SWEDENBORG, EMANUEL

(b Stockholm, Sweden, 29 January 1688; d. London, England, 29 March 1772)

technology, geology, cosmogony, physiology, theology.

Swedenborg’s career is one of the most remarkable in the history of science. In his youth and early manhood he was an enthusiastic scientist and technologist, and published a number of articles in various fields. Almost imperceptibly he turned to religious speculation, which, after a decisive divine revelation, led him to become a visionary and the founder of a religious sect, for which he is best known.

The son of Jesper Swedberg, professor of theology at Uppsala and later bishop of Skara, Swedenborg grew up in Uppsala and studied at its university, specializing in the humanities. He soon turned to the sciences, however, influenced by his brother-in-law, the learned university librarian Erik Benzelius. In the fall of 1710 Swedenborg traveled to England, where he stayed until 1713, mostly in London. During this time he was captivated by what he learned of science. He read Newton. He met Flamsteed, Halley, and John Woodward. He considered the universe to be a problem in mathematics, and, filled with youthful self-confidence, he tried to realize grandiose technical inventions, among them flying machines and submarines. Swedenborg returned to Sweden via Paris and Germany, and in 1716 was appointed extraordinary assessor on the Board of Mines. In this capacity he worked with Christopher Polhem, whom he admired greatly and assisted in far-reaching technical and industrial projects. Many articles in Daedalus hyperboreus, Sweden’s first, short-lived (1716–1718) scientific journal, which the wealthy Swedenborg published at his own expense, were devoted to Polhem’s mechanical inventions. Ennobled in 1719 (until then he signed himself Swedberg), he served for years on the Board of Mines; he was a competent metallurgist and, among other things, experimented with a new process for refining copper ore.

Always manifold in his scientific ambitions Swedenborg during this period wrote many short articles on his observations and theories. They were of varying importance, some indifferent or amateruish in quality, others ingenious and interesting. He was least successful as an astronomer. Swedenborg’s attempt to determine longitude at sea by means of the moon (published in 1716 and later several times revised), was submitted in a competition sponsored by the British Parliament. It was rejected by the experts and failed completely. In Om jordenes och planeternas gång och stånd ("On the Course and Position of the Earth and the Planets"; Skara, 1718), which was inspired by the Bible, Polhem, and Thomas Burnet’s Telluris theoria sacra, Swedenborg tried to prove that in earlier times the earth had revolved at a faster rate around the sun. The seasons would have been of similar climate and a paradisiacal spring would have reigned. As the earth slowed down and the length of the year and the seasons increased, the final catastrophe was approaching.

Young Swedenborg was undoubtedly at his best in geology and paleontology. In Om watnens högd och förra werldens starcka ebb och flod ("On the Level of the Seas and the Great Tides in Former Times"; Uppsala, 1719) he submitted empirical proof–sedimentary deposits, gravel ridges, fish in landlocked lakes without outlets, and the raising of the land along the Baltic coast–that Scandinavia had once been covered by an ocean from which the land had slowly risen. With the chemist Urban Hiärne, who strongly influenced him, he thus initiated the eighteenth-century debate in Sweden about “water reduction.”Swedenborg was very interested in fossils as evidence of a prehistoric flood. He was convinced of their organic origin; and during a journey in 1721–1722, he examined many fossils of plants found near Liège and Aachen. His descriptions of them were published together with other geological papers in his Miscellanea observata circa res naturales (Leipzig, 1722).

Swedenborg’s plans were to become increasingly grandiose. In his Principia rerum naturalium (Leipzig, 1734), probably conceived as a counterpart to Newton’s Principia, he sought a comprehensive physical explanation of the world based on mathematical and mechanical principles. While remaining faithful to the general principles of Cartesian natural philosophy, which he had learned while studying at Uppsala, Swedenborg elaborated upon them. According to his cosmogony the physical reality has developed from the mathematical point, which was an entity between infinite and finite. Through a vortical movement implanted on the point, a series of material particles developed (the “first finiata,”the“second finita,”and so on) that eventually led to the cosmos in its present state. In contrast to Descartes, Swedenborg believed that the planets had developed from the chaotic solar mass through expansion of its surrounding shell, which finally joined to form a belt along the equatorial plane of the sun. It then exploded, forming the planets and the satellites. Although the basic construction of Swedenborg’s thought heralded the later planetary theories of Buffon, Kant, and Laplace, there is nothing to indicate that it exerted any direct influence on posterity.

