Friend Curtis, Jonathan and all, I am profoundly grateful for your show, which is more like a gathering of friends taking a journey together in the direction of The Lord. Clarity and peace is a gift or by-product when one actually lives, "Not my will, but Thy will, Lord. " This is what I've been graced with in watching the shows. Peace-Out. ✌
This is so well done. I have always pictured God as an entity who come here in the form of man so we could make a better connection with his love. If we put others before ourselves then we are giving love as God commanded but if we do to see what we can get it is wrong. Ask yourself what God would want us to before we act on anything. I thank God through out the day for all he has given including the help and guidance the good and bad so we can grow. In love always
cackling at 32:22 you guys are always positive and fun. thank you so much for all your work, i really appreciate these videos. i hope everyone at OTLE is well!
Thank you neoprincess, we are doing well, thanks for your kind concerns! I hope you are well also! I'm so glad it resonated and that you are enjoying it.
I got a brother Mat too Curtis. I know your the front man but where would the show be without all the help, support, and cooperation from your brother. One of the things I say sometimes to people is, " Do you know how many people in the world think they are god? A Lot I am sure." Through ignorance and being born with an inclination toward selfishness I consider myself blessed for having found the writings of Swedenborg. An education in truth is true wealth and riches. Keep up the good work.
Thank you for these programs. I'm fairly new to swedenborg but find his interpretations make so much sense to me. I look forward to watching your shows every day and they make me want to be a better person.
Thank you so much for communicating! It's great to know that the videos are resonating with you. We're glad to be on this journey with you, learning how to become closer to one another and closer to God!
That's so cool to hear! It sound like you've really found resonance with Swedenborg and the theology of the New Church. I wish you blessings on your road ahead, Luciana!
Thank you for the teachings in this video. For decades I was chastised internally by doctrines that said if I didn't provide outer "signs" such as the ability to speak in "tongues" (other unknown languages) or prophesy, then the Spirit of God was not IN me. Which made me think that when it never actually happened God was displeased with me, no matter how hard I would try to be a worthwhile musician and singer. You can imagine my struggle to see God as loving, through this lens. If it weren't for the little song, Jesus Loves Me, I think I would have given up. This doctrine made me feel that I was pretty much on my own. It just didn't add up.
I'm so sorry, Edie! You are one of many people who have been damaged by such doctrines. What Swedenborg learned sure makes sense to me: that the presence of God is not determined by outer signs, but by love and usefulness in the heart and in life. I hope we can be helping you gather ideas about a loving God that can "add up" in your heart and mind.
Thankfully I've left the denominations behind, and I still have the love of God working in and through me now. It's some deprogramming that took a while, and I'm interested in many of the topics you present. Another "biggie" for me is leaving behind the literal translations of the rapture event, which my parents were positive would happen in the near future! And they both went by the grave instead... You're doing great work in delving into the insights of Swedenborg. Thanks!
We're so glad to know that you have been able to work on deprogramming. And we're very grateful to have you as a part of our audience! Thank you for the kind words and encouragement. God bless!
I honestly believe that the gift of tongues is real and effective in indicating that God is present. I've experienced some moments of hearing tongues and interpretation that were really divine and beneficial. The problem is with the doctrine becoming an issue of proof of status in the church. And there seems to be an opportunity then for falsity to rise in the practice and pressure on those who don't "receive" the gift, which amounted to prejudice in the system, not a healthy place to be.
So many spiritual light bulbs going off inside of me. Several months back I was pondering divine truth. I went camping and always love the mountains streams and meadows; however, this time my heart was struck by the correspondence of a large dead tree and at the top were 3 vultures. I feel now that it was the beginning of a regeneration in me. My thoughts about religion was not as pure and divine. I felt in many ways I’d been led astray by some teachings. But perhaps the Lord will have mercy on me and continue to refine my soul about his true Divinity. This video really helped. Thank you
Annie, the Lord's love for you is unceasing! His mercy will always extend to you-- it's us that either accepts it or rejects it. Your journey has so much promise for discovery and growth, and it will be a process of baby steps. Keep leaning into His profound love for you, and know that He is guiding you forward.
Thank you so much for this video and all of your videos. Your topics almost always "hit the spot right on" on the subjects i have been meditating on. It is truly amazing how things always are lining up. I have been in a spiritual battle since birth. And i know my father was also before he died more than 20 years ago. But through your videos, through meditation, and through deep deep searching into many different places, i have been able to slowly start making positive growth and i know that god really is using your foundation for the growth of the universe. As i sit here thinking on what to say, your words are almost linked into my thoughts. It is hard to explain for myself how i feel and think and through swedenborgs work i know now how god uses channelers to get info out. And for me in "MY EYES" your desires to get swedenborgs work out for others to utilize, is just gods way to finalize and confirm his words are true and just.
Joyce, we're deeply glad that our videos are helping you along your spiritual journey. It is always our hope that the ideas we share help viewers to do their own thinking and considering and growing. It's great to have you in the audience, and we wish you all the best!
Thank you for this sharing... It's sad that the churches through out time have used religion and the 10 commandments to control and instill fear in people. Yet it is simple to understand and apply because God also is speaking of our character. To put Him first above all else and being humble, not full of one's self to think we are above others... Especially God Himself. Because I am so literal at times, I have to always pray and ask God to help me have His simple understanding, not my own. Work in me always a new spirit and heart that my mind be open to your wisdom. For your honor and glory, never my own or man's... Amen Again clarity in it's purest... Thank you and may God 🙏 bless you all at Off The Left Eye. For sharing and helping people find clarity and understanding.
God bless you too, Pamelyn! This is something we all pray for, and work on continuously. I believe God is very proud of our efforts, perhaps like I am when my children ride a bike or accomplish something! We are always supported and led towards love, and asking for that grace and guidance is a crucial part of it! Thanks for sharing your prayer and lovely thoughts with us. It is a good reminder for me to keep on asking for the same thing - a new spirit and heart and open mind. Amen! (=
As always,thank you so much for shows like these.The ten commandments and some laws in the bible, if translated word for word, often leads to a lot of misunderstanding and error. Thank you so much for the clarification, excited for the upcoming episodes,can hardly wait. May love and wisdom attend you always:)
I really appreciate your kind words, Malik. It sounds like this episode helped to clarify some underlying themes within the First Commandment. PS- we're excited to have you as a member of our community!
Another great show! The last part where you show the commandment on the screen while narrating its interior meaning and the symbolism of the spider web are very effective I think. You all are the gold standard to me for digging into Swedenborg. P.S. Jennifer's question is one I've had myself and your joint thoughts about it are helpful.
I loved the explanation of the commandment as meaning we can not use truth for anything self serving, and that doing so destroys it so it isn't truth anymore. It makes me think of the story where the people want to use stones (truth) to kill the woman caught in adultery, showing that truth used in a judgmental way really isn't truth at all. I also got an inner glimmer of how if we really believe God is the sole source of truth, how beautifully holy that is, and what a crazy perversion it is to try to claim any wisdom of our own or to want to use that truth for any other purpose than God's own purposes.
It is all so easy once you start applying it in your life, so uplifting and loving that it takes all my doubts away! Very nice how the 2 of you bounce of each other ;)
We're so glad the information resonated with you, Tricia. Maybe the topic will come up again in Sunday school, and you'll have a few new thoughts to offer!
Thank you for this video and for all the effort you put into all your videos. I have been going through a faith transition in my life for the past few years and have recently come to learn about Swedenborg. Ever since starting this faith transition things have seemed dark and depressing, I felt like I wasn't receiving any spiritual guidance. But ever since learning more about Swedenborg and watching your videos, I feel the same way as you describe at the end of this video. That after learning about his teachings it feels like there is more light and knowledge, more spiritual guidance in my life, and you're right, there definitely has to be something to that.
What a wonderful place to be in, Shannon, especially after going through such a dark period of transition. The Lord loves you so very much. I too am glad to have found Swedenborg-- the truths he was led to discover about the spiritual world are an excellent guide to living an angelic life here on earth.
I love when you do the Bible, so to speak. I have loathed the Bible most of my life because I considered it a barbaric and ignorant bronze age document created by extremely limited tribesmen, NOT God. This book has been used to greatly harm me as a gay child through my current old age. We see the proverbial "Bible thumpers" filled with hate and self-righteousness on TV all the time, often using gay people as a scapegoat for their unending wrath and fear. But you are helping me find richer meaning beneath the crude and at times monstrous surface level and some of the truly awful people who use it as a rationale for doing terrible things "in the name of god" (small "g" since their God does not really exist). Bottomline: The team that writes these episodes is phenomenal. How they come up with ways to illustrate these truths is amazing.
It's really terrible how a document that was given to help us keep connected with God's love and heaven has been used for such hateful purposes over the centuries. That is actually why the deeper meanings remained for the most part hidden for a long time, so that people with hateful intentions couldn't reach the deeper meanings and try to corrupt those for hateful purposes, too. But now the time is right for the deeper meanings to start to be revealed, and I'm constantly amazed at the profound beauty and sensibleness of those deeper messages. Thank you so much for the kind and encouraging message to our team, Will. It means a lot to us to know that the illustrations are working for you. Great to have you in the audience!
Great comment. I went atheist agnostic, but Swedenborg has helped me find deeper meaning of scripture and to embrace the Lord again without cognitive dissonance and much more compassion!
Great show, really helpful insights! I enjoyed the “Bomb Defuser” video game illustration, the carved and cast image explanation and the reply to Jennifer’s question at the end. The “partnership” idea between the Lord and Swedenborg is relevant to everyone who will repent, believe and obey and the parable of the vine and its branches in the gospel of John 15:1 nicely illustrates it, imo. Thanks again, I am very grateful to you all. :)
So nice to hear from you, Keith! It sounds like you got a lot of valuable info out of this episode. I'm especially glad you enjoyed the video game illustration...that was fun to make. Blessings!
The final question concerning the infallibility of Swedenborg really grabbed my attention. It made me ponder, and pondering is good! As a scientist, Swedenborg was trained to be a good observer and a good recorder of facts. He seemed to be an honest man and not trying to build a personal following. He shared his discoveries with other intellectuals of his day, but did he insist that he was right? Or did he just ask people to consider his ideas? This is a test for Swedenborg followers, whether they will allow the intellectual freedom to their fellow believers to come to their own conclusions. It would be a shame to see the movement split into the orthodox and the reformed. The history of Christianity, and other religions, has seen this same issue destroy the unity of communities. How is the Bible to be understood? Now we have thousands of Christian groups, each believing that they have it right and all others are wrong. I agree with Curtis that it's not important whether Swedenborg was 100 % right in all his understandings. As a Baha'i I can learn from Swedenborg without seeing him as infallible. Matt: 24:30 : " But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." This is in reference to the second coming of Christ, but it indicates that even the angels of heaven don't know everything. Since we know from Swedenborg that the Angels of heaven exist in communities of infinite levels, or grades, the angels who instructed Swedenborg had their limitations and were not all-knowing. So we cannot expect that the knowledge Swedenborg gained was the ultimate, even if it was far above the knowledge of most men of his time. I don't see how we can preclude a time when an even greater revelation of spiritual knowledge might be delivered to mankind. In fact, it makes sense that there is no limit to human education and understanding, and therefore the human race will continue for as long as the earth lasts to be in need of periodic Divine intervention to stimulate us to further spiritual growth. The spiritual history of mankind indicates this. But Swedenborg was great! I agree with Swedenborg's interpretations which you presented concerning the enemy as our own egos. You'll have a hard time convincing typical Christians that this was the intended meaning, but you have no trouble with me. Baha'u'llah made the statement that all good things come from God, and all evil things come from our own selves. The idea is that we each have our own personal Satan lurking in us which is our own insistent self, or ego. But this is a good thing, because our personal struggle with this "self" is how we grow spiritually.
Always appreciate your thoughts and insights, Harlan! Swedenborg really wanted to share what he was learning with others, but also developed a deep humility, knowing that his writings were not perfect or an end in themselves, but rather a tool to help people toward finding a deeper enlightenment from a connection with God within their own hearts. I agree with you that his writings are very useful tools. Tools are never an end in themselves, but rather, a means toward an end. As Swedenborg wrote, true wisdom is knowing that everything you know is barely a drop in the ocean of all there is to know-even if you have an IQ like Emanuel Swedenborg! :)
I agree with you concerning Swedenborg's writings as a tool, and I would even include religion itself as a tool. Besides being a Source of enlightenment, it is also a tool for changing human behavior to become more angelic. If religion doesn't change our behavior and stimulate unity between people, then maybe we're better off without that form of religion. Would you say that Swedenborg's ideas help to bring unity?
I think they do! They seem to be a good meeting place of east and west, science and spirits, earthly life and afterlife, Bible and afterlife, traditional and "out there", etc.
Absolutely. Swedenborg often describes the nature of the spiritual world as one of community. In fact, one of the great joys of existence is living in deep fellowship with others who share similar loves as you. This is a spiritual community, and each person that comes into the fold adds more harmony to the group! All in all, I find Swedenborg's theology to be encouraging unity through love for others and a desire to be useful to them.
