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128-430: The New Church (or Swedenborgianism ) can refer to any of several historically related Christian denominations that developed under the influence of the theology of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772). The Swedenborgian tradition is considered to be a part of Restorationist Christianity . Swedenborg's writings focus on a narrative of Christianity's historical decline due to the loss of the "inner sense" of Scripture into

256-494: A "New Church" that would be based on the theology he presented, he never tried to establish such an organization. Swedenborg published some of his theological works anonymously; his writings promoted one universal church based on love and charity, rather than multiple churches named after their founders and based on belief or doctrine. In 1768, a heresy trial began in Sweden against Swedenborg's writings and two men who promoted them;

384-479: A considerable extent by the works of Paracelsus (1493–1541). The term had not yet reached a settled meaning, however, as the mid-16th century Theosophia by Johannes Arboreus provided a lengthy exposition that included no mention of esotericism. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Christian theosophy and Pietism arose in response to the orthodoxy of the Lutheran Reformation . I do not write in

512-447: A denomination and a denominational family is sometimes unclear to outsiders. Some denominational families can be considered major branches. Groups that are members of a branch, while sharing historical ties and similar doctrines, are not necessarily in communion with one another. There were some movements considered heresies by the early Church which do not exist today and are not generally referred to as denominations: examples include

640-464: A denomination, that is, "an organized body of Christians." Historically, Catholics would label members of certain Christian churches (also certain non-Christian religions) by the names of their founders, either actual or purported. Such supposed founders were referred to as heresiarchs . This was done even when the party thus labeled viewed itself as belonging to the one true church. This allowed

768-563: A gnostic perspective. But he says there are also differences, since they do not actually rely on the same reference works; and their style is different. The referential corpus of earlier theosophy "belongs essentially to the Judeo-Christian type", while that of modern Theosophy "reveals a more universal aspect". Although there are many differences between Christian theosophy and the Theosophical movement begun by Helena Blavatsky,

896-586: A great council is called, the patriarch sits as president of the council. He has no more power than any other bishop. Currently, the largest synod with the most members is the Russian Orthodox Church . Others include the ancient Patriarchates of Constantinople , Alexandria , Antioch and Jerusalem , the Georgian , Romanian , Serbian and Bulgarian Orthodox churches, and several smaller ones. The second largest Eastern Christian communion

1024-412: A means of regeneration through his teachings and fight hell directly; Jesus experienced temptation, conquered it, descended into hell, and defeated the forces of evil. The New Church differs from older Christian churches on the notion that Christ's death was redemption itself; "The belief that the passion of the cross was redemption itself is a fundamental error of the church; and that error, together with

1152-430: A method of interpretation founded upon a specific myth or revelation, applying active imagination in order to draw forth symbolic meanings and further their pursuit of knowledge toward a complete understanding of these mysteries. In Athanasius Kircher 's Oedipus Aegyptiacus (1652), Kircher assigned the word theosophy to the metaphysics adhered to in ancient Egypt , and to Neo-Platonism , and thus he gave once again

1280-531: A part of the same family but have distinct doctrinal variations within each group— Lutherans see themselves not to be a part of the rest of what they call "Reformed Protestantism" due to radical differences in sacramental theology and historical approach to the Reformation itself (both Reformed and Lutherans see their reformation in the sixteenth century to be a 'reforming' of the Catholic Church, not

1408-507: A particular group with specialized needs, such as students or ethnic groups. A related concept is denominationalism , the belief that some or all Christian groups are legitimate churches of the same religion regardless of their distinguishing labels, beliefs, and practices. (Conversely, "denominationalism" can also refer to "emphasizing of denominational differences to the point of being narrowly exclusive", similar to sectarianism .) The views of Protestant leaders differ greatly from those of

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1536-558: A peak in the 1890s, by which a new church had been built in Hanson Street. In 1971, a new church at Warradale , in a style that could be converted to a house in the future. As of 2000, the most recent membership figures for the four church organisations were: Membership in the New Church has always been small, and the organisations have been deeply involved in publishing. The New Church has two essential doctrines. The first

1664-522: A person during their life. Although direct communication between spirits and humans does not generally occur, it was more widespread in ancient times. Angels and spirits retain their memories from earthly and heavenly life (their earthly mental faculties of memory replaced with corresponding spiritual ones) and, in a mental state where communication is open, a person may experience a spirit's memory as if it were their own. This mental state (which may be achieved under hypnosis) resembles past life regression and

1792-607: A person must learn and live by the truth; in the union between humanity and the Lord facilitated by man's acceptance of divine truth, faith becomes living and spiritual. All the precepts of how one should live are contained in the Ten Commandments . The first act of faith is repentance: self-examination, acknowledging and identifying one's sins, and turning away from them, along with all evil. The Bible concerns God and his kingdom. The New Church has three pillars: God's divinity,

1920-399: A place in heaven. Since, without the aid of divine truth, man remains in a state of Ignorance, the salvation of humanity has always required that a unifying connection between God and the minds of men is maintained through the "Word", or divine revelation of truths required for regeneration. The "Church", as a term, refers to any people, culture, or religion where "the Lord is acknowledged and

2048-415: A purely exoteric understanding of faith. In this state, faith and good acts become external displays motivated by fear of hell, desires for material blessings, personal recognition, and otherworldly things, devoid of true spiritual essence. Swedenborg also wrote extensively about Salvation through a process of "regeneration" (rather than through faith or acts alone), wherein individuals accept divine truth from

2176-502: A range of positions within Christianity that focus on the attainment of direct, unmediated knowledge of the nature of divinity and the origin and purpose of the universe. They have been characterized as mystical philosophies. Theosophy is considered part of Western esotericism , which believes that hidden knowledge or wisdom from the ancient past offers a path to illumination and salvation . While general theosophy concerns

