Emanuel Swedenborg | |
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Portrait of Swedenborg by Carl Frederik von Breda.
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Born |
Emanuel Swedberg 29 January 1688 , Sweden |
Died | 29 March 1772 London, England, Great Britain |
(aged 84)
Education | Uppsala University |
Occupation |
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Notable work |
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Theological work | |
Era | 18th-century |
Tradition or movement | Lutheranism |
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Emanuel Swedenborg (/ˈswiːdənˌbɔːrɡ/; Swedish pronunciation ; born Emanuel Swedberg on 29 January 1688; died 29 March 1772) was a Swedish scientist, philosopher, theologian, revelator, and mystic. He is best known for his book on the afterlife, Heaven and Hell (1758).
Swedenborg had a prolific career as an inventor and scientist. In 1741, at age 53, he entered into a spiritual phase in which he began to experience dreams and visions, beginning on Easter weekend of 6 April 1744. This culminated in a 'spiritual awakening', in which he received revelation that he was appointed by the Lord to write The Heavenly Doctrine to reform Christianity. According to The Heavenly Doctrine the Lord had opened Swedenborg's spiritual eyes, so that from then on he could freely visit heaven and hell and talk with angels, demons and other spirits; and the Last Judgment had already occurred, in 1757.