I agree completely that we should be very humble concerning whatever knowledge we think we possess. "All there is to know" is infinite to my reckoning. Every new bit of knowledge is like a door leading to new mysteries or questions. A good metaphor is a bonfire at night. As the bonfire becomes bigger, the circle of light becomes bigger, but also the circle of darkness beyond the light becomes larger. The ocean, as you mention, is also a great metaphor. Even if we have but one drop from the ocean, we can learn from that drop qualities of the entire ocean. So each drop contains infinite possibilities. Physics is demonstrating this principle when scientists study the components of atoms and every component is divided into smaller components, and there seems no end to it. Their discovery is that matter isn't concrete as our senses tell us, but rather forms of energy held together by a force of attraction. They're getting into an area now which seems very spiritual. This power of attraction could be likened to the spiritual power of attraction called love. Is this an example of correspondence?
I agree with you Dr Rose, these works are written by the Lord who does not make mistakes and Swedenborg who is fallible BUT with the Lord everything written and even the so called mistakes, the Lord DOES get his point across. Just like in the Word of God, it is still written by man BUT inspired by God. So, I would say NO THERE ARE NO MISTAKES.
Thanks for sharing your perspective, Shara! I love the quote from the Bible, "The Lord's arm is not shortened that he cannot save" -- he can work with what he's got in us fallible humans!
Thank you so much for your programme. I was a Christian but due to being gay I was told I am an abomination unto the lord. Watching your programmes allows some measure of hope for me but more importantly for others who have also been cast out from the church. Thank you and Goodness bless you
I'm so glad to know this, T Sequoia. If you read the New Testament, Jesus was always reaching out to those who were considered outcasts by society. I'm glad if we can help in any way for you to be able to see Jesus that way.
What is interesting about Swedenborg's beliefs about the physical world is how we define truth vs biblical truth. In our society truth is defined as: that which is the case, or factually correct. Biblical truth is an arrow flies true. It's more important that he was heading in the right direction rather than being factually correct about details. What matters is we understand things enough and have enough love, humility, and repentance inside us to be guided. Sin was an archery term for missing the target. So forgiveness of sin is setting the arrow back on the true path.
I love it! Swedenborg often defined truth as something spiritually connected to Divine wisdom. Truths are the concepts that form, from an acknowledgment of their value, our faith. And yes, natural facts serve a very different role in comparison to spiritual truths. I really am inspired by your movement towards what use truth has for us (ie developing love, humility, repentance). These are the stirrings in us that activate our faith, thus leading us to a life of charity. Truth converting to love in action. At any rate, thanks for sharing these great insights with us!
i saw a thing today about a protine in the human body called laminin, it is what holds everything in our bodies together, and in the Bible, but i forget which verse Jesus says that he holds everything in the whole universe together, whats really neat about the whole thing is that the protine laminin is shaped just like a cross, this episode talks about correspondance, i wonder if this is like that too, and Jesus is the lamb of God and the protine is called laminin you should look this up Curtis, by the way another great show.
Well, this is what I needed to hear today. I pray, focus, relate to Jesus- not so much God (aren't they the same person??) and this is why: I like to clear up any contradictions, and the point about God being merciless is something I have thought about, and was thinking about this today in particular before watching this! Now you are talking about it, so this is answering my questions. I have wondered why God would sacrifice innocent animals (in the Old Testament), and innocence for sins. I personally will only read the New Testament( I know I've commented on this before, but seemed relevant in this episode). Even his own son Jesus was sacrificed; Jesus said on the cross, why have you forsaken me father. Look at todays world; innocent lives being taken because of evil. And I am sure I'm not the only one to question why evil should have free will like this, and not the innocent, because that's how it appears. SF has answered so many questions for me- thank you! I do love my chats with you, and will do more to support your work. I told a friend about you- she likes it, but not sure about some of the guests you've had on. Not sure who she means. I am glad you are part of my life x Funny when Jonathan mentioned the 11+ in England as I did that all those years ago when I was a kid. You had to take it to see if you would go to State or Grammer school. I thought it was part of the Curriculam in UK at the time.
I'm glad you enjoyed the episode, sunny! Yes, Swedenborg understood Jesus to be manifestation of the One God, so, he understood Jesus Christ and God to be the same person. God never wanted animals to be sacrificed. That is just what people on earth insisted on doing in those days. But the text in the Old Testament is symbolic, so those old laws actually are telling things about deeper things of the spirit, and we have to know the symbolic language of correspondences to understand what the text is really about. The death of Jesus was not a sacrifice. We explained some things that Swedenborg learned about why Jesus suffered and died in this episode: th-cam.com/video/VqsbY9gRXxo/w-d-xo.html That's great that you are recommending the shows to a friend. That is fine if she doesn't love every episode or every guest. Everyone is different, and different shows will appeal to different people. We just hope that the content in each show will be useful to somebody out there, and I believe God will guide people to the ideas that will be the most helpful to them. How interesting that you participated in the 11+ program, too!
I noticed in your q&a videos first example of question is "Did Swedenborg converse with Jesus" -do you actually have a video where that question is answered ,I cant find it.-Im aware Swedenborg wrote Lord appeared to him but Id like to see video answer if it is here.
Wow you guys just knock one after the other right out of the park well done and again my best wishes and thoughts for you wonderful people who run and help and do this channel and all that help that people give to help keep it going thank you and it’s worth all the hard work and hours I bet you guys do because it is truly powerful stuff and you guys present it so perfectly and in a way a person could understand if not to spiritual active or much real knowledge and at the same time it’s so informative and knowledge to the higher level people or at least the thought was higher until watching you guys lol like good job indeed keep it up and keep that kind of comedy up that’s some good timing you got there on some of your jokes I’ll I like that kind of humour lol to funny and be safe thanks again you guys are blessed and i think maybe more so just for sharing everything you been blessed with for free and Wiling open minded people to learn from or help get them to wake up and i bet it’s a lot of people witch to me is just like no words for what that must feel like to be able to do and you are truly a lucky blessed bunch of people and rightly so for sharing it all with the rest of us so hats off and wanted to let you know that you changed me in a way and understanding that I was totally unaware of that a person could feel and know that it’s truth and feel like weights just gone from your thoughts and theories and worries it’s really a blessing for me to even be able to feel that in my life that’s for sure and so I’m thankful to god and you guys for letting me have a part of your gifts and blessing so I just had to let you guys Know that. And That i needed to give thanks and appreciation for your hard work and dedication. And for that I had to write this long rant and I’m sorry I known you guys are busy and stuff but it would not be right to not tell you that but thank you all involved truly
Craig, what a wonderful message. We feel honored to do this work, and are grateful for your presence with us! These spiritual ideas are truly powerful tools in living a more fulfilled spiritual life. May you continue learning and growing with us, my friend!
offTheLeftEye thank you guys and I have been non stop researching Swedenborg and just came across the only thing that i cant understand and just does not line up with the one big massive truth I believe can’t be wrong and have tested it and all before knowing Swedenborgs writings and it all seems so true and right but it does not line up with the one thing I truly believe can’t be wrong at all. So I’m stuck and can’t have both beliefs and know I need to drop one but have such strong feelings that both are true and I’m stuck and really having a hard time right now dealing with this information I found out last night and now I’m at a stand still. And was really hoping that you guys can clear one thing up for me it is one big thing but need help coming to a understanding and to put my beliefs into what Swedenborg is telling us then I can’t believe what I think and tested to be correct and truth but Swedenborg has I’m wrong and have no idea how to handle it. Because that one detail that goes against what I believe is true and can prove it it’s true is so big that it’s either one is wrong and other is right but can’t have both and it’s the only one thing period that could ever do this and make it so U have to drop one or the other but to me they are both have truth and feel right but that one detail makes it so one can’t be and I would like to ask if that one thing could be wrong in Swedenborgs writings because he does not say much about it but maybe you guys know more of what he says on it well I hope so anyway cuz that one thing makes me either go against what I can test and prove with my own eyes and to drop that and believe what he is telling me and I’m stuck done can’t Cary on with my spiritual journey until I make a choice and i know what ever one i do choose will have massive consequences in my future and afterlife so if you guys could please help me out in lost right now and have no idea how to go forward from here and it’s driving me nuts and need help big time. Thanks so much hope to hear from you sooner then later lol cuz I can’t continue reading and studying his works until I come to a conclusion on what way to go and have such strong feelings that I’m not wrong and either is he with everything I have read or seen so far besides this one thing and that thing is the only one thing that would or could do this to me and I’m lost on what to do so please help me out. Thanks guys
Craig, we believe that accepting new information can never happen all at once or immediately. Absorbing new and different information is a journey and a process. I want to encourage you to feel free to NOT immediately accept everything that we say on our shows, but to take your time and think it over. It's perfectly okay to accept and believe some of our ideas, because they really resonate with you, but to set other ideas aside for now as you take some time to think it over. You don't have to immediately drop one belief or the other, or to immediately choose. Take your time, consider both beliefs, and continue learning. If you want to specifically ask us about this issue that you're struggling with, we'd be happy to talk it over with you either here in public or though a private message. In the end, it will be your own heart that decides what to believe, and we totally respect that.
Another thing i have to say is thank you again, for your time to put this video up. Your last few minutes of this video are so dead on with how i feel. You have to test each and every spirit, and i feel like that could be the reason for swedenborgs errors. Remember we are in a spiritual value and a bad spirit mighr have been able to slip something by swedenborg therefore causing him to write something inaccurately
For me, Swedenborg's rightness or degree of accuracy is not an issue so much as his intentions behind the telling of his story. Our human quest for a definitive knowing is not possible for us as we are separate creatures from God. We have our own sense of being and of love, good and evil. It is that longing that moves in any direction. If we knew God complete, we would never move. We would have no quest to seek. I would think that the same should be true of angels and even much higher spirits. We have to "seek" in order that we might "find" We must first "knock" and the door will be "opened".... These are not small things. They are at the very heart of life and they make clear that the self has been made to "share" into eternity rather than being absorbed by it. Every day I can feel God saying "step up" We stumble and fumble about and get downright lost at times, only to discover meaning in the strangest things, many years later. Swedenborg and OTLE have dramatically helped me to make sense of things that my heart seemed to already know. Confirmation , validation and encouragement are things that God likes. Thanks guys!
Your comment brings a smile to my face, Jeff! I am so glad to know what you have found here has resonated with you so often and so deeply! I love what you wrote -- that every day you can feel God saying, "Step up." Very moving to read! And I can relate! - Kendall
So, just to clarify: is it wrong then to pray, or relate to Jesus more than God? Aren't they the same? And why do I feel more of a connection with Jesus?
They are indeed the same. Jesus came to "show us the Father," which means, he came to help us to relate to Divine Love in an understandable way. So that is great that you feel a connection to Jesus, and pray to him.
chris, if you mean the "sons of God who went in the daughters of men," that is symbolic language, and we explain the meaning in our show "The Meaning of Noah and the Flood" th-cam.com/video/B54Ofpf26Ek/w-d-xo.html
Great show as always. Can I please ask a question you may consider for your next Q&A's. Theres been a lot discussed about why some departed are able to or not able to visit their loved ones on earth and the sadness we feel being left behind but does Swedenborg say anything about whether those in the spirit world feel any sadness at being separated from and leaving their loved ones on earth? Many thanks
Thank you for your kind words, Vickie! People who cross over are quickly drawn into a new reality that is not burdened by fixed time and space. So for them, there will not be the experience of a long stretch of time until their loved ones on earth join them. Also, it seems that they have a better ability to consciously feel the thoughts and feelings, and thus feel the presence, of people they care about, including their loved ones on earth. So, it does not seem that there would be a burden of separation and sadness like we have to endure on earth. I think they are experiencing the amazing aspects of their new life, and to them it will seem a short "time" until a full and happy reunion.
offTheLeftEye thank you for your reply. It's something I've been worrying about so very reassuring to know that. I'm really glad I found you, I have a lot of questions and your videos are helping to answer them. Thank you again
Thanks for this Video. Very cool. You guys are GENIUS!!! Thanks for this knowledge it's helpful to me. keep up the good work!GOD BLESS Y'ALL!!! PEACE!!!🕸🕸🕸
Thank you, I appreciate you both and enjoy your videos. But to be honest, I do have a bit of a hard time with Swedenborg's "God says This, but he means That" arguments ……. it seems to me that any communication from Creator would be clear, and not "coded" …… so as not to be understandable just by scholarly types. Just my two cents.
ydoyou wannano, I hear you. It does seem very confusing that things aren't more clear for us! Check out our episode that talks about this often frustrating paradox: "Why Doesn't God Just Tell Us What's True?" th-cam.com/video/iHDHyTRDokg/w-d-xo.html Let me know if that resonates and brings any clarity for you (or not!). I'd love to hear your thoughts!
I really appreciate a lot of Swedenborg’s ideas, and the effort and awesome job of the OTLE staff in putting together these videos. But let’s be honest about something: Swedenborg created his own religion, and used the Christian Bible very creatively, any way he wished to justify the tenets of the religion he created. This in itself doesn’t bother me, because IMO the Bible is in need of a major overhaul. I just think it’s important to recognize that Swedenborg’s religion doesn’t treat the Bible as any kind of authority. As vague and even contradictory as the Bible is, it could be used the way Swedenborg did to support the tenets of virtually any religion one wished to create. In his writings Swedenborg makes himself a prophet with greater authority than any prophet of the OT to NT, from Moses, to John the Baptist to Christ himself. Again, I don’t see this as a problem but I believe it’s important to recognize this.