2304-508: A rejection of it entirely). From these come denominations, which in the West, have independence from the others in their doctrine. The Catholic Church , due to its hierarchical structures, is not said to be made up of denominations, rather, it is a single denomination that include kinds of regional councils and individual congregations and church bodies, which do not officially differ from one another in doctrine. The initial differences between

2432-727: A rift in Western Christianity . In England , Henry VIII of England declared himself to be supreme head of the Church of England with the Act of Supremacy in 1534, founding the Church of England, repressing both Lutheran reformers and those loyal to the pope. Thomas Cranmer as Archbishop of Canterbury introduced the Reformation, in a form compromising between the Calvinists and Lutherans. The Old Catholic Church split from

2560-410: A set of grievances to reform the pre-Reformation Western Church. Luther's writings , combined with the work of Swiss theologian Huldrych Zwingli and French theologian and politician John Calvin sought to reform existing problems in doctrine and practice. Due to the reactions of ecclesiastical office holders at the time of the reformers, these reformers separated from the Catholic Church, instigating

2688-549: A single esoteric current among seven other esoteric currents in early modern Western thought (i.e., alchemy , astrology , Neo-Alexandrian Hermeticism , Christian Kabbalah , Paracelsism—that is, the studying of the "prognostications" of Paracelsus — philosophia occulta and Rosicrucianism ). Faivre noted that there are "obvious similarities" between earlier theosophy and modern Theosophy as both play an important part in Western esotericism and both claim to deal with wisdom from

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2816-464: A spiritual movement also called Theosophy . In the 20th century, theosophy became the object of study for various scholars of Western esotericism. Theosophy comes from the Greek theosophia ( θεοσοφία ), which combines theos (θεός), "God" and sophia ( σοφία ), "wisdom". Its etymological meaning is thus "wisdom of God." The term theosophia appeared (in both Greek and Latin) in

2944-424: A spiritual second coming of Christ had begun, marking the start of the New Church and offering a renewed path to regeneration. The New Church presents a theology built upon these beliefs, and while presenting many ideas and themes expressed by various early and contemporary Christian thinkers and theologies, the tradition diverges from standard Christianity not only in its eschatology but primarily in its rejection of

3072-542: A state of absolute freedom from external controls, will be attracted by heavenly light or hellish delight. Ultimately, judgement is an unimpeded choice between heaven and hell; the good, by nature of their goodness, will choose heaven, and the evil, by nature of their evil, will choose hell. When all external restraints are removed in the spirit world, nothing remains to stop evil spirits except punishment. Since evil spirits act in accordance with their nature, they are drawn towards hell: Every evil brings with itself punishment,

3200-472: A statement that the Chalcedonian Creed restored Nestorianism, however this is refuted by maintaining the following distinctions associated with the person of Christ: two hypostases, two natures ( Nestorian ); one hypostasis, one nature ( Monophysite ); one hypostasis, two natures (Eastern Orthodox/Roman Catholic). In Western Christianity, a handful of geographically isolated movements preceded

3328-527: A term they associate with membership of the Latin Church, and speak of themselves in relation to whichever Church they belong to: Maronites , Melkites , Ukrainian Catholics , Coptic Catholics , Chaldean Catholics , etc. And finally the smallest Eastern Christian group founded in early 20th century is Byzantine Rite Lutheranism where accept Byzantine Rite as Church's liturgy while retaining their Lutheran traditions like Ukrainian Lutheran Church . It

3456-553: Is Oriental Orthodoxy , which is organized in a similar manner, with six national autocephalous groups and two autonomous bodies, although there are greater internal differences than among the Eastern Orthodox (especially in the diversity of rites being used). The six autocephalous Oriental Orthodox churches are the Coptic (Egyptian), Syriac , Armenian , Malankara (Indian), Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox churches. In

3584-653: Is a universal principle of faith that God is one in essence and in person, in whom is a Divine trinity, and that He is the Lord God the Savior Jesus Christ. It is a universal principle of faith that no mortal could have been saved unless the Lord had come into the world. It is a universal principle of faith that He came into the world to remove hell from man, and that He did remove it by means of contests with it and victories over it, and thereby He subdued it and reduced it to order and made it obedient to Himself. It

3712-498: Is a universal principle of faith that He came into the world to glorify His Human which He took on in the world, that is, to unite it with the Divine from which [are all things], and thereby He eternally holds hell in order and under obedience to Himself. As this could be accomplished only by means of temptations admitted into His Human, even to the last of them, which was the passion of the cross, He endured even that. From this doctrine,

3840-480: Is administratively grouped into several autocephalous jurisdictions (also commonly referred to as "churches", despite being parts of one Church). They do not recognize any single bishop as universal church leader, but rather each bishop governs only his own diocese . The Patriarch of Constantinople is known as the Ecumenical Patriarch, and holds the title " first among equals ", meaning only that if

3968-463: Is born not into total depravity , but rather, into a state of ignorance of anything beyond his "outer self"; his five senses and desire for worldly pleasures. In this state, man, by birth, places his principal love in worldly things such as wealth and ego over God and neighbor, because he has no knowledge of the spiritual truths that would lead him to love these. In this state, man’s 'inner self' (his higher faculties of rationality, will, conscience, etc.)

