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Summary: Believe or not believe, that is the question.
Review: As a virtual atheist I wanted to believe that all in Heaven and Hell was a mad fantasy... and yet... I couldn't. Swedenborg's sobriety, lack of pressure, consistency and intellectual integrity have put me against the wall and made me face the fact, for the first time in my life, that the Bible might be something more than merely the culture of a particular group of people form antiquity.It explains very obscure passages in the Bible and very subtly makes you understand that the fundamental reason we are attracted to hell is love of oneself. Heaven and Hell gives you a shattering insight into why it is of primary importance to "love your enemies" (as Jesus Christ instructs us to do in the Bible). This characteristic (of loving your enemies) is probably the fundamental difference between people going to heaven or to hell. As Swedenborg explains, loving your children is like loving yourself and this won't save you from hell. Even though Swedenborg states that the true religion is the Christian religion, he does describe that there are Jews, Muslims and even atheists in heaven. Rich people also reach heaven since the fundamental issue that drives you to hell is love of self (lack of love for God and your enemies) and love of the world. Swedenborg has harsh criticism of the churches ("they know nothing about heaven and hell"), but at the same time his book is like an amplification of the Bible, explaining it, giving much more detail, making it more credible. Although Heaven and Hell is 500 pages long, it is only a minute fraction of Swedenborg's total output about heaven, hell, God and the Bible: I understand it adds 15,000 pages. It is impossible to transmit in a brief review the feeling and ambience in Heaven and Hell, but it has given me the shock of my life. The Bible and Swedenborg coincide in ways that leave me the following conclusions: the Bible is true, hell does exist, re-incarnation doesn't exist and most of us are on our way to hell due to our love of self. If you are a Christian believer, this book will be a source of powerful insights, if you are not a believer you will probably fight it to death in your mind... but if you are sincere, it might prove too much for your mind and you might, like me, concede defeat.
Rating: 
Summary: From a Swedenborgian
Review: As someone born and raised a Swedenborgian, this new edition of Heaven and Hell represents a signficant step forward. Readers should dive into the meat of what the book itself says, not the introduction. There are incredible gems of spiritual wisdom in its pages.
Rating: 
Summary: insensate drivel
Review: My family has had the heartbreak of a grandmother, mother, and two sisters who have died after difficult bouts with cancer. The message within this book has offered inexpressible peace and sound, common sense answers. We know that our loved ones go on living in a more perfect state after death, and that heaven does not consist of just singing in choirs or being in some kind of ethereal bliss. Rather, this life on earth is only a finite moment in time. (We must also realize that those who choose spiritual death, as we are seeing now in the world, will also receive what they are seeking.) The Lord Jesus Christ, who is Jehovah come to earth from His utmost love, longs for us to join Him in the "real," eternal chapter of our lives that awaits us in a matter of moments or years. Please read this book if you haven't already. It will answer so many questions, and will strengthen your Christian faith and heart. You will soon realize that, as Jesus told us in John 16: 20-33, the Spirit of Truth, the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ,is coming, and is unstoppable.... My youngest sister spoke of the reality of this as she hovered between this world and the next. It is as real, no, more real, than the keys under my fingertips. May the Lord bless you. Scot
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Summary: Heaven In Your Life - TODAY
Review: Not only does Swedenborg's Heaven & Hell provide rational answers to the question, "What is this life and this world all about anyway?" but it also gives us the combination to unlock the door to happiness. What's more, one of Swedenborg's central statements is that EVERYONE may choose to enter into heavenly happiness. This is incredible! The choices we make in our daily lives, whether from loving or hateful motives, are an expression of the ultimate choice we will make about what kind of place we wish to dwell for eternity. The further implications of this idea is that as we form our lives by the choices that we make, we can choose to become more and more "heavenly happy," right here, right now, if we apply the ideas in Swedenborg's book to our lives today. I found these concepts to be inspirational and informative, a book that could be read over and over, always discovering some new gem of wisdom.
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Summary: The most complete description of eternal life ever written!
Review: Swedenborg, who saw into the heavens and hells when the Lord opened his spiritual sight, describes the life of heaven and the life of hell in this book (one of more than 30 books he wrote under the Lord's direct guidance). When one dies, he or she lives to eternity in the place that best matches the loves he or she has fostered in his or her heart and mind while on earth. This book describes the places and the people! In heaven, people are married, go to work (work that they love), play (have recreation) and worship the Lord. They have spiritual bodies in the same form as earthly bodies, except there is no illness of any kind. Read this book (and other books penned by Emanuel Swedenborg) if you want a new perspective on God, life, faith and good works.
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Summary: What touches me about "Heaven and Hell"
Review: The most remarkable thing about this book, is that its focus is on Heaven and Hell and yet it is primarily useful now...in this world! Swedenborg writes: "we have presented these matters to let people know that a heaven-bound life is not a life withdrawn from the world but a life involved in the world" (p443). Swedenborg talks about the qualities of Heaven, how we are connected to Heaven, the fact that anyone (of any religion) can lead a life to Heaven, marriage in Heaven, the wisdom of angels and so much more. This book and others by Swedenborg have had a profound impact on my life.
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Summary: Heaven and Hell...changing this world!
Review: The most remarkable thing about this book, is that its focus is on Heaven and Hell and yet it is primarily useful now...in this world! Swedenborg writes: "we have presented these matters to let people know that a heaven-bound life is not a life withdrawn from the world but a life involved in the world" (p443). Swedenborg talks about the qualities of Heaven, how we are connected to Heaven, the fact that anyone (of any religion) can lead a life to Heaven, marriage in Heaven, the wisdom of angels and so much more. This book and others by Swedenborg have had a profound impact on my life.
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Summary: What touches me about "Heaven and Hell"
Review: This book about heaven and hell written by Emanuel Swedenborg is one of the 3 books I have read by Swedenborg. I like this book because of the short passages which I can take in and think about in small doses. Also the hope and beauty of the afterlife presented in this book touched me deeply. I WANT to believe the beautiful teachings here. The messages make sense to me about the journey to either place being totally up to me and how I live my life. I hope I can hang onto the pictures given me by this book so I can make those choices with the end in mind of what the Lord may offer me if I live my life in a loving way. I hope others can hang in through the sometimes awkward style to get the ideals. Happy reading.
Rating:
Summary: insensate drivel
Review: This book is a collection of arbitrary "observations" by Swedenborg on the nature of creation, the structure of Heaven & Hell, and the soul. While there are some interesting ideas here, they are very few & far between, and the object of the book seems to be not to enlighten but to comfort. I would rescind this review in a heartbeat, and give him the five stars I'd like to, if a single thing he said was verifiable; but as it turns out, most of the book is in direct contradiction to simple logic. Instead, I recommend reading something that will provide a toolkit for the establishment of the insight necessary for personally verifiable results, like Vivekananda's Raja yoga, or any meditation manual, at all, ever. Not this turgid, puerile work that even it's own preface suggests be placed in Airport bookstores.
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Summary: Why would a loving God create hell?
Review: This book offers the only logical explanation for hell. Hell exists because it is the only place where evil people are comfortable. In heaven they would suffocate because of the sphere of love and goodness. The creation of hell was an act not of punishment but of Divine Mercy. Learn what life is actually like in the other world. Swedenborg recounts first-hand of his experiences in both heaven and hell.
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