By Rev. Dr. Jim Lawrence
Swedenborg declared a New Age was at hand—one connected to a new communication system between the natural and spiritual worlds. Communicating about the novel opening of the spiritual realm was aided by the innovative publishing technology called the Gutenberg printing press. Mass and fast communication had become widespread, and Swedenborg believed such technology was pivotal for the New Age he heralded.
Ironically, the very ability to communicate effectively about the emerging New Age mirrored the very spiritual world Swedenborg was revealing. When I was in seminary school in the early eighties, we talked about this very topic often: how much technology had continued to expand since Swedenborg’s day in a manner making life in the natural world increasingly like life in the spiritual world. In the spiritual world, if two angels wish to speak with one another, even if in vastly distant parts of the spiritual world, they are instantly in communication together. Space collapses through intention. Same thing with picking up the phone in the twentieth century and dialing someone on the other side of the planet: instant presence.
As the eighties proceeded with new ways to send written messages to others (we call this email now), we could deliver significant discourse to others within seconds, no matter where the recipient was, if they had the proper technology. Spiritually, we might imagine proper technology as prayer, and belief as another way of experiencing instantaneous communication.
We were so excited back then to see technology unfold powerfully in ways that Swedenborg predicted would be increasingly true in “the New Age,” a progressively popular terminology taking hold at that time. “New Age” framing began in the seventies, but then morphed dramatically in the eighties, while my seminary colleagues were trying to connect with contemporary ministry strategies. If you read the Wikipedia article on the New Age Movement (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Age), you will see Swedenborg identified prominently among the thinkers who popularized its concepts.
Rev. Chauncey Giles, one of our most significant writers in the eighteenth century, was using the term “New Age” as a synonym for both the New Church and the Second Coming. And remember, the Second Coming itself involves a new communication system within the Word! Giles was probably the most effective Swedenborgian in the second half of the nineteenth century for reaching big audiences, and his popular public lectures and widespread writings heralded a New Age underway that had opened the spiritual world and revealed a farsighted view of where it is all going.
The New Church all started with a communications revelation that continues to evolve in extraordinary ways. We can reach out to others and hop on Zoom together in real time from all over the country: collapsing time, connecting us instantaneously, creating a dynamic community of spirit, and being part of the New Age of the New Church.
—Rev. Dr. Jim Lawrence
Read the full issue of the May Messenger.
Meet Jim Lawrence
Rev. Dr. Jim Lawrence is the president of the Swedenborgian Church of North America. He was the dean of the Center for Swedenborgian Studies for 21 years prior to being elected President in 2022.
