Lord's New Church Which Is Nova Hierosolyma
Encyclopedia
The Lord's New Church Which Is Nova Hierosolyma is an international, Christian church
based on the Old Testament
, the New Testament
, and the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg
, which its members view as the Third Testament. It was founded in 1937 by former members of the General Church of the New Jerusalem
, also a Swedenborgian
church, after a doctrinal dispute led to the ousting of Rev. Ernst Pfeiffer of The Hague Society, a branch of the General Church located in the Netherlands
. Headquartered in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, U.S.
, the Church maintains an international congregation, with ministries or societies in Africa, Europe, and the United States, and has a total membership of approximately 1,000.
(son of PPG Industries
founder John Pitcairn
) and the Rev. Ernst Pfeiffer of The Hague Society in the Netherlands, by former members of the General Church of the New Jerusalem
who had left as a result of a doctrinal dispute.
The dispute in question centered on theological ideas proposed by a Dutch layman, H. D. G. Groeneveld, in De Hemelsche Leer (The Celestial Doctrine), a Dutch periodical started by Pfeiffer in 1929. Emanuel Swedenborg
, whose writings compose the distinctive body of material used by the General Church, had proposed the idea that the Bible
had, in addition to its intended material meaning, a spiritual meaning that had been revealed through the communications between Swedenborg and the angelic realm. The General Church placed paramount authority on the writings of Swedenborg, but Groeneveld went beyond this; he proposed that Swedenborg's theological writings themselves were nothing less than a Third Testament, and thus, according to Swedenborg's ideas, must also have an inner, spiritual meaning.
In the United States, Pitcairn emerged as an early proponent of Groeneveld's perspective. In 1927, he wrote a short book entitled The Book Sealed with Seven Seals to introduce the idea to the American church.
In the 1930s, first the leadership of the General Church, and later, its Council of the Clergy, rejected the leading theses propounded in De Hemelsche Leer. Rev. Pfeiffer, whose Hague Society supported the periodical, was thus ordered to stop publication. When he refused, he was forced, in 1937, to leave the General Church by its leading Bishop, the Rev. George de Charms. This led other leading adherents of the theses, including Pitcairn, to resign that year as well. That same year, Pitcairn, Pfeiffer, and others proceeded to establish the Lord's New Church Which Is Nova Hierosolyma, centered in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania
, and The Hague, The Netherlands
.
In 1939, Rev. Pitcairn established a non-profit corporation for the purposes of promoting and maintaining the new church.
The events of the Second World War delayed formalization of the new Church's organization. Finally, in March 1947, the Church's international governmental structure was drawn up by a provisional international council composed of the laymen Groeneveld and Anton Zelling, and the Revs. Pfeiffer, Pitcairn, and Philip N. Odhner, and approved by Church members in America and Holland later that year.
(written in Hebrew), the New Testament
(written in Greek), and the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg
(written in Latin), the last of which is referred to as the Latin Word. The Lord's New Church differs from the General Church, as its parent denomination is commonly called, and from other Swedenborgian branches, in that the former's members view Swedenborg's theological writings as a Third Testament.
The Three Essentials
The Church propounds three essential theological principles:
The Principles of Doctrine
The Church also identifies three 'Principles of Doctrine':
, a form of church governance
which is hierarchical in structure, and in which the chief authority over a local Christian church rests with a bishop. The external governmental structure of the Church is based upon a portion of Swedenborg's writings that describes a 'circle of life' composed of a 'descending line' and an 'ascending line'; the priesthood corresponds to the former and the laity to the latter.
Headquartered in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, U.S.
, the Church has ministries or societies in Africa, Europe, and the United States. It has a worldwide membership of approximately 1000, with the majority of these residing in southern Africa.
The Church is supported by a non-profit corporation of the same name.
Christian Church
The Christian Church is the assembly or association of followers of Jesus Christ. The Greek term ἐκκλησία that in its appearances in the New Testament is usually translated as "church" basically means "assembly"...
based on the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
, the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
, and the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg
Emanuel Swedenborg
was a Swedish scientist, philosopher, and theologian. He has been termed a Christian mystic by some sources, including the Encyclopædia Britannica online version, and the Encyclopedia of Religion , which starts its article with the description that he was a "Swedish scientist and mystic." Others...
