Exploring the Spiritual Depths of Revelation

It says that John was “in the spirit” when he had the visions described in the quite trippy book of Revelation, and the images described there (often about the future, as well as a new heaven and a new earth) bring to mind hallucinogens as well as the visions of my favourite mystic, Emanuel Swedenborg. For many, especially for many Christians, the book of Revelation has been a tough nut to crack, and many of its most famous elements are misconstrued due to things like Left Behind and other narratives that play up added stories about the antichrist. The book has been interpreted on many levels (even by my grandfather, who wrote a book on how it’s a hidden critique of the Romans!), but these interpretations often lack a good throughline or cohesiveness with the rest of scripture, seemingly missing the opportunity to tie the clearly metaphorical Revelation with the metaphors found throughout scripture. However, there’s one interpretation that does just that, in fact, this interpretation (written in 1766 by Emanuel Swedenborg) is the very same book that opened my eyes to the depth of scripture and its interconnectedness with the heart of other traditions. Moreover, he describes how, just like Jesus’ metaphorical parables, the entirety of Revelation is an allegory for human transformation, inviting us to allow a new heaven and a new earth to descend into our very lives in this very moment.