Non-fiction: The Last Judgment and Babylon Destroyed

Overview
Emanuel Swedenborg presents the Last Judgment as a real, spiritual event that occurred in the spiritual world in the mid-18th century, not as an apocalyptic destruction of the physical earth. The narrative treats judgment as a cleansing and reordering of the spiritual world, where truths and falsities are separated and divine order is reasserted. At the same time Swedenborg frames the "destruction of Babylon" as the theological and institutional collapse of corrupt religion, a collapse that clears the way for a new, inward Christianity.

Vision of the Last Judgment
Swedenborg describes a vivid, eyewitness-like account of angels and spirits assembling for judgment, the opening of heavenly courts, and the inspection of human lives by their spiritual states. The focus is on internal disposition rather than external rites: charity, humility and truth determine reception into heaven, while selfishness, deceit and the use of religion for power consign spirits to hell. The Last Judgment culminates not in annihilation but in a radical reclassification of spiritual communities, the removal of hells that had been sustained by false doctrine and the restoration of order among the angels.

Babylon Destroyed
"Babylon" serves as a symbolic name for religious systems that have turned sacred texts and rituals into instruments of domination and falsehood. Swedenborg traces how institutional religion can ossify into superstition and tyranny when doctrine is separated from moral life. The destruction of Babylon is portrayed as both a spiritual unmasking and social consequence: ecclesiastical pretensions to absolute authority crumble as their doctrinal falsities are revealed, and those who built their power on such falsities lose their spiritual hold. The collapse is moral and symbolic rather than political, intended to end theocratic abuses and pave the way for a regenerated Church.

Method and Scriptural Interpretation
Interpretation rests on the doctrine of correspondences, where literal Scripture conceals deeper spiritual meanings. Swedenborg reads biblical prophecy and apocalyptic imagery allegorically, locating their fulfillment in spiritual processes. The narrative is populated by angelic explanations and dialogues that translate symbolic events into moral and doctrinal lessons. This hermeneutic reframes prophetic language about judgment and Babylon as revelations about interior transformation and the fate of religious error.

Theological Implications
The account champions a Christianity rooted in the life of love and the use of faith for good, rejecting faith divorced from charity as spiritually dead. Salvation is portrayed as regeneration: an ongoing interior conversion that reorients will and intellect toward God and neighbor. By removing institutionalized falsity, the Last Judgment enables a "New Church" characterized by spiritual understanding and practical charity. The text also challenges clericalism, insisting that authority in religion must rest on truth and beneficence rather than inherited privilege or ritual forms.

Legacy and Influence
The book shaped the foundations of the movement known as the New Church or Swedenborgianism, influencing subsequent religious thinkers and reformers attracted to its spiritualized reading of the Bible. Its mix of visionary narrative, moral exhortation and doctrinal system encouraged communities to emphasize inner life and social usefulness. Beyond organized followers, the work entered wider cultural conversations about the relation between faith and power, offering a provocative alternative to literalist eschatology and institutional sacrality.