The New Church (The General Church of the New Jerusalem)

Big Idea: Swedenborg founded the New Church based on his claimed visions rather than submitting to biblical authority, leading to teachings that departed from orthodox Christianity.

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily... (Colossians 2:8-9)

Membership

The New Church encompasses approximately thirty thousand members and adherents across twelve countries. Canada has three congregations: Olivet Church in Etobicoke, Ontario; one in Kitchener, Ontario; and another in Dawson Creek, British Columbia.

Membership is declining, particularly in England and Scandinavian countries, yet the denomination remains influential in theological discussions despite its reduced size. This influence stems largely from its founder, Emanuel Swedenborg, one of the most gifted and respected intellectuals of his age.

Emanuel Swedenborg

Early Life & Career

Emanuel Swedenborg, born on January 29, 1688, in Stockholm, Sweden, was the son of a clergyman and theology professor. After graduating from Uppsala University, he began traveling around Europe at age twenty-two, exploring subjects like physics, astronomy, mathematics, anatomy, physiology, economics, metallurgy, mineralogy, geology, chemistry, watchmaking, bookbinding, and lens-grinding.

Swedenborg was a prolific inventor, creating technologies including an air gun, a stove, and salt manufacturing methods. He also designed plans for a flying machine and a submarine. He was an Extraordinary Assessor at the Royal College of Mines, a member of Sweden's House of Nobles for nearly fifty years, and served as an engineering advisor to the King.

Swedenborg published extensively, contributing significant advancements in understanding the cerebral cortex and brain tissue movement. In recognition of his service, the Swedish navy honored him after his death by returning his remains to Uppsala.

Religious Experiences

From 1743 to 1749, Emanuel Swedenborg recorded his heavenly visions and spiritual experiences in private journals, including discussions with theologians like Luther, Calvin, Augustine, and Paul. In 1745, he claimed to receive a divine calling to serve as a "seer and revelator of the spiritual world."

Swedenborg published his theological works anonymously, and they had little impact. He captured attention in 1759 after accurately describing a fire near his Stockholm home while dining 300 miles away in Gothenburg, a detail later confirmed by news reports. This event, along with other claimed spiritual insights, sparked widespread interest in his writings.

Swedenborg spent his later years writing theological works that established the New Church, while also sharing his visionary experiences.

3. Theological Beliefs

The Bible

• The Old and New Testaments provide commandments and parables for spiritual growth.
• Emanuel Swedenborg’s writings are considered the key for unlocking the spiritual meaning of Scripture.
• The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments are regarded as inspired, infallible in their original form, and serve as the ultimate authority for faith and practice.

The Trinity

• The New Church teaches monotheism: only one God, the Lord.
• God came to earth; His body was called “the Son,” his soul “the Father,” and his operation “the Holy Spirit,” analogous to the soul, body, and effect in humans. God’s attributes are called Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Salvation

• Everyone who follows their understanding of God's will is welcomed into heaven, while those who reject it choose eternal separation in hell.
• Salvation is by God’s grace through faith in Christ—not earned or deserved.

Satan

• Devils are seen not as fallen angels but as disobedient humans. Satan is a collection of such people, not an individual.
• Contrasting view: In traditional Christianity, Satan is considered a fallen angel and the originator of sin.

Marriage

• True marriage love is believed to continue into eternity in heaven.
• Other traditions assert there are no marriages in heaven.

The Second Coming

• Understood primarily as a spiritual event—the transformation of hearts and minds—rather than a dramatic geopolitical or climatic event.

The Afterlife

• After death, people's choices on earth determine their fate in heaven or hell. Those who consistently choose good become angels, while those who choose evil remain in hell.

4. Summary

The great tragedy of Emanuel Swedenborg is that he would not submit himself and his great mind to the discipline of the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures. Because of this, and because of his deliberated preoccupation with spiritism and the occult, in direct disobedience to the express teachings of God, he was despoiled, even as Paul had warned. He was deceived by dreams and visions and the machinations of him whom the Scriptures describe as the "spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2b).
(Walter Martin, Kingdom of the Cults)