David Higgins, Ph.D.
(author of this website)
Born in 1967. I’ve had a serious interest in religious/metaphysical topics from the start. Raised in the Catholic tradition initially; when I was 12, my family passed through the Southern Baptist approach into charismatic “Born-Again” Christianity. I was very aware of the theological issues at hand, and abstract theology in general, because my parents debated vigorously during their transition from one faith tradition to another, and then subsequently our family moved to Saudi Arabia, where I became personally acquainted with many entirely decent Muslim people, whom I judged to be equally children of God, and loved by God as much as He loves Christians. So very early in life, I developed a serious, independent, introspective attitude toward religion, with a conviction that God’s love is present universally. I have been studying Swedenborg’s Biblical interpretation and esoteric metaphysical philosophy since 1991. Through Swedenborg I have reached the rational conviction that the Bible is indeed Divinely inspired, having an inner, symbolic level of meaning. I advocate individual eclecticism, which means that I think each of us needs to come to terms with the Divine independently, and has the freedom and responsibility to explore our relationship with God for ourselves. I completed my undergraduate degree through coursework in six different colleges and universities. I completed a Masters degree in Metaphysical Science, and a Ph.D. in Metaphysical Philosophy, specializing in Bible interpretation. I have undergone training, taken vows, and have been ordained and licensed as a minister. I have personally adopted the religious philosophy of eclecticism, which is explained in on the home page of this site. I incorporate the Bible, the Quran (mystical Sufiism), I find much useful, practical, spiritual truth in Budhism, various New Thought authors, and Krisha Consciousness; I very recently discovered Seicho-No-Ie ! I find this Japanese syncretic religious philosophy to be a wonderful breath of fresh air on my spiritual journey, and I am currently devouring their literature. It strikes me as the best, most straightforward and clear statement of the facts of metaphysical idealism that I have ever read! And the philosophy obliterates all that divides us as the faithful of different religious semantics, while not eliminating the essential, necessary diversity of religious expression. Mostly I love its utterly blunt practicality. I hope my religious/metaphysical rationality never ceases to expand and evolve.
Emanuel Swedenborg
(1688-1772)
was the harbinger of a new developmental stage of rational, intellectual, spiritual freedom for humanity. His published theological and metaphysical books mark the very beginning of a new era of human rational spirituality, and the end of false religious authorities grip on the collective consciousness. During an age of religious despotism, he ruthlessly dismantled the irrational dogmas of both the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, and presented a entirely new way to understand who Jesus was, and how our own personal inner light is related to the Infinite Divine, and he also explained that to find spiritual truth in scripture, one should look deeper than the literal level; the Bible must be understood as a symbolic spiritual parable, and his systematic approach to interpretation is flawless. Additionally, he was a mystic, who through to development of his own gifted and penetrating consciousness discovered for us the inner (higher) levels of reality which transcend the physical senses, rationally describing how those spiritual levels give rise to all physical phenomena, and giving practical insight as to how we may experience mystical/rational spirituality for ourselves. So we no longer must be slaves to externally based philosophies, which fall far short in their ability to make sense of the world in which we live. We can realize the essential power of our own inner level of being, and transform our entire relationship with life. However, his books are challenging for modern minds which have been biased against Bible based theology by the churches of the past who have dominated scriptural interpretation with irrational teachings; his books require patient analysis by truth seekers who are undaunted by reading in the semantic of traditional religious vocabularies. Swedenborg rationally demonstrates that there is a hidden, inner level of the Bible, containing powerful metaphysical concepts that will free the mind. Also in his catalog are systematic descriptions of the world beyond the grave, and straight rational philosophical metaphysics that provides a foundational framework for us to interpret the events we experience in the course of life, allowing us to adjust our spiritual position as we evolve to attain ever higher states of wisdom and peace.
George Holmes Howison
1834 - 1916
George Holmes Howison (29 November 1834 – 31 December 1916) was an American philosopher who established the philosophy department at the University of California. Proponent of the metaphysical philosophy of Personal Idealism.
Jesus Christ of Nazareth