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4096-424: Is born with free will, and his ability to choose between good and evil originates from his spiritual equilibrium between heaven and hell. Hell influences humans to do evil, and heaven influences them to do good. This freedom from inherent control from one side or the other frees humans to think rationally which can lead to spiritual reform by acknowledging evil in oneself, ceasing to do evil and avoiding it. This choice

4224-744: Is considered part of Eastern Protestant denominational movement. Denominational associations Regional associations Churches Together in England Oriental Orthodox African-American Baptist Oriental Orthodox Eastern Protestant Finished Work Pentecostal Oneness Pentecostal The Latin portion of the Catholic Church , along with Protestantism , comprise the three major divisions of Christianity in

4352-420: Is given a new mind and body, or "a human form that is visible in the spiritual world [... where] Our spirit enjoys the abilities to see, hear, speak, and have sensations just as it did in this world, and is endowed every faculty of thinking, willing, and doing...". New Church adherents believe that the soul is the recipient of life from God, and the body is its clothing. The beginning of life (the soul) comes from

4480-478: Is known as ecumenism . Many denominations participate in the World Council of Churches . Christianity has not been a monolithic faith since the first century or Apostolic Age , though Christians were largely in communion with each other. Today there exist a large variety of groups that share a common history and tradition within and without mainstream Christianity. Christianity is the largest religion in

4608-485: Is made a servant to the outer self Salvation is possible through Regeneration, a process in which man accepts divine truth from the Lord, and with this knowledge is able to make love of God and Neighbor his highest love in place of worldly things, reforming his inner and outer being, and being born anew into a state of enlightenment, where "Our inner self is in heaven, and an angel among the angels we are going to live with after we die". New Church adherents believe that man

4736-432: Is not faith, and charity without faith is not charity; in this way, faith and charity are intertwined. Faith and charity become one in acts of good works or repentance. The union of faith and charity is a central tenet of the New Church; all substantial things are related to divine love and divine wisdom, and the will and understanding of each person is a receptacle of God's love and wisdom. According to New Church adherents,

4864-459: Is spiritual because every thought and action influences the soul and mind. Man's salvation is heavily affected by spiritual forces. Truly good works join a person with angels, and evil joins them with evil spirits. When divine truth is accepted and one has an evil desire, temptation (conflict) results. Although one must resist temptation, it is really a combat between God and the devil (or hell). Thus, "He who thinks that he fights from himself against

4992-468: Is that there is one God, Jehovah , who incarnated as Jesus so that he may redeem mankind. The second is the obligation to live according to his commandments. "There are two essentials which constitute the church, and hence two principal things of doctrine – one, that the Lord's Human is Divine; the other, that love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor constitute the church, and not faith separate from love and charity." These "two things,

5120-403: Is the second-largest Christian body in the world and also considers itself the original pre-denominational Church. Orthodox Christians, 80% of whom are Eastern Orthodox and 20% Oriental Orthodox, make up about 11.9% of the global Christian population. The Eastern Orthodox Church is itself a communion of fully independent autocephalous churches (or "jurisdictions") that recognize each other, for

5248-528: Is their removal after repentance. Swedenborgianism detests the notions of total depravity , and the traditional understandings of salvation through acts, and salvation through faith alone, through grace alone. New Church theology holds that man can desire good and must identify his sinful tendencies, push them aside in place of goodwill, and move from a state of overall ignorance and evil to overall enlightenment and goodness. Man should not simply accept his sinful state and expect faith or acts alone to guarantee him

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5376-415: Is to say, became “naturalistic” and devoid of spiritual truth, serving the fears and worldly desires of man rather than providing regeneration. Because of this, the equilibrium between heaven and hell became more and more unbalanced towards the powers of hell prior to the coming of Christ, threatening the entire human race. It is for this reason that God took human form. By doing so, he could provide man with

5504-808: Is what since 1976 is officially called the Assyrian Church of the East and which from 1933 to 2015 was headquartered first in Cyprus and then in the United States , but whose present Catholicos-Patriarch, Gewargis III , elected in 2015, lives in Erbil , Iraq . The third is the Ancient Church of the East , distinct since 1964 and headed by Addai II Giwargis , resident in Baghdad. There are also

5632-514: Is where the soul is realized. "All who die and become angels put off those two things proper to nature, which   […] are space and time; for they enter then into spiritual light, in which the objects of thought are truths, and the objects of sight are similar to the objects in the natural world, but correspondent to their thoughts." States of being replace time, love replaces space or distance, and perception of truth replaces material substance These correspondences to time, space, and substance fill

5760-828: The Catholic Church in the 1870s because of the promulgation of the dogma of papal infallibility as promoted by the First Vatican Council of 1869–1870. The term 'Old Catholic' was first used in 1853 to describe the members of the See of Utrecht that were not under Papal authority. The Old Catholic movement grew in America but has not maintained ties with Utrecht, although talks are under way between independent Old Catholic bishops and Utrecht. The Liberal Catholic Church started in 1916 via an Old Catholic bishop in London, bishop Matthew, who consecrated bishop James Wedgwood to

5888-554: The Church of the East . However Roman Catholicism is to be seen as a distinct denomination within Western Christianity. Protestantism includes diverse groups such as Adventists , Anabaptists , Anglicans , Baptists , Congregationalists , Methodists (inclusive of the Holiness movement ), Moravians , Pentecostals , Presbyterians , Reformed , and Unitarians (depending on one's classification scheme) are all

6016-891: The Continental Reformed , Presbyterian , Evangelical Anglican , Congregationalist , and Reformed Baptist traditions. Anabaptist Christianity itself includes the Amish , Apostolic , Bruderhof , Hutterite , Mennonite , River Brethren , and Schwarzenau Brethren traditions. Within the Restorationist branch of Christianity, denominations include the Irvingians , Swedenborgians , Christadelphians , Latter Day Saints , Jehovah's Witnesses , La Luz del Mundo , and Iglesia ni Cristo . Christianity has denominational families (or movements) and also has individual denominations (or communions). The difference between

6144-681: The Eastern Catholic Churches , most of which are counterparts of those listed above, sharing with them the same theological and liturgical traditions, but differing from them in that they recognize the Bishop of Rome as the universal head of the Church . They are fully part of the Catholic communion , on the same level juridically as the Latin Church . Most of their members do not describe themselves as " Roman Catholics ",

6272-872: The Gnostics (who had believed in an esoteric dualism called gnosis ), the Ebionites (who denied the divinity of Jesus), and the Arians (who subordinated the Son to the Father by denying the pre-existence of Christ , thus placing Jesus as a created being), Bogumilism and the Bosnian Church . The greatest divisions in Christianity today, however, are between the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, Catholics, and