In the 1730’s Swedenborg pursued his materialistic explanation of the universe to its furthest consequence, concluding that the human soul also derived from the movements of the small particles. But at the same time a disturbing feature emerged in his thought. In speculating on paradise and the nature of angels, Swedenborg became increasingly involved–faithful to the Cartesian way of stating the inquiry– in the body-soul problem; and the soul and the mysteries of organic life soon became his main field of research. He planned enormous works in which physiology step by step was transformed into theology: Oeconomia regni animalis (2 vols., London-Amsterdam, 1740–1741) and Regnum animale (3 vols., The Hague, 1744–1745).

Swedenborg now sought to explain everything in terms of psyche, considering even the body as a manifestation of divine origin: “Everything lives the life of its soul and the soul lives the life of God’s spirit.”With the help of Malpighi, Swammerdam, and Vieussens he sought to discover the location of the human soul in the brain and its role as intermediary between mortal and divine. In his Oeconomia and in certain manuscripts, especially “De cerebro”(first published 1882–1887), he presented for the first time his theory that the activities of the soul, located in specific centers in the cortex of the brain, were built up from the finest“fibers.”In this categorical form it was an original and remarkable hypothesis that remained unnoticed by later physiological researchers.

The religious crisis in Swedenborg’s life was now approaching. At the beginning of the 1740’s he wrestled with the greatest problem in metaphysics. Wishing to find words for the ineffable, he experimented with a logical-mathematical universal language, a mathesis universalis on Leibniz’s and Wolff’s models, but it turned instead into the theory of correspondence. As worked out in its linguistic and philosophical details, this theory taught that existence was made up of three reciprocal levels–the natural, the psychic, and the divine; each word or concept within a certain level corresponded to a word or concept within another.

A financially independent bachelor, Swedenborg journeyed to Holland and England during this period. Restless and excited, he was plagued by dreams and visions that he described in the peculiar Drömboken ("Journal of Dreams"; Stockholm, 1859). At the same time he was working on a great narrative of creation, De cultu et amore Dei, but abandoned it when the final vision came upon him at London in the spring of 1745: God revealed himself to Swedenborg and ordered him to interpret the meaning of the Bible; on the same night the world of the spirits, Heaven and Hell, were opened to him.

At the age of fifty-seven Swedenborg abandoned his scientific investigations. For the rest of his life he was purely a visionary and prophet. Many thought him mad. In a stream of Latin works, especially the gigantic commentary on the books of Moses, Arcana coelestia (8 vols., London, 1749–1756), he developed his theory of the spiritual world, which was to be the beginning of a new universal religion, represented on earth by the Swedenborgian New Church. But despite its bizarre aspects Swedenborg’s theology is by no means a chaos of whims and visions. It is characterized by rigorous logic and obviously is rooted in his previous concern with the physical sciences.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

I. Original Works. Swedenborg’s enormous literary production, only part of which was published during his lifetime, is listed by James Hyde, A Bibliography of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg (London, 1906); and by Alfred H. Stroh and Greta Ekelöf, An Abridged Chronological List of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg (Uppsala, 1910). His most important scientific works are mentioned in the text. Most of Swedenborg’s early scientific works, including Principia (1734) and letters to Erik Benzelius, among others, are in his Operaquaedam aut inedita aut obsoleta de rebus naturalibus, 3 vols. (Stockholm, 1907–1911). Swedenborg’s work on longitude was published in Latin as Methodus nova inveniendi longitudinem locorum...ope lunae (Amsterdam, 1721). He also published Prodromus principiorum rerum naturalium (Amsterdam, 1721) and monographs on the metallurgy of iron and copper: Regnum subterraneum sive minerale de ferro and Regnum...de cupro et orichalco (Dresden–Leipzig, 1734). together with Principia rerum naturalium, are contained in his Opera philosophica et mineralia, 3 vols. (Leipzig, 1734).

Swedenborg’s MSS on the physiology of the brain was published by R. L. Tafel as The Brain Considered Anatomically, Physiologically and Philosophically, 2 vols. (London, 1882–1887), and as Three Transactions on the Cerebrum, Alfred Acton, ed., 2 vols. (Philadelphia, 1938–1940). The unfinished De cultu et amore Dei was published at London in 1745. Almost all of Swedenborg’s scientific works have been translated into English, most of them in the nineteenth century–for instance, Principia (London, 1846). His MSS are in the library of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Many of them, under the title Autographa, have been published by R. L. Tafel, 10 vols. (Stockholm, 1863–1870).

