I am becoming a Buddhist minister next month. I’ve loved researching Buddhism, and I feel like its allowed me to let go of a lot of the theological trauma associated with leaving the church. I don’t know what happens after death, and I think to know for sure is nearly impossible. I think people try to sell the answer to that mystery for money, power, or sex more often than they are trying to help people. Regardless, I have loved researching different theological concepts recently, and I decided to do a bit of research on Emanuel Swedenborg’s ideas. Here’s a couple of things that rang some bells:
- Children automatically go to heaven where they grow up
- All angels rather are going to be or once were humans
- There is a “waiting room” before going to heaven/hell (which both had different levels)
- Marriage could last forever and heavenly sex would be a thing
- Noted that the physical and spirit worlds are located in the same place
- Old Christianity would fall and be replaced by a new church
- There would be a New Jerusalem
- Angels have a more pure language
- Angels take on a perfected form of their earthly bodies
- There’s life on other planets and God is their god as well
- Faith alone wasn’t enough for salvation
Its interesting to see how much of Swedenborg’s theology seemingly found it’s way into Mormonism