What is the New Church?
By David Roth and Anna Woofenden
When we talk about the New Church, we are not talking about the General Church of the New Jerusalem, or about any earthly organization. We are talking about a new church that the Lord has established. We are taught that, throughout history there have been five main eras and all of them have coincided with five churches.
The story of the first church is told metaphorically in first few chapters of the book of Genesis. The creation story and the set up of the Garden of Eden tells of the beginning of this church and its pristine nature. This church had a perception which enabled them to see in everything of nature truths about God and spiritual things – this is called the science of correspondences. In the course of time this church fell. Its fall is first described in metaphors in the story of the eating fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in Eden, and its end is pictured in the flood story. This church was called the Most Ancient Church.
The story of the second church called the Ancient Church is described, again in metaphors, by the story of Noah and his family. This pictures the beginning of this church. Its end or fall is pictured in the story of the tower of Babel. This church had a knowledge of the science of correspondences that the Most Ancient Church had but it wasn’t something they perceived, it was something they had to learn and that they wrote down and taught one another. These teachings comprise what is called the Ancient Word. Some of these stories are referred to in the Old Testament; for example the Book of Jasher is mention in Joshua 10:12,13. For the most part this book, however, is lost.
The story of the third church, called the Hebrew or Israelitish Church, is told in the Old Testament beginning with the call of Abram (later to be called Abraham) in Genesis 11 and carries on throughout the rest of the Old Testament, ending with the displacement of the Hebrew people and the Babylonian captivity. This church was a representative of a church. What this means is that all of the external rituals and laws such as sacrifices, incense offerings, circumcision, cleanings, etc. picture symbolically what a spiritual person does in obedience and love to the Lord. For example, to offer incense pictures prayer to God. The people of this church didn’t know about the internal meaning in what they did. They only did it in obedience to their God. So it was an external church without the corresponding internal life. It was able to play the part of the specific church of the Lord by representation. And in time it lost the ability to maintain the connection as things were corrupted by the leaders of the church.
The story of the fourth church, called the Christian Church, is told in New Testament. The story is told in the Gospels and the fall of this church is described, again symbolically, in the first 20 chapters of the book of Revelation. This church was able to guide people into a visible picture of a Human God – the Lord Jesus Christ. It also abolished all of the external rituals of the law (not the Ten Commandments) and restored lost teachings of love to the Lord and love to the neighbor. The stories left in the New Testament still were written symbolically or, as Jesus said, in parables. In time this church fell because people destroyed the truths about the Lord and about charity and faith. So the Lord had to raise up a new church.
The story of the fifth church, called The New Church (for lack of an official name at this point – some call it the church of the New Jerusalem, or New Christian Church) is told in the last two chapters of Revelation. The qualities of the church are described in imagery or correspondence in the details of the Holy City New Jerusalem. The truths that explain all this imagery and internal meaning, as well as about the Oneness of God and the unity of charity and faith in life are given in the Heavenly Doctrines for the New Church as revealed by means of Emanuel Swedenborg. In 1770 the Lord made His Second Coming in a new body of truth, revealed through Emanuel Swedenborg, and through that the Lord established the New Church. This is the Lord’s new means of connection with the human race and a new body of truth in order for us to learn about Him, know Him, obey Him, and through living the model set before us, be led to heaven. Just as the Hebrew or Jewish church was left with a set of books to follow called the Old Testament, so was the Christian church left with a set of books called the New Testament, and now has the New Church been left with a set of books called the Heavenly Doctrines or Writings for the New Church.
Each of these eras was distinguished in different ways. In each era the Lord connected with people on earth in a distinct way and revealed Himself in a unique way. The Lord would reveal Himself and set up a church on earth, and each time the human race strayed away from loving and obeying God to the point where the connection with Him had almost disappeared. When this happened He would then establish a new church, a new way of revealing Himself and establishing clear communication with the human race. Part of the reason for each church being different was that the Lord had to accommodate Himself differently to different types of people and mind sets.
"What does any of this have to do with me and my local congregation?" Everything! We’ve been given the blessing and the responsibility of knowing about this "New Church." As followers of the Lord we are called to help His New Church to reach and positively impact the world. People that earnestly live by these teachings can and will change the world. For example, imagine if the belief that all people who believe in God and live by their religion will go to heaven, and the consequent respect for people of other faiths was a universally held truth? Think how the world would be an incredibly different place, more peaceful, loving, and beautiful. Imagine the teachings on how to have a spiritually based and healthy marriage being common knowledge throughout the world. What if healthy communication and respect between men and women was widespread and accepted?
The Second Coming of the Lord and the establishment of a New Church is not just about bringing people through the doors of churches, it’s about people living by and sharing these ideas with others and integrating them into our culture. As part of the New Church we are called to be the vessels that can help spread this new awareness. This awareness can help individuals to live happier, more fulfilled lives; this awareness can bring peace to conflict; this awareness can help people live lives that lead to heaven. The mission of the New Church is to provide new light and love to a world in need. In the Lord’s prayer we say, "as in heaven so upon the earth." How can we be living lives now, and being a church now that is embodying the fundamentals of heavenly life?
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Here are a few key concepts to consider using this working model:
- In heaven every person shares what they love with others.
- There are different levels of heaven. i.e. different levels of commitment.
- The Lord is at the center of heaven.
- Everyone has a use and there is infinite variety in uses.
- People are arranged in communities, and smaller groups within the communities.
- People are fed if they are useful, if you want to be fed by the church, get involved.
- Angels overlook faults of others and put good interpretations on them.
- There are choirs in heaven representing the fact that it’s important for people to work in harmony.