One of the key points in the theology of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) is that the traditional understanding of the Trinity - three persons in one God - is mistaken. Instead, God is seen as having three "essential components." Lee Woofenden does a good job of explaining what this means in this article on his blog. However, there are some passages in the Bible where Jesus prays to the Father, says he has incomplete knowledge, and so on, which would seem to suggest that he is a distinct person, at least at that time. This apparent personhood, distinct from the Father, is especially poignant in a passage such as Luke 22:42: > "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done." Here Jesus seems to have his own personality, knowledge, desires, and so on. My question is, how are these sorts of passages explained within Swedenborgian thought?

I have spent time on the website [Spiritual Insights for Everyday Life, by Lee & Annette Woofenden](https://leewoof.org) , which has articles about some of this information but I cannot find what seems to be a sufficient answer to my questions on the nature of Christ's sacrifice according to Swedenborg's interpretation of scripture. Some of the questions I have in regard to the Swedenborgian perspective: Why did Christ die? Did Christ die for our sins as an offering as we find in the Old Testament? What about the book of Hebrews? How can Christ be the new covenant if his blood does not cover sin? I am just needing more clarity. I cannot seem to piece it together.

I've lately been interested in the life of the people in Eden. According to Emanuel Swedenborg, how separated is it from the life we are living today? How did husbands and wives interact? What were their daily routines or lifestyles?

The Wikipedia article on Emanuel Swedenborg mentions his revelations, but doesn't use the term "prophet" even once. Did Swedenborg not see himself as a prophet? What is a prophet, according to Swedenborg, other than someone receiving divine revelation and preaching it?

> At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. (Matthew 22:30, NIV) I recently posed this verse as a question to Swedenborgians who believe that marriages on Earth can continue into heaven. It’s been traditionally understood by the church that this verse says marriages cease after death. However, Lee Woofenden argued that this verse only says people won’t be given in marriage. So then, what is the biblical basis for claiming that Matthew 22:30 is referring to all marriages ceasing at death?

An article titled "The Lord " at the website of the Swedenborg Foundation states that Emanuel Swedenborg believed >“that the Lord is God from eternity and that he himself is that Lord who was born into the world” (*The Lord* #1). Also that he >uses the term the *Lord* (Latin *Dominus*) to refer equally to the infinite, omnipotent creator of the universe and to the human incarnation known as Jesus Christ. However, in works where he discusses the nature of Deity in detail, he often uses the name Jehovah, the Latin *Deus* (God), or the neuter *Divinum* (the Divine) to refer specifically to the infinite and uncreated aspect of Deity, while *the Lord* refers to Jesus. He only occasionally uses the name Jesus Christ. The same article goes on to say that Jesus >was unique in that he was born of the Holy Spirit, with an inner divinity he called “the Father who dwells within me” (John 14:10). The ultimate union was so complete that he rose from the dead even physically. I have also recently read in a comment on Christianity Stack Exchange that >from a Swedenborgian perspective, the Cross is the culmination of a lifelong battle against the power of evil, by which Jesus completed his victory over the Devil—which from our perspective is a personification of hell. I.e., the Cross is simply one part of a much larger effort and accomplishment of the Lord during the Incarnation. (Lee Woofenden - source ) This raises several questions as to the divinity of Jesus and his role in redemption. Did the Lord (God Almighty) incarnate as a human in the body of Jesus of Nazareth? Does this mean that Jesus did not have a pre-incarnate existence in heaven? So who died on the cross? And is it up to humans to earn their salvation by good deeds in this life and in the life to come? Whilst seeking Swedenborgian sources, I also request references from the Bible. To keep things simple, what I really want to know is ***who, according to Swedenborg, is this Jesus, born of a woman, who died and then was resurrected, and what part did Jesus play in our salvation?***

> At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. (Matthew 22:30, NIV) Jesus here seems to pretty clearly indicate that marriages from Earth will cease. However, the New Church (also known as Swedenborgians) believe in eternal marriage, as stated on the Swedenborgian website [newchurch.org](https://newchurch.org/get-answers/spiritual-concepts/marriage/) : >There is one human bond which rises above all others in the beauty and magnitude of its love. This is the union of souls between a husband and wife who look towards God in all aspects of their marriage. **These married partners can remain together for eternity.** How, then, do Swedenborgians understand Matthew 22:30?

