My God is the God of Swedenborg

[@TheLawrence05]

Since I discovered Swedenborg 6-7 years ago. I am totally completely unanimously convinced that the My God is the God of Swedenborg!

[@swedenborgcommunityvictoria]

Hey, there! Thanks for the comment. I'd be interested to hear, how did you come across Swedenborg's work?

[@Human-Earth]

I was born Muslim, I have read one of Swedenborg books, and I am amazed by the way he describes life after death, heaven, angels, and the meaning of God. I believe that Swedenborg has revealed a lot of secrets and hidden facts to humanity… 🙏💜🙏

[@swedenborgcommunityvictoria]

Thanks for your comment. I've met another Muslim man from Sydney who was a reader of Swedenborg. One of the things I really love and Swedenborg's work is his openness to all faiths. So wonderful that he's not at all threatened by other ways of seeing and understanding the world, but accepting of all, and confident in the truth he writes about.

[@Human-Earth]

Thank you 🙏, I believe that all religions and faiths have a common ground and purpose but as always humans desires and interests interfere and twist things around making the truth hidden underneath the cover… I don’t know if Swedenborg’s books have been translated to Arabic language, it would be interesting for millions of people in the Middle East.

[@swedenborgcommunityvictoria]

Not that I know of, but the newchristianbiblestudy.org website is always keen to have a go, especially if they've got willing helpers. These days, google translate does much of the difficult work, and its just up to a native speaker to proofread and correct the result. Interested in volunteering?!

[@greggtownsley]

Sitting on a Kauai beach, enjoying your message, David. Thank you.

[@swedenborgcommunityvictoria]

Thanks Greg. As they say in Australia, SLIP, SLOP, SLAP - don't get sunburn!

[@thomasgontarz3372]

You have the gift David. Opinions are not the standard actions is. Good has the priority opinion is inferior. Words are lower in the hierarchy actions are more important. My religion comforts me. The internal sees things and receives light and perception saying it is so. Insight is internal truth. How do you know one plus one equals two. I can see that it is so. Thank you for sharing

[@swedenborgcommunityvictoria]

Thanks for the comment Thomas. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@russs3001]

The problem is, how is "good" defined? If there is no standard (such as the Bible), that anyone can do anything under the banner of saying that "for them" it was good. When moral relativism drives what is considered good, there are many bad things that happen. For example, the teaching here is contrary to the Bible, which Swedenborg supposively did a deep dive into. But he missed the central message, the core teaching: that man is sinful; God is holy; and the only way to reconciliation is through Jesus Christ.

[@thomasgontarz3372]

swedenborg many times says that the human will is destroyed and needs regeneration. When George floyd happened America chose crime and corruption over the cops. thanks for sharing@@russs3001

[@kassd4169]

The baby is so adorable :)

[@swedenborgcommunityvictoria]

Not entirely sure I understand what you’re saying … But thanks.

[@kassd4169]

@@swedenborgcommunityvictoria I mean the one making noises in the backround lol 😆

[@swedenborgcommunityvictoria]

Haha!! Had forgotten about that. She’s still with us, and still just as noisy sometimes.

[@kassd4169]

@@swedenborgcommunityvictoria Aw, really? 😆

[@johnmcguire4635]

Well I'm not in a place where I take him seriously as a revelator but his thoughts and mine are best buds!

[@swedenborgcommunityvictoria]

Thanks for the comment. An interesting take - I’d be interested to hear more of what you mean.

[@johnmcguire4635]

Well more broadly this stuff has turned me what I consider sane, it's gotten me back in touch with my inner child, it's finally brought me back to enjoying human interactions, and more specifically he's echoing thoughts from my younger years that I thought just made me a weirdo about heaven, so I think my heaven may be that of ES@@swedenborgcommunityvictoria

[@swedenborgcommunityvictoria]

Thanks John, I always think that Truth is truth, wherever it is found. Reminding us of the truth is the job of a revelator or prophet, really, that’s how I see it anyway.

