Apocalypse Explained and Other Works

601 Pages·2009·2.03 MB·English

by  Emanuel Swedenborg

Apocalypse
Explained
and
Other Works
According to the spiritual sense
in which the arcana there predicted
but heretofore concealed
are revealed
A posthumous work of
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
Volume 6
(numbers 1029–1232)
Also containing the Shorts Works
On Divine Love and Divine Wisdom
The Athanasian Creed
Concerning the Lord and
Concerning the Holy Spirit
Translated from the Original Latin by
John C. Ager
Revised by
John Whitehead
STANDARD EDITION
SWEDENBORG FOUNDATION
West Chester, Pennsylvania
© 2009 Swedenborg Foundation
This version was compiled from electronic files of the
Standard Edition of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg as
further edited by William Ross Woofenden. Pagination of
this PDF document does not match that of the
corresponding printed volumes, and any page references
within this text may not be accurate. However, most if not
all of the numerical references herein are not to page
numbers but to Swedenborg’s section numbers, which are
not affected by changes in pagination. If this work appears
both separately and as part of a larger volume file, its
pagination follows that of the larger volume in both cases.
This version has not been proofed against the original, and
occasional errors in conversion may remain. To purchase the
full set of the Redesigned Standard Edition of Emanuel
Swedenborg’s works, or the available volumes of the latest
translation (the New Century Edition of the Works of
Emanuel Swedenborg), contact the Swedenborg Foundation
at 1-800-355-3222, www.swedenborg.com, or 320 North
Church Street, West Chester, Pennsylvania 19380.
Contents
Editor’s Preface
Apocalypse Explained, vol. 6
Revelation 17
Revelation 18
Revelation 19 (verses 1–10 only)
Revelation 20 (contents only)
Critical Notes
On Divine Love and Divine Wisdom
Divine Love
Divine Wisdom
Index of Scripture Passages
Index
The Athanasian Creed
Concerning the Lord and concerning the Holy Spirit
Critical Notes
APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED 3294
Editor’s Preface
This edition of Apocalypse Explained was translated by John C.
Ager and revised by John Whitehead. The text for this edition was
electronically scanned from the Foundation’s Standard Edition.
This process has allowed the book to be completely redesigned and
set in a new and more readable typeface. Certain stylistic changes
have also been introduced. These include modernized spelling and
punctuation as well as substituting new words for terms whose
meanings have become obscure or have changed since the
nineteenth century. Arabic numerals have replaced roman numerals
in Bible passages, and certain capitalized words including pronouns
referring to God have been lowercased to reflect contemporary
usage.
All these changes have been carefully made in order to make the
book easier to read and use while preserving the dignity and power
of the original Latin. On the whole, however, the Ager/Whitehead
translation has not been materially altered.
Volume 6 of Apocalypse Explained concludes Swedenborg’s verse-
by-verse exposition, or commentary, of the biblical text of the
Apocalypse, commonly known as Revelation or the Revelation of
John. This volume covers chapters 17, 18, and the first part of 19,
breaking off after verse 10.
To round out the volume, the reviser added three other
posthumous documents: (1) On Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, a
draft version of the later published work Divine Love and Wisdom
(1763); (2) Athanasian Creed, which was first published as part of
an appendix to the Latin-English edition of Apocalypse Explained,
translated and edited by Samuel Worcester; and (3) Concerning the
Lord and Concerning the Holy Spirit (generally identified by the
Latin title De Domino), which Worcester also published as part of
the appendix to the Latin-English Apocalypse Explained. None of
these three documents had the usual paragraph numbers which
Swedenborg consistently used in his published theological works.
However, the Swedenborg Society, London, had assigned
APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED 3295
paragraph numbers to these works some years ago. This volume of
the Standard Edition has added these now widely recognized
paragraph numbers to these documents.
As was the custom in his day, Swedenborg referred to the Psalms
as the book of David, and to the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) as the books of Moses. As
with previous printings, the bold numerals in brackets, [2], [3],
etc., indicate divisions of Swedenborg’s longer numbered sections
that were added for the convenience of the reader by J. F. Potts in
his six-volume Swedenborg Concordance (London: Swedenborg
Society, 1888–1902). The numbers in parentheses (6), (7), etc., are
divisions of the exposition by the author. Italicized letters following
a number (518a, 518b) are subdivisions added by the Latin editor,
S. H. Worcester.
The critical notes were originally compiled by Worcester when he
edited the Latin text for a Latin-English edition of Apocalypse
Explained published by the Swedenborg Foundation between 1889
and 1897. These notes were used sparingly by Whitehead in this
English edition, principally in cases where some difference in
meaning is involved. All the notes, referenced by superscripts in the
text, will be found at the end of the volume.
