Swedenborg Scientific Association
Publishers of The New Philosophy Journal
This study is intended as an examination of the early modern debate over extraterrestrial life as it relates to Emanuel Swedenborg. Through such a study I hope to help people gain a better appreciation of the issues Swedenborg addresses in his Earths in the Universe, and thus help them gain greater delight and use in reading it.
In the October-December 1983 issue of The New Philosophy there appeared an article by Rev. Dr. Horand K. Gutfeldt entitled: ” ‘As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten’ (Rev. 3:19)—In Need of a Revision?” Gutfeldt suggested in this article that this clause in Rev. 3:19 would be better translated as: “As many as I love, I convince and educate.”
GESTATION AND REGENERATIONOrganization: The Formative ForceHow does the zygote turn into a human being? How do all the organs form at the right times and places? This is the question of organization, often prompted by stunned amazement that this miracle can happen at all, let alone billions of times. We can approach it at many different levels. The Writings answer it at the theological level, as I showed earlier, by explaining the nature and operation of the soul. But the philosophical level, and the scientific one, which can be divided into physical, mechanical, cytological, molecular and even atomic planes of organization, remain to be examined.
SWEDENBORG’S RELATIONSHIP TO THE THEORY OF A PLURALITY OF WORLDSExtraterrestrial Life in Swedenborg’s Pre-Theological WorksAs was outlined in chapter one, Cartesian emphasis upon a distinction between spirit and matter, and upon mechanistic explanations of natural phenomena, influenced contemporary philosophy immeasurably. Cosmology was particularly affected by this trend, and as the seventeenth century progressed, more and more philosophers adopted the system outlined in Descartes’ Principia. This was important for the debate over a plurality of worlds, because the Cartesian picture of the universe consisted of innumerable solar systems, and thus made it seem rather foolish to suppose that only one corner of this immense universe was inhabited by intelligent beings.
It is our intention now to show its application in photosynthesis, that chemical process whereby water and carbon dioxide are combined to form carbohydrate by means of the catalytic action of chlorophyll and the essential input of solar energy. This carbohydrate is the raw material from which food for living organisms is produced by complex biochemical pathways in plant cells. Then, in plant and animal respiration, the solar energy stored in food is released to enable the organism to live. We, therefore, owe our physical being on earth to photosynthesis, and we hope to show that we owe as well our spiritual humanity to its spiritual counterpart.
Our imagination is impressed by an artist’s illustrations of ancient city states, with the citizens moving about their everyday business. Take the Central American city state Tikal; ancient mysteries are transformed by the artist’s informed imagination. And scientists explain how these constructions were accomplished, and how modern technology might replicate them. Today, many ancient mysteries are being explained in terms of visitors from outer space, who brought secret knowledge to the earth (see, for example, Erich von Daniken’s Chariots of the Gods). It seems that some ancient achievements are just a little too miraculous for credulity! And yet the evidence is there: monuments which seem to defy gravity.The New Church scholar, however, can provide explanations in terms of another frame of reference, the science of correspondences, which was the Science surpassing all other sciences in ancient days. For throughout “post-diluvian” times, in what is called the Ancient Church (the Biblical Noachian period), down to Christ, this science was used to link the metaphysical or spiritual realm to the physical or natural cosmos. And its use now may help to bring those artists’ impressions into sharp focus, making the whole ancient world a little more comprehensible.
This honor has fallen to me on two accounts: first and foremost, my editorship of Swedenborg’s “Diary” under the aegis of the General Church Translation Committee; but second and also important, a long-standing friendship—dating back more than 30 years—with your chairman, Rev. Olle Hjern—a man of intense devotion to and extensive knowledge of Swedenborg and Swedenborgiana, who felt that this project would be of particular interest to people in this country.
Can you point toward the east? If you are in a familiar environment you may already be oriented (which means knowing which way is east), but anywhere else you could miss by a wide margin. The place where you are is moving toward the east, at a speed that probably exceeds a thousand kilometers per hour, but that does not seem to result in any direct evidence. A bird, if it can see the Sun, can find out which way is east by watching that star for a minute or two. Other creatures with supposedly larger brains have trouble doing even that much.
Swedenborg Scientific Association
The Swedenborg Scientific Association’s primary purpose is to make the scientific and philosophical works of Emanuel Swedenborg available as widely as possible. We do this by preserving, translating (into many languages), publishing, and distributing this material.
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