Why Swedenborgians Need to Pay Attention to the Emergent Movement or Similarities Between New Church and Emergent Church

Bronwen became aware of the Emergent Movement in 2010. She brings the reader up to speed on what this movement is and then draws connections between it and the New Church. There is a lot to learn by engaging in this conversation. -Editor.

Being the church is an emphasis found in the emerging church that strongly speaks to me. It reminds me of the passage Divine Providence 101 whereupon arriving in the next world after death “one is not asked ‘What church were you were a member of?’ But ‘How have you lived your life?’” At the same time I find the theological conversations in the Emergent Village to be especially thought provoking and interesting in the context of the impact of the New Church in the world and on Christianity.

In the summer of 2010 I read the book, The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier by Tony Jones. I swallowed this book whole. I read with speed and enthusiasm about an emerging theology that transcended organized and institutionalized religion, and spoke to a Christianity that emphasized being the church. The parallel between this new Christianity and the New Christianity that I had grown up with were impossible to ignore. For the first time I felt that New Church theology was being accepted by other Christians. Is this emerging theology/Christianity a product of the New Church movement?

Click to read more ...

Other Revelations

Stephen brings our attention to how the Lord is revealing himself to us, and to others, in the present. He challenges the notion that the Bible and Swedenborg's writings are the exclusive and static emanations of a God who only wanted to speak twice. The water is still moving under the bridge. -Editor.

This is a New Church perspective on other revelations. Other revelations meaning: revelations from God through human beings other than those who wrote down the Bible and the Heavenly Doctrines.

The great thing about the New Church doctrines is that they allow for the validity of other religions and place all value in the embodiment of faith through action, good will and love.

But what about revelations? Don’t we consider the Word, including the Writings of Swedenborg, as the Divine Truth? We do. And sometimes those words “Divine Truth” get to have overtones that make it sound like “Final Truth,” or even “the Only Truth.” But that would be ridiculous, don’t you agree? That would be similar to asserting that the Hindu, Muslim or Native American religions are invalid, and they are not.

Click to read more ...

A Common Heart

Chelsea writes of how religion, while becoming more central to peoples lives generally, is also the justification for increasing aggression between people of differing faiths. She calls on humanity to recognize our common heart, and shows us how New Church doctrine is uniquely suited to inform the growing desire for interfaith respect and love. -Editor.

Effort to understand people of various religions is needed right now in our national and global society. Religious intolerance and extremism are current issues in American society and around the globe. The combination of increasing religiousness world-wide and a vastly interconnected global society makes it nearly impossible for people of different religious identities not to cross paths. These current circumstances raise the question: is it possible under conditions of such close proximity for the world’s religious variety to coexist harmoniously?

Click to read more ...

5 Things to Consider When Introducing the Church (or any belief/topic) to Strangers

Greg and Alexis offer clear advice for how to introduce the church to the unacquainted. They emphasize personal integrity and the human relationship, rather than focusing on the mere transmission of fact and opinion. -Editor.

1. Don’t start with particulars—especially heated topics.

When introducing the New Church you should stay away from details and complex teachings. There are some details that are fairly easy to grasp, but they are not important for the first conversation, no matter how important they seem. For example, you would not want to kick off a conversation by explaining the intricate process one goes through as they enter the World of Spirits. Swedenborg’s authorship is also something that need not come into the initial conversation. Instead, discuss the New Church’s doctrine. Give the doctrine authority by saying “my church has always believed… [insert foundational teaching].”

Click to read more ...

5. The Role and Purpose of the Clergy

Brian Smith and Kristin Coffin offer a dialogue-style collaborative piece dealing with five subtopics as follows:

1. The ramifications of an all-male priesthood.
2. Systemic sexism in the Church.
3. The burden of proof and the status quo.
4. Doctrinal arguments.
5. The role and purpose of the clergy.

This is the fourth piece in the series: Women as Ordained Priests (or Not). -Editor.

Brian speaking to the Purpose of the Priesthood

The purpose of the priesthood is articulated several times in the Writings along similar lines as the following: “the priest who teaches truth and leads to good for the sake of truth and good exercises charity” (Arcana Coelestia 8121).

Click to read more ...

4. Doctrinal Arguments

Brian Smith and Kristin Coffin offer a dialogue-style collaborative piece dealing with five subtopics as follows:

1. The ramifications of an all-male priesthood.
2. Systemic sexism in the Church.
3. The burden of proof and the status quo.
4. Doctrinal arguments.
5. The role and purpose of the clergy.

This is the fourth piece in the series: Women as Ordained Priests (or Not). -Editor.

Brian's Doctrinal Arguments

My primary goal in presenting some quotations from the Writings is to make sure that these are readily available for readers to consider. I will simply have to neglect the work of tying these passages together with arguments and my interpretations due to the limits of my current scope and space. I will also wholly ignore arguments people have offered regarding the masculine form as the representation of the Lord in His divine human (such as New Church Life 1995 pg. 196, 252, 299).

Click to read more ...