The Arcana Cœlestia, quae in Scriptura Sacra seu Verbo Domini sunt, detecta, usually abbreviated as Arcana Cœlestia or under its Latin variant, Arcana Cælestia, is the first and largest work published by Emanuel Swedenborg in his theological period. It was written and published in Neo-Latin, in eight volumes, one volume per year, from 1749 to 1756. It consists of an exposition of the spiritual sense of the books of Genesis and Exodus, according to the doctrine of correspondence, and demonstrated by many supporting quotations from the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. While not denying the historicity of the stories of the Patriarchs and The Exodus from Egypt, it explains them as describing symbolically the process of spiritual growth and struggles in each individual person. What follows is the opening paragraph of Arcana CoelestiaVolume 1, and therefore the opening statement of the whole corpus of theological work that Swedenborg claimed was revealed to him.
Editions
There have been several translations made of Arcana Cœlestia. Three are currently available:
Volumes of the Standard Edition were originally issued from 1929 to 1956, with the majority in 1938. A redesigned hardback is available from the Swedenborg Foundation for purchase. The Swedenborg Foundation also provides a volume-by-volume downloadable version at no cost. A searchable, online edition is available on the New ChristianBible Study website. Sacred Texts provides a DVD version for purchase and an online version at no cost.
This is a new contemporary translation, available in hardback and paperback for purchase.
Swedenborg Foundation New Century Edition (2 of 12 volumes currently available)
This also is a new contemporary edition, the translation of which is still in progress. The two volumes that have been released so far can be purchased in e-book, paperback, and hardcover formats, or downloadedfor free as PDF or EPUB files.
The Neo-Latin original
Swedenborg's theological works were written in Neo-Latin. The Neo-Latin first edition published by Swedenborg is available online at no charge. Here is another source for that text: Photographic images of the actual pages of the Neo-Latin first edition, again published by Swedenborg, are available online at no charge.
The first translation into English
- This translation from Neo-Latin into English was commissioned by Swedenborg himself and is a photocopy of a first edition copy. A preface by Swedenborg is included..
Summaries and comments
1. See Editor's Preface and the Reviser's Preface in the opening pages of the Standard Edition, Volume 1. The Reviser Preface contains a summary of the publishing history for the work originally published by Swedenborg. 2. See contents summary in text in box at bottom of this page.
