Emanuel Swedenborg 1688 – 1772 – Portrait by Carl Frederik von Breda
The New Church bases its doctrine on the Bible as revealed anew in the ‘Writings’ of Emanuel Swedenborg. This New Christianity is a belief that the Lord used Swedenborg as a means through which to fulfil His promise and come again to Humankind at its hour of greatest need.
Swedenborg wrote, ‘The Lord’s second coming is taking place by means of a man, to whom He has shown Himself in person, and whom He has filled with His spirit, so that he may teach the doctrines of the New Church, which come from the Lord through the Word.’ Swedenborg wrote thirty-five volumes of theological books, referred to as the 'Writings' or 'Heavenly Doctrines'.
These writings affirm many of the great truths of religion, but they reveal much more. They address mysteries of human life which have previously gone unexplained or have, over time, been misunderstood. One of the prime purposes for his work was to reveal the inner meaning in the Bible, uncovering its timeless relevance to our lives. They teach us much about the Lord, about the process of rebirth, and what it is to truly love and serve the neighbour, about the relationship between the spiritual and natural dimensions, about heaven and hell, the structure of the mind, and about men and women, and marriage.
His books have the measured, matter-of-fact, tone of one who is reporting realities. They ring true.