January-June 2013
In This Issue
Editorial Remarks
In Part II of "The Philosophical Context of Swedenborg the Philosopher—Reason and Faith, Faith and Reason—a Human Project" Jane Williams-Hogan includes accounts of the life and works of both Leibniz (1646–1716) and Wolff (1679–1754), following her treatment of Descartes (1596–1650) and Spinoza (1632–1677) in Part I published in the July–December 2012 issue. In doing so she provides insights into the milieu of the philosophical climate in which Swedenborg was educated and that fostered the Enlightenment. At the same time, it provided challenges to his own life and work as revelator and vehicle for the earthly manifestation of the second advent...
The Philosophical Context of Swedenborg the Philosopher—Reason and Faith, Faith and Reason—A Human Project (Part Two)
Jane K Williams-Hogan
The man who is often referred to as the last “universal genius” was born in Leipzig on July 1, 1646. The devastating Thirty Years War would not be over for two more years. It is said that Leibniz's spirit of reconciliation and synthesis can be traced, in part, to his sense of horror over the slaughter visited on the innocent, whether Protestant or Catholic, due to the doctrinal or ideological intransigence of the protagonists...
Watering Seeds—A Layman's Report of Recent Visits to Cuba, July 2012, January 2013
David Simpson
The flight from Toronto was brief, not much longer than the three hour bus ride to my sister's house in Windsor and maybe even a tad more comfortable. I had given no thought to the fact that the short sleeve shirt I had worn to the airport would be drenched in sweat within 20 minutes of disembarking from the plane. “Man”... I thought to myself, wiping the sweat off my brow. “I forgot how hot it gets down here in the summer.”
It was July 27th, almost 10:00 p.m. and the lingering heat of the Caribbean sun, long set, was still radiating out of the concrete walls and terrazzo floors of José Martí International Airport. My carryon bag was heavy like the air; loaded up with all the Latin editions of Swedenborg's writings I could get my hands on in the last month, packed in with all the other books by Swedenborg in English and Spanish that would fit. The gaunt Cuban customs official motioned me over with his head and asked me to open my bag. He browsed through the tightly packed books, some fragile enough with age to fall apart...
Why the Spiritual and Cultural Climate of Sweden in the 18th Century was a Natural Hotbed for Swedenborg's Ideas About Heaven and Hell
Hans Jürgen Hube
It is quite remarkable that Emanuel Swedenborg, considering his experiences—especially in Sweden—delayed so long before he published his great doctrinal work Heaven and Hell, in Latin in London in 1758. At that time he was almost seventy years old and had become well acquainted with the intellectual and cultural and moral state of his homeland and many other countries. And it was clear that he did not publish this book, which brings us close to the secrets of heaven and hell, in Stockholm, where he had his house on Hornsgatan, but abroad, because no printer at home would have dared bring it out because at home Swedenborg was a longstanding persona non grata to the orthodoxy, and the Vatican had even put some of his books on the Index...
Received for Review
- The Feeling of What happens/Smile or Die
- Carl Bernhard Wadström: In Search of the New Jerusalem
- The Garment of Love: Charity is the Bond of Perfection
- A Descriptive Bibliography of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772)
- The Core of Johnny Appleseed: The Unknown Story of a Spiritual Trailblazer
- In the Presence of Angels: Reflections on Mattie Pearl and Emanuel Swedenborg
- Patterns: MAKE'EM AND BREAK 'EM
Style Guide for The New Philosophy
Errata
Get the free Adobe Reader
|
Read Full