I'm writing to offer a couple responses to the question Makram Max raised. (Granted, Makram asked the question differently than I did in my title).
This question seems relevant to me. For anyone who has grown up in the Swedenborgian religion, the thinking and claims become normal and acceptable because one's context has always included them. But anyone not raised with a Swedenborgian approach to the second coming must be flabbergasted to find that there are people who think this event has already happened. As far as a I know, most people think of the second coming involving massive, physical world disturbances. The transition to seeing it as a new revelation and opportunity for spiritual enlightenment must be a difficult mental shift—even if the case is reasonable. But Makram's question doesn't compare Swedenborg's second coming claims to conventional claims but rather compares them with the first coming.
Several arguments and speculations come to mind as answers to this question. One such line of thought would be to try to compare how long it took the Christian church to become a global super-power of a religious movement against the measurable impacts of second coming movements. Though interesting, I want to leave that type of speculation aside. Instead, let's look at the difference between Jesus Christ, born a man on earth, and the theological works of Emanuel Swedenborg such as Brief Exposition on which he wrote “this book is the coming of the Lord” (Ecclesiastical Histories 1, 7, 8)
Probably all but the most scholarly of us are more excited by a flesh and blood person than we are by a book. But, this “confusion” or comparison between book, truth, and man was not the invention of Swedenborg. All the prophets of the Old Testament presented the word and will of God to people by means of oral and written revelation. In other words, we have always had God the Human, known through the means of a prophet, and expressed through human language. John teaches that the “Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1).
Was this a change? Was it particularly significant? Yes. There was certainly something significant about the birth, growth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. However, the numbers of people who knew, touched and believed in Jesus as God while He was physically among them is tiny in comparison with those who knew Him through the stories and accounts they heard second, third and fourth hand. In addition, the number of people who have known and believed in Jesus Christ through the oral tradition of those who knew him personally is tiny in comparison with those who have known Him through the written Bible.
Christians are very used to knowing God and learning from God through the means of a book. Jesus is the hero and author of the book but it is still through the book that He makes His first coming to the vast majority of Christians. The same can be said for Swedenborg's theological writings. The hero and author of these works, if you accept his claim, is the Lord Jesus Christ but the Lord's second coming to all of us is by means of books (TCR 779; DP 135; AE 1183; AR preface).
The fact remains that the Lord Jesus Christ first came to the world by birth into the physical world whereas His second coming did not involve physical birth or manifestation, but rather spiritual manifestation.
Why the difference?
I want to only offer a couple thoughts where hundreds could be considered. (Hopefully others will provide further ideas). One of the Lord's goals in coming to us was to “glorify His human” (Lord 34). This process of taking on corrupt and weak human hereditary traits and rejecting and purifying these brought Him intimately close to us in our process. One of the benefits was that the Lord modeled the growth process for all of us to follow. He shunned the temptations of the devil, He underwent trials, and experienced doubt, He prayed to the Divine strength within Himself and conquered the attacking hells. The accounts of His work, recorded in the gospels, is essential for us to follow. But does He need to do this progressive work again?
We can reject the idea that God would need a second, infant birth into this physical world to model the growth process for humanity. We already have this process recorded. If God did come again physically to undergo the human growth process it would imply some kind of re-incarnation or endless cycle in the natural world.
Instead, in the works through Swedenborg the Lord offers further explanation and insight into the work He accomplished 2000 years ago. He told His disciples that He had things to tell them which were not yet ready to hear (John 16.12). The Lord's life and process in His human form is perfect. He doesn't need to change or duplicate this process. The only thing that lacks is our understanding and response to His process. We have had the accounts of His life in the Bible for almost two millennia, what we lack is the true understanding of this Bible. Opening a new and clear understanding of the Bible was a key work of the second coming.
Perhaps we could acknowledge that the Lord does not need to repeat a physical, human life cycle but are still wondering why He didn't show up again in person physically. Asking this question betrays our distorted view of reality coming from an over emphasis on the physical world.
We're busy living physical lives, eating physical food and trying to earn physical money, so perhaps we can be forgiven for a distorted view of reality. However, even if Madonna is a “material girl living in a material world,” the Police remind us that “we are spirits living in a material world.” This physical world is awesome! It plays an important, foundational role in the Lord's plan of creating people for heaven (DP 27). But the physical world is not much more than a passing illusion in comparison with spiritual reality. Divine Providence tells us that “ the temporary delight and bliss of a life in time are but as a fleeting shadow compared with the never-ending delight and bliss of a life in eternity. A person can think of this if he wishes, because he has rationality and freedom” (DP 73).
The point or purpose of life really centers on eternal goals which are the goals of our spirit. This should not come as a surprise to anyone working to walk a religious path, however, our preoccupation with this physical world often leads us to project and expect God to meet us and stay with us in a physical existence. Why else do people read the book of Revelation with its numerous references to the fact that John was witnessing visions “in the spirit” and try to super-impose the second coming back on the physical world and expect Jesus to show up in a physical body? (Revelation 4.2; 17.3). The good news (gospel) is that God does meet us on a physical level. He knows how silly we are, so He was born on earth like any other person so that we can understand and conceive of His presence on the lowest level of creation, but His point is not to stay with us at that level but rather to rise back up and draw us with Him (John 12.32).
A sequel to this article might include a comparison of the similarities and difference in the purposes of the Lord's first and second comings. For now, we can content ourselves with His teaching about why He came into the world. He tells us His purpose then and this same purpose was continued through the theological writings of Swedenborg and it will continue in each one of our minds as the Lord strives to come into our thoughts and brighten them with His presence. We read, “for this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth” (John 18.37).
The truth has been made flesh to dwell with us in the first coming of the Lord. This was light shining in the darkness. The same truth needs to be kept present with humankind and this was accomplished in the second coming. Perhaps the second coming will eventual have more dramatic, measurable, natural world effects just as the persecuted early Christians gradually changed from small groups hiding in caves to a the dominant cultural force of western civilization. On the other hand, I for one, would be content if it takes several more centuries for the second coming through Swedenborg's writings to be widely recognized. Natural world success and splash has an unhappy correlation with ugly displays of power and control. In any event, the fullest expression of either coming of the Lord is the change in the mind and heart of an individual who finds himself or herself being guided in new light by a new relationship with the Lord God Jesus Christ.