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Block’s book is the most definitive – and readable – history of the organized “Swedenborgian” church or “New Church” up to the time of its publication in 1932. However, many of the issues of doctrine and church politics it reviews are still current (e.g. see Do We Need Church Organizations? or So Who Should Run […]
In reading over a recent post, #10 at the bottom of the bottom of Swedenborg and Spiritism and Spiritualism, I was struck by the usage of “Emanuel” in some statements instead of “Swedenborg.” I had never thought about it before, but “Swedenborg” certainly seems the appropriate term when referring to him in his great revelatory […]
Her turn has come in the great democracy of death, where all of us will follow, though we know not the day nor the hour. But, right now, she is gone but we remain. Why? There are no accidents. Jesus has left us here this long for a reason. What unfinished business can there be, […]
I have recently come to realize that a number of teachings that I had assumed from my Swedenborgian upbringing were authoritative in fact turn out not to be. On reexamination I have come to realize that they only appear in Swedenborg’s unpublished works (see Which of Swedenborg’s Books are Divine Revelation? for details on this distinction). […]
“Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him (Mark 6:3). “Consider that in the New Testament of Jesus’ 132 public appearances, 122 were in the marketplace. Of 52 parables Jesus told, 45 had a […]
Christmas has always been about hope, about belief in the face of despair. In the dark times of both His first and second comings, Jesus Christ brought hope. By teaching and example, He gave us directions to a better way of living and how to rise above our tragedies. He explains Who He is and […]
The story of the birth of Jesus is a powerful and beautiful one, telling of the God of the universe coming down in a quiet and humble way to save an errant humanity from its bad choices. However, as always, it is important to understand what the Word actually teaches, in this case about what happened […]
“[W]here there is an earth there are people; for people are the end for the sake of which an earth is, and nothing has been made by the Most High Creator without an end. That the end of creation is the human race, and from it a heaven, may be evident to anyone who thinks […]
One scholar has proposed that “Swedenborg presents his theology as essentially Christian, and in fact more truly Christian than either Protestantism or Catholicism, as suggested by the title of his last published work, True Christianity. Although he suggests a new direction for Christianity, his theology has much in common with mainstream denominations: He believes in […]
“In the Greek New Testament [ecclesia] is used for the Church. The evangelists took it from classical Greek, where it means an Assembly. Literally it means ‘CALLED OUT.’ The famous Ecclesia in ancient Athens was a special Assembly of leading citizens, who were summoned or ˜called out” from time to time to decide on urgent […]