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xviii. INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS.
contains those in which he describes the nature of the life
after death, and the state of man in the eternal world.
It is from a misrepresentation of his writings of this class
that Swedenborg is so often spoken of as a mere visionary
and enthusiast ; though if the terms, visionary and en
thusiast, mean a person who dreams of things which
have no real existence, and is carried away by the mere
force of his imagination, a more false imputation was
never thrown on the character of any one, than by the
application of such epithets to the always calm and
rational Swedenborg. Heaven and hell, are doubtless
real existences, howsoever defective may be our notions
of their nature and, most assuredly, nothing can with
more reason be expected, than, when the superior light
should be vouchsafed which Scripture teaches us was to
accompany the dispensation of the New Jerusalem, of
which it is said that " the glory of God did lighten it,
and the Lamb is the light thereof;" (Rev. xxi. 23. ) and
"there shall be no night there," (xxii. 5 . ) —no intel
lectual darkness and lack of knowledge, that then the
darkness which is generally allowed to prevail among
Christians, in regard to the state of man in eternity,
should be removed, and some clear and satisfactory
knowledge respecting it should be supplied. When Dr.
Johnson was once told of a certain person, who published
a visionary work, in which he stated, that, like the
Apostle Paul, he had been " caught up to the third
heaven," and had had " abundance of revelations," the
witty dogmatist replied, " That he would have been more
like the Apostle had he kept his revelations to himself." B
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