name which denotes the character of their mind. Therefore, if I were to call anyone merely by his name, he would not recognise that name, for this has fallen into oblivion. As to all those with whom I have spoken in the spiritual world from knowing them, I have had some idea of what kind of people they are, in the case of relatives or friends from intimate acquaintance and association, in the case of the learned from their writings, and in the case of kings and princes from their deeds and their fame. For this reason when I wish to speak to any one, I must think of and put forth some idea of his character, and then, if he is not altogether too distant from me, he either becomes present, or I speak with him from afar, yet never by merely naming the person. Pardon me therefore, most noble Duke, for being unable to satisfy your command and desires with regard to the four persons, as I would do most willingly if it were possible. Nevertheless I speak daily with a great many persons, also with such as held positions of great dignity, without my knowing who they were or what kind of persons they had been in the world. Possibly some one of the four mentioned by you was among them, but, as already mentioned, I could not know this, since they would not recall their natural name; nor did I know them from their spiritual name, which denotes the character of their life.

I am now preparing to depart for England, where the Lord willing I intend to bring to light, that is, publish, four small works, namely:

1. The Consummation of the Age and the Abomination of Desolation at that time, foretold by the Lord in Daniel and in Matthew.

2. An Invitation to the whole Christian world to come to the New Church; and in it many things concerning the Lord's advent, and an Exhortation that they receive Him worthily.

3. The Human Mind.

4. Egyptian Hieroglyphics disclosed by Correspondences.

When these works have been printed I will forward copies from England to Legation Councillor de Treuer, so that through him they may come into your hands, and also into the hands of Councillor of the Consistory Herr Venator. Furthermore, I commend to your favour the faithful services of Legation Councillor de Treuer. I wish for you happiness from the Lord our Saviour and Redeemer, and remain, respectfully,

Most noble Duke

your most humble servant,

Eman. Swedenborg

Amsterdam
24 August 1771

* On 24 August 1771 Swedenborg replied to yet another letter sent from the Landgrave eighteen days previously, in which the latter seems to have pressed for information concerning the four deceased persons the seer had not met in the spiritual world. Swedenborg's reply clearly failed to satisfy him, for on 3 September the Landgrave supplied biographical details of the four people in question, but as Swedenborg had by this time left Amsterdam for London it is unlikely that he ever received this information.
** Benedict XIV died in 1758. Swedenborg means Clement XIII. See Letters and Memorials 752

Letters (Harley) n. 34

Letters (Harley) n. 34

34. [Not included.]