New Jerusalem
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
CHURCH OF THE, a religious sect founded in London, England, in 1783, on the teachings of EMMANUEL SWEDENBORG (q. v.). The doctrines of this Church include a belief in the Trinity, God being the infinite divine essence, Christ the human manifestation of God, and the Holy Spirit the divine power seen in all the dispensations of God; a belief in heaven and hell, with an intermediate world of spirits where both good and bad go directly after death and are there prepared respectively for heaven and for hell; a belief in the Bible, as the repository of divine truth of which the Lord Himself is the author; though the different books were written by various inspired men. The polity of the Church is a modified episcopacy, but each congregation directs its own affairs. There are associations of congregations, and a general convention composed of delegates from the associations and a number of congregations which do not belong to any association. The Church of the New Jerusalem was founded in the United States in Baltimore, Md., in 1792, since which time it has spread to many States of the Union, but has the largest number of adherents in Massachusetts. At first there were two branches in the United States, connected with each other. This connection was severed in 1890. The larger body, known as the General Convention, in 1916, had 108 churches, 6,352 members, and church property valued at $1,711,- 090; the smaller, known as the General Church, had, in 1916, 15 churches, 733 members, and church property valued at $55,000. The latter considers the writings of Swedenborg as "divinely inspired."
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Collier's wrote this in 1921 the Swedenborgian movement's larger American branch was the General Convention, with 108 churches and some 6,350 members, while the breakaway General Church of 1890 had only 15 churches and 733. That balance has since reversed: the General Convention, now called the Swedenborgian Church of North America, has dwindled to a few dozen small congregations, while the General Church built its own centre at Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, whose Gothic cathedral was completed in the 1920s and which now runs Bryn Athyn College and the Academy of the New Church. The church's real growth in the past century has been outside the countries Collier's mentions, with substantial congregations in West Africa, southern Africa and South Korea. Swedenborg's own writings remain in print in London, where the Swedenborg Society still occupies its Bloomsbury house, and he is read today at least as often for his influence on Blake, Emerson and later writers as for his theology.
Written for this edition, 2026.