II.Secondary Literature. The literature is concerned mainly with his theology and spirit theory. Indispensable, although often unreliable, is R. L. Tafel, Documents Concerning the Life and Character of Emanuel Swedenborg, 2 vols (London, 1875–1877). An excellent introduction, especially to his scientific achievement, is Inge Jonsson, Emanuel Swedenborg (New York, 1971). A pioneering work in its time was Martin Lamm, Swedenborg (Stockholm, 1915). also in German (Leipzig, 1922) and French (Paris, 1936). Later biographies include Ernst Benz, Emanuel Swedenborg, Naturforscher und Seher (Munich, 1948); Cyriel Odhner Sigstedt, The Swedenborg Epic (New York, 1952); and Signe Toksvig, Emanuel Swedenborg, Scientist and Mystic (New Haven, 1948). Inge Jonsson has also writen Swedenborgs skapelsedrama De cultu et amore Dei (Stockholm, 1961) and Swedenborgs korrespondenslära (Stockholm, 1969).

Various aspects of Swedenborg’s scientific thought have been investigated by Svante Arrhenius,“Emanuel Swedenborg as a Cosmologist,”in Swedenborg’s Operaquaedam (see above), II (Stockholm, 1908), xxiii–xxxv; Gustaf Eneström, Emanuel Swedenborg såsom matematiker (Stockholm, 1890); Tore Frängsmyr Geologioch skapelsetro. Föreställningar om jordens historia fråm Hiärne till Bergman, Lychnosbibliotek no. 26 (Stockholm, 1969), on Swedenborg as geologist and cosmologist, with an English summary; N. V. E. Nordenmark,“Swedenborg som astronom,”in Arkiv förmatematik, astronomi och fysik, 23 , ser. A, no. 13 (1933); Gerhard Regnéll, “On the Position of Paleontology and Historical Geology in Sweden Before 1800,”in Arkiv för mineralogi och geologi, 1 (1949–1954), 1–64; and Hans Schlieper, Emanuel Swedenborgs System der Naturphilosophie (Berlin, 1901). Martin Ramström has examined Swedenborg’s physiology of the brain in important articles, summarized in “Swedenborg on the Cerebral Cortex as the Seat of Psychical Activity,” in Transactions of the International Swedenborg Congress 1910 (London, 1910), 56–70.

Sten Lindroth

Emanuel Swedenborg

The Swedish scientist, theologian, and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) founded a religious system known as Swedenborgianism, ideas of which were incorporated in the Church of the New Jerusalem.

Emanuel Swedenborg was born Emanuel Swedberg on Jan. 29, 1688, in Uppsala. His father, Bishop Jesper Swedberg, was a professor at the University of Uppsala. The family name was changed in 1719 to Swedenborg when the family was ennobled. After studies at the University of Uppsala, where he concentrated on mathematics and astronomy, Swedenborg traveled for 5 years throughout Europe (1710-1714). After a 2-year period in which he engaged in scientific journalism, Swedenborg became assessor at the Royal College of Mines in 1716. For the next 30 years, Swedenborg's main work was concentrated in the Swedish metal-mining industry. His engineering skill earned him a wide reputation. From 1747 onward, he devoted most of his time to the acquisition of knowledge through traveling and observation and to the elaboration and publication of scientific and theological theories.

Throughout his career in mining, Swedenborg studied and wrote. In 1718 Swedenborg published the first Swedish work on algebra. In 1721 he issued a voluminous work in which he attempted to demonstrate the geometrical character of physics and chemistry. Swedenborg spent the next 13 years researching and writing a three-volume work on the nature of physics, Opera philosophica et mineralia, published at Leipzig in 1734. He conceived of the atom as a particle vortex, each particle being composed of its own inner motions. This theory approximated the electron-nucleus framework of the atom in modern physics. Swedenborg reasoned from a general principle of matter, in which he thought of the infinite as pure motion. He conceived of pure motion as a tendency to create, and any subsequent molding of creation became a complex of pure motion.

