What Does it Mean to Be A Swedenborgian? - Part 2

Here's Part 2 of a 2 part series for the December edition of the Chaplain's Corner
by Pastor Dave, SCYL Chaplain

In part 1 of this series I identified three ways in which a person can be considered a Swedenborgian (commitment to the Swedenborgian organization, commitment to Emanuel Swedenborg’s theology, and commitment to Swedenborgian principals). We continue with a discussion of Swedenborg’s vision of the New Church, and here the matter becomes a little more difficult to talk about. Swedenborg claims that a new era began in 1757, and that the theology he was inspired to write contained core truths of this new era. This new era is symbolized in the Bible by the woman clothed with the sun from Rev. 12. The son which the women delivered is the doctrines of the new era. The dragon which attacks her and her child signifies the difficulty in acceptance of the new era and its doctrines. We hear different ideas about the relation of the Swedenborgian organization to this new era which is dawning. Some say that we are it—in fact, that is what I was taught when I grew up in the church. Others say we are not it. My response is that we can be part of it, but that it is also happening all around us in the spiritual currents flowing throughout this world.

I think that we as individuals and also as a church organization need to remain open to what is going on around us. We need to let go of Swedenborg himself, to a certain degree. We need to let go of some of his language, and also some of his religious categories. In my mind, to be participants in the new era that is dawning, we need to be committed to truth wherever we find it. Let me offer a few examples of what I mean by letting go of Swedenborg himself. Among us words like will and understanding, or charity and faith are large theological terms that signify a whole complex of meaning. But when we hear psychologists talk about affective and cognitive aspects of the human mind, we are dealing with essentially the same ideas. In the book called The Course in Miracles there is a sophisticated doctrine about evil. As a friend told me, that work does not consider evil real. Evil only has power when we give it reality in our own consciousness. The book does not deny that we can allow evil to have power by assenting to it, but it only has power if we give it power. This is essentially what Swedenborg says. He states quite clearly that evil has no Being. Only good is real. Evil and falsity are perversions of good and truth. If popular contemporary sources are saying the same thing as Swedenborg, why not use his or her language? It is the truth in Swedenborg that matters to me, not his actual books. If we try to understand other doctrinal systems, and don’t approach them with suspicion and in an adversarial fashion, we may find that we are closer to the world all around us than we had thought.

But I don’t mean to say that we don’t need the Swedenborgian Church as an organization. There are doctrines that we can only find in Emanuel Swedenborg’s writings. And there are many, many ideas that I have found in Swedenborg that have shaped my life that I can’t find elsewhere. This church has a lot to offer the world. But I think we need to do it in language that the world will hear. And if this means using other terminology than Swedenborg’s own, then we need to use it. I think people would like most of what we stand for if we talk to them in language they can recognize and accept. We are a Christian church and a Biblical church. If we emphasize Jesus and the Bible, who will object? If we take the spirit and essential doctrines of Swedenborg and talk to others in language they are familiar with our contribution to the world will be much greater. We will be less in grown; and I believe we will grow.