Heaven and Hell (Swedenborg) - Influence On Joseph Smith and Mormon Theology

Influence On Joseph Smith and Mormon Theology

D. Michael Quinn suggests in his book Early Mormonism and the Magic World View that Heaven and Hell influenced Joseph Smith, Jr. in the creation of the Mormon view of the afterlife detailed in Doctrine and Covenants Section 76.

However, many of the similarities are rooted in Biblical language and by interpreting Biblical texts. For example, the general view of three Heavens in the resurrection appears to have its root from the writings attributed to the apostle Paul found in the New Testament, 1 Cor 15:40–42:

"There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead."

Allegorically, Swedenborg likens both the nature of each heaven as well as the illumination in the sky of each heaven to the sun, moon, and stars (Heaven and Hell 119). He states that the sun of the celestial heaven and the moon of the spiritual kingdom is the Lord (Heaven and Hell 118). In Mormonism's view of I Cor 14:40–42, the resurrected bodies of those in three degrees of glory (celestial, terrestrial, and telestial heavens) are likened to the sun, moon, and stars.

Other historians, including Richard Bushman, propose that the similarities between the revelations of Smith and Swedenborg are due to the influence of Paul's writing on both of them.

It should be noted, however, that Corinthians is not included in the list of books that, according to Swedenborg, constitute the divinely inspired Biblical canon listed in Arcana Coelestia 10,325, White Horse 216, and New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine 266. From Swedenborg’s perspective the teachings of Corinthians are thus not authoritative and he would not have been influenced by them.