6400-546: The Hussites defied Catholic dogma , creating the still-extant Moravian Church , a major Protestant denomination. Although the church as a whole did not experience any major divisions for centuries afterward, the Eastern and Western groups drifted until the point where patriarchs from both families excommunicated one another in about 1054 in what is known as the Great Schism . The political and theological reasons for

6528-577: The Martinist Order founded by Papus in 1891, followed the theosophical current closely linked to the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition and Western esotericism. Theosophers outside of the initiate societies included people such as Vladimir Solovyov (1853–1900), whose views have been described as follows: "although empiricism and rationalism rest on false principles, their respective objective contents, external experience, qua

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6656-477: The Middle East , Northeast Africa , and India . Christians have various doctrines about the Church (the body of the faithful that they believe Jesus Christ established) and about how the divine church corresponds to Christian denominations. The Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Church of the East and Lutheran denominations, each hold that only their own specific organization faithfully represents

6784-524: The New Testament , Jesus sometimes prayed to the Father and declared himself one with the Father at other times. New Church adherents believe that this was because Jesus progressed towards God during his life by gradually making his human body one with the divine . New Church adherents believe that "Regeneration" brings salvation. Regeneration is the process by which man is re-born, transitioning from

6912-615: The Second Diet of Speyer mandated the burning of Luther's works and the end of the Protestant Reformation . Anglicanism is generally classified as Protestant, being originally seen as a via media , or middle way between Lutheranism and Reformed Christianity, and since the Oxford Movement of the 19th century, some Anglican writers of Anglo-Catholic churchmanship emphasize a more catholic understanding of

7040-508: The Second Great Awakening and collectively affirms belief in a Great Apostasy , thus promoting a belief in restoring what they see as primitive Christianity. It includes Mormons , Irvingians , Christadelphians , Swedenborgians , Jehovah's Witnesses , among others, although beliefs between these religions differ greatly. Generally, members of the various denominations acknowledge each other as Christians, at least to

7168-621: The Syriac and Coptic churches dividing themselves, with some churches becoming today's Oriental Orthodox . The Armenian Apostolic Church , whose representatives were not able to attend the council did not accept new dogmas and now is also seen as an Oriental Orthodox church. In modern times, there have also been moves towards healing this split, with common Christological statements being made between Pope John Paul II and Syriac Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I Iwas , as well as between representatives of both Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy. There has been

7296-478: The one holy catholic and apostolic Church , to the exclusion of all others. Certain denominational traditions teach that they were divinely instituted to propagate a certain doctrine or spiritual experience, for example the raising up of Methodism by God to propagate entire sanctification (the "second blessing"), or the launch of Pentecostalism to bestow a supernatural empowerment evidenced by speaking in tongues on humanity. Restorationism emerged after

7424-793: The "two lungs" concept to relate Catholicism with Eastern Orthodoxy. World Christianity by tradition in 2024 as per World Christian Database Worldwide Christians by denomination as of 2011 Christianity can be taxonomically divided into six main groups: the Church of the East , Oriental Orthodoxy , Eastern Orthodoxy , Catholicism , Protestantism , and Restorationism . Protestantism includes many groups which do not share any ecclesiastical governance and have widely diverging beliefs and practices. Major Protestant branches include Adventism , Anabaptism , Anglicanism , Baptists , Lutheranism , Methodism , Moravianism , Quakerism , Pentecostalism , Plymouth Brethren , Reformed Christianity , and Waldensianism . Reformed Christianity itself includes

7552-522: The 'sense-oriented' sinful life he was born into, to a 'spiritual life', where man makes goodness and truth his highest love rather than worldly pleasures, and proceeds to live a life of usefulness and love. God incarnated as Christ to provide man with a path to regeneration, therefore true faith in Jesus Christ leads to salvation. Faith in Jesus is faith in a visible God. Jesus is the image and form of

7680-583: The 1st century A.D., but has not been in communion with them since before the Council of Ephesus of 431. Largely aniconic , the Church of the East represents a third Eastern Christian tradition in its own right. In recent centuries, it has split into three Churches. The largest (since the early 20th century) is the Baghdad -based Chaldean Catholic Church formed from groups that entered communion with Rome at different times, beginning in 1552. The second-largest

7808-541: The Aramaic-speaking areas of the Middle East , the Syriac Orthodox Church has long been dominant. Although the region of modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea has had a strong body of believers since the infancy of Christianity, these regions only gained autocephaly in 1963 and 1994 respectively. The Oriental Orthodox are distinguished from the Eastern Orthodox by doctrinal differences concerning

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7936-677: The British Conference – Michael Church in London and Colchester New Church – joined the General Church. The Adelaide Society of the New Church, in Adelaide , in the Colony of South Australia . was founded by Jacob Pitman , William Holden , and Smith Owen Smith and their families in 1844. On 11 July 1852, a Swedenborgian church opened on Carrington Street , with Pitman serving as minister until 1859. The congregation grew to

8064-913: The Catholic Church as a result of the Reformation , a movement against doctrines and practices which the Reformers perceived to be in violation of the Bible. Together, Catholicism and Protestantism (with major traditions including Adventism , Anabaptism , Anglicanism , Baptists , Lutheranism , Methodism , Moravianism , Pentecostalism , Plymouth Brethren , Quakerism , Reformed , and Waldensianism ) compose Western Christianity . Western Christian denominations prevail in Sub-Saharan Africa , Europe (excluding Eastern Europe), North America , Oceania and South America . The Eastern Orthodox Church , with an estimated 230 million adherents,

8192-464: The Catholic party to say that the other church was founded by the founder, while the Catholic church was founded by Christ. This was done intentionally in order to "produce the appearance of the fragmentation within Christianity" – a problem which the Catholic side would then attempt to remedy on its own terms. Although Catholics reject branch theory , Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II used

