On our Welcome page, I mentioned some core ideas that the New Church champions that are received – in their essence if not in the same form – by people the world over. I also said that our outlook is actually based on a foundation that is different than other Christian churches. Let me give you an idea of some foundational ideas that are different than mainstream Christianity.

The New Church differs in its understanding of who the one God is, and how He saves us. We differ in our understanding of what human beings must do to be saved. We differ in our definition of “the Word” – what we accept as God’s communication to us. We also differ in having many specific teachings about the spiritual world and life after death.

Who is the one God?

Jesus Christ. We call Him “the Lord.” That is the only God you will hear mentioned in our church. No trinity of separate Individuals who have separate roles in our salvation process, yet are somehow “one!” (We do believe in a Trinity of aspects to the one Divine Person.)

How did the Lord save us?

He took on a human form in the world and conquered hell from that vantage-point. He fought the powers of evil as we must fight them: in His own daily thoughts and feelings while here. This is how He “took on our sins” and “bore them.” In showing Himself in the flesh He gave us a stronger picture and sense of Himself that we can look to. In winning His battles He forged a path of clearer truths that we could follow and could use in our spiritual battles.

How are we saved?

Not merely by believing in what the Lord did, but by living as He lived. We do not do this by our own power, but by His. We do it as though from our self. We resist evil as though it were up to us, but we recognize, and increasingly sense, that we fight from Him alone. No human merit! Yet full human responsibility for seeking and initiating life-change (repentance).

The ideas mentioned above are foundational. They stand in contrast to those that became generally accepted in the Christian church from about the 4th century AD.

How does our definition of the Word differ?

We accept the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) as new revelation. These writings build on the revelations of the Old Testament and the New Testament. We call them the “Heavenly Doctrine” or simply “the Writings.” These teachings open up the Bible and show its consistent timeless meaning. This meaning lies within the stories and sayings of the Bible – sometimes under heavier layers of symbolism, sometimes under lighter, sometimes shining forth openly.

The Second Coming.

We believe that the Lord made His second advent to the New Church. He did not come in person again. He had already done that. He came to bring us that new understanding which He had promised when He said “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth” (Jn 16.12). He came to restore the church, which He foresaw would fall away from a true understanding.

A fuller idea of the spiritual world.

The Lord’s coming in the Heavenly Doctrine was brought about by His introducing Emanuel Swedenborg to a conscious presence in the spiritual world. There he was led by the Lord to see the true meaning of the Bible, as the angels of heaven understand it. The Lord’s second purpose in using this method of revelation was to teach us more about the spiritual world and to restore people’s faith in eternal life.

What we are given in these teachings is a clear picture of how our lives here are intertwined with the other world. Our very thinking and emotions come from links we have with people in the other world. When we are struggling with anger, depression, lust, we are fighting communities of minds in the other world. When we are enjoying the peace and protection of happy feelings and thoughts, we are linked with angels. Change in our mental states is change of our associations there.

This truth adds a new dimension to our ability to understand our spiritual life. We have a new way of understanding what is involved in life-change and in achieving the Lord’s happiness. It also enables us to understand more clearly what the Lord was doing to save us when He came to earth in person. His battles and victories were essentially fought and won in the world of the human mind. His gift to us was a re-ordered mental world in which good and evil could be clearly seen for what they were, and a good choice could be made by us and defended! But so much more could be said here.

Let me leave you with the thought that if you come to the New Church you will learn many new things. But you will also be surprised with how the consistent appeal in its teachings is to the universal truths that you already accept from common sense. You will find that the Lord is speaking in the beautiful teachings of this church. Come and see.

Matthew Genzlinger, pastor