Secrets of Heaven Volume 11: The Portable New Century Edition (New Century Edition (Chicago))

Secrets of Heaven Volume 11: Portable New Century Edition is part of Emanuel Swedenborg’s monumental biblical commentary, a work that explores the spiritual meaning of Scripture in depth. In this volume, Swedenborg turns his attention to key passages in the book of Exodus, chapters 9–15, focusing on the Israelites’ struggle under bondage, the leadership of Moses, and the divine call to liberation.

Where the literal text recounts historical events, Swedenborg uncovers the inner sense—a symbolic layer that reveals how these stories reflect the realities of human life and spiritual growth. The plagues of Egypt, for example, are shown to represent the conflict between truth and falsity, good and evil, and the resistance of the human ego to divine influence. The journey out of Egypt becomes a picture of the soul’s deliverance from bondage to selfishness and its gradual awakening to divine love and wisdom.

This Portable New Century Edition has been designed to serve both dedicated Swedenborg readers and those encountering his thought for the first time. Its faithful yet accessible translation preserves the clarity of the Latin original while presenting Swedenborg’s ideas in language that is accessible to contemporary seekers. 

In Swedenborg’s original Arcana Coelestia, written in neo-Latin, he published a single volume covering Exodus chapters 1–15. The New Century Edition divides that material into Volumes 10 and 11, which together correspond to Swedenborg’s original Volume 6. Together volumes 10 and 11 explore the events of the children of Israel in Egypt.

Among the themes explored in this volume are:

• The meaning of heaven and hell as inner states of being
• The symbolic role of angels and spirits in human life
• The significance of Israel, Pharaoh, and Egypt as representations of spiritual dynamics
• The unfolding of faith, truth, and goodness in the life of the soul

Swedenborg’s unique method of biblical interpretation invites readers to see the Bible as a living document that speaks to the challenges and transformations of the spirit. The Exodus story, in this light, reflects every individual’s journey toward freedom, renewal, and a deeper relationship with the divine.

Compact in size, contemplative in tone, and faithful in translation, this volume is an invitation to pause, reflect, and discover the spiritual meaning of Scripture as Swedenborg saw it: a pathway of light for the inner life.

Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772) was a Swedish scientist, nobleman, and theologian who spent his life investigating the mysteries of the soul. Born in Stockholm to a staunchly Lutheran family, he graduated from the University of Uppsala and then traveled to England, Holland, France, and Germany to study with the leading scientists of the time. Between 1743 and 1745, he began to have visions of heaven, hell, and Jesus Christ, which resulted in a stream of books about the nature of God, the afterlife, and the inner meaning of the Bible. He devoted the last decades of his life to studying Scripture and presenting his own unique theology to the world.

Lisa Hyatt Cooper is translator of the fifteen-volume Secrets of Heaven for the Swedenborg Foundation’s New Century Edition of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg.