According to most Christians, whose opinions are based on the Bible, Hell is a very much real place where the unsaved go after they die. This common belief is based on some of the Bible verses given below -
Job 11:8 - It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?
Psalms 9:17 - The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
Proverbs 15:24 - The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath.
Luke 16:23 - And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Swedenborg writes in his book that "
Any one who thinks from any enlightened reason can see that no man is born for hell, for the Lord is love itself and His love is to will the salvation of all".
He further writes that, "
Evil in man is hell in him, for it is the same thing whether you say evil or hell. And since man is the cause of his own evil he is led into hell, not by the Lord but by himself. For so far is the Lord from leading man into hell that it is He who delivers man from hell, and this He does so far as man does not will and love to be in his own evil".
The following are the Bible verses which agree to what Swedenborg has written above -
Acts 2:27 - Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Psalms 86:13 - For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
Matthew 18:11 - For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
Luke 19:10 - For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Luke 9:54 - And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them.
1 Thessalonians 5:9 - For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
Therefore
since God is Love, He has provided a place called Hell to the evil until they are willing to change for the better or decide to become good and seek to follow Christ.
Hell is a temporary place of purification or like a purgatory for those who are reaping the rewards of being and following evil instead of good.
The Bible imho does not describe heaven and hell in much detail and hence this maybe the reason why the Lord chose E.Swedenborg and opened his spiritual eyes to see, hear and talk with the Spirits in Heaven and Hell so that we may have a lot better understanding of heaven and hell. As Christians, we need to feel blessed to read what Swedenborg has to convey to us. I think the Lord himself wanted to bridge the communication gap which was occurring due to the misinterpretation or limited understanding drawn from the Bible verses concerning heaven and hell.
One more incredible Christian called Sadhu Sundar Singh of India had received similar supernatural revelations when his spiritual eyes were opened. He could see the Heaven and Hell and the Spirits coming alive and entering the spiritual world(s) in spiritual bodies after death leaving their physical bodies. And he described what he saw in the book titled "
Visions of the Spiritual World" which can be read on this page
http://www.eaglevision.com.my/ssvisions.htm
Both Swedenborg (of Sweden) and Sadhu Sundar Singh (of India) had similar visions and/or revelations described in the verse -
2 Corinthians 12:1-4 - It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;). How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
I would like to quote a few paragraphs from Sadhu Sundar Singh's book on this topic -
"Once in the course of conversation, the saints gave me this information. "After death the soul of every human being will enter the world of spirits, and every one, according to the stage of his spiritual growth, will dwell with spirits like in mind and in nature to himself, either in the darkness or in the light of glory. We are assured that no one in the physical body has entered into the spiritual world, except Christ and a few saints, whose bodies were transformed into glorious bodies, yet to some it has been granted, that, while still dwelling in the world, they can see the world of spirits, and heaven itself, as in 2 Cor. 12:2, though they themselves cannot tell whether they enter Paradise in the body or in the spirit."
"For the angels in no way interfere with the free will of any soul. I saw there, also, many souls who had lately come into the world of spirits, who were attended by both good and evil spirits, as well as by angels. But before long, the radical difference of their lives began to assert itself, and they separated themselves--the good in character towards the good, and the evil towards the evil".
"When the souls of men arrive in the world of spirits the good at once separate from the evil. In the world all are mixed together, but it is not so in the spiritual world".
So, what they wrote is not a matter of fiction, it is very much closer to the real truth.
They may not have conveyed everything but they have conveyed a lot more than what one could get from the Bible alone.
Many Indian Christians respect and believe Sadhu Sundar Singh's revelations and he is considered as an Apostle in India. His writings are and have been a blessing to many Christians in India. Swedenborg's revelations are much more comprehensive and his book worth reading by everyone who wants have a much better understanding of Heaven and Hell than the limited verses provided in the Bible.
Lord bless you and all those who read the book.
