SWEDENBORG'S ESCHATOLOGY

BY THE REV. JOSEPH J. THORNTON, of Glasgow

International Swedenborg Congress, London, July 4 to 8, 1910

VI. HELL.

Of the misery of the wicked in hell, little need be said beyond this: that, terrible as the state of evil spirits is revealed to be, it is one in which the Lord exercises a merciful care over them; for He is always "kind to the unthankful and to the evil" (Luke vi. 35). He makes His sunrise on them as well as on the good (Matt. v. 45). "His tender mercies are over all His works" (Psalm cxlv. 9). That is all true: but it does not in the least degree annihilate the ever-horrible conditions that are superinduced on the wicked by their own self-will, for it is they who turn the sunshine of heaven into the fires of hell; just as poisonous and noxious weeds only use the heat of the sun to ripen the most deadly juices. With them the "worm" that never dies and the "fire" that is not quenched are the gnawing falsity that torments the soul with internal pain, and the insatiable hatred that burns against the neighbour and the Lord.

In hell, one evil spirit wants to be master over another, and finds his greatest joy in tormenting others. They are, therefore, forced to work, in places that are like prisons or workhouses, and they are miserably punished for their wickedness; but in His mercy the Lord restrains them, and prevents their deeper woes.

"The Lord draws every spirit to Himself by means of angels and also by influx from heaven" (H. H., 548); but evil spirits resist with all their might, and, as it were, "tear themselves away from the Lord; for they are drawn by their own evil, and therefore by hell, as by a rope." "The Lord casts no one into hell"; but each evil spirit finally "casts himself down" (H. H., 548). The Psalmist said, "If I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there" (Psalm cxxxix. 8). The fear of punishment is in that world the "only means by which their evils can be subdued" (H. H., 509). Exhortation is of no avail; nor do they stand in fear of the loss of reputation; nor feel the pangs of conscience, for conscience has been destroyed in them. In Genesis we are told that "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. i. 1); but it is never said that He created hell. That was not His product, nor part of His plan. Swedenborg says that "no punishment is from the Lord, but from evil itself" (H. H., 550). It is "evil that slays the wicked" (Psalm xxxiv. 21). The enemy "made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made" (Psalm vii. 15).

[References, other than from the Holy Scriptures referred to in this article, are from the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, an eighteenth century scientist biography.  Swedenborg penned thirty-five volumes from things he heard and saw in the spiritual world for a period of more than twenty-five years.  This material is available online or in literature form. If I can be of assistance, feel free to contact me.]