Swedenborg

Spiritual Diary, by Emanuel Swedenborg: 5901-5950

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This is a passage from Swedenborg's *Spiritual Diary*, an 18th-century mystical log recording his claimed firsthand observations of the spirit world, written in the tradition of visionary Christian theology. The entries describe the behavior and moral character of various spirits in the afterlife: those who wander beyond their "territory" inadvertently attract evil spirits and cause harm to others, while spirits who love useful work for its own sake never feel the urge to stray. Swedenborg also records that a spirit's capacity for visual perception in the spiritual world directly mirrors their intelligence and inner truthfulness — the spiritually shallow see dimly or distort reality into phantasy, as night-birds see only in darkness. A notably distinctive section recounts Swedenborg's personal conversations with the spirit of Martin Luther, who is portrayed as trapped by "persuasive faith" — a dogmatic certainty that smothers genuine understanding — stemming from the worldly glory he received in life; Luther admits he is tormented when he falls into this persuasion and cannot fully grasp the truths of charity, though he acknowledges his errors. Throughout, the work advances the Swedenborgian doctrine that spiritual sight, moral character, and theological truth are inseparable, and that institutional doctrines (including Lutheran and Catholic positions on the Eucharist) are disconnected from how even their adherents actually experience worship.

Spiritual Diary, by Emanuel Swedenborg: 5901-5950

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