William Ross Woofenden
Sharon, Massachusetts
APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED 3296
Revelation 17
1. And there came one of the seven angels that had the seven vials
and spoke with me, saying unto me, Come, I will show thee the
judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters;
2. With whom the kings of the earth committed whoredom, and they
that dwell on the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her
whoredom.
3. And he carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness; and I saw
a woman sitting upon a scarlet beast, full of names of blasphemy,
having seven heads and ten horns.
4. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and inwrought
with gold and precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a golden
cup full of abominations and the uncleanness of her whoredom.
5. And upon her forehead a name written, Mystery, Babylon the
great, the mother of the whoredoms and of the abominations of the
earth.
6. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and
with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus; and when I saw her I wondered
with great wonder.
7. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore dost thou wonder? I will
tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her,
which hath the seven heads and the ten horns.
8. The beast that thou sawest was and is not, and is about to come up
out of the abyss, and to go into perdition; and they that dwell on the
earth shall wonder, whose names have not been written in the book of
life from the foundation of the world, seeing the beast that was and is
not, and yet is.
9. This is the mind that hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven
mountains, where the woman sitteth upon them.
10. And they are seven kings; the five have fallen, and the one is, the
other is not yet come; and when he is come he must remain a short
time.
11. And the beast which was and is not is himself the eighth, and is
of the seven, and he goeth into perdition.
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12. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings who have not
yet received a kingdom; but they receive authority as kings one hour
with the beast.
13. These have one mind, and shall give over their power and
authority unto the beast.
14. These shall fight with the lamb; but the lamb shall overcome
them, for he is Lord of lords, and king of kings; also those who are with
him are called, chosen, and faithful.
15. And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the
harlot sitteth, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.
16. And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall
hate the harlot and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat
her flesh, and shall burn her up with fire.
17. For God gave into their hearts to do his mind, and to do one
mind, and to give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God
shall be consummated.
18. And the woman whom thou sawest is the great city, which hath a
kingdom over the kings of the earth.
EXPOSITION
1029a. As this chapter and the following treat of Babylon, before
these chapters are explained, what is meant by Babylon in general
and in particular shall be told; also what it is in the beginning, and
what it becomes afterwards by degrees. “Babylon” (or Babel) means
the church consisting of those who by means of the holy things of
the church strive to gain dominion over the whole world, and this
by dominion over the souls of men, claiming to themselves
authority to save whomsoever they will; and these finally seek
dominion over heaven and hell and make it their own. And to this
end they draw and transfer to themselves all the Lord’s authority, as
if it had been given them by him. The church consisting of such is
very different in the beginning from what it becomes in process of
time. In the beginning they are as it were in zeal for the Lord, for
the Word, for love and faith, and especially for the salvation of
men. But in that zeal the fire of domineering lies hidden; and in
process of time as dominion increases this breaks forth; and so far
as it comes into act the holy things of the church become the
means, and dominion itself the end; and when dominion becomes
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the end the holy things of the church are applied to that end, and
thus to themselves; and then they not only ascribe the salvation of
souls to their own authority, but they also appropriate to
themselves all the Lord’s Divine power. And when they do this
they pervert every good and every truth of the church, and thus
profane the holy things of the church. These things are “Babylon.”
[2] That this is so has been shown me in a vivid way. In the
spiritual world there were those who strove to gain such dominion;
and as they knew that the Lord alone has all power, they put on a
seeming zeal for him and for heaven and for the church, and they
labored with all their might to worship the Lord alone, and to
observe in a holy way all things of the Word; and they arranged to
have sanctity and integrity prevail in all. But it was granted to
know that in such zeal an ardent desire of domineering over all
others lay hidden, believing that the things they arranged would be
acceptable to the Lord. For just as soon as they began to gain
dominion, their end was gradually disclosed, which was that they
and not the Lord should rule, and thus that the Lord should serve
them and not they the Lord; and they were indignant if they were
not permitted, like gods, to dispose everything at their will; and it
was perceived also that they thought lightly of the Lord, and even
rejected him if he did not grant them authority to do all things as
they pleased, and unless he assented to every decision of theirs. It
was also perceived that if they dared, they would, under some
pretext, transfer his Divine authority to themselves; but they were
afraid of being for this reason cast down into hell. By this it was
shown how Babylon begins and how it ends. The conclusion to be
drawn from this was that when dominion becomes the end, and
the holy things of the church become the means, the worship of
God is turned, under various pretexts, into the worship of men; so
that they themselves are actually gods, and the Lord is not actually
God, but is so called for the sake of form.
