Thursday, March 6, 2008

Swedenborg Sees One of His Books in the Spiritual World

A number of times in the Heavenly Doctrines Swedenborg describes seeing books written by him in the spiritual world. (If you're interested in finding out if he ever mentions seeing a specific book I recommend looking up that book in Pott's Concordance.) I just ran across a story where he mentions seeing Arcana Coelestia.
[A]s I withdrew I saw under a green olive tree around which a vine had entwined itself, a cedar table on which there was a book. I looked and lo, it was a book written by me, entitled Arcana Coelestia and I said that it was fully shown in that book that man is not life but an organ receptive of life; also that life cannot be created and when so created be in man, any more than light in the eye. (True Christian Religion 461:8)
Interestingly, in another place he tells a similar story, but in that story he sees a different book on the cedar table.
[W]hen I departed, I saw a cedar table, upon which was a book, under a green olive-tree, the trunk of which was entwined with a vine. I looked, and behold, it was a book written by me, called The Angelic Wisdom concerning the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom, and also concerning The Divine Providence; and I said that it was fully shown in that book, that man is an organ recipient of life, and not life. (Apocalypse Revealed 875:15)

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