The Swedish Prophet

Jose Antonio Anton-Pacheco exercises his expertise in philosophy in this meditation on the ideas of Emanuel Swedenborg.

In this book he tackles subjects as diverse as the nature of unity and the way that the Divine manifests in the world; the nature of human beings as they relate to the higher realms, and specifically Swedenborg’s concept of the Grand Man or Universal Human; the mystical nature of Swedenborg’s interpretation of the Bible; and the nature of time and space in the spiritual world. Alongside his exploration of Swedenborg’s thought are examinations of Swedenborg’s influence on a variety of different thinkers and authors, from Jorge Luis Borges to Ibn ’Arabi.

This book was originally published in Spanish as El profeta del norte: Un libro sobre Swedenborg. Perfect for scholars and serious students of Swedenborg’s thought, Anton Pacheco’s powerful writing casts a new light on the Swedish prophet.

Jose Antonio Anton-Pacheco is a professor of the history of philosophy at the University of Seville in Seville, Spain. His particular area of interest is hermeneutics and traditional thought. He founded the Swedenborg Society of Spain, as well as the Center for Comparative Spiritual Studies and the Seminary for Comparative Hermeneutics. He has written a number of books and articles on philosophy and metaphysics, including, most recently, La sabiduria mazdea: Dos textos del Iran antiguo (The Wisdom of Ahura Mazda: Two Texts from Ancient Iran).

Steven Skattebo earned an MA degree in teaching English as a second language from the University of Arizona and a PhD in Spanish from the University of Iowa. He has been teaching English and Spanish for twenty-five years, including two years of English in Colombia and fifteen years teaching Spanish at the college/university level. He is currently involved in writing a book on cultural factors in foreign-language learning, as well as the writing and translation of many non-academic texts. He lives with his wife, colleague, and language consultant Nora Elena Pulgarin de Skattebo in Fayetteville, Arkansas.