Secrets of Heaven

The first major theological work of the Swedish scientist-turned-seer Emanuel Swedenborg, Secrets of Heaven is in one sense a traveler’s account. It reveals the unseen realms that await beyond death ? the light, warmth, and harmony of the angelic heavens and the varied darkness of the multitudinous hells. In this second volume, Swedenborg discusses place, distance, and time as it is experienced in the spiritual world. He also describes the ability of spirits to perceive goodness and truth and to know the character of other spirits on first approach. In addition, the work offers a detailed examination of chapters ten through fifteen of Genesis, including the story of the tower of Babel.

The analysis contained within Secrets of Heaven, which covers the books of Genesis and Exodus over the course of fifteen volumes, provides a model for a new way to understand the entire Bible. Prized for both the simplicity of its explanation and the breadth and depth of its vision, Swedenborg’s reading of Scripture discloses layer upon layer of inner meaning, all without undermining the power and import of the literal word.

Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) was a Swedish scientist, nobleman, and theologian who spent his life investigating the mysteries of the soul. Born in Stockholm to a staunchly Lutheran family, he graduated from the University of Uppsala and then traveled to England, Holland, France, and Germany to study the leading scientists of the time. He gained favor with Sweden’s King Charles XII, who gave him the position of overseer of the Swedish mining industry. Later, he was given a seat on the Swedish House of Nobles by Charles XII’s successor, Queen Ulrika Eleonora. Between 1743 and 1745 he began to have visions of heaven, hell, and Jesus Christ which resulted in a stream of books about the nature of God, the afterlife, and the inner meaning of the Bible. He devoted the last decades of his life to studying Scripture and presenting his own unique theology to the world.

Lisa Hyatt Cooper is translator of the fifteen-volume Secrets of Heaven for the Swedenborg Foundation’s New Century Edition of Swedenborg. Her past publications include a series of short stories from Swedenborg translated for children and a Latin edition of his work Other Planets. She contributed translations to Debates with Devils by Don Rose and was the main consultant for five of the twelve volumes of John Elliott’s translation of Arcana Caelestia, published by the Swedenborg Society in London. Her essay ?The Creation Story” for Your Turn!, the Foundation’s 2008 Chrysalis reader, was the source of the text for the current book.