American Literature: Romanticism research assignment Student Research Submissions 2013 research post 2

Beverly Li

Emerson’s Swedenborgianism Connection

            In my first research post, I explored the influence of ancient Greek philosophers on the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1883).  During the process, Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772) was encountered as a less-ancient source of inspiration for “The Sage of Concord.”  Although Emerson utilized many resources, this research post will identify the steps taken to identify this less-familiar theologian/philosopher from Sweden, and look at Emerson’s words about him.  It will also compare two authors’ interpretations of the influence of Swedenborg upon Emerson, within the context of Romanticism.

            In his 1850 series entitled Representative Men, Emerson writes essays about Plato, Montaigne, Shakespeare, Napoleon, Goethe, and Swedenborg; or, the Mystic. He tells us this brilliant author of books pertaining to chemistry, optics, physiology, mathematics, astronomy, and metallurgy experienced spiritual illumination at age 54, turning then to producing works of theology. “The genius which was to penetrate the science of the age with a far more subtle science; to pass the bounds of space and time, venture into the dim spirit-realm, and attempt to establish a new religion in the world,- began its lessons in quarries and forges, in the smelting-pot and crucible, in ship-yards and dissecting-rooms.”  Emerson admires Swedenborg’s intelligent, humble lifestyle and his connections to people in power, including the king of Sweden.  He agrees with Swedenborg’s correspondence between nature and the soul, but feels Swedenborg’s introverted metempsychosis goes too far into the “dim spirit-realm,” where sublime laws cease being universal and become individualized instead, with too much emphasis placed upon dogmatic Christian symbolism.

            Clarence Paul Hotson tells us that Emerson first became aware of Swedenborg through the 1826 writings of Emerson’s friend, Sampson Reed, who also “gave the first definite impulse which led to Emerson’s literary career. (SR 249)” Hotson’s extensive research on Emerson is not always complimentary, noting an inconsistency in Emerson’s years of various comments about Swedenborg, but concluding that Emerson was more dissatisfied with the church that based itself on Swedenborg’s writings than with Swedenborg himself.  Hotson says Swedenborg made no attempt to create a church; it first became organized fifteen years after his death (ETS 525), coming to Boston as the New Jerusalem Church in 1818. Emerson regularly read the church publications and commented that “they receive the fable instead of the moral of their Aesop. (ETS 521)” Hotson concludes that Emerson viewed Swedenborg as a representative of religion, later seeing him “tainted with a bit of insanity,” as Emerson mentions in his 1867 Life and Letters of New England (ETS 542).  In an address on “Religion,” also in 1867, Emerson laments that “you find so many men infatuated on that one topic of religion. Wise on all other topics, they lose their reason the moment they talk of religious things. (ETS 544)”

            Devin Zuber says Hotson fails to see the depth of the connection between Emerson and Swedenborg.  On the New Church website, he presents an extensive study of their similarities, looking beyond Emerson’s criticisms of Swedenborg.  They shared an attempt to correspond the spiritual realm with the natural world, and Swedenborg’s “emphasis on the importance of utility and use are issues that weave themselves, again and again, through the fabric of Emerson's texts.” Zuber sees Swedenborg as having served as an “ideological bridge” helping Emerson move away from New England’s strict Puritanism. Zuber agrees with the dangers of transcendence. He adds that Emerson may have been intrigued by Swedenborg's scientific background and claims of empirical evidence gathered from his visions of heaven and hell. For example, in one of his publications, Swedenborg states that all differences in spoken language are lost when we communicate in the spiritual world.  This would be in line with Emerson’s ideas of universalism.

            The nineteenth century brought great changes in American thought. Connecting the spirit of man to the natural world for Emerson and other thinkers meant exploring old ideas and challenging new ones.  Emerson’s infatuation with the work of Emanuel Swedenborg gave it an authenticity it may not have otherwise received.  While he did not endorse it completely, he recognized the significance in a scientific genius’ transcendence from the material to the spiritual world, as Emerson, Hotson and Zuber have shown us.  Emerson would have preferred that Swedenborg interpreted more of his experiences with the superb rational tools he possessed.

Works Cited

Emerson, Ralph W. "Swedenborg; Or, the Mystic." Ralph Waldo Emerson Texts. Jone Johnson Lewis, n.d. Web. 03 May 2013. <http://www.emersoncentral.com/swedenborg.htm>.

Hotson, Clarence. "The Christian Critics and Mr. Emerson." The New England Quarterly 11.1 (1938): 29-47. JSTOR. Web. 3 May 2013. <http://libproxy.uhcl.edu:2093/stable/360559>.

Hotson, Clarence. "Emerson and the Swedenborgians." Studies in Philology 27.3 (1930): 517-45. JSTOR. Web. 3 May 2013. <http://libproxy.uhcl.edu:2093/stable/4172072>.

 Hotson, Clarence P. "Sampson Reed, a Teacher of Emerson." New England Quarterly 2.2 (1929): 249-77. JSTOR. Web. 4 May 2013. <http://libproxy.uhcl.edu:2093/stable/359304>.

Zuber, Dave. "The Sage and His Mystic: Ralph Waldo Emerson and Emanuel Swedenborg." NewChurchHistory.org. The Academy of the New Church, n.d. Web. 03 May 2013. <http://www.newchurchhistory.org/articles/dz2002.php>.