Heaven and Hell (Swedenborg)

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Heaven and Hell is the common English title of a book written by mystic Emanuel Swedenborg in Latin, published in 1758.

The full title is Heaven and its Wonders and Hell From Things Heard and Seen, or in Latin: De Caelo et Ejus Mirabilibus et de inferno, ex Auditis et Visis.

This book is a detailed description of the afterlife where people go after the death of the physical body. It deals with God, heaven, hell, angels, spirits, and devils, which the author claimed to have witnessed first hand.

Some of his the things he claims to have experienced are that there are Jews, Muslims and people of pre-Christian times ("pagans" such as Romans and Greeks) in heaven; the fundamental issue that love of self or of the world drives one towards hell, and love of God and fellow men towards heaven.

The work proved to be influential. It has been translated into several languages, including Danish, French, Hindi, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Zulu. Edgar Allan Poe also mentions this book in his work The Fall of the House of Usher.

[edit] Influence on Joseph Smith and Mormon Theology

D. Michael Quinn suggests in his book Early Mormonism and the Magic World View that Heaven and Hell influenced Joseph Smith, Jr. in the creation of the Mormon view of the afterlife detailed in Doctrine and Covenants Section 76. See also Degrees of Glory.