Interesting! I have to admit, I disagree, Think Neo, Think! Swedenborg made the Bible the ULTIMATE authority. If you read through his books, you will see that barely a paragraph goes by without quotes from Scripture to explain what he is saying. It may not look that way because we don't quote nearly as much Scripture on our program, since our time is limited and our mission is to share the works of Swedenborg, who people are less familiar with than the Bible, the best selling book of all time. I'm sorry if we gave you the wrong impression. I'm not sure why you think Swedenborg values himself better than the Bible's prophets? I have not gotten that impression, but it's interesting to hear how it strikes you! For many years, Swedenborg didn't even put his names on his books - so strong was his wish to remain in the shadows behind what he believed to be truth. It is thought that he began including his name because his books weren't being taken seriously - and his authorship intrigued people enough to start reading. They still didn't take him that seriously - but at least the books got out there! Swedenborg's spiritual sight was opened in his mid-50s, after he had been through an intense period of self-examination, repentance, prayer and Bible study. We share a pivotal vision that was a culmination of that inner work, which shifted him into a whole new world of visions: th-cam.com/video/5gxlMnT_U1g/w-d-xo.html After his spiritual sight was opened, Swedenborg was able to see countless scenes and events in the spiritual world over the next 27 years, to talk with thousands of people in the afterlife, and to write many of the experiences down in his diary and books. We talk about some of the ways that he would shift into spiritual awareness in our episode "5 Kinds of Spiritual Experiences" th-cam.com/video/NFIKSDFrOEI/w-d-xo.html If you want to learn more about Swedenborg's background, check out our short clip here, "Who Was Swedenborg?" th-cam.com/video/HEa0e8AcS78/w-d-xo.html or check out this full length episode about his life and credentials, "Was Swedenborg Crazy?" th-cam.com/video/K_ZP30NFYf8/w-d-xo.html If you'd be at all interested in hearing how the ideas in this show are grounded in the Bible, I recommend the recorded episodes of this Bible study: www.spiritandlifebiblestudy.com/or our episode, "What The Bible Is," th-cam.com/video/v0mE8IDLynE/w-d-xo.html Swedenborg was not a perfect person - none of us are. His spiritual journey began with a great deal of self examination and inner work, as most do. He called himself "a humble servant of the Lord," and shared his visions believing it would make the world a better place. He never attempted to start a church or religion, placed no restrictions on who could read his books or how they could access them - he even paid to publish them out of pocket, and never earned a penny from them. And publishing the books put him on trial for heresy - a serious charge in Sweden at the time. His theological publishing career hardly earned him accolades, praise, or followers - it was more the opposite, and I would imagine, a very humbling experience. Of course, you have every right to regard Swedenborg however makes sense to you! We tend to be a little biased and think he seemed like a pretty nice guy - but not everyone will agree with that, and that's fine! Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts with us, and God bless!
@@offTheLeftEye This could turn into a complex conversation. First let me say that I appreciate your very thoughtful response, and am happy to have you disagree with me. I’ve already learned a lot about Swedenborg from the things you’ve told me. One thing I’m not doing is suggesting a personal or egoic motive in Swedenborg’s writing. I’m not suggesting that he did anything for his own glory. But claiming to have some special connection to God, talking to angels and people in the afterlife, having dreams where divine knowledge is revealed to him...these are claims that only prophets make. It’s not that his doctrine so much disagrees with any particular interpretation of the Bible (remember that there are thousands). It’s the fact that his doctrine is so concisely defined with criteria that isn’t found in the Bible. Maybe another way of putting it is to say that if the Bible is to be regarded as the true authority, the end-all source of knowledge for all things related to God, then it should need nothing added to it. But Swedenborg adds much to it, and in doing so declares himself to have as much authority as any other author in the Bible, and probably more when you consider how much he wrote and added to it. Most of Swedenborg’s assertions can’t be confirmed or denied by the Bible, because the Bible doesn’t address many of the specific claims he makes. So IMO it’s not proper to say that Swedenborg’s claims are consistent with, or supported by anything found in the Bible, again when the Bible doesn’t address the specific claims he makes. Swedenborg takes the Bible and not only reads between the lines, but inserts many lines as well. That said and I still appreciate his ideas, and the effort and enthusiasm in the staff at OTLE in sharing his ideas.
@@thinkneothink3055 I see your point! I think Swedenborg would argue that he didn't add to it - but rather read more deeply into what's already there, with the help of the Lord, angels, and spirits. And I do believe that, and do see consistency in what he shares and reveals. I also would say that he really was a prophet, but that's because I believe him when he claims that Jesus awoke his spiritual sight and that everything he wrote was spiritually directed. And, I can see why that explanation just sounds like ego-based justification! I guess you just have to decide, ultimately, if it feels true to you - and if it feels useful, and just go with that. The whole theological system definitely rests on Swedenborg's credibility - it's a subject we all have to come to terms with, if we are to believe what he is sharing. I wish you well on that process!
Here is one quote about that. In the greater context of Swedenborg's works, it seems that having different sections of heaven based on earthly religious affiliations is something that happens in the lower heavens rather than the higher heavens. I get the impression that in the higher levels of heaven, people leave behind earthly religious affiliations and operate in a more universal mindset that would be like the "New Church" mindset he predicts for the future of people on earth. It is an inner relationship with God and the resulting way of life, rather than an outer set of doctrines and practices. But, here is a quote about the Muslim heaven that he observed. In the 18th century, polygamy was still a regular practice in Muslim communities, unlike today. "There is a heaven for Muslims, just as there is a heaven for all peoples who acknowledge one God, who love what is just, and who do what is good as a religious practice. The Muslim heaven is separate from the Christian heaven. The Muslim heaven is actually divided into two heavens. In the lower of the two, Muslim men live honorable lives with multiple wives. The only Muslims, though, that are lifted up into the higher heaven are those who give up a plurality of wives and acknowledge our Lord and Savior and his authority over heaven and hell. I have been told that it is impossible for them to think that God the Father and our Lord are one, but they can believe that the Lord rules over the heavens and the hells because he is the Son of God the Father. This belief among them is what enables them to go up into the higher heaven." -True Christianity 832
Thanks for all your work, I love watching these shows they are very helpful. Here is a question that keeps arising lately: If the symbolic correspondences of the bible can be explained in simple language, such as is being done by you guys here in this channel, then why was it even necessary to write it out in some sort of secret symbolic code in the first place? Why say "bring the consequences of the father's wickedness upon the sons" when you could just say "keeping self-centeredness and evil wishes in your heart will cause you to believe in lies and false concepts"? Surely we can see that the writing of the bible in this coded language has created a lot of misunderstanding, and thus a lot of misery and strife in this world. So I don't understand why the concepts were not simply written as they were meant to be understood. Maybe you could help broaden the understanding of why the bible was written in this sort of secret code in the first place.
Yes, I realize that it seems really hard to understand. It helps me to first think about the state of mind people were in at the time. Success was measured by who had the most power to conquer and slaughter and enslave people. So, how many would have had the ability to contemplate or respect a God of love, or to think it of much value to examine their own hearts? Humanity did not have much maturity yet for such thoughts. But also, Swedenborg learned that spiritual information is a powerful tool. And just as it would be dangerous to give a car or a sharp kitchen knife to someone to young or unable to handle such a tool safely, it was actually not spiritually safe for humanity to have access to spiritual information before there was enough spiritual maturity to handle it safely. Though you are right that there has been much misunderstanding of Scripture that has brought a lot of misery and strife, apparently the ability to know deep spiritual truth and use if for evil is MUCH more spiritually damaging than misunderstanding and misusing the literal text. So the deeper meanings were kept hidden so that humanity would have less ability to commit "profanation", which is terribly damaging to the spirit. The strife on earth is temporary, but profanation actually shreds a person's spirit, and leaves them in a horrible state after death. Here are a couple of quotes about profanation: "The Lord spoke this way in order to keep people from understanding his words, for fear they would profane them. If they had understood the message when the church was spiritually devastated . . . they would have profaned it."-Secrets of Heaven §3898:2 "Divine truth can be profaned only by people who have already acknowledged it. After all, they first entered on the truth by acknowledging and believing in it, which means they were initiated into it. Later, if they back away from it, a trace remains permanently imprinted on them deep inside, and it returns when falsity and evil are recalled. The truth clinging to the falsity and evil is then profaned. So the people in whom this happens always have something in them that damns them-a private hell. When hellish beings go near an environment in which goodness and truth exist, they instantly become aware of their hell, because they are entering what they hate and therefore what tortures them. So people who profane truth live constantly with a source of torment, according to the magnitude of their profanation. Because of this, the Lord takes the greatest care to prevent divine goodness and truth from being profaned. With people who cannot help profaning what is true and good his main method is to keep them as far as possible from acknowledging and believing in it. Again, the only people who can profane something are those who once acknowledged and believed it."-Secrets of Heaven §3398:2 "That was why deep truth was not revealed to Jacob’s descendants in Israel and Judah. It was not even said to them explicitly that people have a deeper level or that such a thing as inward worship exists. They were barely told anything about life after death or about the heavenly kingdom of the Lord. . . . It was foreseen that if these concepts had been revealed to them, they could not have helped profaning them, because all they were interested in were earthly concerns. . . . Furthermore, that was why the Lord did not come into the world and disclose the inner contents of the Word until nothing good whatever remained to those people, not even earthly goodness. At that point they were no longer able to accept truth to the point of acknowledging it internally (since goodness is what accepts truth), so they could not profane it. Those are the conditions meant by the fullness of time, the close of the age, and the last day, mentioned many times in the prophets. The reason the secrets of the Word’s inner meaning are now being disclosed is the same: there is hardly any faith today because there is no neighborly love, so the era has reached its close. When this happens, secrets can be revealed without danger of profanation, because they are not inwardly acknowledged." -Secrets of Heaven §3398:3, 4 Also, the Word as written was serving a dual purpose. It was not only for people on earth, but also for angels, who were understanding the symbolism and the deeper messages: "Each and every mention of the people of Judah and Israel in the Word represents the Lord’s kingdom in the heavens and the Lord’s kingdom on earth, or the church. . . . That is why Jerusalem never means Jerusalem and Judea never means Judea in an inner sense. Instead they were something that could (and did) represent the heavenly and spiritual qualities of the Lord’s kingdom. This made it possible for the Word to be written in such a way that people reading it on earth could grasp it and the angels present with them could truly understand it. The Lord spoke in the same way for the same reason. Had it been otherwise, the message would not have been suited to the grasp of readers-especially at that time-or to the comprehension of angels; people would not have accepted it, and angels would not have understood it."-Secrets of Heaven §3652:5 So, a bit hard for us to wrap our heads around, but I trust that God is love, and would only withhold things or allow a certain level of strife and misunderstanding for the sake of preventing something worse.
Thank you so much, those passages you quoted are very enlightening. I intuited that the answer would be something along those lines, but I couldn't completely put the picture together.
Dear Curtis and Dr. Rose: Thank you so much for providing such an intelligent and profound answer to my question. I really appreciate that you pointed out that despite some inconsistencies due to Swedenborg's 18th century understanding of his world, there is a kind of timeless, universal truth in the core message - a kind of truth that really resonates to the soul and works in practice. I feel more confident that I can concentrate on applying all of the wonderful lessons and wisdom offered which are as relevant today as they were then. Thanks again to all of you for your dedication to spiritual outreach and your messages of hope. It is sorely needed in this world. -Jennifer
Jennifer, thank you for that wonderful question, and for these kind and encouraging words. We're blessed to be connected with you, through this channel, on this journey of life! God bless.
I think this is all the work of the Lord even if it's "the Lord and Swedenborg". The Bible was written by all kinds of different ppl and it's the same as with Swedenborg's works. What is written is written for life for everyone to live by. It is still from the Lord and by the Lord. It is still the Written Word of the Lord in the Spiritual Sense.
Is it against God's laws to watch horror movies or to watch movies like "Law and Order"? I know there is a lot of evil going on in the world so what's the difference in these movies? thanks
I don't know about "against God's laws," but I do like to ask myself, when I have the option to watch something like that, "Do I WANT to invite those hellish atmospheres into my mind?" I suppose different people have different levels of sensitivity to that kind of show. For myself, it's getting harder to stomach even the mild murder mysteries. But some people seem to not have their spirits affected by it. As with everything, it seems like a topic you could work out in your own partnership with the Lord. What do you think, Shara?
I just saw the solar eclipse in Colombia, South Carolina. It thought it was amazing. I hope that doesn't mean I'm blocking love with a false faith. (I'll try to find something with a better correspondance next trip.)
It was amazing! No, there's no problem at all enjoying an eclipse. I think of it this way: the whole reason we are able to enjoy it these days is that we know what is happening, and that it is temporary. Back in the days when people had no idea what was going on, an eclipse was terrifying! And for us even today, if the moon were to stay blocking the sun for a long time, that would not be cool. Part of what is so cool about an eclipse is that is it showing us things about the power of the sun, and how much we depend upon it. An eclipse shows us a condensed contrast that drives that home. And part of the wonder is that the sun comes back! I think the good aspect of the correspondence, in this context, is that we are seeing a symbol of the fact that love is always there behind the scenes, even when we can't see it, and that it comes back. If we know that, we don't have to be afraid of going through a "dark" time in our lives, but can just let it teach us things about the power of God's love. So, there are some thoughts. Glad you enjoyed this eclipse, and I myself am looking forward the one in 2024!
