Servetus Swedenborg And The Nature Of God

The Trinity was defined at the Council of Nicaea and the relationship of the human and divine natures of Christ was defined at Chalcedon. Very few questioned the Church's depictions of the nature of God. Two such mavericks, Michael Servetus (1509-1553) and Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), in spite of their Christian educations, rejected the Church's creedal understanding of God and the Trinity. Although they lived in two different ages- the Reformation and Enlightenment, and there is no evidence that Swedenborg ever read or even knew of Servetus- the two men came to remarkably similar conclusions about the nature of God. Each scholar stated that the Trinity does not rest in three Persons, but rather takes form in the single person of Jesus Christ, the visible God. Servetus was a superb scholar in his day. He mastered the Church Fathers and possessed an encyclopedic knowledge of the Bible. Servetus tragically perished in the flames at Geneva because of his beliefs. Swedenborg, likewise, was a well-known and respected scholar, philosopher, and anatomist. He dedicated the last thirty years of his life to biblical research, producing a series of some thirty volumes (in English) of theological writings. His work influenced many of the great thinkers and artists of the nineteenth century and continues to be read and studied in many parts of the world today.

This allegorical retelling of the biblical creation story blends science, poetic understanding, and the spiritual revelations of Swedish visionary Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772). Starting with the creation of the earth from the substance of the universe, Swedenborg takes the reader through the formation of plants, animals, and finally human beings. Swedenborg puts particular emphasis on the spiritual nature of Adam and Adam's marriage to Eve. Although not considered one of Swedenborg's theological works, this book was written just prior to his visionary period and contains the seeds of many of his later ideas. This edition is a reprint of a 1914 English translation by A. H. Stroh and F. Sewall.

While many of Emanuel Swedenborgs writings rely heavily on the Bible, Divine Love and Wisdom appeals directly to human experience. It describes a loving God who is equally present with all people on earthregardless of race or religionand explores the underlying unity of all living things.

Juan Naya, Ph.D, MBA, is chairman and founder of the Servetus International Society. He has degrees from the University of Barcelona, University Paul Sabatier (Toulouse), IESE (Barcelona), and Columbia University (New York). He was a research scientist in gamma-ray astronomy at CESR Toulouse and NASA and published numerous scientific articles in specialized publications such as Nature. Currently, Naya works as a consultant at McKinsey & Company and is general manager at ISDIN, a specialized pharmaceutical company.

In Divine Providence, Swedish scientist-turned-seer Emanuel Swedenborg undertakes the difficult task of bridging his transcendent vision of a perfectly loving God with the sometimes unloving world where we all live.

Swedenborg's Secret is the first major study of the eighteenth-century Swedish philosopher and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) to be published in English for over fifty years. Using a wealth of historical material, Lars Bergquist paints a vivid portrait of an ambitious and practical man who was one of the greatest figures of the Enlightenment and who captivated generations of thinkers with his stunning vision of human destiny.