[3] Now because dominion by means of the holy things of the
church over the souls of men, over heaven, and over the Lord
himself, is inwardly profane, it follows that it is infernal; for the
devils who are in hell desire nothing so much as to have dominion
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over heaven, and over the Lord himself; and this they attempt to do
under various pretexts, but as soon as they attempt it they are
swallowed up by hell. And since those who in the world cast the
Lord down from the seat of his kingdom and place themselves
upon it, are in heart like devils, it is evident that a church made up
of such must in process of time be devastated as to all its good and
all its truth; and this is its end. That such are devils is evident from
the same in the spiritual world. Those who have exercised the
Lord’s Divine authority in the world talk about the Lord after
death in a most holy manner, and worship him with all external
devotion. But when their interiors are looked into (for in the
spiritual world these can be uncovered and looked into) they are
seen to be profane, because they are godless and full of diabolical
craft; and from this it becomes clear that their holy externals had
served them as means to an end, which was dominion. At one time
the question arose among spirits whether any devil in hell could do
the like; one of the worst was therefore summoned, and was told
that he would receive dominion over many if he would worship the
Lord with sanctity and acknowledge his Divine to be equal to the
Divine of the Father, and at the same time would observe all things
of worship. When he heard of dominion over many he
immediately disposed his interiors to craft and his exteriors to
holiness, and worshiped the Lord in a more holy manner than
many angels, burning with anger against all who would not adore
him. But as soon as he observed that dominion was not given to
him, he burned with anger against the Lord himself, and denied
both his Divine and the Divine of the Father, and even cast
reproaches upon both; for he was an atheist.
[4] That such is Babylon at this day is clearly evident from the
fact that under the pretext of the keys having been given to Peter,
they have transferred to themselves all the Divine authority of the
Lord, that they have shut up Divine truth from the people by
taking away the Word, and that they have ascribed to the decrees of
the pope a holiness equal and even superior to the holiness of the
Word; also that they teach little, if at all, the fear and worship of
God, but only a fear and worship of themselves, and also a worship
of the saints for the sake of themselves. All this makes clear that
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Babylon in its end is a church empty and void of all the good of
love to God, and of all the good of love towards the neighbor, and
consequently of all truth. It is therefore no longer a church but an
idolatry, and as such it differs but little from the heathenisms of the
ancients, who worshiped Baal, Ashtaroth, Beelzebub, and others,
and yet had temples, appointed feasts, altars, sacrifices, incense,
libations and other things like those of the Jewish church. These
things have been said about Babylon in its beginning and at its end,
to make known why in the Word Babylon is sometimes extolled
even to heaven, and sometimes cast down even to hell.
1029b. [5] That Babylon is such can be seen fully from the
descriptions and representations of it in the prophets, and especially
in Daniel. First, from the statue of king Nebuchadnezzar, in
Daniel:
There appeared to king Nebuchadnezzar in a dream, a statue
standing opposite the king; its head was of good gold, its breast and
arms of silver, its belly and thighs of brass, its legs of iron, and its feet
part of iron and part of clay. Afterwards a stone was cut out, not by
hands, which smote the statue upon its feet, which were of iron and
clay, and brake them in pieces; and then the iron, the clay, the brass, the
silver, and the gold, were broken in pieces together, and became like the
chaff of the summer threshing floors, so that the wind carried them
away, and no place was found for them. But the stone that smote the
statue became a great rock (Dan. 2:31–35).
From the interpretation of this dream by Daniel, it is clear that it
describes the state of the church that becomes Babylon, from its
beginning to its end. It is Babylon that is described, for these things
were seen by the king of Babylon in a dream, and he saw a statue
opposite to him; also Daniel said plainly to the king:
Thou art its head which is gold (Dan. 2:38).
The successive states of this church even to the last are depicted by
the head, breast, arms, belly, thighs, legs, and feet of that statue;
likewise by the gold, silver, brass, iron and clay, of which the statue
consisted from top to bottom. All this makes clear that this church
in its beginning was full of wisdom from the good of love to the