ABSTRACT
John Frederic Oberlin's own most intense and earnest studies on mysterious subjects were applied to the apocalyptic prophecies of the Bible. The ideas and outlooks of the Prospects remained as a very large ingredient in Oberlin's views concerning eternal life, while Johann Kaspar Lavater's most popular book, Physiognomische Frag-mente, initiated and sustained his lifelong hobby of character analysis. The names Bromley, Pordage, and Leade are found in many places in Oberlin's private papers in the bibliotheque munic-ipale. Oberlin's image of the afterlife is like an eclectic montage made up of many ideas gathered from the voluminous writings of the time on that subject. In the winter of 1782-1783, probably more than at any other time, Oberlin's mind and spirit were steeped in the bright enchantments of the invisible world. The journal entry for April 23, 1783, thirteen weeks after Mme Oberlin's death, is particularly notable because it is more specific than most.
