Will asks in the last entry:
So is our having “aetherial theology” good or bad? (Or an accusation of ties to the Aetherius Society?)
It is neither good nor bad, but Swedenborgian theology is rather angel-intensive. (Y’all should see the windows in the Washington church.)
And E.S. was rather keen on the topography of the hereafter. To coin a phrase, what Universalists do with spiritual passports, Swedenborgians do with travel guides.
And let me tell you, with my academic background in American religious movements — which led me to Universalism, incidentally — if I had intended a reference to the Aetherius Society, there would have been meatball-serving aliens or astronauts. (They’ve long been one of my “Gee, I feel normal” favorites.)