Church of the New Jerusalem:
Swedenborgianism

I. Profile Report

1. Name: Church of the New Jerusalem; Swedenborgianism
   

2. Founder: Emanuel Swedenborg, although it was other individuals who actually formed groups based on his teachings. Swedenborg considered himself a Lutheran throughout his life.
   

3. Date of Birth and Death: 1688-1772
   

4. Birth Place: Stockholm, Sweden
   

5. Year Founded: Swedenborg experienced the spiritual world for the first time in 1743. Societies based on his teachings sprung up in the 1780s.
   

6. Brief History: Swedenborg was an accomplished scientist by 1743; he had studied geology, mathematics, and engineering. He invented a new stove, an air gun and a "flying machine." He was respected for his knowledge; Charles XII appointed him the assessor of the Royal Board of Mines. Swedenborg published Sweden's first scientific journal, Daedelus Hyperboreus, and published volumes on chemistry, and philosophy (the latter being influenced by the work of Descartes). Yet he also had an avid interest in theology.

   In 1743, Swedenborg experienced a revelation: he was able to view the spirit world unhindered by physical perception. He writes, "...in the year 1743, when he opened my sight into the spiritual world, and enabled me to converse with spirits and angels..." Swedenborg's visions were not momentary. He continued to see and converse with the spirit realm for the remainder of his life. He began studying Hebrew and started writing on the subjects that were being revealed to him. He published many books on spirits and Christian themes. In 1772, Swedenborg died.

   As early as 1784, James Glen began giving speeches in America about Swedenborg's ideas. In 1788, the "New Church" was established by Robert Hindmarsh in London. In 1792, the Swedenborgian Society was formed in Baltimore. In 1817, the General Convention of the New Jerusalem was formed in Philadelphia. After disagreement over teachings, a splinter group, the General Church of the New Jerusalem, formed in 1897. The three groups make up the body of the Swedenborgian faith.
   

7. Sacred Texts: Swedenborg wrote a number of books after his visionary experience in 1743: The Angelic Wisdom Respecting the Divine Love and Wisdom and Apocalypse Explained stand out. The last was published posthumously.
   

8. Cult or Sect:

   The goals of the Religious Movements Homepage are to (1) provide resources for objective understanding, (2) encourage appreciation of religious diversity, and (3) promote religious tolerance. The opportunity to pursue these goals is diminished when the language employed in public discourse silently carries highly negative presuppositions.

   The concepts "cult" and "sect" have rather precise and technical meanings when used by social scientists who study religion, and they are employed free of normative or evaluative presuppositions. In popular discourse, the concepts usually imply highly negative connotations that cloud objective understanding while promoting prejudice (i.e. pre-judgment). The misunderstandings resulting from confusion of social science and popular meaning of these concepts has led us to the conclusion that the goals of this page are not well served by using the concepts "cult" and "sect" to identify specific groups profiled on these pages.

   We do discuss the meaning of these concepts elsewhere on this site. Indeed, a major segment of the Religious Movements Homepage is devoted to the examination of cult controversies. Topics include popular culture and technical uses of the concepts cult and sect, the explosive issue of brainwashing or mind control, and an in depth examination of anti-cult and counter cult movements. We encourage readers to explore these resources.

   Toward the end of promoting religious tolerance and appreciation of diversity, we encourage the use of concepts that are free of implicitly negative stereotyping. In place of "cult" and "sect," we recommend concepts like "new religious movements," "religious movements," or, simply "religious group."

9. Beliefs: Swedenborg, although a Lutheran, had ideas that differed considerably with the church's doctrine. He did not believe in the Trinity in the traditional sense. He stated that God simply had three manifestations, and that he clothed himself in the guise needed. Swedenborg thought that body, soul and energy were the three physical, or mundane equivalents of the holy Trinity. Because Jesus lived a sinless life, he was able to attain holiness. Salvation, then, is believing in Jesus' victory over the evil powers of the world. Most importantly to Swedenborgianism is that everything physical actually is a manifestation of the hidden spiritual realm. In fact, all things in this reality are reflections of the spiritual world Swedenborg first saw in 1743. Swedenborg spent much of his time interpreting the Bible in light of this finding.
   

10. Size of Group: Melton reports the General Convention of the New Jersusalem in the United States of American had 3,866 members in the U.S. and Canada in 1995, and the General Church of the New Jerusalem reported 2,618 members in 31 congregations with 85 ministers plus an additional 1,157 members worldwide in the General Church of the New Jerusalem in 1983 (Melton, 1996:641-2).
    

