Heaven and its Wonders and Hell

What awaits the human soul beyond death? What are heaven and hell, who are the angels and spirits who inhabit them, and how does the life we choose on Earth shape our eternal destiny?

In Heaven and Its Wonders and Hell, Emanuel Swedenborg presents an extraordinary account of the spiritual world based upon what he describes as things personally heard and seen. He explores the nature and organization of heaven, the lives and appearances of angels, heavenly societies, divine order, correspondences between the spiritual and natural worlds, and the world of spirits through which human beings pass after death. He also describes the awakening of the soul, the nature of heavenly joy, marriage in heaven, and the relationship between love, wisdom, and spiritual life.

Turning from heaven to its opposite, Swedenborg examines hell, infernal societies, human freedom, and the inner loves that ultimately draw each person toward a corresponding eternal state. Profound, detailed, and visionary, Heaven and Its Wonders and Hell remains one of Swedenborg's most important theological works-a sweeping exploration of the afterlife and a challenging meditation on what it means to live a heavenly or infernal life even before death.