[@johnmcguire4635]

Interesting: I'd love to hear more about others for whom Swedenborg represented a revival of their native or natural thought patterns@@swedenborgcommunityvictoria

[@swedenborgcommunityvictoria]

Thanks for that. I’ll put the request out in a few places and see what happens. From my limited knowledge of them, I think particularly of Immanuel Kant and William Blake, who both affirmed AND contradicted aspects of Swedenborg’s work, although Blake is especially remembered for affirming and Kant for opposing him.

[@SFKelvin]

This should be heard by many more viewers...

[@swedenborgcommunityvictoria]

Hey, thanks for the comment. What grabbed your attention, in particular?

[@leojack987]

D`day David sorry I deleted the link you gave where Swedenborg talks about the importance of writing . Can you re send it to me ? thanks a lot. Leo.

[@swedenborgcommunityvictoria]

Hey, Leo! Happy New Year!! I’ll have a look an email it again if I can find it. See you soon.

[@kafriendreejaytv880]

I am believing the God of Swedenborg. The God of true and good. The God of love and wisdom! The new testament where Jesus has constituted as the new way to experience life. The bible is basically not historical but the story of humanity and our mind. Reejay from the Philippines!❤

[@swedenborgcommunityvictoria]

Thank you Reejay! God bless you!

[@birthing4blokes46]

Thanks for this because I was asking the same question tbh. There is a faith that's needed in him, that is a problem to me. There is a problem with the bible, because the bible's god seems to require faith in Christ, salvation seems to dependent on faith is Jesus? does he there reject those aspects of the bible? Do you approach his writing as scripture?

[@swedenborgcommunityvictoria]

Thanks for the comment. All good questions. In brief, Swedenborg is most certainly focussed upon Jesus Christ. Swedenborg points to Christ - for me, his work is a means to share the gospel in rational terms. Some do indeed approach Swedenborg's works as scripture, but for me they're not in the same league.

[@kassd4169]

Interesteen.

[@russs3001]

It's sad that Swedenborg supposively did a deep study of the Bible and missed its core teaching. The god that the speaker says is one that he can believe in and one that he can trust is not the God of the Bible, the one whose response to sin entering the world was to send His Son Jesus, that whoever puts their faith in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. I fear for those who put their faith in someone else's experience and not the revelation of the one, true God as the Bible reveals Him.

[@swedenborgcommunityvictoria]

I have to wonder, who's missed the core teaching?! For sure, the Bible reveals the one, true God. But He has been hidden by so many layers of misunderstanding and false teaching, and by those who claim a tight grip upon the eternal destiny of others. Yes, read the Bible, but read it with clear eyes!

[@johnnastrom9400]

"one that he can believe in and one that he can trust is not the God of the Bible" -- That is your opinion. And you don't respond to when challenged.

[@russs3001]

?? I don't give opinions. I look at what Swedenborg stated beliefs and see how those beliefs align with the Bible. My opinion(s) don't mean anything; that's why I stick to the facts. As only 7% of communication is accomplished via text, we can't deeply converse. All anyone can do , if truly interested in truth, it to fact check. So, fact check what he believed and see how that aligns with God's Word.@@johnnastrom9400

[@waynekasmar4401]

The core message of the Bible is that God is one. It's simply impossible that God be one person but at the same time he is three. One is not three, and three is not one.

[@russs3001]

Two things sir: 1. The core message of the Bible is that God is Holy, man is sinful; man sinned and broke relationship with God; God restored that relationship by sending Jesus (John 3:16). 2. We cannot understand the mystery of what is called the Trinity. How could we, as finite beings, understand an infinite God? Impossible. If we could understand God, He wouldn't be God. It's the same as trying to understand the God is Eternal. You may disagree, but the Bible does teach that God is one essence and three persons. Just because we cannot understand it shouldn't mean we reject it. None of us reject everything we don't understand, we accept them anyway (like electricity, gravity, entropy, that air has weight, the speed of light, etc...) @@waynekasmar4401

[@psychsoma]

I'm not any sort of Christian as I have my own objections to the faith. But, if I were to go back to any sort of Christianity, it would be the Christianity od Swedenborg. Enjoyed listening to this talk!