8320-555: The East and West traditions stem from socio-cultural and ethno-linguistic divisions in and between the Western Roman and Byzantine empires . Since the West (that is, Western Europe) spoke Latin as its lingua franca and the East (Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and northern Africa) largely used Aramaic and Koine Greek to transmit writings, theological developments were difficult to translate from one branch to

8448-639: The Episcopacy. This stream has in its relatively short existence known many splits, which operate worldwide under several names. In the Eastern world, the largest body of believers in modern times is the Eastern Orthodox Church , sometimes imprecisely called "Greek Orthodox" because from the time of Christ through the Byzantine empire, Greek was its common language. However, the term " Greek Orthodox " actually refers to only one portion of

8576-499: The Father is the inner divinity which became outwardly manifest in human form known as the Son . Since adherents believe that the Lord is one with the Father, the Lord's Prayer is directed to the Lord only. In the opening "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name", "name" is everything by which God is worshiped (particularly the Son, through whom he is approached). According to

8704-472: The Lord ( Jehovah ) is worshiped. Worship of, and faith in, Jesus is not worshiping a created being: although he was born with a human body, the New Church holds that his soul was eternally divine. When he rose from the dead , he discarded the human body he inherited from Mary and put on a human body from the divinity within him (known in the New Church as the Divine Human). According to Swedenborg, God

8832-445: The Lord into their "inner self" (or higher faculties), controlling the "outer" (or earthly) self by placing their highest love in goodness and truth rather than in worldly desires and the evils and falsehoods which serve them. It follows that Christianity, in its present condition, as described by Swedenborg, fails to facilitate man's regeneration, contributing to a perceived descent of mankind into ignorance and sin. Swedenborg held that

8960-488: The Lord's words: 'There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, and hid that shall not be known: whatsoever ye have said in the darkness, shall be heard in the light, and what ye have spoken in the ear in closets, shall be preached on the housetops' (Luke 12:2–3). And in another place: 'I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment' (Matthew 12:36)." These intentions and affections determine whether one, in

9088-461: The New Church from other Christian churches, most of which define the Trinity as three eternal persons. The New Church sees Trinitarianism as illogical: "In the ideas of thought a Trinity of Divine Persons from eternity, or before the world was created, is a Trinity of Gods; and these ideas cannot be effaced by a lip-confession of one God." Monotheism is defined as one God who is one person; only

9216-590: The Trinity is defined as "the three essentials of one God, and they make one as soul, body, and operation make one in man. Before the world was created this Trinity was not; but after creation, when God became incarnate, it was provided and brought about; and then in the Lord God the Redeemer and Savior Jesus Christ." As a trinity of body, soul, and spirit exists in every man, this became the Holy Trinity in Jesus. The doctrine of one God as one person distinguishes

9344-586: The West also contended that this primacy extended to jurisdiction, a position rejected by the Eastern patriarchs. Various attempts at dialogue between the two groups would occur, but it was only in the 1960s, under Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras , that significant steps began to be made to mend the relationship between the two. The Protestant Reformation began with the posting of Martin Luther 's Ninety-Five Theses in Saxony on October 31, 1517, written as

9472-461: The Western world. Catholics do not describe themselves as a denomination but rather as the original Church, from which all other branches broke off in schism . The Baptist , Methodist , and Lutheran churches are generally considered to be Protestant denominations, although strictly speaking, of these three, only the Lutherans took part in the official Protestation at Speyer after the decree of

9600-539: The Word exists". The term does not simply refer to Christendom. Christianity’s predecessor, Judaism, as well as all other faiths of the world, though imperfect, are or were, at one point, expressions of the Word. Anyone who believes in God and loves goodness and truth is part of the Church and may be regenerated. Swedenborg divides history into a series of churches, or stages of the Church, that were born and eventually “died”, that

9728-470: The acknowledgment of the Lord, and a life according to the precepts of the Decalogue   […] are the two essentials of the New Church." Adherents believe that these two doctrines bring about salvation and union with Jesus. "All things of the doctrine of the New Church have reference to these two, because they are its universals, on which all the particulars depend, and are its essentials, from which all

9856-901: The authority of Swedenborg's writings caused a faction to split off and form the Academy of the New Church. It later became known as the General Church of the New Jerusalem – sometimes called the General Church – with its headquarters in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania (a suburb of Philadelphia ). Other congregations felt doctrinally compelled to join the General Church at its inception. Two Convention congregations in Canada (one in Toronto and another in Kitchener) and two congregations from

9984-410: The capacity of the simple and also of children." The Bible cannot be properly understood without doctrine, and church doctrine should be confirmed with it. Doctrine can only be known by those who are enlightened by God, and those who are not can fall into heresy . The Bible contains divine truth ; according to New Church adherents, a person joins God and his angels when reading it. To Swedenborg, man

10112-723: The church and characterize it as being both Protestant and Catholic. A case is sometimes also made to regard Lutheranism in a similar way, considering the catholic character of its foundational documents (the Augsburg Confession and other documents contained in the Book of Concord ) and its existence prior to the Anglican, Anabaptist, and Reformed churches, from which nearly all other Protestant denominations derive. Theosophy (Boehmian) Christian theosophy , also known as Boehmian theosophy and theosophy , refers to

10240-773: The conditions there. In structure, it was related to Dante's Divine Comedy . The U.S. church was organised in 1817 with the founding of the General Convention of the New Church (sometimes shortened to the Convention), now also known as the Swedenborgian Church of North America . The movement in the United States strengthened until the late 19th century, and there was a New-Church Theology School in Cambridge . Controversies about doctrine and

10368-554: The definitions of several terms used throughout the article, before discussing the beliefs themselves in detail in following sections. A denomination within Christianity can be defined as a "recognized autonomous branch of the Christian Church"; major synonyms include "religious group, sect, Church," etc. "Church" as a synonym, refers to a "particular Christian organization with its own clergy, buildings, and distinctive doctrines"; "church" can also more broadly be defined as

