The Other Life/Preface
PREFACE.
These are not the speculations of fancy invading the sanctuaries of the soul; nor the wandering dreams of imagination mistaking the beautiful for the true. They are veritable pictures of the life to come. To the mind that can appreciate their truth they are more valuable than any philosophical or scientific discoveries. They give a light to the intellect and a joy to the heart unknown to previous Dispensations., It is needless for me, to disclaim any right of possession in these sublime revelations. They have been drawn from the pages of Emanuel Swedenborg, the divinely commissioned Interpreter of the Word of God.
For that reason they have nothing in common with the doctrines so widely disseminated under the name of Spiritualism.
Many Christians reject instantaneously the idea that man, while living upon this earth, can receive any revelation of the other life.
They quote from Paul to the Corinthians:
"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him—"
Let them finish the verse, and reflect on its meaning:—"But God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit."
Rev. F. W. Robertson, one of the most eminent of modern thinkers, says of this text:
"In the quotation of this verse a false impression is often evident. It is quoted as if the apostle by the 'things prepared' meant heaven, and the glories of a world which is to be visible hereafter, but is at present unseen. This is manifestly alien from his purpose. The world of which he speaks is not a future but a present revelation. God hath revealed it. He speaks not of something to be manifested hereafter, but of something already shown, only not to the eye or the ear."
A fearful sentence from the Bible is sometimes cited with the expectation of instantly silencing any one who thinks he may tell us something of the world in which we are to live for ever:
"If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book."
Examine the verse closely, and you will discover that this curse is pronounced against those who presume to add anything to "the prophecies" contained in the Book of Revelation, a book written by John, and not recognized as a sacred book nor bound up with the other Scriptures until hundreds of years after. This verse, therefore, could have no reference to the Bible as a whole, for the biblical canon had not been decided at the time the verse was written.
A man might describe heaven and hell truly and most minutely without adding an iota to the Bible; for the Bible is a revelation, not of heaven and hell, but of the Divine Law
Nor is the unfolding of the spiritual sense of the Bible any addition to it. It is simply a bringing to view of what was already there, and not heretofore discovered. As well might we say that he who reveals the laws of the human mind, adds something to the anatomy of the human body.
These are examples of the unfair arguments frequently adduced against the claims of Swedenborg. Let the candid and truth-loving Christian refuse longer to be blinded by such sophistries.
It is not, however, merely to gratify an excusable curiosity, that I endeavor to popularize the teachings of Swedenborg about the other life. It is because they are so intensely practical, so transcendently valuable in the conduct of this life, in the illumination of the intellect, and as a stimulus and guide in the great work of individual regeneration. They contain moreover the elements of a philosophy which will remove the objections of the skeptic, dissipate the doubts of the Christian, and, overcoming all obstacles, finally unitize the Church of God.
New Orleans. Sept. 1870.