Hi Heather, that's a really good question. Perhaps I might direct you to a short clip we did on this very topic. Feel free to comment again with further comments or questions! th-cam.com/video/HEa0e8AcS78/w-d-xo.html
this is awesome...perfect for my teenage boys that love gaming and like most teens find Church and the bible kind of boring...or unrelateable ...but with a gaming interpretation, it obviously is easier to pitch to my teens!!!! LOL LOVE IT! thank you!!
THANK you!! ur vids are awesome, swedenborg is fascinating...Lord knows we need more help understanding GOD and your vids have helped me so much during this time of awakening for me!! Blessed day to you!!
It seems like the bible is a collection of books written by inspired minds who might have written them with historical facts and experiential documentation that says that the bible is but a story of the human mind, soul and consciousness which tells us about the cycle of human story, progress, spiritual development, suffering, death and being born again or resurrected and jesus christ is a representation of an enlightened one like buddha and the others...
I think if you have more than one God it will cause you confusion. But why is it you can't have one foot on one side of the fence and the other on the other side of the fence? Is that why there are so many ppl in the spiritual world? They haven't made up their minds yet and in heaven there is no division.
@@offTheLeftEye It's like living in the valley of indecision. One foot in the world and one with the Lord. I was like that once and the Lord said to me "What makes you any different than anyone else out there?" And that changed my life and the way I lived. And my perception of what it is to live for God.
@@sharapalmer5560 So it sounds like you do realize that that is how it is for everyone! During earthly life, we're gradually making decisions about which side is the priority for us, and then after death, we can clearly sort it all out, and move forward with greater ease.
“… the god who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” I am not an Israelite. Furthermore, the psychology of prescription/prohibition is shown (in the Gospel) to be inappropriate and inadequate to the nature of the spirit and to spiritual expression . We do not need to save the Ten Commandments, much less the prescription/prohibition mode of living. Not even Israel is capable of functioning in that way, why is so much effort put into saving and preserving a corpse? 2Cor 3. Tetalestai!
Thanks for you perspective, John. For me the Ten Commandments are as applicable as they were thousands of years ago. They bring freedom, not prohibition. Bless you on your own spiritual path.
Yes, a great place for learning. And also for absorbing the spirit of the writings and the love of the people on a level that slips thru the bars of the intellect. The artistic subtlety of the cathedral and her dimensions, the generosity of the Christians living and working there, the shining light of the stained glass windows, the dedicated care put into the artefacts, and the whole educational ambience. It was a true privilege to be there. And thank you for extending this energy into the virtual world with your incredible project!
@@galacticambitions1277 I am so glad you were able to visit. If you ever do again be sure to let us know at OTLE so we can meet you and talk in person. In the meantime I am grateful for these online channels of connection. Instantaneous, free, across the world. I still marvel at it!
Are you Christians? If not how are you different from mainstream Christianity's main tenets? If so, how are you different from mainstream Christianity's main tenets?
Hopefully you watched the short video we recommended providing background about Emanuel Swedenborg. This channel is run by the Swedenborg Foundation, not by a Christian church. Swedenborg's books focus on the Lord Jesus Christ as the manifestation of the one God, and he called himself "a servant of the Lord." He began his theological works after some intense spiritual experiences, which included visions of Christ. He then began intensive Bible study along with learning through extensive and daily spiritual experiences for almost three decades. However, the information he was learning was often in disagreement with the traditional Christian doctrine of his day. His final published work was called "True Christianity," and yet he also referred to a coming mindset for humanity called "the New Church," which was not to be a certain earthly religious organization, but rather a mindset and relationship with the Lord God that could be approached through any earthly faith tradition. It is mainly focused on the two great commandments that Jesus presented as the core of all Scripture: to love God and to love the neighbor. If you are interested to compare information Swedenborg wrote about with traditional Christian interpretation of the Bible, here are a few shows that could help you begin to explore that: "Why Did Jesus Suffer and Die?" th-cam.com/video/VqsbY9gRXxo/w-d-xo.html "Why Does the Bible Say the Dead Know Nothing?" th-cam.com/video/2GNzmofUnxM/w-d-xo.html "Repentance: How to Be in Heaven Now" th-cam.com/video/5_-zxnqG_sg/w-d-xo.html "How to Understand the Trinity" th-cam.com/video/-YbEHk2N884/w-d-xo.html&list=PLgtFTXGqZdSmc533BG31I_1beIVVVQTQf "End Times and Jesus Christ" th-cam.com/video/x65SXTNlhTo/w-d-xo.html&list=PLgtFTXGqZdSmc533BG31I_1beIVVVQTQf "The Spiritual Battles of Jesus Christ" th-cam.com/video/zVVOypnm9bU/w-d-xo.html&list=PLgtFTXGqZdSmc533BG31I_1beIVVVQTQf "Why Jesus Was Born" th-cam.com/video/VsbuxkXYbRI/w-d-xo.html&list=PLgtFTXGqZdSmc533BG31I_1beIVVVQTQf "Is the Devil Real?" th-cam.com/video/ljR4_gs0Tek/w-d-xo.html&list=PLgtFTXGqZdSmc533BG31I_1beIVVVQTQf "What the 7 Days of Creation Mean" th-cam.com/video/0dElLLLbUNY/w-d-xo.html&list=PLgtFTXGqZdSmc533BG31I_1beIVVVQTQf
I think by saying Swedenborg was an inclusive modern you sort of use a modern interpretation. From what I have read, though I am no expert, in Heaven other followers of a religion will get Word lessons! Swedenborg saw Muslims getting lesson in the true Christianity while Mohammad was kept away. So I'd imagine an Indian follower of the Bhagavad Gita in Heaven getting Word lessons too!
"The Word" in heaven is much less limited than the written Word on earth. It is Divine Truth, written not in the form of stories about the Israelites and Christians, but about the deeper messages about the spiritual development of the mind and heart, and about the Lord. Everyone is indeed led to learn about the Divine Human, God as a Person, who is the Lord. In his Spiritual Diary, Swedenborg has many entries about Mohammed encouraging people who wanted to follow him to follow the Lord instead. And Swedenborg talked to Muslims who were more easily taught about the Lord as the manifestation of the One God than many of the Christians at that time, because the Christians had divided God into three persons. But everyone will have their own unique understanding of and relationship with the Lord. No one's faith will be exactly the same!
@@offTheLeftEye jehova is a composite name from the last +-300 years based on the rootword "hova" meaning misshief, havoc and wrecker, the name game is a wild distraction and decivement, elohim is plural, el is singular, just saying, yhwh is one of the Elohim, who got a portion of the fallen Earth, his portion was just a family, yhwh is the law expert and consequently the punishment expert, the law is the result of the tree of knowing good and evil, the family was under the law, the law could only bring death, death means being detached from the most high Creator, doesn't matter if you are alive in the flesh or not, that's why you see that the fisycal death was seen as sleep, sleep in Sheol/Hades, the human familie was stuck, the Son of Man pulled us all again under the tree of life, again heavenly connection with the Father, when we are alive in the flesh or not, the whole new testament is for the authentic Hebrews in that time, nothing is for us, exept the result of that timeframe, we can connect directly with the father again!
All names are tainted, all have some connection with "gods" , how many times did the Son of Man use a name for his father??? How did the son of man refer to himself???
No one knows it ALL, i like to see your way of thinking on your channel, i don't know it ALL, but have learned after about 35 years of searching a thing or two, the new Jerusalem is on the Earth since 70AD, put in place when the old law system was done away, new heaven and new earth, it's in our harts if we let it, if you do then you are resurrected directly in spirit and will be ammitted to the new Jerusalem (most high heaven) directly, if you do not you have the way that you are talking about, or you get stuck in the lower levels based on who and what you are, death is being disatached from our source the Father, doesn't matter if you are in the flesh or not!
The Commandment who let you out of captivity out of Egypt refers to Deuteronomy 28 chapter= the slaves that was brought from Africa we're not African they were Hebrew= read the book of Obadiah it's only one page:
There certainly are many different ways of interpreting the books of the Bible. On this channel, we share the interpretations learned by Emanuel Swedenborg during his visions. He learned that all the text of the Bible, including the books of Moses and the Prophets, are divine metaphors about our own inner spiritual journey. So, as we discuss in this show, that prelude to the first commandment is talking about how God leads us all out of the captivity of lower-ego states of selfishness and materialism, and bring us to more spiritual states of mind.
You are God, God is your consciousness, the sheep are your thoughts, you must keep your thoughts, no one else can guide you but your own God consciousness, no one else can know your best path but you, go within ask Divine Source, the inner voice which will tell you everything you ask, if you ask your father for a loaf of bread he will not give you a stone, it's your 3rd eye chakra, when you go within it will answer you, it's how the pyramids were built, Jesus healed his heart chakra was wide open, you guys are in left field, we are all one, a ray of light, Pentecost was when they all realized the power is within, the kingdom of heaven is within you, these other God's are other things we give power to other than our own innate ability to solve our own problems
Yes, we agree, the kingdom of God can be found within, if we let love guide us to find it there. If we don't give power to divisive lower issues of self-centeredness and materialism, which block the way. The goal is to open that inner voice back up, and let God flow in and through.
Swedenborg met many, many angels, and he learned that a true angel never wants to be worshiped as a god. Real angels want all glory and worship to be directed to the One True God, not to themselves. Like the angel John met in the book of Revelation: "Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.'” -- Revelation 22:8-9
Yes, everyone has to decide for themselves what to believe, according to what makes the most sense to them, and according to what helps them in their daily lives.
Friend Curtis, Jonathan and all, I am profoundly grateful for your show, which is more like a gathering of friends taking a journey together in the direction of The Lord. Clarity and peace is a gift or by-product when one actually lives, "Not my will, but Thy will, Lord. " This is what I've been graced with in watching the shows. Peace-Out. ✌
Love it! We are truly honored to have you as a member of our community, Victor! May we continue walking and growing together on this journey...
This is so well done. I have always pictured God as an entity who come here in the form of man so we could make a better connection with his love. If we put others before ourselves then we are giving love as God commanded but if we do to see what we can get it is wrong. Ask yourself what God would want us to before we act on anything. I thank God through out the day for all he has given including the help and guidance the good and bad so we can grow. In love always
So well said, Cheri. Thank you!
cackling at 32:22 you guys are always positive and fun. thank you so much for all your work, i really appreciate these videos.
i hope everyone at OTLE is well!
Thank you neoprincess, we are doing well, thanks for your kind concerns! I hope you are well also! I'm so glad it resonated and that you are enjoying it.
Thank you for explaining what all these things mean, it show's how much God loves us and is not egocentric.
So glad it's ringing true for you, Shara! Yes, "thou shalt love the Lord thy God" is about OUR happiness, not his!
I got a brother Mat too Curtis. I know your the front man but where would the show be without all the help, support, and cooperation from your brother. One of the things I say sometimes to people is, " Do you know how many people in the world think they are god? A Lot I am sure." Through ignorance and being born with an inclination toward selfishness I consider myself blessed for having found the writings of Swedenborg. An education in truth is true wealth and riches. Keep up the good work.
Wise words here, Thomas! And thank you for the encouragement. It means a lot to the whole team!
Thank you for these programs. I'm fairly new to swedenborg but find his interpretations make so much sense to me. I look forward to watching your shows every day and they make me want to be a better person.
Thank you so much for communicating! It's great to know that the videos are resonating with you. We're glad to be on this journey with you, learning how to become closer to one another and closer to God!
I have watched about 20 of your programs and each time it impresses me more. It´s totally in line with what I believe.
That's so cool to hear! It sound like you've really found resonance with Swedenborg and the theology of the New Church. I wish you blessings on your road ahead, Luciana!
Thank you for the teachings in this video. For decades I was chastised internally by doctrines that said if I didn't provide outer "signs" such as the ability to speak in "tongues" (other unknown languages) or prophesy, then the Spirit of God was not IN me. Which made me think that when it never actually happened God was displeased with me, no matter how hard I would try to be a worthwhile musician and singer. You can imagine my struggle to see God as loving, through this lens. If it weren't for the little song, Jesus Loves Me, I think I would have given up. This doctrine made me feel that I was pretty much on my own. It just didn't add up.
I'm so sorry, Edie! You are one of many people who have been damaged by such doctrines. What Swedenborg learned sure makes sense to me: that the presence of God is not determined by outer signs, but by love and usefulness in the heart and in life. I hope we can be helping you gather ideas about a loving God that can "add up" in your heart and mind.
Thankfully I've left the denominations behind, and I still have the love of God working in and through me now. It's some deprogramming that took a while, and I'm interested in many of the topics you present. Another "biggie" for me is leaving behind the literal translations of the rapture event, which my parents were positive would happen in the near future! And they both went by the grave instead... You're doing great work in delving into the insights of Swedenborg. Thanks!
We're so glad to know that you have been able to work on deprogramming. And we're very grateful to have you as a part of our audience! Thank you for the kind words and encouragement. God bless!