10496-430: The degree to which they recognize one another. Several groups say they are the direct and sole authentic successor of the church founded by Jesus Christ in the 1st century AD . Others, however, believe in denominationalism, where some or all Christian groups are legitimate churches of the same religion regardless of their distinguishing labels, beliefs, and practices. Because of this concept, some Christian bodies reject

10624-453: The devil is enormously deceived." Both Salvation and Condemnation are results of moral choices, based on intentions. Good acts are only considered good when evil is removed, that is to say they are done out of love for God (not for profit or honour, or any other earthly thing), otherwise they are only externally good and internally evil. Goodness comes only from God, who can conquer temptation (a continuous, lifelong process). Remission of sins

10752-576: The differences "are not important enough to cause an insurmountable barrier". Theosophists like Blavatsky and W.Q. Judge wrote about Jakob Böhme's philosophy. Böhme was also an important influence on the ideas of Franz Hartmann, the founder in 1886 of the German branch of the Theosophical Society. Hartmann described the writings of Böhme as “the most valuable and useful treasure in spiritual literature.” Theosophers engage in analysis of

10880-553: The entire Eastern Orthodox Church. The Eastern Orthodox Church believes itself to be the continuation of the original Christian Church established by Jesus Christ , and the Apostles . The Orthodox and Catholics have been separated since the 11th century, following the East–West Schism , with each of them saying they represent the original pre-schism Church. The Eastern Orthodox consider themselves to be spiritually one body, which

11008-558: The entire body of Christians, the " Christian Church ". Some traditional and evangelical Protestants draw a distinction between membership in the universal church and fellowship within the local church. Becoming a believer in Christ makes one a member of the universal church; one then may join a fellowship of other local believers. Some evangelical groups describe themselves as interdenominational fellowships, partnering with local churches to strengthen evangelical efforts, usually targeting

11136-429: The error concerning three Divine persons from eternity, has perverted the whole church, so that nothing spiritual is left in it." The crucifixion was the last temptation endured by Jesus. New Church adherents believe that there was no space and time before the universe was created, and the realm beyond space, time and material creation is the spiritual world. The spiritual world, which is divided between heaven and hell,

11264-598: The evils which they do in the other life, inasmuch as every one after death returns into his own life, and thus into similar evils, his nature remaining the same as it had been in the life of the body. That they are punished, is because the fear of punishment is the only means of subduing evils in this state. Exhortation is no longer of any avail, neither instruction, nor the fear of the law and loss of reputation, since every one now acts from his nature, which cannot be restrained nor broken except by punishments. Christian denomination Individual denominations vary widely in

11392-519: The extent that they have mutually recognized baptisms and acknowledge historically orthodox views including the divinity of Jesus and doctrines of sin and salvation , even though doctrinal and ecclesiological obstacles hinder full communion between churches . Since the reforms surrounding the Second Vatican Council of 1962–1965, the Catholic Church has referred to Protestant churches as ecclesial communities , while reserving

11520-548: The first General Conference of the New Church was held in Great Eastcheap, London. New Church ideas were brought to the United States by missionaries, one of whom was John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed). Early missionaries also travelled to parts of Africa . Swedenborg believed that the "African race" was "in greater enlightenment than others on this earth, since they are such that they think more 'interiorly', and so receive truths and acknowledge them." African enlightenment

11648-513: The formalities proceed" If a person is unaware of the doctrines but has believed in one God and lived a life of love for goodness and truth, according to Swedenborg, they will learn them after death. The New Church's universal principle of faith is that the "Lord from eternity, who is Jehovah, came into the world to subjugate the hells and to glorify His Human; and without this no mortal could have been saved; and those are saved who believe in Him": It

11776-437: The foundation of natural science, and logical thought, qua the foundation of pure philosophy, are to be synthesized or encompassed along with mystical knowledge in 'integral knowledge,' what Solovyov terms 'theosophy. ' " Faivre stated that "Theosophy is a gnosis that has a bearing not only on the salvific relations the individual maintains with the divine world, but also on the nature of God Himself, or of divine persons, and on

11904-526: The holiness of the Bible, and a life of good works. The Bible is divinely inspired; according to adherents, its spiritual sense has been revealed in the New Church through symbolic correspondence. Its literal meaning, similar to a parable, hides the inner, spiritual sense: "The truths of the sense of the letter of the Word are in part not naked truths, but are appearances of truth, and like similitudes and comparisons are taken from such things as are in nature; and thus are such as have been accommodated and adapted to

12032-429: The invisible God, on whom the human mind can focus. According to the New Church, God is man himself. If a person is good and follows the truth, God lives in that person (who becomes an image and likeness of him). The New Church is said to be the "crown of all churches which preceded it", since the invisible God is worshiped in human form. Faith is not defined as belief alone; the New Church holds that faith without charity

12160-521: The leaders of the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, the two largest Christian denominations. Each church makes mutually exclusive statements for itself to be the direct continuation of the church founded by Jesus Christ, from whom other denominations later broke away. These churches, and a few others, reject denominationalism. For the purpose of academic study of religion, the main families of Christianity are categorized as

12288-892: The most part. Similarly, the Catholic Church is a communion of sui iuris churches, including 23 Eastern ones. The Eastern Orthodox Church, the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches , the Oriental Orthodox communion , the Assyrian Church of the East , the Ancient Church of the East , and the Eastern Lutheran Churches constitute Eastern Christianity . There are certain Eastern Protestant Christians that have adopted Protestant theology but have cultural and historical ties with other Eastern Christians. Eastern Christian denominations are represented mostly in Eastern Europe , North Asia ,

12416-424: The natural universe, the origin of that universe, the hidden structures that constitute it in its actual state, its relationship to mankind, and its final ends." Theosophy actually designates a specific flow of thought or tradition within the modern study of esotericism. Thus, it follows the path starting from the more modern period of the 15th century onward. Faivre describes the "theosophic current" or theosophy as

