ANGELS IN ACTION: WHAT SWEDENBORG SAW AND HEARD
That popular interest in angels has lately revived is manifest in new books and videos considering their existence, their nature, and their interactions with humans. Kirven harks back to the work of an eighteenth-century mining engineer and theoretical scientist who spent most of the last three decades of his life "conversing" with angels. Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) was absolutely sure of the actuality of angels. He did not see them as allegorical or mythical figures, and he spent a great deal of time thinking and writing about them. Kirven presents Swedenborg's ideas and defends and promotes them in modern terms. Premising with his master that angels exist, Kirven describes what they do, explores the differences between them and other spirits, and examines how they live (chapter heading: "Love and Marriage among the Angels"). Ultimately, this is a book about Swedenborg and angels in which the subjects are inextricably intertwined, which no doubt is just as Swedenborg would want it.Mike Tribby