I honestly believe that the gift of tongues is real and effective in indicating that God is present. I've experienced some moments of hearing tongues and interpretation that were really divine and beneficial. The problem is with the doctrine becoming an issue of proof of status in the church. And there seems to be an opportunity then for falsity to rise in the practice and pressure on those who don't "receive" the gift, which amounted to prejudice in the system, not a healthy place to be.
wow.... that's so awesome...especially when Curtis shrinks...And really a great show. Thank you.
Glad you liked the show, friend!
So many spiritual light bulbs going off inside of me. Several months back I was pondering divine truth. I went camping and always love the mountains streams and meadows; however, this time my heart was struck by the correspondence of a large dead tree and at the top were 3 vultures. I feel now that it was the beginning of a regeneration in me. My thoughts about religion was not as pure and divine. I felt in many ways I’d been led astray by some teachings. But perhaps the Lord will have mercy on me and continue to refine my soul about his true Divinity. This video really helped. Thank you
Annie, the Lord's love for you is unceasing! His mercy will always extend to you-- it's us that either accepts it or rejects it. Your journey has so much promise for discovery and growth, and it will be a process of baby steps. Keep leaning into His profound love for you, and know that He is guiding you forward.
@@offTheLeftEye Thank you my friend. Hope you have a lovely day :)
Thank you so much for this video and all of your videos. Your topics almost always "hit the spot right on" on the subjects i have been meditating on. It is truly amazing how things always are lining up. I have been in a spiritual battle since birth. And i know my father was also before he died more than 20 years ago. But through your videos, through meditation, and through deep deep searching into many different places, i have been able to slowly start making positive growth and i know that god really is using your foundation for the growth of the universe. As i sit here thinking on what to say, your words are almost linked into my thoughts. It is hard to explain for myself how i feel and think and through swedenborgs work i know now how god uses channelers to get info out. And for me in "MY EYES" your desires to get swedenborgs work out for others to utilize, is just gods way to finalize and confirm his words are true and just.
Joyce, we're deeply glad that our videos are helping you along your spiritual journey. It is always our hope that the ideas we share help viewers to do their own thinking and considering and growing. It's great to have you in the audience, and we wish you all the best!
Thank you for this sharing...
It's sad that the churches through out time have used religion and the 10 commandments to control and instill fear in people. Yet it is simple to understand and apply because God also is speaking of our character. To put Him first above all else and being humble, not full of one's self to think we are above others... Especially God Himself. Because I am so literal at times, I have to always pray and ask God to help me have His simple understanding, not my own. Work in me always a new spirit and heart that my mind be open to your wisdom. For your honor and glory, never my own or man's... Amen
Again clarity in it's purest... Thank you and may God 🙏 bless you all at Off The Left Eye. For sharing and helping people find clarity and understanding.
God bless you too, Pamelyn! This is something we all pray for, and work on continuously. I believe God is very proud of our efforts, perhaps like I am when my children ride a bike or accomplish something!
We are always supported and led towards love, and asking for that grace and guidance is a crucial part of it! Thanks for sharing your prayer and lovely thoughts with us. It is a good reminder for me to keep on asking for the same thing - a new spirit and heart and open mind. Amen! (=
As always,thank you so much for shows like these.The ten commandments and some laws in the bible, if translated word for word, often leads to a lot of misunderstanding and error. Thank you so much for the clarification, excited for the upcoming episodes,can hardly wait. May love and wisdom attend you always:)
I really appreciate your kind words, Malik. It sounds like this episode helped to clarify some underlying themes within the First Commandment. PS- we're excited to have you as a member of our community!
Another great show! The last part where you show the commandment on the screen while narrating its interior meaning and the symbolism of the spider web are very effective I think. You all are the gold standard to me for digging into Swedenborg. P.S. Jennifer's question is one I've had myself and your joint thoughts about it are helpful.
Thanks so much for this feedback, Mark. So glad we can partner with you on your journey through Swedenborg's revelation!
I loved the explanation of the commandment as meaning we can not use truth for anything self serving, and that doing so destroys it so it isn't truth anymore. It makes me think of the story where the people want to use stones (truth) to kill the woman caught in adultery, showing that truth used in a judgmental way really isn't truth at all. I also got an inner glimmer of how if we really believe God is the sole source of truth, how beautifully holy that is, and what a crazy perversion it is to try to claim any wisdom of our own or to want to use that truth for any other purpose than God's own purposes.
Love these thoughts that the show sparked in you, Nadine. Thank you so much for sharing them!
It is all so easy once you start applying it in your life, so uplifting and loving that it takes all my doubts away! Very nice how the 2 of you bounce of each other ;)
I'm thrilled to hear about your faith journey, Gonda! It sounds like you've really found something that sets your heart on fire. Wishing you well!
Thank you so much :) This channel helped me reconnect deeply and I can't get enough! God bless you all
You all are wonderful. Thank you so much. Nancy
Thanks, Nancy! We think you're wonderful too :)
Fascinating, a wonderful show. Wish I had seen this before I taught my Sunday school class.
We're so glad the information resonated with you, Tricia. Maybe the topic will come up again in Sunday school, and you'll have a few new thoughts to offer!
Thank you for this video and for all the effort you put into all your videos. I have been going through a faith transition in my life for the past few years and have recently come to learn about Swedenborg. Ever since starting this faith transition things have seemed dark and depressing, I felt like I wasn't receiving any spiritual guidance. But ever since learning more about Swedenborg and watching your videos, I feel the same way as you describe at the end of this video. That after learning about his teachings it feels like there is more light and knowledge, more spiritual guidance in my life, and you're right, there definitely has to be something to that.
What a wonderful place to be in, Shannon, especially after going through such a dark period of transition. The Lord loves you so very much. I too am glad to have found Swedenborg-- the truths he was led to discover about the spiritual world are an excellent guide to living an angelic life here on earth.
I love when you do the Bible, so to speak. I have loathed the Bible most of my life because I considered it a barbaric and ignorant bronze age document created by extremely limited tribesmen, NOT God. This book has been used to greatly harm me as a gay child through my current old age. We see the proverbial "Bible thumpers" filled with hate and self-righteousness on TV all the time, often using gay people as a scapegoat for their unending wrath and fear.
But you are helping me find richer meaning beneath the crude and at times monstrous surface level and some of the truly awful people who use it as a rationale for doing terrible things "in the name of god" (small "g" since their God does not really exist).
Bottomline: The team that writes these episodes is phenomenal. How they come up with ways to illustrate these truths is amazing.
It's really terrible how a document that was given to help us keep connected with God's love and heaven has been used for such hateful purposes over the centuries. That is actually why the deeper meanings remained for the most part hidden for a long time, so that people with hateful intentions couldn't reach the deeper meanings and try to corrupt those for hateful purposes, too. But now the time is right for the deeper meanings to start to be revealed, and I'm constantly amazed at the profound beauty and sensibleness of those deeper messages.
Thank you so much for the kind and encouraging message to our team, Will. It means a lot to us to know that the illustrations are working for you. Great to have you in the audience!
Great comment. I went atheist agnostic, but Swedenborg has helped me find deeper meaning of scripture and to embrace the Lord again without cognitive dissonance and much more compassion!
Great show, really helpful insights!
I enjoyed the “Bomb Defuser” video game illustration, the carved and cast image explanation and the reply to Jennifer’s question at the end. The “partnership” idea between the Lord and Swedenborg is relevant to everyone who will repent, believe and obey and the parable of the vine and its branches in the gospel of John 15:1 nicely illustrates it, imo.
Thanks again, I am very grateful to you all. :)
So nice to hear from you, Keith! It sounds like you got a lot of valuable info out of this episode. I'm especially glad you enjoyed the video game illustration...that was fun to make. Blessings!
The final question concerning the infallibility of Swedenborg really grabbed my attention. It made me ponder, and pondering is good! As a scientist, Swedenborg was trained to be a good observer and a good recorder of facts. He seemed to be an honest man and not trying to build a personal following. He shared his discoveries with other intellectuals of his day, but did he insist that he was right? Or did he just ask people to consider his ideas? This is a test for Swedenborg followers, whether they will allow the intellectual freedom to their fellow believers to come to their own conclusions. It would be a shame to see the movement split into the orthodox and the reformed. The history of Christianity, and other religions, has seen this same issue destroy the unity of communities. How is the Bible to be understood? Now we have thousands of Christian groups, each believing that they have it right and all others are wrong. I agree with Curtis that it's not important whether Swedenborg was 100 % right in all his understandings. As a Baha'i I can learn from Swedenborg without seeing him as infallible. Matt: 24:30 :
" But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only."
This is in reference to the second coming of Christ, but it indicates that even the angels of heaven don't know everything. Since we know from Swedenborg that the Angels of heaven exist in communities of infinite levels, or grades, the angels who instructed Swedenborg had their limitations and were not all-knowing. So we cannot expect that the knowledge Swedenborg gained was the ultimate, even if it was far above the knowledge of most men of his time. I don't see how we can preclude a time when an even greater revelation of spiritual knowledge might be delivered to mankind. In fact, it makes sense that there is no limit to human education and understanding, and therefore the human race will continue for as long as the earth lasts to be in need of periodic Divine intervention to stimulate us to further spiritual growth. The spiritual history of mankind indicates this. But Swedenborg was great!
I agree with Swedenborg's interpretations which you presented concerning the enemy as our own egos. You'll have a hard time convincing typical Christians that this was the intended meaning, but you have no trouble with me. Baha'u'llah made the statement that all good things come from God, and all evil things come from our own selves. The idea is that we each have our own personal Satan lurking in us which is our own insistent self, or ego. But this is a good thing, because our personal struggle with this "self" is how we grow spiritually.
Always appreciate your thoughts and insights, Harlan! Swedenborg really wanted to share what he was learning with others, but also developed a deep humility, knowing that his writings were not perfect or an end in themselves, but rather a tool to help people toward finding a deeper enlightenment from a connection with God within their own hearts. I agree with you that his writings are very useful tools. Tools are never an end in themselves, but rather, a means toward an end. As Swedenborg wrote, true wisdom is knowing that everything you know is barely a drop in the ocean of all there is to know-even if you have an IQ like Emanuel Swedenborg! :)
I agree with you concerning Swedenborg's writings as a tool, and I would even include religion itself as a tool. Besides being a Source of enlightenment, it is also a tool for changing human behavior to become more angelic. If religion doesn't change our behavior and stimulate unity between people, then maybe we're better off without that form of religion. Would you say that Swedenborg's ideas help to bring unity?
I think they do! They seem to be a good meeting place of east and west, science and spirits, earthly life and afterlife, Bible and afterlife, traditional and "out there", etc.
Absolutely. Swedenborg often describes the nature of the spiritual world as one of community. In fact, one of the great joys of existence is living in deep fellowship with others who share similar loves as you. This is a spiritual community, and each person that comes into the fold adds more harmony to the group! All in all, I find Swedenborg's theology to be encouraging unity through love for others and a desire to be useful to them.
I agree completely that we should be very humble concerning whatever knowledge we think we possess. "All there is to know" is infinite to my reckoning. Every new bit of knowledge is like a door leading to new mysteries or questions. A good metaphor is a bonfire at night. As the bonfire becomes bigger, the circle of light becomes bigger, but also the circle of darkness beyond the light becomes larger. The ocean, as you mention, is also a great metaphor. Even if we have but one drop from the ocean, we can learn from that drop qualities of the entire ocean. So each drop contains infinite possibilities. Physics is demonstrating this principle when scientists study the components of atoms and every component is divided into smaller components, and there seems no end to it. Their discovery is that matter isn't concrete as our senses tell us, but rather forms of energy held together by a force of attraction. They're getting into an area now which seems very spiritual. This power of attraction could be likened to the spiritual power of attraction called love. Is this an example of correspondence?
Loved the concept of this episode.
Would like to complement Johnathon on that lovely purple shirt. Peace and love to you. 💜
Thanks for the love, Alison :)
Peace and love to you, as well!
Jonathan's shirts match his surname, their colours inevitably make me think of roses each time.
All the best for your London presentation.
Thanks for the support, Jillian!
How did I miss this one? Watching now.
I hear you, Bruce. I found a new one the other day that I had never seen. It is a great source of truth and inspiration.
I agree with you Dr Rose, these works are written by the Lord who does not make mistakes and Swedenborg who is fallible BUT with the Lord everything written and even the so called mistakes, the Lord DOES get his point across. Just like in the Word of God, it is still written by man BUT inspired by God. So, I would say NO THERE ARE NO MISTAKES.
Thanks for sharing your perspective, Shara! I love the quote from the Bible, "The Lord's arm is not shortened that he cannot save" -- he can work with what he's got in us fallible humans!
Thank you so much for your programme. I was a Christian but due to being gay I was told I am an abomination unto the lord.
Watching your programmes allows some measure of hope for me but more importantly for others who have also been cast out from the church. Thank you and Goodness bless you
I'm so glad to know this, T Sequoia. If you read the New Testament, Jesus was always reaching out to those who were considered outcasts by society. I'm glad if we can help in any way for you to be able to see Jesus that way.
Excellent work guys. I was able to focus on the subject. You made it interesting and clear. Thank you; I learned a lot!