, which its members view as the Third Testament. It was founded in 1937 by former members of the General Church of the New Jerusalem
General Church of the New Jerusalem
The General Church of the New Jerusalem is an international church based in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, and based on the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the theological works of Emanuel Swedenborg...
, also a Swedenborgian
Swedenborgian
A Swedenborgian is the doctrines, beliefs, and practices of the Church of the New Jerusalem, and is an adjective describing a person or an organization that understands the Bible through the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg....
church, after a doctrinal dispute led to the ousting of Rev. Ernst Pfeiffer of The Hague Society, a branch of the General Church located in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. Headquartered in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania
Bryn Athyn is a home rule municipality, in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It was formerly a borough, and its official name remains "Borough of Bryn Athyn". The population was 1,375 at the 2010 census...
, the Church maintains an international congregation, with ministries or societies in Africa, Europe, and the United States, and has a total membership of approximately 1,000.
History
The Church was founded in 1937, under the principal leadership of Rev. Theodore PitcairnTheodore Pitcairn
Theodore Pitcairn , son of PPG Industries founder John Pitcairn, was an arts collector and philanthropist, and a minister in the General Church of the New Jerusalem....
(son of PPG Industries
PPG Industries
PPG Industries is a global supplier of paints, coatings, optical products, specialty materials, chemicals, glass and fiber glass. With headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, PPG operates in more than 60 countries around the globe. Sales in 2010 were $13.4 billion...
founder John Pitcairn
John Pitcairn, Jr.
John Pitcairn, Jr. was a Scottish-born American industrialist. With just an elementary school education, Pitcairn rose through the ranks of the Pennsylvania railroad industry, and played a significant role in the creation of the modern oil and natural gas industries...
) and the Rev. Ernst Pfeiffer of The Hague Society in the Netherlands, by former members of the General Church of the New Jerusalem
General Church of the New Jerusalem
The General Church of the New Jerusalem is an international church based in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, and based on the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the theological works of Emanuel Swedenborg...
who had left as a result of a doctrinal dispute.
The dispute in question centered on theological ideas proposed by a Dutch layman, H. D. G. Groeneveld, in De Hemelsche Leer (The Celestial Doctrine), a Dutch periodical started by Pfeiffer in 1929. Emanuel Swedenborg
Emanuel Swedenborg
was a Swedish scientist, philosopher, and theologian. He has been termed a Christian mystic by some sources, including the Encyclopædia Britannica online version, and the Encyclopedia of Religion , which starts its article with the description that he was a "Swedish scientist and mystic." Others...
, whose writings compose the distinctive body of material used by the General Church, had proposed the idea that the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
had, in addition to its intended material meaning, a spiritual meaning that had been revealed through the communications between Swedenborg and the angelic realm. The General Church placed paramount authority on the writings of Swedenborg, but Groeneveld went beyond this; he proposed that Swedenborg's theological writings themselves were nothing less than a Third Testament, and thus, according to Swedenborg's ideas, must also have an inner, spiritual meaning.
In the United States, Pitcairn emerged as an early proponent of Groeneveld's perspective. In 1927, he wrote a short book entitled The Book Sealed with Seven Seals to introduce the idea to the American church.
In the 1930s, first the leadership of the General Church, and later, its Council of the Clergy, rejected the leading theses propounded in De Hemelsche Leer. Rev. Pfeiffer, whose Hague Society supported the periodical, was thus ordered to stop publication. When he refused, he was forced, in 1937, to leave the General Church by its leading Bishop, the Rev. George de Charms. This led other leading adherents of the theses, including Pitcairn, to resign that year as well. That same year, Pitcairn, Pfeiffer, and others proceeded to establish the Lord's New Church Which Is Nova Hierosolyma, centered in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania
Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania
Bryn Athyn is a home rule municipality, in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It was formerly a borough, and its official name remains "Borough of Bryn Athyn". The population was 1,375 at the 2010 census...