12544-633: The nearest consistory granted permission. Swedenborg begged the king for grace and protection in a letter from Amsterdam; a new investigation of him stalled, and was dropped in 1778. At the time of Swedenborg's death, few efforts had been made to establish an organised church. On 7 May 1787, however (15 years after his death), the New Church movement was founded in England – where Swedenborg had often visited, and where he had died. A number of churches had sprung up around England by 1789, and in April of that year

12672-422: The notion of a trinity of persons from eternity as Polytheistic , instead holding that Christ was born with a “divine mind” or “soul” and human body, absolving his distinct personhood and glorifying his human form through kenosis . The New Church has influenced several other spiritual and philosophical movements, including New Thought and American Transcendentalism . Although Swedenborg spoke in his works about

12800-422: The other. In the course of ecumenical councils (large gatherings of Christian leaders), some church bodies split from the larger family of Christianity. Many earlier heretical groups either died off for lack of followers or suppression by the early proto-orthodox Church at large (such as Apollinarians , Montanists , and Ebionites ). Following the Council of Chalcedon in 451, the next large split came with

12928-426: The pagan manner, but in the theosophical. — Jakob Böhme The work of the 17th-century German Christian mystic Jakob Böhme (1575–1624) strongly contributed to spread the use of the word "theosophy", even though Böhme rarely used the word in his writings. It is on account of the title of some of his works, but these titles appear to have been chosen more by the editors than by Böhme himself. Moreover, Böhme gave

13056-530: The schism are complex, but one major controversy was the inclusion and acceptance in the West of the filioque clause into the Nicene Creed , which the East viewed as erroneous. Another was the definition of papal primacy . Both West and East agreed that the Patriarch of Rome was owed a " primacy of honour " by the other patriarchs (those of Alexandria , Antioch , Constantinople and Jerusalem ), but

13184-493: The seed of the father, and the external body comes from the mother. Since most Christians believe that Jesus was born of a virgin by the Holy Spirit, his soul was God itself and he always preexisted as Jehovah. Since souls originate from the seed of the father, New Church adherents do not believe in reincarnation . Spirits and angels, through whom one approaches heaven or hell (depending on one's actions), are associated with

13312-424: The smallest detail." The knowledge that is acquired through meditation is believed to change the being of the meditator. Faivre identified three characteristics of theosophy. The three characteristics of theosophy are listed below. Theosophy : The scholar of esotericism Wouter Hanegraaff described Christian theosophy as "one of the major currents in the history of Western esotericism". Christian theosophy

13440-468: The spirit of the Protestant Reformation . The Cathars were a very strong movement in medieval southwestern France, but did not survive into modern times. In northern Italy and southeastern France , Peter Waldo founded the Waldensians in the 12th century. This movement has largely been absorbed by modern-day Protestant groups. In Bohemia , a movement in the early 15th century by Jan Hus called

13568-464: The spiritual world with correspondences to things of the material world. In heaven there are landscapes and cities appearing like those of earth, and in hell the landscape appears cavernous and filthy. The presence of the lord appears like a sun above in heaven, its light and heat are truth and goodness, while hell is dark and cold. There are heavenly delights and acts of service to the neighbor, and hellish delights which bring about only suffering. The soul

13696-490: The term "church" for apostolic churches , including the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches, as well as the Ancient and Assyrian Churches of the East (see subsistit in and branch theory ) . But some non-denominational Christians do not follow any particular branch, though they sometimes are regarded as Protestants. Each group uses different terminology to discuss their beliefs. This section will discuss

13824-473: The term "denomination" to describe themselves, to avoid implying equivalence with other churches or denominations. The Catholic Church , which has over 1.3 billion members or 50.1% of all Christians worldwide, does not view itself as a denomination, but as the original pre-denominational Church. The total Protestant population has reached around 1.047 billion in 2024, accounting for about 39.8% of all Christians. Sixteenth-century Protestants separated from

13952-557: The term Christian theosophy. The term theosophy was used as a synonym for theology as early as the 3rd century CE. The 13th-century work Summa philosophiae attributed to Robert Grosseteste made a distinction between theosophers and theologians. In the Summa , theosophers were described as authors only inspired by the holy books, while theologians like Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite and Origen were described as those whose task

14080-578: The tradition of religious illumination from the religious system established in the late nineteenth century by Helena Blavatsky by referring to the latter with a capital letter as Theosophy, and the former with a lower-case letter as theosophy. Followers of Blavatsky's movement are known as Theosophists, while adherents of the older tradition are termed theosophers. Several Theosophists — such as C. C. Massey and Franz Hartmann — were also theosophers. Antoine Faivre suggested in 1998 that it be called "Boehmian theosophy", although he himself more often uses

14208-427: The trial questioned whether Swedenborg's theological writings were consistent with Christian doctrine. A royal ordinance in 1770 declared that his writings were "clearly mistaken" and should not be taught, but his theology was never examined. Swedenborg's clerical supporters were ordered to stop using his teachings, and customs officials were directed to impound his books and stop their circulation in any district unless

14336-426: The two making one; whoever therefore is in evil, is also in the punishment of evil. But still no one in the other world suffers punishment on account of the evils which he had done in this world, but on account of the evils which he then does. Yet it amounts to the same, and is the same thing, whether it be said that men suffer punishment on account of their evils in the world, or that they suffer punishment on account of

14464-467: The union of human and divine natures in the person of Jesus Christ, and the two communions separated as a consequence of the Council of Chalcedon in the year 451, although there have been recent moves towards reconciliation. Since these groups are relatively obscure in the West, literature on them has sometimes included the Church of the East , which, like the Oriental Orthodox, originated in

