Emanuel Swedenborg



			

	Swedenborg (1688-1772) was a scientist, theologian, and 
philosopher. Perhaps his greatest achievement was starting a whole
new religion which could be considered radical, at least in his time.
He departed from the traditional Christianity of his time in a number
of ways; he rejected the Trinitarian theology of god-in-three-persons,
believing that Jesus alone embodied the "godhead" unlike the unitarian
idea of God where Jesus is less than God, not quite divine. He rejected
the traditional Protestant theology of his time of salvation through
"faith alone", which had its origin in Martin Luther. While he believed
in an eternal hell which was a hell of human creation more than of 
divine punishment for sin, he taught that people from ALL religions
could be saved, not just Christians. Another departure from traditional
Christianity was the idea that not everything in the Bible had to be
taken literally, for example Adam&Eve as real individuals, the story
of Noah and the entire book of Revelation which was to Swedenborg
a story of what was happening on the spiritual level and not a 
prophesy of what would happen on planet earth. A central teaching of
Swedenborg was the idea of marriage between male and female to eternity.
	There are 3 denominations in the United States: the original
Swedenborgian Church which is more "liberal" than the General Church
in a number of ways: more independence of local congregations, 
ordination of women, membership in the somewhat "liberal" (by fundamentalist
standards, anyway) National Council of Churches, and a general liberal
attitude to such controversial things as acceptance of homosexuals.
Also, unlike the "Swedenborgian Church", the "General Church" requires
baptism in the "New Church" (Swedenborgian) before one is accepted as
a member. One could argue, however, that the most significant differences
are the two philosophies upon which the General Church was founded that
of New Church education and the divine inspiration of Swedenborg's works
("The Writings"). Then there is the third denomination, The Lord's New 
Church which teaches that Swedenborg's works themselves have an "internal 
sense". Swedenborg taught that the Bible has a deeper meaning and likewise,
claims The Lord's New Church "The Writings" (of Swedenborg) which are 
equally part of "God's WORD" have a deeper meaning.
	The primary purpose of my Swedenborgian page is to introduce 
people to Swedenborg I think it worth mentioning that I am no longer
a member of any Swedenborgian denomination. I was born into the General
Church. There are three basic reasons I left that denomination: I was
uncomfortable with the conservative nature of the General Church; I
rejected the idea of an eternal hell of any kind as incompatible with
a just idea of God; and I rejected the idea that the "New Church" was
the one and only true religion.
	Since I am no longer a Swedenborgian it should be noted that
I may be affected by my theological bias in describing his theology
and the theological differences between the three US denominations.
I apologize if I have not accurately described this religion. Please
e-mail me with any comments and questions. PEACE
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