I was born and raised in the New Church.  As a church, at times  it is called “Swedenborgian” because of our use of the theological works  of Emanuel Swedenborg as part of our religious canon.    The term is  used in a similar way to the way “Lutheran” churches reference their  church.  Both are clearly Christian with a unique “twist” presented by a  central theologian.

I subscribe to the belief that Swedenborg’s theology is inspired  revelation.  That does not make it “perfect” – a dangerous standard I  believe for any form of revelation, one that gives rise to  fundamentalism.  That being said, the core is “perfect” in the spiritual  sense of the word – a perfection centered around a consistent view of  God, this life, and the next.

The ideas that I find incredibly important ….

1. God: God is a loving being who took on a human body and lived as we  lived.  Therefore there is not a separation of God and Jesus.  The two  are one and the same, a unity Jesus lived into more and more in this  life, culminating with His complete glorification on the Cross and with  His resurrection.
2. This Life: So what is this life about?  This life is about “ceasing  to do evil, learning to do well.”  We are born flawed AND with infinite  potential.  God helps us to live into that potential. That will call us  to repentance (rethinking) and reformation (restructuring).  God then  can do His work which is changing loves focused on selfishness and  materialism into loves that are focused on serving others and God, loves  which in the end bring us the greatest amount of happiness (A process  called “regeneration”).  Restated, we do the best we can to cooperate  with God in pushing the bad stuff out of the way so the good stuff can  come front and center.   His Word, others, science, our own experience  etc… are all in place to help us.  Important to note, that all are given  a “path” by God.  We do not make exclusive Christian claims that only  those who are Christian can come into heaven.  Any faith, well lived,  can lead you there.
3. Next Life:  We are angels-in-training in this life.  In the next  life, we will live more and more into that angelic mindset.  We will  find ourselves living in communities who share that basic orientation.   We likewise will find ourselves sharing our eternal lives with our  beloved spouses in a state called “conjugial love” or “true love in  marriage.”  We will be useful, productive individuals learning and  growing to all eternity.

Good stuff!