I'm so glad this understanding of the 1st commandment makes sense to you! Thank you for letting us know, and for watching!
You two are like the Siskel and Ebert of goodness teaching. Nice work!
Thank you! :)
I wasn't able to click on the link to "universal categories on love" ! Great video
Sorry to hear about the tech problem! Here's the link to that video: th-cam.com/video/1m5nHXM7DTk/w-d-xo.html
offTheLeftEye thanks!
*When all else fails...It's nice to be nice*
What is interesting about Swedenborg's beliefs about the physical world is how we define truth vs biblical truth. In our society truth is defined as: that which is the case, or factually correct. Biblical truth is an arrow flies true. It's more important that he was heading in the right direction rather than being factually correct about details.
What matters is we understand things enough and have enough love, humility, and repentance inside us to be guided. Sin was an archery term for missing the target. So forgiveness of sin is setting the arrow back on the true path.
I love it! Swedenborg often defined truth as something spiritually connected to Divine wisdom. Truths are the concepts that form, from an acknowledgment of their value, our faith. And yes, natural facts serve a very different role in comparison to spiritual truths. I really am inspired by your movement towards what use truth has for us (ie developing love, humility, repentance). These are the stirrings in us that activate our faith, thus leading us to a life of charity. Truth converting to love in action. At any rate, thanks for sharing these great insights with us!
It is time to go into this truth because I want to love the Lord more than myself. His will be done, as I am done trying.
"Thy Will be Done" -- something to lean into, FAF!
@@offTheLeftEye like an onion 🧅:)
You mean it peels and becomes more in line with God's will? @@FAPPJAPPDAPP
Thank you
You're so welcome!
i saw a thing today about a protine in the human body called laminin, it is what holds everything in our bodies together, and in the Bible, but i forget which verse Jesus says that he holds everything in the whole universe together, whats really neat about the whole thing is that the protine laminin is shaped just like a cross, this episode talks about correspondance, i wonder if this is like that too, and Jesus is the lamb of God and the protine is called laminin you should look this up Curtis, by the way another great show.
Wow, that's certainly a fascinating observation! Thanks for bringing that to our attention. Wishing you a wonderful day, Jimmy :)
IF WE ALL FOLLOWED THE TEN COMMANDMENTS THE WORLD WOULD BE AMAZING..BUT PEOPLE LIVE ON URGES INSTEAD OF MORALITY !
Well said! The 10 Commandments are a remarkable blueprint for loving others deeply and serving the Lord.
Well, this is what I needed to hear today. I pray, focus, relate to Jesus- not so much God (aren't they the same person??) and this is why:
I like to clear up any contradictions, and the point about God being merciless is something I have thought about, and was thinking about this today in particular before watching this! Now you are talking about it, so this is answering my questions. I have wondered why God would sacrifice innocent animals (in the Old Testament), and innocence for sins. I personally will only read the New Testament( I know I've commented on this before, but seemed relevant in this episode). Even his own son Jesus was sacrificed; Jesus said on the cross, why have you forsaken me father. Look at todays world; innocent lives being taken because of evil. And I am sure I'm not the only one to question why evil should have free will like this, and not the innocent, because that's how it appears.
SF has answered so many questions for me- thank you! I do love my chats with you, and will do more to support your work. I told a friend about you- she likes it, but not sure about some of the guests you've had on. Not sure who she means. I am glad you are part of my life x
Funny when Jonathan mentioned the 11+ in England as I did that all those years ago when I was a kid. You had to take it to see if you would go to State or Grammer school. I thought it was part of the Curriculam in UK at the time.
I'm glad you enjoyed the episode, sunny! Yes, Swedenborg understood Jesus to be manifestation of the One God, so, he understood Jesus Christ and God to be the same person. God never wanted animals to be sacrificed. That is just what people on earth insisted on doing in those days. But the text in the Old Testament is symbolic, so those old laws actually are telling things about deeper things of the spirit, and we have to know the symbolic language of correspondences to understand what the text is really about.
The death of Jesus was not a sacrifice. We explained some things that Swedenborg learned about why Jesus suffered and died in this episode: th-cam.com/video/VqsbY9gRXxo/w-d-xo.html
That's great that you are recommending the shows to a friend. That is fine if she doesn't love every episode or every guest. Everyone is different, and different shows will appeal to different people. We just hope that the content in each show will be useful to somebody out there, and I believe God will guide people to the ideas that will be the most helpful to them.
How interesting that you participated in the 11+ program, too!
This is a very cool fun & informative episode. Thank's guy's.:)
That's so nice to hear! We really appreciate your kindness, Brenda :)
I noticed in your q&a videos first example of question is "Did Swedenborg converse with Jesus" -do you actually have a video where that question is answered ,I cant find it.-Im aware Swedenborg wrote Lord appeared to him but Id like to see video answer if it is here.
Here's a short clip about a powerful interaction that Swedenborg had with Jesus: th-cam.com/video/5gxlMnT_U1g/w-d-xo.html
Wow you guys just knock one after the other right out of the park well done and again my best wishes and thoughts for you wonderful people who run and help and do this channel and all that help that people give to help keep it going thank you and it’s worth all the hard work and hours I bet you guys do because it is truly powerful stuff and you guys present it so perfectly and in a way a person could understand if not to spiritual active or much real knowledge and at the same time it’s so informative and knowledge to the higher level people or at least the thought was higher until watching you guys lol like good job indeed keep it up and keep that kind of comedy up that’s some good timing you got there on some of your jokes I’ll I like that kind of humour lol to funny and be safe thanks again you guys are blessed and i think maybe more so just for sharing everything you been blessed with for free and Wiling open minded people to learn from or help get them to wake up and i bet it’s a lot of people witch to me is just like no words for what that must feel like to be able to do and you are truly a lucky blessed bunch of people and rightly so for sharing it all with the rest of us so hats off and wanted to let you know that you changed me in a way and understanding that I was totally unaware of that a person could feel and know that it’s truth and feel like weights just gone from your thoughts and theories and worries it’s really a blessing for me to even be able to feel that in my life that’s for sure and so I’m thankful to god and you guys for letting me have a part of your gifts and blessing so I just had to let you guys Know that. And That i needed to give thanks and appreciation for your hard work and dedication. And for that I had to write this long rant and I’m sorry I known you guys are busy and stuff but it would not be right to not tell you that but thank you all involved truly
Craig, what a wonderful message. We feel honored to do this work, and are grateful for your presence with us! These spiritual ideas are truly powerful tools in living a more fulfilled spiritual life. May you continue learning and growing with us, my friend!
offTheLeftEye thank you guys and I have been non stop researching Swedenborg and just came across the only thing that i cant understand and just does not line up with the one big massive truth I believe can’t be wrong and have tested it and all before knowing Swedenborgs writings and it all seems so true and right but it does not line up with the one thing I truly believe can’t be wrong at all. So I’m stuck and can’t have both beliefs and know I need to drop one but have such strong feelings that both are true and I’m stuck and really having a hard time right now dealing with this information I found out last night and now I’m at a stand still. And was really hoping that you guys can clear one thing up for me it is one big thing but need help coming to a understanding and to put my beliefs into what Swedenborg is telling us then I can’t believe what I think and tested to be correct and truth but Swedenborg has I’m wrong and have no idea how to handle it. Because that one detail that goes against what I believe is true and can prove it it’s true is so big that it’s either one is wrong and other is right but can’t have both and it’s the only one thing period that could ever do this and make it so U have to drop one or the other but to me they are both have truth and feel right but that one detail makes it so one can’t be and I would like to ask if that one thing could be wrong in Swedenborgs writings because he does not say much about it but maybe you guys know more of what he says on it well I hope so anyway cuz that one thing makes me either go against what I can test and prove with my own eyes and to drop that and believe what he is telling me and I’m stuck done can’t Cary on with my spiritual journey until I make a choice and i know what ever one i do choose will have massive consequences in my future and afterlife so if you guys could please help me out in lost right now and have no idea how to go forward from here and it’s driving me nuts and need help big time. Thanks so much hope to hear from you sooner then later lol cuz I can’t continue reading and studying his works until I come to a conclusion on what way to go and have such strong feelings that I’m not wrong and either is he with everything I have read or seen so far besides this one thing and that thing is the only one thing that would or could do this to me and I’m lost on what to do so please help me out. Thanks guys
Craig, we believe that accepting new information can never happen all at once or immediately. Absorbing new and different information is a journey and a process. I want to encourage you to feel free to NOT immediately accept everything that we say on our shows, but to take your time and think it over. It's perfectly okay to accept and believe some of our ideas, because they really resonate with you, but to set other ideas aside for now as you take some time to think it over. You don't have to immediately drop one belief or the other, or to immediately choose. Take your time, consider both beliefs, and continue learning. If you want to specifically ask us about this issue that you're struggling with, we'd be happy to talk it over with you either here in public or though a private message. In the end, it will be your own heart that decides what to believe, and we totally respect that.
yep that about sums it up.
Another thing i have to say is thank you again, for your time to put this video up. Your last few minutes of this video are so dead on with how i feel. You have to test each and every spirit, and i feel like that could be the reason for swedenborgs errors. Remember we are in a spiritual value and a bad spirit mighr have been able to slip something by swedenborg therefore causing him to write something inaccurately
I'm so glad this video resonated with you, Joyce. It sounds like you got quite a bit of useful info out of the last section. Thanks for reaching out!
Are there more videos on the commandment? I like this episode quite a bit.
Stay tuned...we're coming out with an episode unlocking the second commandment in mid-August!
And here's a short video about the commandments against coveting:
th-cam.com/video/H7Sij_ZB9ow/w-d-xo.html
offTheLeftEye thanks!
the best video ive seen and learned a lot today THANK YOU SO MUCH
That's so nice to hear! You rock, Vicki!
Great episode! Truth bombs like crazy!
Haha it's real stuff, my man! Glad you enjoyed this one :)
For me, Swedenborg's rightness or degree of accuracy is not an issue so much as his intentions behind the telling of his story.
Our human quest for a definitive knowing is not possible for us as we are separate creatures from God. We have our own sense of being and of love, good and evil. It is that longing that moves in any direction. If we knew God complete, we would never move. We would have no quest to seek. I would think that the same should be true of angels and even much higher spirits.
We have to "seek" in order that we might "find"
We must first "knock" and the door will be "opened".... These are not small things.
They are at the very heart of life and they make clear that the self has been made to "share" into eternity rather than being absorbed by it. Every day I can feel God saying "step up"
We stumble and fumble about and get downright lost at times, only to discover meaning in the strangest things, many years later. Swedenborg and OTLE have dramatically helped me to make sense of things that my heart seemed to already know. Confirmation , validation and encouragement are things that God likes. Thanks guys!
Your comment brings a smile to my face, Jeff! I am so glad to know what you have found here has resonated with you so often and so deeply! I love what you wrote -- that every day you can feel God saying, "Step up." Very moving to read! And I can relate! - Kendall
So, just to clarify: is it wrong then to pray, or relate to Jesus more than God? Aren't they the same? And why do I feel more of a connection with Jesus?
They are indeed the same. Jesus came to "show us the Father," which means, he came to help us to relate to Divine Love in an understandable way. So that is great that you feel a connection to Jesus, and pray to him.
chris, if you mean the "sons of God who went in the daughters of men," that is symbolic language, and we explain the meaning in our show "The Meaning of Noah and the Flood" th-cam.com/video/B54Ofpf26Ek/w-d-xo.html
Great show as always.
Can I please ask a question you may consider for your next Q&A's. Theres been a lot discussed about why some departed are able to or not able to visit their loved ones on earth and the sadness we feel being left behind but does Swedenborg say anything about whether those in the spirit world feel any sadness at being separated from and leaving their loved ones on earth?
Many thanks
Thank you for your kind words, Vickie! People who cross over are quickly drawn into a new reality that is not burdened by fixed time and space. So for them, there will not be the experience of a long stretch of time until their loved ones on earth join them. Also, it seems that they have a better ability to consciously feel the thoughts and feelings, and thus feel the presence, of people they care about, including their loved ones on earth. So, it does not seem that there would be a burden of separation and sadness like we have to endure on earth. I think they are experiencing the amazing aspects of their new life, and to them it will seem a short "time" until a full and happy reunion.
offTheLeftEye thank you for your reply. It's something I've been worrying about so very reassuring to know that. I'm really glad I found you, I have a lot of questions and your videos are helping to answer them. Thank you again
what seems like an error opens up to greater truths
Thanks for this Video. Very cool. You guys are GENIUS!!! Thanks for this knowledge it's helpful to me. keep up the good work!GOD BLESS Y'ALL!!! PEACE!!!🕸🕸🕸
Thanks for the love, Gabriel! I'm super happy you liked our video! God bless...
the video game part was awesome
I appreciate the feedback on that section!
Brilliant thank you!
Our sincere pleasure! I love how much you're soaking up!
@@offTheLeftEye Same here! Thank you!
Why is the reflection of the White background green?
Good question! I don't know!
