Editing Swedenborgianism (section)

== History ==
Although Swedenborg spoke in his works about a "New Church" that would be based on the theology he presented, he never tried to establish such an organization. Swedenborg published some of his theological works anonymously; his writings promoted one universal church based on love and charity, rather than multiple churches named after their founders and based on belief or doctrine.<ref name=AC1799.4>Swedenborg, Emanuel. ''Heavenly Arcana'' (or ''[[Arcana Coelestia]]''), 1749–58 (AC). 20 vols. Rotch Edition. New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1907, in ''The Divine Revelation of the New Jerusalem'' (2012), n. 1799(4).</ref>

In 1768, a heresy trial began in Sweden against Swedenborg's writings and two men who promoted them; the trial questioned whether Swedenborg's theological writings were consistent with Christian doctrine. A royal ordinance in 1770 declared that his writings were "clearly mistaken" and should not be taught, but his theology was never examined.<ref name="Jonsson, Inge 1999 pp.453">Jonsson, Inge, ''Swedenborg och Linné'', in Delblanc & Lönnroth (1999), pp.453–463.</ref>

Swedenborg's clerical supporters were ordered to stop using his teachings, and customs officials were directed to impound his books and stop their circulation in any district unless the nearest [[Consistory (Protestantism)|consistory]] granted permission. Swedenborg begged the king for grace and protection in a letter from Amsterdam; a new investigation of him stalled, and was dropped in 1778.<ref name="Jonsson, Inge 1999 pp.453"/>

At the time of Swedenborg's death in England, where he had often visited, few efforts had been made to establish an organised church. Two [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] clergymen were conspicuous in the work of disseminating his writings: Thomas Hartley (died 1784), [[rector (ecclesiastical)|rector]] of [[Winwick, Cheshire]], and [[John Clowes (priest)|John Clowes]], rector of [[St John's Church, Manchester]]. Hartley translated ''Heaven and Hell'' (1778) and ''True Christian Religion'' (1781); Clowes, who taught New Church doctrine in the existing churches and was opposed to the forming of new organisations, translated 17 volumes, including the ''Arcana Coelestia'', and published over 50 volumes of exposition and defense. Through his influence [[Lancashire]] became the stronghold of the Swedenborgians.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=New Jerusalem Church|volume=19|pages=514–515|first=Alexander James|last=Grieve|author-link=Alexander James Grieve}} This article also contains contemporaneous descriptions of congregations around the world.</ref>

In 1782 a society for publishing Swedenborg's writings was formed in Manchester, and in December 1783 a little company of sympathizers with similar aims met in London and founded a "[[Christian theosophy|Theosophical Society]]" among the members of which were [[John Flaxman]] the sculptor, [[William Sharp (engraver)|William Sharp]] the engraver, and [[François-Hippolyte Barthélémon]] the composer. In the early days most of them worshipped at the Female Orphan Asylum, St George's, whose chaplain, Rev. Jacob Duche, like Clowes at Manchester, preached the doctrines from his own pulpit. Five prominent [[Wesleyan theology|Wesleyan]] preachers adopted the new teaching and were cut off from their connection, a step which led, in spite of remonstrance from Clowes and others, to the formal founding.<ref name="EB1911"/>

On 7 May 1787 (15 years after Swedenborg's death), the New Church movement was formally founded in England. A number of churches had sprung up around England by 1789, and in April of that year the first General Conference of the New Church was held in Great Eastcheap, London.<ref name="EB1911"/> Later a weekly [[newspaper]], the ''Morning Light'', was published, as well as monthly magazines for adults (the ''New Church Magazine'') and young people. The liturgy (containing five [[Church service|services]] for Morning and Evening, together with the order of [[Baptism]], [[Eucharist|Holy Supper]], [[Marriage]], etc.) was prepared in 1828, revised and extended in 1875; the [[hymnal]] of 1823 was revised and enlarged in 1880.<ref name="EB1911"/>