, and The Hague, The Netherlands
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
.
In 1939, Rev. Pitcairn established a non-profit corporation for the purposes of promoting and maintaining the new church.
The events of the Second World War delayed formalization of the new Church's organization. Finally, in March 1947, the Church's international governmental structure was drawn up by a provisional international council composed of the laymen Groeneveld and Anton Zelling, and the Revs. Pfeiffer, Pitcairn, and Philip N. Odhner, and approved by Church members in America and Holland later that year.
Teachings and practices
The Church is a branch of what is commonly called the "New Church" or the "Swedenborgian Church", and is a post-Reformation form of Christianity that bases its teachings on the Old TestamentOld Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
(written in Hebrew), the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
(written in Greek), and the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg
Emanuel Swedenborg
was a Swedish scientist, philosopher, and theologian. He has been termed a Christian mystic by some sources, including the Encyclopædia Britannica online version, and the Encyclopedia of Religion , which starts its article with the description that he was a "Swedish scientist and mystic." Others...
(written in Latin), the last of which is referred to as the Latin Word. The Lord's New Church differs from the General Church, as its parent denomination is commonly called, and from other Swedenborgian branches, in that the former's members view Swedenborg's theological writings as a Third Testament.
The Three Essentials
The Church propounds three essential theological principles:
- The acknowledgment of the Lord Jesus ChristJesusJesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
in His Divine Human as the one only God of Heaven and Earth, in Whom is the Divine TrinityTrinityThe Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
.
- The acknowledgment of the Word of the Lord in its three Testaments, the Old TestamentOld TestamentThe Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
, the New TestamentNew TestamentThe New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
, and the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, which are the Third Testament. In this Third Testament the Lord has fulfilled His Second ComingSecond ComingIn Christian doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ, the Second Advent, or the Parousia, is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven, where he sits at the Right Hand of God, to Earth. This prophecy is found in the canonical gospels and in most Christian and Islamic eschatologies...
, and all the Divine Truth of His Divine Human from firsts to lasts is present therein in fullness, holiness and power. What is said in this Testament concerning the Sacred Scripture or Word applies also to itself.
- The life of faith, charity and love into the Lord that is of Heaven, being the Divine essence of eternal life in man and in the Church.
The Principles of Doctrine
The Church also identifies three 'Principles of Doctrine':
- It is not the Word that makes the Church, but the understanding of it. The Church is according to its Doctrine and the Doctrine is out of the Word. However the Doctrine does not instaurate the Church, but the integrity and purity of the Doctrine, consequently the understanding (intellectus) of the Word.
- The Doctrine is spiritual out of celestial origin not out of rational origin.
- The Third Testament without Doctrine is as a candlestick without light, and those who read that Testament without Doctrine, or who do not acquire for themselves Doctrine out of the Third Testament, are in darkness as to all Truth.
Church structure and organization
The Church is essentially organized as an episcopal polityEpiscopal polity
Episcopal polity is a form of church governance that is hierarchical in structure with the chief authority over a local Christian church resting in a bishop...
, a form of church governance
Ecclesiastical polity
Ecclesiastical polity is the operational and governance structure of a church or Christian denomination. It also denotes the ministerial structure of the church and the authority relationships between churches...
which is hierarchical in structure, and in which the chief authority over a local Christian church rests with a bishop. The external governmental structure of the Church is based upon a portion of Swedenborg's writings that describes a 'circle of life' composed of a 'descending line' and an 'ascending line'; the priesthood corresponds to the former and the laity to the latter.
Headquartered in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania
Bryn Athyn is a home rule municipality, in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It was formerly a borough, and its official name remains "Borough of Bryn Athyn". The population was 1,375 at the 2010 census...
, the Church has ministries or societies in Africa, Europe, and the United States. It has a worldwide membership of approximately 1000, with the majority of these residing in southern Africa.
The Church is supported by a non-profit corporation of the same name.
External links
- Website of The Lord's New Church Which Is Nova Hierosolyma
- The Fascicles of De Hemelsche Leer - An English translation of extracts of the original Dutch publication