Thank you, I appreciate you both and enjoy your videos. But to be honest, I do have a bit of a hard time with Swedenborg's "God says This, but he means That" arguments ……. it seems to me that any communication from Creator would be clear, and not "coded" …… so as not to be understandable just by scholarly types. Just my two cents.
ydoyou wannano, I hear you. It does seem very confusing that things aren't more clear for us! Check out our episode that talks about this often frustrating paradox: "Why Doesn't God Just Tell Us What's True?" th-cam.com/video/iHDHyTRDokg/w-d-xo.html
Let me know if that resonates and brings any clarity for you (or not!). I'd love to hear your thoughts!
I really appreciate a lot of Swedenborg’s ideas, and the effort and awesome job of the OTLE staff in putting together these videos. But let’s be honest about something: Swedenborg created his own religion, and used the Christian Bible very creatively, any way he wished to justify the tenets of the religion he created.
This in itself doesn’t bother me, because IMO the Bible is in need of a major overhaul. I just think it’s important to recognize that Swedenborg’s religion doesn’t treat the Bible as any kind of authority. As vague and even contradictory as the Bible is, it could be used the way Swedenborg did to support the tenets of virtually any religion one wished to create.
In his writings Swedenborg makes himself a prophet with greater authority than any prophet of the OT to NT, from Moses, to John the Baptist to Christ himself. Again, I don’t see this as a problem but I believe it’s important to recognize this.
Interesting! I have to admit, I disagree, Think Neo, Think! Swedenborg made the Bible the ULTIMATE authority. If you read through his books, you will see that barely a paragraph goes by without quotes from Scripture to explain what he is saying. It may not look that way because we don't quote nearly as much Scripture on our program, since our time is limited and our mission is to share the works of Swedenborg, who people are less familiar with than the Bible, the best selling book of all time. I'm sorry if we gave you the wrong impression.
I'm not sure why you think Swedenborg values himself better than the Bible's prophets? I have not gotten that impression, but it's interesting to hear how it strikes you! For many years, Swedenborg didn't even put his names on his books - so strong was his wish to remain in the shadows behind what he believed to be truth. It is thought that he began including his name because his books weren't being taken seriously - and his authorship intrigued people enough to start reading. They still didn't take him that seriously - but at least the books got out there!
Swedenborg's spiritual sight was opened in his mid-50s, after he had been through an intense period of self-examination, repentance, prayer and Bible study. We share a pivotal vision that was a culmination of that inner work, which shifted him into a whole new world of visions: th-cam.com/video/5gxlMnT_U1g/w-d-xo.html
After his spiritual sight was opened, Swedenborg was able to see countless scenes and events in the spiritual world over the next 27 years, to talk with thousands of people in the afterlife, and to write many of the experiences down in his diary and books. We talk about some of the ways that he would shift into spiritual awareness in our episode "5 Kinds of Spiritual Experiences" th-cam.com/video/NFIKSDFrOEI/w-d-xo.html
If you want to learn more about Swedenborg's background, check out our short clip here, "Who Was Swedenborg?" th-cam.com/video/HEa0e8AcS78/w-d-xo.html or check out this full length episode about his life and credentials, "Was Swedenborg Crazy?" th-cam.com/video/K_ZP30NFYf8/w-d-xo.html
If you'd be at all interested in hearing how the ideas in this show are grounded in the Bible, I recommend the recorded episodes of this Bible study: www.spiritandlifebiblestudy.com/or our episode, "What The Bible Is," th-cam.com/video/v0mE8IDLynE/w-d-xo.html
Swedenborg was not a perfect person - none of us are. His spiritual journey began with a great deal of self examination and inner work, as most do. He called himself "a humble servant of the Lord," and shared his visions believing it would make the world a better place.
He never attempted to start a church or religion, placed no restrictions on who could read his books or how they could access them - he even paid to publish them out of pocket, and never earned a penny from them. And publishing the books put him on trial for heresy - a serious charge in Sweden at the time. His theological publishing career hardly earned him accolades, praise, or followers - it was more the opposite, and I would imagine, a very humbling experience.
Of course, you have every right to regard Swedenborg however makes sense to you! We tend to be a little biased and think he seemed like a pretty nice guy - but not everyone will agree with that, and that's fine!
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts with us, and God bless!
@@offTheLeftEye This could turn into a complex conversation. First let me say that I appreciate your very thoughtful response, and am happy to have you disagree with me. I’ve already learned a lot about Swedenborg from the things you’ve told me.
One thing I’m not doing is suggesting a personal or egoic motive in Swedenborg’s writing. I’m not suggesting that he did anything for his own glory. But claiming to have some special connection to God, talking to angels and people in the afterlife, having dreams where divine knowledge is revealed to him...these are claims that only prophets make.
It’s not that his doctrine so much disagrees with any particular interpretation of the Bible (remember that there are thousands). It’s the fact that his doctrine is so concisely defined with criteria that isn’t found in the Bible.
Maybe another way of putting it is to say that if the Bible is to be regarded as the true authority, the end-all source of knowledge for all things related to God, then it should need nothing added to it. But Swedenborg adds much to it, and in doing so declares himself to have as much authority as any other author in the Bible, and probably more when you consider how much he wrote and added to it.
Most of Swedenborg’s assertions can’t be confirmed or denied by the Bible, because the Bible doesn’t address many of the specific claims he makes. So IMO it’s not proper to say that Swedenborg’s claims are consistent with, or supported by anything found in the Bible, again when the Bible doesn’t address the specific claims he makes.
Swedenborg takes the Bible and not only reads between the lines, but inserts many lines as well.
That said and I still appreciate his ideas, and the effort and enthusiasm in the staff at OTLE in sharing his ideas.
@@thinkneothink3055 I see your point! I think Swedenborg would argue that he didn't add to it - but rather read more deeply into what's already there, with the help of the Lord, angels, and spirits. And I do believe that, and do see consistency in what he shares and reveals.
I also would say that he really was a prophet, but that's because I believe him when he claims that Jesus awoke his spiritual sight and that everything he wrote was spiritually directed.
And, I can see why that explanation just sounds like ego-based justification! I guess you just have to decide, ultimately, if it feels true to you - and if it feels useful, and just go with that. The whole theological system definitely rests on Swedenborg's credibility - it's a subject we all have to come to terms with, if we are to believe what he is sharing. I wish you well on that process!
Curtis for president and OTLE for the senate 💪🥸👍
Oh my... Don't know if we want those positions. But thanks for your confidence! 😉😊
What did swedenborg say about the Muslim heaven??
Here is one quote about that. In the greater context of Swedenborg's works, it seems that having different sections of heaven based on earthly religious affiliations is something that happens in the lower heavens rather than the higher heavens. I get the impression that in the higher levels of heaven, people leave behind earthly religious affiliations and operate in a more universal mindset that would be like the "New Church" mindset he predicts for the future of people on earth. It is an inner relationship with God and the resulting way of life, rather than an outer set of doctrines and practices. But, here is a quote about the Muslim heaven that he observed. In the 18th century, polygamy was still a regular practice in Muslim communities, unlike today.
"There is a heaven for Muslims, just as there is a heaven for all peoples who acknowledge one God, who love what is just, and who do what is good as a religious practice. The Muslim heaven is separate from the Christian heaven. The Muslim heaven is actually divided into two heavens. In the lower of the two, Muslim men live honorable lives with multiple wives. The only Muslims, though, that are lifted up into the higher heaven are those who give up a plurality of wives and acknowledge our Lord and Savior and his authority over heaven and hell. I have been told that it is impossible for them to think that God the Father and our Lord are one, but they can believe that the Lord rules over the heavens and the hells because he is the Son of God the Father. This belief among them is what enables them to go up into the higher heaven."
-True Christianity 832
Shalom in Immanu'EL Messiah.
Amen! Peace be with you.
Thanks for all your work, I love watching these shows they are very helpful.
Here is a question that keeps arising lately: If the symbolic correspondences of the bible can be explained in simple language, such as is being done by you guys here in this channel, then why was it even necessary to write it out in some sort of secret symbolic code in the first place?
Why say "bring the consequences of the father's wickedness upon the sons" when you could just say "keeping self-centeredness and evil wishes in your heart will cause you to believe in lies and false concepts"?
Surely we can see that the writing of the bible in this coded language has created a lot of misunderstanding, and thus a lot of misery and strife in this world. So I don't understand why the concepts were not simply written as they were meant to be understood. Maybe you could help broaden the understanding of why the bible was written in this sort of secret code in the first place.
Yes, I realize that it seems really hard to understand. It helps me to first think about the state of mind people were in at the time. Success was measured by who had the most power to conquer and slaughter and enslave people. So, how many would have had the ability to contemplate or respect a God of love, or to think it of much value to examine their own hearts? Humanity did not have much maturity yet for such thoughts.
But also, Swedenborg learned that spiritual information is a powerful tool. And just as it would be dangerous to give a car or a sharp kitchen knife to someone to young or unable to handle such a tool safely, it was actually not spiritually safe for humanity to have access to spiritual information before there was enough spiritual maturity to handle it safely. Though you are right that there has been much misunderstanding of Scripture that has brought a lot of misery and strife, apparently the ability to know deep spiritual truth and use if for evil is MUCH more spiritually damaging than misunderstanding and misusing the literal text. So the deeper meanings were kept hidden so that humanity would have less ability to commit "profanation", which is terribly damaging to the spirit. The strife on earth is temporary, but profanation actually shreds a person's spirit, and leaves them in a horrible state after death. Here are a couple of quotes about profanation:
"The Lord spoke this way in order to keep people from understanding his words, for fear they would profane them. If they had understood the message when the church was spiritually devastated . . . they would have profaned it."-Secrets of Heaven §3898:2
"Divine truth can be profaned only by people who have already acknowledged it. After all, they first entered on the truth by acknowledging and believing in it, which means they were initiated into it. Later, if they back away from it, a trace remains permanently imprinted on them deep inside, and it returns when falsity and evil are recalled. The truth clinging to the falsity and evil is then profaned. So the people in whom this happens always have something in them that damns them-a private hell. When hellish beings go near an environment in which goodness and truth exist, they instantly become aware of their hell, because they are entering what they hate and therefore what tortures them. So people who profane truth live constantly with a source of torment, according to the magnitude of their profanation. Because of this, the Lord takes the greatest care to prevent divine goodness and truth from being profaned. With people who cannot help profaning what is true and good his main method is to keep them as far as possible from acknowledging and believing in it. Again, the only people who can profane something are those who once acknowledged and believed it."-Secrets of Heaven §3398:2
"That was why deep truth was not revealed to Jacob’s descendants in Israel and Judah. It was not even said to them explicitly that people have a deeper level or that such a thing as inward worship exists. They were barely told anything about life after death or about the heavenly kingdom of the Lord. . . . It was foreseen that if these concepts had been revealed to them, they could not have helped profaning them, because all they were interested in were earthly concerns. . . . Furthermore, that was why the Lord did not come into the world and disclose the inner contents of the Word until nothing good whatever remained to those people, not even earthly goodness. At that point they were no longer able to accept truth to the point of acknowledging it internally (since goodness is what accepts truth), so they could not profane it. Those are the conditions meant by the fullness of time, the close of the age, and the last day, mentioned many times in the prophets. The reason the secrets of the Word’s inner meaning are now being disclosed is the same: there is hardly any faith today because there is no neighborly love, so the era has reached its close. When this happens, secrets can be revealed without danger of profanation, because they are not inwardly acknowledged."
-Secrets of Heaven §3398:3, 4
Also, the Word as written was serving a dual purpose. It was not only for people on earth, but also for angels, who were understanding the symbolism and the deeper messages:
"Each and every mention of the people of Judah and Israel in the Word represents the Lord’s kingdom in the heavens and the Lord’s kingdom on earth, or the church. . . . That is why Jerusalem never means Jerusalem and Judea never means Judea in an inner sense. Instead they were something that could (and did) represent the heavenly and spiritual qualities of the Lord’s kingdom. This made it possible for the Word to be written in such a way that people reading it on earth could grasp it and the angels present with them could truly understand it. The Lord spoke in the same way for the same reason. Had it been otherwise, the message would not have been suited to the grasp of readers-especially at that time-or to the comprehension of angels; people would not have accepted it, and angels would not have understood it."-Secrets of Heaven §3652:5
So, a bit hard for us to wrap our heads around, but I trust that God is love, and would only withhold things or allow a certain level of strife and misunderstanding for the sake of preventing something worse.
Thank you so much, those passages you quoted are very enlightening. I intuited that the answer would be something along those lines, but I couldn't completely put the picture together.
You're very welcome! Great question.
Dear Curtis and Dr. Rose: Thank you so much for providing such an intelligent and profound answer to my question. I really appreciate that you pointed out that despite some inconsistencies due to Swedenborg's 18th century understanding of his world, there is a kind of timeless, universal truth in the core message - a kind of truth that really resonates to the soul and works in practice. I feel more confident that I can concentrate on applying all of the wonderful lessons and wisdom offered which are as relevant today as they were then. Thanks again to all of you for your dedication to spiritual outreach and your messages of hope. It is sorely needed in this world. -Jennifer
Jennifer, thank you for that wonderful question, and for these kind and encouraging words. We're blessed to be connected with you, through this channel, on this journey of life! God bless.
I think this is all the work of the Lord even if it's "the Lord and Swedenborg". The Bible was written by all kinds of different ppl and it's the same as with Swedenborg's works. What is written is written for life for everyone to live by. It is still from the Lord and by the Lord. It is still the Written Word of the Lord in the Spiritual Sense.