New Church ideas were spread in the United States by missionaries, one of whom was John Chapman ([[Johnny Appleseed]]).<ref name=swedhist>{{cite web|url=http://swedenborg.org/FamousSwedenborgians/JohnChapman.aspx |title=John Chapman |publisher=Swedenborg.org |access-date=6 June 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150517055447/http://www.swedenborg.org/FamousSwedenborgians/JohnChapman.aspx |archive-date=17 May 2015 }}</ref>
Early missionaries also travelled to parts of [[Africa]]. Swedenborg believed that the "African race" was "in greater enlightenment than others on this earth, since they are such that they think more 'interiorly', and so receive truths and acknowledge them."<ref>Swedenborg, Emanuel. ''The Final Judgment'', 1758 (FJ). Rotch Edition. New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1907, in ''The Divine Revelation of the New Jerusalem'' (2012), n. 118.</ref> African enlightenment was considered a liberal concept at the time, and Swedenborgians accepted freed African converts in their homes as early as 1790. Several Swedenborgians were also [[abolitionism|abolitionists]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brycchancarey.com/abolition/wadstrom.htm |title=Carl Bernhard Wadström: biography and bibliography |website=Brycchancarey.com |date=8 June 2004 |access-date=20 January 2017}}</ref>

[[Occultism]] became increasingly popular during the 19th century (particularly in the [[United States]],<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Queen II |first1=Edward L. |title=The Encyclopedia of American Religious History |last2=Prothero |first2=Stephen R. |last3=Shattuck Jr. |first3=Gardiner H. |publisher=Proseworks |year=1996 |isbn=0-8160-3545-8 |volume=2 |location=New York |pages=657 |author-link2=Stephen Prothero}}</ref> [[France]], and [[England]]), and some followers blended Swedenborg's writings with [[Theosophy (Boehmian)|theosophy]], [[Christian Kabbalah|cabala]], [[alchemy]], and [[divination]]. Swedenborg's mystical side fascinated them; they concentrated on ''[[Heaven and Hell (Swedenborg)|Heaven and Hell]]'', which describes Swedenborg's visits to [[Heaven]] and [[Hell]] to experience (and report on) the conditions there. In structure, it was related to Dante's ''[[Divine Comedy]]''.

[[File:Bryn Athyn Cathedral.jpg|thumb|alt=Exterior of a large church with many spires|[[Bryn Athyn Cathedral]] of the General Church in Pennsylvania]]
The U.S. church was organised in 1817 with the founding of the General Convention of the New Church (sometimes shortened to the Convention), now also known as the ''[[Swedenborgian Church of North America]]''.<ref>[http://www.swedenborg.org/Home.aspx Official website] of the Swedenborgian Church of North America.</ref> The movement in the United States strengthened until the late 19th century, and there was a New-Church Theology School in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]].<ref>{{cite news |title=New-Church Theology School |url=https://archive.org/stream/independen79v80newy#page/n40/mode/1up |newspaper=The Independent |date=6 July 1914 |access-date=1 August 2012}}</ref> Controversies about doctrine and the authority of Swedenborg's writings caused a faction to split off and form the Academy of the New Church. It later became known as the [[General Church of the New Jerusalem]] – sometimes called the General Church – with its headquarters in [[Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania]] (a suburb of [[Philadelphia]]). Other congregations felt doctrinally compelled to join the General Church at its inception. Two Convention congregations in Canada (one in Toronto and another in Kitchener) and two congregations from the British Conference – Michael Church in London and [[Colchester New Church]] – joined the General Church.<ref>Block, Marguerite Beck. ''The New Church in the New World''. Swedenborg Publishing Association New York, p. 234 {{ISBN|0-87785-126-3}}</ref><ref>Annals of The General Church of the New Jerusalem, p.71</ref>

The Adelaide Society of the New Church, in [[Adelaide]], in the [[Colony of South Australia]]. was founded by [[Jacob Pitman]], [[William Holden (journalist)|William Holden]], and Smith Owen Smith and their families in 1844.<ref name=samem>{{cite web | title=New Church and Swedenborg Centre | website=SA Memory|publisher=[[State Library of South Australia]] | date=17 February 2010 | url=https://www.samemory.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?c=1078 | access-date=11 January 2023}}</ref> On 11 July 1852, a Swedenborgian church opened on [[Carrington Street]], with Pitman serving as minister until 1859.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28732341 |title=Topics of the Day |newspaper=[[The South Australian Advertiser]] |location=Adelaide |date=10 July 1874 |access-date=4 April 2015 |page=2 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article160110085 |title=New Church in Carrington-street |newspaper=[[Adelaide Observer]]  |volume=X |issue=473  |location=South Australia |date=17 July 1852 |access-date=11 January 2023 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title= Rules of the Adelaide Society of the New Church | website=SA Memory |publisher=[[State Library of South Australia]]| date=12 November 2007 | url=https://www.samemory.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?c=1077 | access-date=11 January 2023}}</ref> The congregation grew to a peak in the 1890s, by which time a new church had been built in Hanson Street. In 1971, a new church was built at [[Warradale]], in a style that could be converted to a house in the future.<ref name=samem/>