Swedenborg’s View of Spiritual History
By Emanuel Swedenborg and P.L. Johnson
The Five Ages: Swedenborg’s View of Spiritual History presents a compelling spiritual and psychological history of human evolution through extracts from the works of the eighteenth-century Swedish philosopher and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg, neatly linking them with an engaging and informative commentary that places the ideas within the context of modern historical and archaeological knowledge.
Paperback and e-book, 262 pages
Description
The Five Ages: Swedenborg’s View of Spiritual History presents a compelling spiritual and psychological history of human evolution. It is a compilation of extracts from the works of the eighteenth-century Swedish philosopher and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg on the subject of the “world ages,” a concept that is found in many different cultures and mythologies. The Greeks and Romans called these epochs the Golden, Silver, Bronze and Iron Ages; Hindu mythology talks of the four yugas; Islam, meanwhile, refers to a pattern of the six major prophets. Similar time frames appear in Norse, Persian, and Aztec mythology, but nowhere is this theme treated with such detail as in the works of Swedenborg. He divides human history into five biblically based ages: that of Adam, Noah, Moses, Jesus Christ, and a fifth one that is just unfolding, one predicted in the book of Revelation.
The Five Ages brings together passages from over twenty different works by Swedenborg, neatly linking them with an engaging and informative commentary in which P. L. Johnson compares and contrasts Swedenborg’s ideas with those from other cultures, placing them in the context of historical and archaeological knowledge gathered since Swedenborg’s time.
The book is illustrated throughout, featuring thirty helpful and charming black-and-white line drawings. It also contains a bibliography, a subject index, an index of quotations from the works of Swedenborg, and an appendix on “World Age Patterns.”
Reviews
“A stimulating and absorbing experience”
—Stephen Russell-Lacy, spiritualquestions.org.uk
“I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the spiritual history of the human race . . . It surpasses many books done by major publishers.”
—William H Clifford, New Church Life
“Compulsive reading”
—Bruce Jarvis, Lifeline
“A valuable addition to anyone’s library”
—The New Philosophy
Established in 1810, the main aim of the Swedenborg Society is to translate and publish the works of Emanuel Swedenborg. The Society was incorporated in 1925 and has since become a registered educational charity. Housed in a historic building in central London, they sell not only their own books but Swedenborg-related titles from other publishers, as well as offering a reference and lending library.
Complete list of Swedenborg Society books we carry >
All Swedenborg Society books we carry are imported and contain British spelling, punctuation, and word usage.
To learn more about the Swedenborg Society, visit their website.
Additional information
Author | Emanuel Swedenborg and P.L. Johnson |
---|---|
Format | paperback, e-book |
ISBN | 978-085448-155-2 pb 978-085448-199-6 e-book |
Length | 262 pages |
Release Date | 2009 |
Series | Swedenborg Society |