14592-524: The universal aspects of diverse esoteric traditions, including Hinduism and Buddhism, Christian theosophy is limited to Jewish and Christian elements. The founding of Christian theosophy is usually attributed to the German philosopher Jakob Böhme . Jewish Kabbalah was also formative for Christian theosophy from Böhme on. In 1875, the term theosophy was adopted and revived by the Theosophical Society , an esoteric organization that spawned

14720-491: The universe, humanity, divinity, and the reciprocal effects of each on the other. Their departure point therefore may be knowledge of external things in the world or inner experiences, and the theosopher's aim is to discover deeper meanings in the natural or divine realm. Antoine Faivre notes, "the theosophist dedicates his energy to inventing (in the word's original sense of 'discovering') the articulation of all things visible and invisible, by examining both divinity and nature in

14848-563: The various denominations formed during and after the Protestant Reformation . There also exists a number of non-Trinitarian groups. Denominationalism is the belief that some or all Christian groups are legitimate churches of the same religion regardless of their distinguishing labels, beliefs, and practices. The idea was first articulated by Independents within the Puritan movement. They argued that differences among Christians were inevitable, but that separation based on these differences

14976-667: The word "theosophy" a limited meaning, making it clear that he was not conflating nature with God . Böhme's work has been described as being "foundational" for Christian theosophy. There were relatively few theosophers in the 17th century, but many of them were prolific. Outside of Germany, there were also theosophers from Holland, England, and France. This group is represented by Jan Baptist van Helmont (1618–1699), Robert Fludd (1574–1637), John Pordage (1608–1681), Jane Leade (1623–1704), Henry More (1614–1687), Pierre Poiret (1646–1719), and Antoinette Bourignon (1616–1680). Theosophers of this period often inquired into nature using

15104-449: The word one of its most generally accepted meanings, that of divine metaphysics. In the 18th century, the word theosophy came into more widespread use among some philosophers. However, the term "theosophy" was still "practically absent" throughout the entire eighteenth century in dictionaries and encyclopedias, where it only appeared more and more frequently beginning in the second half of the nineteenth century. Theosophers themselves used

15232-399: The word theosophy sparingly, at least up until the middle of the nineteenth century. Johann Jakob Brucker (1696–1770) included a long chapter on theosophy in his monumental work Historia critica philosophia . (1741). He included theosophers alongside other currents in esotericism in what was then a standard reference in the history of philosophy. By the 18th century, the word theosophy

15360-487: The works of early church fathers , as a synonym for theology : the theosophoi are "those knowing divine things". The term however acquired various other meanings throughout its history. The adjective "theosophos" (θεόσοφος) "wise in divine things" was applied by Iamblichus to the gymnosophists (Γυμνοσοφισταί), i.e. the Indian yogis or sadhus . Scholars of esotericism such as Godwin and Faivre differentiated

15488-588: The world (making up approximately one-third of the population) and the various divisions have commonalities and differences in tradition, theology , church government , doctrine, and language. The largest schism or division in many classification schemes is between the families of Eastern and Western Christianity . After these two larger families come distinct branches of Christianity. Most classification schemes list Roman Catholicism, Protestantism , and Orthodox Christianity , with Orthodox Christianity being divided into Eastern Orthodoxy , Oriental Orthodoxy and

15616-805: Was associated. New Church adherents do not believe in purgatory ; punishment occurs only in hell. Immediately after death, one enters the spirit world (in this case, meaning an intermediary state between heaven and hell) and awaits judgment of whether they will enter heaven or hell. Since the evil try to appear good and the good retain false ideas, one remains in this intermediate state until they are examined. Those who are profoundly good and know truth go immediately to heaven, and those who are profoundly evil flee from heaven's perceived blinding light and burning heat, and go to hell. Otherwise, one gradually withdraws from exterior appearances and fallacies into one's interior intentions and affections "Thus hidden things are laid open and secret things are uncovered, according to

15744-590: Was considered a liberal concept at the time, and Swedenborgians accepted freed African converts in their homes as early as 1790. Several Swedenborgians were also abolitionists . Occultism became increasingly popular during the 19th century (particularly in the United States , France , and England ), and some followers blended Swedenborg's writings with theosophy , cabala , alchemy , and divination . Swedenborg's mystical side fascinated them; they concentrated on Heaven and Hell , which describes Swedenborg's visits to Heaven and Hell to experience (and report on)

15872-399: Was how some ancients came to believe in the preexistence of souls and reincarnation. However, the New Church does not consider this to be true, instead believing that one lives only once, and how one lives this life determines one's eternal destiny. At death, the soul sheds the physical body, is born into a spiritual mind and body, and becomes aware of the spiritual society with which one's soul

16000-446: Was not necessarily schism . Christians are obligated to practice their beliefs rather than remain within a church with which they disagree, but they must also recognize their imperfect knowledge and not condemn other Christians as apostate over unimportant matters. Some Christians view denominationalism as a regrettable fact. As of 2011, divisions are becoming less sharp, and there is increasing cooperation between denominations, which

16128-404: Was often used in conjunction with pansophy . The term theosophy is more properly reserved for the reverse process of contemplating the divine in order to discover the content of the concrete universe. In England, Robert Hindmarsh , a printer with a Methodist background, formed a "Theosophical Society" in 1783, for translating, printing and distributing the writings of Swedenborg. This society

16256-661: Was renamed in 1785 as "The British Society for the Propagation of the Doctrines of the New Church ", consisting of Swedenborgian based beliefs. In France, Denis Diderot gave the word theosophie more attention than other encyclopedias of this period by including an article on it in his Encyclopédie , published during the French Enlightenment. The article dealt mostly with Paracelsus and essentially plagiarized Brucker's "Historia". Groups such as

16384-540: Was to explain theosophy. Therefore, the terms denoted the opposite of the present-day meaning. During the Renaissance , use of the term diverged to refer to gnostic knowledge that offers the individual enlightenment and salvation through a knowledge of the bonds that are believed to unite her or him to the world of divine or intermediary spirits. Christian theosophy arose in Germany in the 16th century. Inspired to

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