New Church Life May/June 2017 | Page 26

What News From Earth? What Swedenborg said to angels about what is happening in the world A Sermon by the Rev. Jeremy F. Simons Lessons: Isaiah 11:8,9; John 16:12,13,25-27; True Christianity 846 T “This is new,” I said: “The Lord has recently revealed secrets that are more excellent than any that have ever been revealed since the church first came into existence.” (True Christianity 686) he angels asked Swedenborg what was happening in the world. He chose to tell them about the things that were being revealed by the Lord through him. This was clearly exactly what they were interested in, and they asked him a lot of questions about it. Swedenborg first told the angels about revelations concerning the Word and life after death. Then he talked about a number of other things, some of which might surprise you. Why would he mention, for example, degrees, and life on other planets, things that might seem to be less central to what the New Church is about than some other topics? Two questions: Given this subject, there are really two questions