Beautifully said, Shara. Thank you!
Is it against God's laws to watch horror movies or to watch movies like "Law and Order"? I know there is a lot of evil going on in the world so what's the difference in these movies? thanks
I don't know about "against God's laws," but I do like to ask myself, when I have the option to watch something like that, "Do I WANT to invite those hellish atmospheres into my mind?" I suppose different people have different levels of sensitivity to that kind of show. For myself, it's getting harder to stomach even the mild murder mysteries. But some people seem to not have their spirits affected by it. As with everything, it seems like a topic you could work out in your own partnership with the Lord. What do you think, Shara?
I just saw the solar eclipse in Colombia, South Carolina. It thought it was amazing. I hope that doesn't mean I'm blocking love with a false faith. (I'll try to find something with a better correspondance next trip.)
It was amazing! No, there's no problem at all enjoying an eclipse. I think of it this way: the whole reason we are able to enjoy it these days is that we know what is happening, and that it is temporary. Back in the days when people had no idea what was going on, an eclipse was terrifying! And for us even today, if the moon were to stay blocking the sun for a long time, that would not be cool. Part of what is so cool about an eclipse is that is it showing us things about the power of the sun, and how much we depend upon it. An eclipse shows us a condensed contrast that drives that home. And part of the wonder is that the sun comes back! I think the good aspect of the correspondence, in this context, is that we are seeing a symbol of the fact that love is always there behind the scenes, even when we can't see it, and that it comes back. If we know that, we don't have to be afraid of going through a "dark" time in our lives, but can just let it teach us things about the power of God's love. So, there are some thoughts. Glad you enjoyed this eclipse, and I myself am looking forward the one in 2024!
Who is Swedenborg? Why do they keep talking about him as if he is a prophet?
Hi Heather, that's a really good question. Perhaps I might direct you to a short clip we did on this very topic. Feel free to comment again with further comments or questions! th-cam.com/video/HEa0e8AcS78/w-d-xo.html
this is awesome...perfect for my teenage boys that love gaming and like most teens find Church and the bible kind of boring...or unrelateable ...but with a gaming interpretation, it obviously is easier to pitch to my teens!!!! LOL LOVE IT! thank you!!
That's so cool! I'm glad this format is useful to your teenage boys. I'm also loving your energy and excitement! What a gift to me this morning :)
THANK you!! ur vids are awesome, swedenborg is fascinating...Lord knows we need more help understanding GOD and your vids have helped me so much during this time of awakening for me!! Blessed day to you!!
Jesus is lord
Yes indeed, Mizael! Thank you!
It seems like the bible is a collection of books written by inspired minds who might have written them with historical facts and experiential documentation that says that the bible is but a story of the human mind, soul and consciousness which tells us about the cycle of human story, progress, spiritual development, suffering, death and being born again or resurrected and jesus christ is a representation of an enlightened one like buddha and the others...
Yup, that about sums it up. There's a lot in there!
I think if you have more than one God it will cause you confusion. But why is it you can't have one foot on one side of the fence and the other on the other side of the fence? Is that why there are so many ppl in the spiritual world? They haven't made up their minds yet and in heaven there is no division.
Shara, can you explain what you mean by "having one foot on one side of the fence and the other on the other side"?
@@offTheLeftEye It's like living in the valley of indecision. One foot in the world and one with the Lord. I was like that once and the Lord said to me "What makes you any different than anyone else out there?" And that changed my life and the way I lived. And my perception of what it is to live for
God.
@@sharapalmer5560 So it sounds like you do realize that that is how it is for everyone! During earthly life, we're gradually making decisions about which side is the priority for us, and then after death, we can clearly sort it all out, and move forward with greater ease.
@@offTheLeftEye Yes, that's what I think.
☺
Breaking the first commandment Curtis-munchkin demonstration sounds like a certain former POTUS😄😄😄🤔
Hmmm.....
“… the god who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” I am not an Israelite. Furthermore, the psychology of prescription/prohibition is shown (in the Gospel) to be inappropriate and inadequate to the nature of the spirit and to spiritual expression . We do not need to save the Ten Commandments, much less the prescription/prohibition mode of living. Not even Israel is capable of functioning in that way, why is so much effort put into saving and preserving a corpse? 2Cor 3. Tetalestai!
Thanks for you perspective, John. For me the Ten Commandments are as applicable as they were thousands of years ago. They bring freedom, not prohibition. Bless you on your own spiritual path.
If this thing about generous driving is correct, then no one in France is saved!
I think there are lots of places in the world like that, G.A. But it really ISN"T a completely accurate reflection of their spiritual state, I'm sure!
Haha - yes, I was being a bit cheeky. I've been to Bryn Athyn to visit the cathedral, library, museum etc and I remember nice driving there 😊
Ha, glad you found it so, Galactic. I am glad to hear that you visited here! It is a great place for learning about Swedenborg, for sure.
Yes, a great place for learning. And also for absorbing the spirit of the writings and the love of the people on a level that slips thru the bars of the intellect. The artistic subtlety of the cathedral and her dimensions, the generosity of the Christians living and working there, the shining light of the stained glass windows, the dedicated care put into the artefacts, and the whole educational ambience. It was a true privilege to be there. And thank you for extending this energy into the virtual world with your incredible project!
@@galacticambitions1277 I am so glad you were able to visit. If you ever do again be sure to let us know at OTLE so we can meet you and talk in person. In the meantime I am grateful for these online channels of connection. Instantaneous, free, across the world. I still marvel at it!
🐾🐾🐾
Small steps! One step at a time.
Are you Christians? If not how are you different from mainstream Christianity's main tenets? If so, how are you different from mainstream Christianity's main tenets?
Hopefully you watched the short video we recommended providing background about Emanuel Swedenborg. This channel is run by the Swedenborg Foundation, not by a Christian church. Swedenborg's books focus on the Lord Jesus Christ as the manifestation of the one God, and he called himself "a servant of the Lord." He began his theological works after some intense spiritual experiences, which included visions of Christ. He then began intensive Bible study along with learning through extensive and daily spiritual experiences for almost three decades. However, the information he was learning was often in disagreement with the traditional Christian doctrine of his day. His final published work was called "True Christianity," and yet he also referred to a coming mindset for humanity called "the New Church," which was not to be a certain earthly religious organization, but rather a mindset and relationship with the Lord God that could be approached through any earthly faith tradition. It is mainly focused on the two great commandments that Jesus presented as the core of all Scripture: to love God and to love the neighbor.
If you are interested to compare information Swedenborg wrote about with traditional Christian interpretation of the Bible, here are a few shows that could help you begin to explore that:
"Why Did Jesus Suffer and Die?" th-cam.com/video/VqsbY9gRXxo/w-d-xo.html
"Why Does the Bible Say the Dead Know Nothing?" th-cam.com/video/2GNzmofUnxM/w-d-xo.html
"Repentance: How to Be in Heaven Now" th-cam.com/video/5_-zxnqG_sg/w-d-xo.html
"How to Understand the Trinity" th-cam.com/video/-YbEHk2N884/w-d-xo.html&list=PLgtFTXGqZdSmc533BG31I_1beIVVVQTQf
"End Times and Jesus Christ" th-cam.com/video/x65SXTNlhTo/w-d-xo.html&list=PLgtFTXGqZdSmc533BG31I_1beIVVVQTQf
"The Spiritual Battles of Jesus Christ" th-cam.com/video/zVVOypnm9bU/w-d-xo.html&list=PLgtFTXGqZdSmc533BG31I_1beIVVVQTQf
"Why Jesus Was Born" th-cam.com/video/VsbuxkXYbRI/w-d-xo.html&list=PLgtFTXGqZdSmc533BG31I_1beIVVVQTQf
"Is the Devil Real?" th-cam.com/video/ljR4_gs0Tek/w-d-xo.html&list=PLgtFTXGqZdSmc533BG31I_1beIVVVQTQf
"What the 7 Days of Creation Mean" th-cam.com/video/0dElLLLbUNY/w-d-xo.html&list=PLgtFTXGqZdSmc533BG31I_1beIVVVQTQf
1-5 of the 10 Commandments explained here
th-cam.com/video/JzJUZ_fkKic/w-d-xo.html
Thanks Rhonda, we'll check it out!
I think by saying Swedenborg was an inclusive modern you sort of use a modern interpretation. From what I have read, though I am no expert, in Heaven other followers of a religion will get Word lessons! Swedenborg saw Muslims getting lesson in the true Christianity while Mohammad was kept away. So I'd imagine an Indian follower of the Bhagavad Gita in Heaven getting Word lessons too!
"The Word" in heaven is much less limited than the written Word on earth. It is Divine Truth, written not in the form of stories about the Israelites and Christians, but about the deeper messages about the spiritual development of the mind and heart, and about the Lord. Everyone is indeed led to learn about the Divine Human, God as a Person, who is the Lord. In his Spiritual Diary, Swedenborg has many entries about Mohammed encouraging people who wanted to follow him to follow the Lord instead. And Swedenborg talked to Muslims who were more easily taught about the Lord as the manifestation of the One God than many of the Christians at that time, because the Christians had divided God into three persons. But everyone will have their own unique understanding of and relationship with the Lord. No one's faith will be exactly the same!
I am seeing a very public figure of authority described in this episode
The Christian God is the God of Ego and Narcissism, one only need look at the USA to see the end results of this philosophy.
Investigate the root word "hova"
Would you like to tell us about it, Dape? A quick look said it comes from "Jehovah."
@@offTheLeftEye jehova is a composite name from the last +-300 years based on the rootword "hova" meaning misshief, havoc and wrecker, the name game is a wild distraction and decivement, elohim is plural, el is singular, just saying, yhwh is one of the Elohim, who got a portion of the fallen Earth, his portion was just a family, yhwh is the law expert and consequently the punishment expert, the law is the result of the tree of knowing good and evil, the family was under the law, the law could only bring death, death means being detached from the most high Creator, doesn't matter if you are alive in the flesh or not, that's why you see that the fisycal death was seen as sleep, sleep in Sheol/Hades, the human familie was stuck, the Son of Man pulled us all again under the tree of life, again heavenly connection with the Father, when we are alive in the flesh or not, the whole new testament is for the authentic Hebrews in that time, nothing is for us, exept the result of that timeframe, we can connect directly with the father again!
All names are tainted, all have some connection with "gods" , how many times did the Son of Man use a name for his father??? How did the son of man refer to himself???
No one knows it ALL, i like to see your way of thinking on your channel, i don't know it ALL, but have learned after about 35 years of searching a thing or two, the new Jerusalem is on the Earth since 70AD, put in place when the old law system was done away, new heaven and new earth, it's in our harts if we let it, if you do then you are resurrected directly in spirit and will be ammitted to the new Jerusalem (most high heaven) directly, if you do not you have the way that you are talking about, or you get stuck in the lower levels based on who and what you are, death is being disatached from our source the Father, doesn't matter if you are in the flesh or not!
Here is a short video about the name Jesus Christ. th-cam.com/users/shortsAG0tezNvsMY
The Commandment who let you out of captivity out of Egypt refers to Deuteronomy 28 chapter= the slaves that was brought from Africa we're not African they were Hebrew= read the book of Obadiah it's only one page:
There certainly are many different ways of interpreting the books of the Bible. On this channel, we share the interpretations learned by Emanuel Swedenborg during his visions. He learned that all the text of the Bible, including the books of Moses and the Prophets, are divine metaphors about our own inner spiritual journey. So, as we discuss in this show, that prelude to the first commandment is talking about how God leads us all out of the captivity of lower-ego states of selfishness and materialism, and bring us to more spiritual states of mind.
You are God, God is your consciousness, the sheep are your thoughts, you must keep your thoughts, no one else can guide you but your own God consciousness, no one else can know your best path but you, go within ask Divine Source, the inner voice which will tell you everything you ask, if you ask your father for a loaf of bread he will not give you a stone, it's your 3rd eye chakra, when you go within it will answer you, it's how the pyramids were built, Jesus healed his heart chakra was wide open, you guys are in left field, we are all one, a ray of light, Pentecost was when they all realized the power is within, the kingdom of heaven is within you, these other God's are other things we give power to other than our own innate ability to solve our own problems
Yes, we agree, the kingdom of God can be found within, if we let love guide us to find it there. If we don't give power to divisive lower issues of self-centeredness and materialism, which block the way. The goal is to open that inner voice back up, and let God flow in and through.
Let me tell you false gods do exist like the angels thwy arr the first creation of God
Swedenborg met many, many angels, and he learned that a true angel never wants to be worshiped as a god. Real angels want all glory and worship to be directed to the One True God, not to themselves. Like the angel John met in the book of Revelation:
"Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.'”
-- Revelation 22:8-9
IDOLS ARE OBJECTS r THAT ARE WORHIPPED>>>>>>>> or persons
Well said, mandoline joe! Anything that takes the place of God (who is love) in our hearts and minds - creating craving, obsession, or distraction!
I can see Ignorant way of seeing the texted.
Fine by me.
It's Human Nature that they believe in what they want to.
Yes, everyone has to decide for themselves what to believe, according to what makes the most sense to them, and according to what helps them in their daily lives.