The Swedish Prophet: About the Book and Author

About the Book

Jose Antonio Anton-Pacheco exercises his expertise in philosophy in this meditation on the ideas of Emanuel Swedenborg, an eighteenth-century scientist and theologian herein called the Swedish Prophet.

In this book Anton-Pacheco tackles subjects as diverse as the nature of unity and the way that the Divine manifests in the world; the nature of human beings as they relate to the higher realms, and specifically Swedenborg's concept of the Grant Man or Universal Human; the mystical nature of Swedenborg's interpretation of the Bible; and the nature of time and space in the spiritual world.  Anton-Pacheco also examines Swedenborg's influence on a variety of different thinkers and authors from Jorge Luis Borges to Henri Corbin as well as parallels between Swedenborg and Soren Kierkegaard and Ibn'Arabi.

This book was originally published in Spanish as El profeta del norte: Un libro sobre Swedenborg.  Perfect for scholars and serious students of Swedenborg's thought, Anton-Pacheco's powerful writing casts a new light on the Swedish prophet.

The Swedish Prophet: Reflections on the Visionary Philosophy of Emanuel Swedenborg is the most recent publication in the Swedenborg Studies Series published by the Swedenborg Foundation Press.

The primary purpose of the Swedenborg Studies series is to make materials available for understanding the life and thought of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) and the impact his thought has had on others.  The Foundation undertakes to publish original studies and English translations and to republish primary sources that are otherwise difficult to access.

What People Are Saying

"An important accomplishment that sets Swedenborg in his proper context of esoteric Christianity and reveals his unprecedented and surprising influence on famous authors."

—Eugene Taylor, PhD, internationally recognized scholar on William James; and author of Shadow Culture: Psychology and Spirituality in America

Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1.  Unity and Determination in Swedenborg
Chapter 2.  The Role of the Subject in Swedenborg
Chapter 3.  Hermeneutics and Inner Experience
Chapter 4.  Internal Time and Space
Chapter 5.  Some Clarifications Regarding the Concept of Ecclesia in Swedenborg
Chapter 6.  The Two Forms of Religiosity in the Journal of Dreams
Chapter 7.  Representation and Concept in Swedenborg
Chapter 8.  Swedenborg in Hispanic Literature

Swedenborg and Miguel de Unamuno
The Presence of Swedenborg in Eugeni d'Ors
Swedenborg and the Religiosity of Jorge Luis Borges
Primordial Language and Pure Poetry
     (Aspects Common to Swedenborg and Juan Ramon Jimenez)
Swedenborg in Maria Zambrano
History of the Swedenborg Society in Spain

Chapter 9:  Relationships and Influences

Swedenborg and Kierkegaard
Swedenborg and Henry Corbin
Ibn'Arabi and Swedenborg: Proposals for a Figurative Philosophy
Philosophy and Homeopathy: The Influence of Swedenborg

Chapter 10:  Swedenborg and Romantic Religiosity
Chapter 11:  Some Reflections (Ex Auditis et Visis)
Notes
Index

About the Author

Author:  Jose Antonio Anton-Pacheco is professor of the history of philosophy at the University of Seville in Seville, Spain.  His particular area of interest is hermeneutics and traditional thought.  He founded the Swedenborg Society of Spain, as well as the Center for Comparative Spiritual Studies and the Seminary for Comparative Hermeneutics.  He has written a number of books and articles on philosophy and metaphysics, including most recently, La sabiduria mazdea: Dos Textos del Iran antiguo (The Wisdom of Ahura Mazda: Two Texts from Ancient Iran.)

Translator:  Steven Skattebo earned an MA degree in teaching English as a second language from the University of Arizona and a PhD in Spanish from the University of Iowa.  He has been teaching English and Spanish for twenty-five years at the college/university level.  He is currently writing a book on cultural factors in foreign-language learning, as well as writing and translation of many non-academic texts.