Scientific discovery of Spiritual Laws given in Rational Scientific Revelations


1See TCR 508, where it is also warned that entering into spiritual things in the wrong way may be dangerous. The wrong way is to take up inner rational ideas from the Word, and then question their validity on the basis of external rational ideas.

2E.g., the ideas of thought are nothing else than purer substances (AC 6326); and, in DLW 209, it is explained that thoughts and feelings are states of the person, and since a person is substance, its various states (thoughts and feelings) must also be substances. See also DP 174, which states that the interior substances of the mind are infinitely numerous and under the Lord's continuous management.

3George DeCharms, "The Doctrine of Miracles" New Church Life, 1958, 218-9.

4"For the end of regeneration is that the internal mind may be conjoined with the external, thus the spiritual with the natural through the rational. Without the conjunction of both of these there is no regeneration. Nor can this conjunction be.effected until good has first been conjoined with truths in the natural; for the natural must be the plane, and the things that are in the natural must correspond." (AC 4353). See also AC 8351.

5John Eccles, "Brain and Mind, Two or One?" In Mindwaves: Thoughts on Intelligence, Identity and Consciousness (Basil Blackwell), p.296.

6Wilson Van Dusen, "Another Reply to Leon James", New Church Life, November 1994, xxx-xxx.

7Leon James, "Swedenobrg's Religious Psychology" Ibid.

8(Allen Bedford, November issue of NCL.

9Leon James, "Two Perspectives on Swedenborg's Writings: Secular and Religious. Part I" New Church Life, August 1994, 348-362. Part II in September 1994 issue, 394-9.

10Horand K. Gutfeldt, "Domains of Materialism, Past and Present: Broadly Generalized Observations of a History of Human Thought" New Philosophy Vol. XCV, Nos. 3 & 4, July-December 1992, 93-100.

11George DeCharms, "The Doctrine of Miracles" New Church Life, 1958, 218-9.

12Christen Blom-Dahl, The Third Source: A Physical and Metaphysical Revelation. The Associated Press, p.7.

13These hypotheses still need to be confirmed by Swedenborgian researchers. I am confident that Mr. Allen Bedford and Ms. Linda Simonetti Odhner, who are now investigating Blom-Dahl's work, will give us in due time, a competent assessment based on their perspective and expertise in both natural science and the Writings. See their November 1994 comments on the Internet electronic Swedenborg discussion list made available through the courtesy of Mr. Michael David in Bryn Athyn: Swedenborg@NeoPost.Bryn-Athyn.PA.US

14This possibility has been intensely explored by the contributors to De Hemelsche Leer, (Swedenborg Genootschap, The Hague) where interesting examples have been worked out in linguistics, philology, and semantics; see for example, Anton Zelling, "New Things" Sixth Fascicle, 1937, 171-200, and Ernst Pfeiffer, "On the Difference Between Natural and Rational Cognitions" First Fascicle, 1930, 67-81..

15Leon James, "Swedenobrg's Religious Psychology: The Marriage of Good and Truth as Mental Health" Studia Swedenborgiana Vol. 8, December 1993, 13-42; Jakobovits, Leon A. and Diane Nahl-Jakobovits. "Learning the Library: Taxonomy of Skills and Errors" College and Research Libraries, 1987, 48(3), 203-214.

16Readers may be interested in an article by Rev. Erik E. Sandstrom titled "An Analysis of the Life-After-Death Phenomenon" in New Philosophy Vol. XCV, Nos. 3 & 4, July-December 1992, 101-128 , in which one will also find a revealing discussion on Jung and the Bardo Thodol.

17Nancey Murphy, who teaches Christian philosophy at the Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, as quoted in a well written article by Margaret Wertheim in Omni Magazine, vol. 17 no. 1, October 1994. Her article is entitled "Science & Religion: Blurring the Boundaries."

18Allen Bedford, op cit., p.xxx.


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