[@swedenborgcommunityvictoria]

Hi there, @psychsoma, and thanks for the comment! Glad you enjoyed it. I'd be interested to hear what your objections are, if you don't mind sharing them.

[@AnonOmous-lj1qn]

Why wouldnt this make him anti Christ?

[@swedenborgcommunityvictoria]

You might need to expand on your question, I'm not really sure what you're saying.

[@AnonOmous-lj1qn]

@@swedenborgcommunityvictoria I think he wrote his own bible like Joseph Smith of the Mormans. Why doesn't this make him a false prophet. A false teacher that Jesus warned us about?

[@AnonOmous-lj1qn]

@@swedenborgcommunityvictoria Im talking about the founder of your Christian sect. Emanuel.

[@swedenborgcommunityvictoria]

Hi. Thanks for the clarification. No, he never wrote his own Bible, or scriptures. He was concerned to show that the Bible was the inspired Word of God, and that it has a spiritual meaning - which is to say, that it reveals the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ, His life in this world, and that it also relates to our own spiritual development as a result.

[@AnonOmous-lj1qn]

@@swedenborgcommunityvictoria I don't trust him. By what authority does this man speak? That's rhetorical because he has no authority. Ill see what the real Church has to say about his false teaching if any and get back to you with the answer.

[@stevecampanelli6009]

I love swedenborg he's helped me alot but he was also wrong and absolutely blinded on many things practiced astral travel and many of us today have his kind of experiences and do something he didn't do alot..test these spirits he was obviously in second heavens not third many of his experiences cause he used illegal access through occult means

[@swedenborgcommunityvictoria]

Hi Steve, thanks for the comment. I’d question that, though. Reading the Dream Journal, where Swedenborg records his own awakening, he talks about testing the spirits, as commanded in 1 John 4. You can find it here: newchristianbiblestudy.org/exposition/translation/swedenborgs-journal-of-dreams-wilkinson/contents/550 Happy to chat further.

[@productamadeus8745]

It’s amazing to me how readily people will believe dreams and supposed supernatural revelations that have no power. The followers of Christ had power. Power to heal. Power to kill. Power to even raise people from the dead.

[@swedenborgcommunityvictoria]

Thanks for the comment. The power of things such as the Near Death Experience (NDE) is profound, but it is spiritual in its effect rather than merely natural. Yes, indeed, bringing a dead body back to life is spectacular, impressive to those who are bound up in the appearances of the natural world, but the revival of a dead human spirit, to restore it to true spiritual life, to renew the hope of heaven for a spirit which is lost, this is the true purpose of all religion, and if you are a believer (which I take you to be), surely it is the more important? Look at Matthew chapter 9. Jesus' first words to the paralytic are "your sins are forgiven." Only when the Jews disputed his right to say such a thing did he demonstrate it physically in the man's bodily healing.

[@waynekasmar4401]

You can experience the power of the revelations in Swedenborg's writings only if you investigate them thoroughly enough with an open rational mind. But even still, you would do well to remember the words of Jesus to Thomas above believing without the need of physical proof.

[@productamadeus8745]

@@waynekasmar4401 I wasn’t talking about experiential life experiences that you wrap some theology around. I’m talking about the man himself. He had NO POWER. Like couldn’t do anything other than write really compelling literature. Couldn’t heal anybody. Couldn’t raise anything from the dead. Not even a cockroach. If I’m gonna invest into a religion, I need there to be EYE WITNESS ACCOUNTS that the supernatural came and CONFIRMED that the person speaking had AUTHORITY. This is just fiction. Nothing more. Not bad fiction. But not Devine.

[@androidery1999]

I completely understand this comment and I get what you are saying. I know and have experienced God's power physically many times. I actually understood some of these experiences from the Swedenborg material. I've also noticed a more "sensitivity" to my thoughts since delving into the Swedenborg material. It's not a new religion, but he breaks down things that are honestly completely confusing to logical, rational people when the Bible is taken literally. He makes me appreciate and understand the Word better.