After the publication of his work on physics, Swedenborg's studies and researches focused on man as a physiological and anatomical whole and on man in his relationship to God. His new studies led to the publication of two works: Oeconomia regni animalis (1740-1741) and Regnum animale (1744-1745). Some of Swedenborg's physiological discoveries were important. He was among the first to discover the nature of cerebrospinal fluid. He identified the correspondence between particular parts of the body and certain motor regions of the cerebral cortex. His studies of the physiology of the blood, brain, lung, and heart led him to characterize correctly the relationship between these organs. He also attempted to describe the physiological basis for human perception and thus to find a way to define and describe man's soul.

After these studies Swedenborg devoted his energies to the philosophy of theology. Although not a theologian in the strict sense, he was an outstanding philosopher or theological speculator. Utilizing some basic Christian truths, Swedenborg elaborated—partly on a scientific basis, partly on a philosophical basis—a theory of God, of man, and of divine revelation and redemption. On the basis of these theorizings, the Church of the New Jerusalem was founded in 1784.

Swedenborg did not himself found any church or sect. Although his reputation has been established on his theological theories, his greatness as a scientist and philosopher of nature probably exceeds his greatness as a theological speculator. The basis of Swedenborg's speculations was his assumption that the infinite was an indivisible power, a personal god indivisible in essence or power or person. He rejected the traditional Christian teaching of the Trinity.

A systematic presentation of Swedenborg's theology appeared in 1771 entitled Vera Christiana religio. He viewed all things as created by divine love and according to divine wisdom. Each material thing corresponded to a "spiritual form." Swedenborg thus achieved a modified Neoplatonism: all effects in the material world have spiritual causes and therefore a divine purpose.

Swedenborg analyzed the biblical books of Genesis and Exodus in his Arcana coelestia (1749-1756), and Revelation in his Apocalypsis explicata (1785-1789), the latter published posthumously. He elaborated the purely philosophical aspect of his reasoning in three major works: De coelo et ejus mirabilibus, et de inferno (1758), Sapientia angelica de divino amore et de divina sapientia (1763), and Sapientia angelica de divina providentia (1764).

Swedenborg's theory of redemption rejected any notion that Jesus Christ was in himself a divine person, but it held that the inmost soul of Jesus was divine. This divine soul had taken on a human form from Mary, and Jesus' human nature had been glorified by his exemplary life. By resisting all the temptations and ills of the powers of darkness, Jesus had opened a way for divine life to flow into all mankind. Man had become free to know truth and to be able to obey its dictates. Human salvation lay in this knowledge and obedience.

Swedenborg defended his theological speculation by claiming it resulted from a divine call. He maintained that he had received special light from God. He also maintained that all of his exegetical and philosophical treatises constituted a new revelation from God. Mankind must live according to this revelation in order to usher in a new age of reason and truth.

Swedenborg died in London on March 29, 1772. In 1908 the Swedish government requested that his remains be transferred to Uppsala Cathedral.

Further Reading

Primary material is in Rudolph L. Tafel, ed., Documents concerning the Life and Character of Emanuel Swedenborg (3 vols., 1875-1877). Other studies include Signe Toksvig, Emanuel Swedenborg: Scientist and Mystic (1949); Cyriel S. Sigstedt, The Swedenborg Epic (1953); John H. Spalding, Introduction to Swedenborg's Religious Thought (1956); and George Trobridge, Swedenborg: Life and Teaching (4th ed. 1968).

Additional Sources

Dole, George F., A scientist explores spirit: a compact biography of Emanuel Swedenborg with key concepts of Swedenborg's theology, New York; West Chester, Pa.: Swendenborg Foundation, 1992.

Keller, Helen, Light in my darkness, West Chester, Pa.: Chrysalis Books, 1994.

Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro, Swedenborg: buddha of the North, West Chester, Pa.: Swedenborg Foundation, 1996.

Toksvig, Signe, Emanuel Swedenborg, scientist and mystic, New York, N.Y.: Swedenborg Foundation, 1983. □

Swedenborg, Emanuel (1688–1772) Swedish scientist, philosopher, theologian, and mystic. In 1745, after a glittering scientific career in which he wrote many books (notably on metallurgy and metaphysics), Swedenborg gave up worldly learning to concentrate on religious affairs. His religious writings include Heavenly Arcana (1749–56), The New Jerusalem (1758), and True Christian Religion (1771). After his death, the Church of the New Jerusalem carried forward his theology.