When Jesus died he apparently took the repentant thief with him and in the spirit flew to paradise. Besides an instantaneous resurrection of the soul and the spirit at time of death, 2–3 days later Jesus was furnished with a functioning body. Did Swedenborg teach anything about a resurrection of the body? If so, did he say anything about a bodily resurrection for the wicked?

This wiki page says that: > Emanuel Swedenborg explained in his theological writings how the Divine Trinity exists in One Person, in One God, the Lord Jesus Christ, which he said is taught in Colossians 2:9. According to *The Heavenly Doctrine,* Jesus, the Son of God, came into the world because of the spread of evil here. So Swedenborg did believe that Jesus was God, but on the other hand he didn't seem to believe in Trinity—that is, that the other two Persons of the Trinity were God. If so, then how did he go about explaining numerous verses in the Bible claiming that the Father is God? And how did he explain those instances when Jesus prayed to the Father?

What do Swedenborgian Christian psychologists say about prolonged depression, Complex PTSD due to severe childhood trauma by a malicious parent, and complicated grieving?

A common function of the Holy Spirit in the salvation of sinners, according to Catholicism, mainstream Protestantism, and the Reformed Church, among others, is derived from passages like the following: > (John 6:44 NASB) "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. > > (2 Timothy 2:24-26 NASB) "The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will." > > (Matthew 16:15-17 NASB) He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven." > > (2 Corinthians 2:12-14) Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. From these passages and others like them, the Christian groups above have commonly established certain functions of the Holy Spirit in the salvation of the individual: - It is by the Holy Spirit that the individual becomes aware of their sin. - It is by the Holy Spirit that the individual gains knowledge of the identity of the Son of God- Jesus Christ. - It is by the Holy Spirit that the individual acquires the desire to follow Jesus Christ in word and deed. - It is by the Holy Spirit that the individual is enabled to act toward this knowledge and desire. - The Holy Spirit dwells within the convert as a guarantee of their salvation, empowering them to act according to Jesus' commandments regarding Christian living. However, Swedenborg does not acknowledge that a person needs to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, nor desire to follow Jesus Christ in word, nor to adopt Christian living1, in order to be saved. With these things in mind, my question is, "What is the role of the Holy Spirit in Swedenborg's soteriology?" ----- 1. For the purpose of this question, let us regard the aspects of Christian living to be the worship of Jesus Christ in word and deed, Christian education, ministry to the Body of Christ, and evangelism of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

As covered in the Wikipedia article on Biblical canon , among the major branches of Christianity Protestantism has the smallest biblical canon, due almost entirely to a smaller Old Testament canon. The various New Church or "Swedenborgian" denominations, however, have a considerably smaller canon for both the Old and New Testaments, as covered in this question: What writings are held as "biblical canon" by Swedenborgians? Are there any *other* Christian churches or denominations whose biblical canon is smaller than the Protestant canon? If so, what books do they include in their canon, and what reasons do they give for their particular canon?

The origin of man is thought by some to be through God's creation of Adam and Eve. Some people believe that we originated from lower forms of animals. And some people believe that aliens were the direct progenitors of mankind. Where did Emanuel Swedenborg believe we came from?

Reading an article on Emanuel Swedenborg, I came across the following fact: > It should be noted, however, that Corinthians is not included in the list of books that, according to Swedenborg, constitute the divinely inspired Biblical canon. (Source: Heaven and Hell (Swedenborg) , on Wikipedia) What list of books did, according to Swedenborg, constitute divinely inspired biblical canon?

