New to the New Church

As a student at Bryn Athyn College, Chris was introduced to the teachings of the New Church and his interest in religion was revived. For years Chris was frustrated about what he felt was misuse of the Bible. But after his introduction to the New Church Chris was excited to have his thoughts about God being love not hate, that all people can go to heaven, and that science and religion can go together confirmed in the Writings of Swedenborg. -Editor

If I had to describe the New Church in a single word it would be love. As a newcomer to the New Church, I am astounded by the sheer degree of love involved in this faith. In my experience with churches and religion I have found that people are more focused on being correct than on love. This focus has always seemed odd to me, and when I finally left the church I grew up in, I started to do something rather dangerous; I started to think for myself. I've always told myself that I had a hard time with church, but not with God. So I left church, but not Him. It was time to find a new path. As new thoughts about religion and God started to fill my mind, it became time to look for a college to go to, and the college I chose was Bryn Athyn College.

Bryn Athyn College was the first place I had ever heard of the New Church, and despite being around for some two hundred years or so, the church was very new to me. Strangely enough, as I learned more and more about this church, I found that many of the teachings were thoughts I had been having ever since I left my old church. I was astounded that there was a group of people that actually taught that the Bible was not something to be taken word for word, but was something to interpret and find the deeper meaning of. I had become so used to Christians being the type of people that would take every word of the Bible literally and that there was nothing else to it. I was used to people taking those same words and using them as an excuse to dislike, hate, and even fight against other people. I've always felt that the Word teaches us to love each other and to be charitable.

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