Critical Essay | Critical Essay by Jonathan S. Rose

Critical Essay by Jonathan S. Rose

SOURCE: Rose, Jonathan S. “Similes in Emanuel Swedenborg's Vera Christiana Religio (1771)” In Acta Conventus Neo-Latini Hafniensis: Proceedings of the Eighth International Congress of Neo-Latin Studies, Copenhagen 12-17 August 1991, edited by Ann Moss et al., pp. 869-74. Binghampton, N.Y.: Medieval and Renaissance Texts & Studies, 1994.

In this essay, originally delivered as a lecture in 1991, Rose analyzes the complex or Homeric similes used by Swedenborg in his poetical-informative narrative account of his spiritual experience, Vera Christiana Religio. This use of imagery, according to Rose, sets the work apart from Swedenborg's other religious writings.

Vera Christiana Religio (VCR), the last book published by Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), is his crowning work, written and published shortly before his death at the age of eighty-four. It aims to present a comprehensive Christian theology, everywhere building on a biblical foundation and at the same time arguing against both Catholic and Protestant contemporary interpretations...
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