[Swedenborgianism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Church) , or the New Church, is a religious movement based on the writings of [Emanuel Swedenborg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuel_Swedenborg) (1688–1772). My understanding is that he saw a series of visions, and based on what he learned in these visions and his interpretation of the Bible, he developed a system of theology that differs on some points from traditional Christianity. What do Protestants think of this system? I'm most interested in points of disagreement, so, **what is an overview of Protestant critiques of Swedenborgianism?**

As a follow-up to previous questions, I'd like to know: **Do Swedenborgians disagree with or "reinterpret" any phrases in the Apostles' Creed?** Here's the context: I'm listening to an audio series in which the [Apostles' Creed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostles%27_Creed#English_translations) is used as the framework for "Christian theology," implying that those who believe the Apostles' Creed are orthodox. But in this series, non-trinitarians are not considered orthodox. This makes me wonder – how do certain non-trinitarian groups understand the Apostles' Creed? Do they accept it as written, or simply reject it? Or perhaps they accept it, but interpret particular phrases in ways that trinitarians don't? Here, I'm most interested in how Swedenborg himself viewed the creed. If he did not address the Apostles' Creed in his writings, I'd be interested in the analysis of prominent Swedenborgian theologians (in overview style, if there is disagreement). Related: Same question for [Christadelphians](https://christianity.stackexchange.com/q/62507/21576) , [Jehovah's Witnesses](https://christianity.stackexchange.com/q/62297/21576) , [Mormons](https://christianity.stackexchange.com/q/62340/21576) , and [Oneness Pentecostals](https://christianity.stackexchange.com/q/62975/21576) .

According to Emanuel Swedenborg, or the New Church, can a good person go to heaven if he or she rejects Jesus? If all religions are inherently good, it would mean the a good person who believes only in Allah but refuse to believe or mock the idea that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, will still go to heaven? How does the whole thing work?

Based on [this question](https://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/43971/what-writings-are-held-as-biblical-canon-by-swedenborgians) we see that Swedenborg denied most of the New Testament as being divinely inspired. >Swedenborg did not reject the rest of the books of the Protestant Bible. He considered them "good books of the church" (see link below). However, he saw them as historical, instructional, and doctrinal writings *rather than as divinely inspired books of the Word of God.* (emphasis added) However he accepted the four Gospels and the book of Apocalypse as being divinely inspired. *Why* did he even accept these five books as inspired?

This question is about two passages: Psalm 110:1 and Mark 15:34. In Psalm 110:1, King David wrote, according to the KJV : > The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make > thine enemies thy footstool. ...and here according to the American Standard Version : > Jehovah saith unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, Until I make > thine enemies thy footstool. When on earth, Jesus applied this passage to himself in Matthew 22:41-45 (ASV) : > 41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a > question, 42 saying, What think ye of the Christ? whose son is he? > They say unto him, The son of David. 43 He saith unto them, How then > doth David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying, 44 The Lord said unto > my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Till I put thine enemies > underneath thy feet? 45 If David then calleth him Lord, how is he his > son? The passage in Mark 15:34, on another hand, records Jesus' expression when near death (here according to the KJV ): > And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, > Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, > why hast thou forsaken me? According to the answer to this other question , the Swedenborgian view of the relationship between Jesus and God is that God (i.e. his Father) is his soul within him. To the question about whom Jesus was talking to when praying, the answer states: > Jesus was talking to himself, and specifically, to his own soul, which > was the Father within him. **The questions I would like to ask are:** 1. If God is a component inside Jesus, then how is the command to sit "at God's right hand" to be interpreted? 2. How is the notion of God as a component inside Jesus reconciled with the seeming authority structure in Psalm 110:1 (describing an invitation from a higher authority to a lower authority to sit at his right hand)? 3. How is the notion that God is the soul within Jesus reconciled with Jesus' expression that apparently indicated that God had at that point "abandoned" him?

What is the official opinion of the Catholic Church on works of Emanuel Swedenborg , especially Heaven and Hell ?