11. Remarks: The organization of the Swedenborg church service is basically liturgical. However, Swedenborg's writings are often given credence over Biblical verses. Bapitsm and communion take palce as in most Protestant churches. New members spend a number of months learning about Swedenborg's theology. Women join the church at the age of eighteen, men at twenty-one. Currently, Swedenborg societies are actively recruiting members in Africa and other third world nations.
    

---

II. Church of the New Jerusalem, Swedenborgian Web Sites

The Life of Emanuel Swedenborg
This site contains parts of the book The Essential Swedenborg by Sig Synnestvedt (1981). There are links to biographical information about the group's founder.
http://community.net/~timlig/esmain.html

The Swedenborgian Church
This is the home page of The Swedenborgian Church in Newton, MA. The general contents explore brief converage of history, beliefs and the life of Emanuel Swedenborg. A set of links offer access to other Swedenborg sites as well as other materials include an online version of Swedenborg's book Heaven and Hell. Also of possible interest are Sermons of the Week that are archived from 1997. http://www.swedenborg.org

Swedenborg Movement on the Web
This Swedenborg Movement page is published by The General Conference of The New Church. It explores various teaching of The New Church. http://www.skipem.force9.co.uk/index.html

Swedenborg Foundation Publishers
The Swedenborg Foundation is independently incorporated at the publishing house for Swedenborgian literature. In addition to a catalogue of Swedenborg materials, this site includes a brief history of Emanuel Swedenborg and a glossary of key Swedenborgian concepts and teachings. http://www.swedenborg.com/

Emanuel Swedenborg
Web site of the journal Arcana, a journal devoted the teachings in Emanuel Swedenborg's works.
http://www.swedenborg.net/

The New Church Home Page
This home page of the New Church is a valuable site which covers Swedenborg's teachings, links to New Church congregations and The Bryn Athyn College of the New Church. http://www.newchurch.org/

The New Earth Swedenborg BBS
http://www.netaxs.com/~mvd/nc/ NewEarth Swedenborg BBS is an independent information provider maintained by Michael David of Bryn Athyn, PA. The site does not have a lot of original material, but it is a good collection of material available on other sites, organized in an attractive and accessible manner.

New Church Outreach
This page, maintained by the Rev. Jan H. Weiss, contains a description of a booklet about the New Church, a series of short talks, and a description of 3 computer programs, two programs with the Bible and all of Swedenborg's Theological Writings, and sacred texts of Hindu and Buddhist Scriptures, the Koran, the Old Testament, the New Testament and five of the Theological Writings of Swedenborg.
http://users.deltanet.com/users/nco/public_html/index.html

---

III. Selected References

Brock, Erland J. General Editor. 1988.

Swedenborg and His Influence. Bryn Athyn, PA: The Academy of the New Church.

de Charms, George. 1962.

The Distinctiveness of the New Church. Bryn Aathyn, PA: Academy Book Room.

de Charms, George. 1961.

The Holy Supper. Bryn Athyn, PA: General Church Publication Committee.

General Church Publications Committee. 1961.

The General Church of the New Jerusalem, A Handbook of General Information. Bryn Athyn, PA: General Church Publication Committee.

Mayer, Jean-Francois. 1998.

"Swedenborg: A Herald of the New Age?" Published in Quarterly Offene Tore. as "Beiträge zu einem neuen christlichen Zeitalter" (Zürich), 4/98, pp. 186-199. An English translaation is available on the CESNUR web site.

Melton, J. Gordon. 1996.

Encyclopedia of American Religions Detroit: Gale Research. Fifth Edition. 641-2.

Sigstedt, Cyriel Odehner. 1952.

The Swedenborg Epic: The Life and Works of Emanuel Swedenborg. New York: Bookman Associates

Swedenborg, Emanuel. 1982.

The Apocalypse Explained. New York: Swedenborg Foundation.


Swedenborg, Emanuel. 1979.

Heaven and Hell. West Chester, PA: Swedenborg Foundation.

Synnestvedt, Sig, ed. 1981.

The Essential Swedenborg. New York: Swedenborg Foundation.

Williams-Hogan, Jane K. 1988.

"Swedenborg: A Biography," in Swedenborg and His Influence. Erland J. Brock, General Editor Bryn Athyn, PA: The Academy of the New Church. 3-27.

---

Last updated: 12/23/99