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New Jerusalem
Emanuel Swedenborg understood the city of New Jerusalem--as described in the book of Revelation--to mean not a physical city but an epoch of history, a new spiritual age that was just beginning to take shape during his lifetime in the eighteenth century.
This short work, presented as a series of teachings that characterize this spiritual age to come, is also one of Swedenborg's most concise and readable summaries of his own theology. Building on fundamental concepts such as good, truth, will, and understanding, he describes the importance of love and usefulness in spiritual growth. In the second half of the volume he focuses on how this new theology relates to the church of his day and to church teachings about the Bible, the Lord's incarnation on earth, and rites such as baptism and the Holy Supper. Each short chapter is followed by extensive references back to his theological magnum opus, Secrets of Heaven.
This volume is an excellent starting point for those who want an overview of Swedenborg's theology presented in his own words.
This short work, presented as a series of teachings that characterize this spiritual age to come, is also one of Swedenborg's most concise and readable summaries of his own theology. Building on fundamental concepts such as good, truth, will, and understanding, he describes the importance of love and usefulness in spiritual growth. In the second half of the volume he focuses on how this new theology relates to the church of his day and to church teachings about the Bible, the Lord's incarnation on earth, and rites such as baptism and the Holy Supper. Each short chapter is followed by extensive references back to his theological magnum opus, Secrets of Heaven.
This volume is an excellent starting point for those who want an overview of Swedenborg's theology presented in his own words.
213 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 1, 2016
17 people are currently reading
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About the author
Emanuel Swedenborg
1,618 books296 followersEmanuel Swedenborg (born Emanuel Swedberg; February 8, 1688–March 29, 1772) was a Swedish scientist, philosopher, Christian mystic, and theologian. Swedenborg had a prolific career as an inventor and scientist. At the age of fifty-six he entered into a spiritual phase in which he experienced dreams and visions. This culminated in a spiritual awakening, where he claimed he was appointed by the Lord to write a heavenly doctrine to reform Christianity. He claimed that the Lord had opened his eyes, so that from then on he could freely visit heaven and hell, and talk with angels, demons, and other spirits. For the remaining 28 years of his life, he wrote and published 18 theological works, of which the best known was Heaven and Hell (1758), and several unpublished theological works.
Swedenborg explicitly rejected the common explanation of the Trinity as a Trinity of Persons, which he said was not taught in the early Christian Church. Instead he explained in his theological writings how the Divine Trinity exists in One Person, in One God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Swedenborg also rejected the doctrine of salvation through faith alone, since he considered both faith and charity necessary for salvation, not one without the other. The purpose of faith, according to Swedenborg, is to lead a person to a life according to the truths of faith, which is charity.
Swedenborg's theological writings have elicited a range of responses. Toward the end of Swedenborg's life, small reading groups formed in England and Sweden to study the truth they saw in his teachings and several writers were influenced by him, including William Blake (though he ended up renouncing him), Elizabeth Barrett Browning, August Strindberg, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Charles Baudelaire, Balzac, William Butler Yeats, Sheridan Le Fanu, Jorge Luis Borges and Carl Jung. The theologian Henry James Sr. was also a follower of his teachings, as were Johnny Appleseed and Helen Keller.
In contrast, one of the most prominent Swedish authors of Swedenborg's day, Johan Henrik Kellgren, called Swedenborg "nothing but a fool". A heresy trial was initiated in Sweden in 1768 against Swedenborg's writings and two men who promoted these ideas.
In the two centuries since Swedenborg's death, various interpretations of Swedenborg's theology have been made (see: Swedenborgian Church), and he has also been scrutinized in biographies and psychological studies.
Swedenborg explicitly rejected the common explanation of the Trinity as a Trinity of Persons, which he said was not taught in the early Christian Church. Instead he explained in his theological writings how the Divine Trinity exists in One Person, in One God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Swedenborg also rejected the doctrine of salvation through faith alone, since he considered both faith and charity necessary for salvation, not one without the other. The purpose of faith, according to Swedenborg, is to lead a person to a life according to the truths of faith, which is charity.
Swedenborg's theological writings have elicited a range of responses. Toward the end of Swedenborg's life, small reading groups formed in England and Sweden to study the truth they saw in his teachings and several writers were influenced by him, including William Blake (though he ended up renouncing him), Elizabeth Barrett Browning, August Strindberg, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Charles Baudelaire, Balzac, William Butler Yeats, Sheridan Le Fanu, Jorge Luis Borges and Carl Jung. The theologian Henry James Sr. was also a follower of his teachings, as were Johnny Appleseed and Helen Keller.
In contrast, one of the most prominent Swedish authors of Swedenborg's day, Johan Henrik Kellgren, called Swedenborg "nothing but a fool". A heresy trial was initiated in Sweden in 1768 against Swedenborg's writings and two men who promoted these ideas.
In the two centuries since Swedenborg's death, various interpretations of Swedenborg's theology have been made (see: Swedenborgian Church), and he has also been scrutinized in biographies and psychological studies.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 26, 2022
“Everything that is good and true comes from the Lord, and none of it from us.” 🙌🏻
New Jerusalem (1758) is a summary of Swedenborg's theology, mostly referring to his longest work, Arcana Caelestia 📚It reads quickly but also vaguely, with reference numbers to consult in the Arcana and other volumes, and perhaps can spark further interest 📖
Aside from my goal of reading the entirety of Swedenborg's prolific work, I also read this volume to glean the supposed 'androgynous' references cited in a book on the French Chevalier d'Eon 👁The cross-dressing d'Eon was supposedly in part inspired by Swedenborg amidst his so-called—and most def self-created—'dual' male-female identity 🎭
From my Swedenborg readings thus far, I've yet to come upon such 'androgynous' content—which shouldn't be surprising when that would contradict his statements that men and women keep their form into the next spiritual life 🤔Likewise the Bible does not suggest that a gender change occurs in the afterlife.
As such, in the unfortunate possibility of enduring misinformation, I can't help but think that this was either a misunderstanding (or possibly misrepresentation?) of Swedenborg's texts dating from the 18th century itself, or one that came later.
New Jerusalem (1758) is a summary of Swedenborg's theology, mostly referring to his longest work, Arcana Caelestia 📚It reads quickly but also vaguely, with reference numbers to consult in the Arcana and other volumes, and perhaps can spark further interest 📖
Aside from my goal of reading the entirety of Swedenborg's prolific work, I also read this volume to glean the supposed 'androgynous' references cited in a book on the French Chevalier d'Eon 👁The cross-dressing d'Eon was supposedly in part inspired by Swedenborg amidst his so-called—and most def self-created—'dual' male-female identity 🎭
From my Swedenborg readings thus far, I've yet to come upon such 'androgynous' content—which shouldn't be surprising when that would contradict his statements that men and women keep their form into the next spiritual life 🤔Likewise the Bible does not suggest that a gender change occurs in the afterlife.
As such, in the unfortunate possibility of enduring misinformation, I can't help but think that this was either a misunderstanding (or possibly misrepresentation?) of Swedenborg's texts dating from the 18th century itself, or one that came later.
Displaying 1 of 1 review