RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
New Jerusalem Church New Manicheans
fermented juice of the grape; (6) marriage to be based on religious principles and on similarity in religion between husband and wife; (7) interference with the birth of offspring in marriage to be condemned as an abomination; (8) the laws revealed in Swedenborg's work on conjugal love concerning the intermediates between marriage and adultery to be acknowledged as laws of order; (9) social life to be based upon similarity of religion; (10) unanimity in essential things to be the guiding principle in the government of the church; (11) legislation in spiritual things to be avoided as unnecessary and hurtful; (12) education of the young in the doctrines of the New Church the chief hope for the establishment of the New Church in the Christian world.
In pursuance of these principles and aims the Academy in 1877 opened a theological school and college for young men in Philadelphia, and, a few years later, a seminary for young ladies and primary schools for children of both sexes. In 1897 all these departments were removed to Bryn Athyn, Pa., fifteen miles northeast of Philadelphia, and there, through the munificence of John Pitcairn, a number of large buildings have been erected and equipped for the educational work of the Academy, the enterprise being liberally endowed by him. The faculty of the schools consists of twenty-five professors and teachers, with Charles E. Doering as the present superintendent. The religious education is under the direct supervision of Bishop Pendleton, who is also the president of the Academy. New Church baptism is an obligatory condition of entrance into the schools. The aims and methods of instruction are unique, the constant purpose being to prepare the pupils for a life of piety, virtue, and usefulness not only in this world but more especially for the eternal life. Religion, therefore, enters as the essential and all-qualifying element in all branches of instruction. The Academy issues an annual Journal of Education.
The majority of those who sympathized with the aims and principles of the Academy were members of the Pennsylvania Association, which was a component part of the General Conven-
6. The tion. This association, in 1883, adopted
General the name of " The General Church of Church of Pennsylvania " together with an epis-
the New copal form of government, and with Jerusalem, this body friends of the Academy in other states began to associate themselves. Determined and persistent opposition to the Academy on the part of the leaders of the convention culminated in 1890, when the convention refused to receive the annual report of the General Church of Pennsylvania and attempted to interfere with that autonomy in its internal affairs which had been guaranteed to state associations by the constitution of the general convention. The General Church then severed its connection with the convention, and the majority of its members in 1897 organized anew under the name of The General Church of the New Jerusalem, with Rev. William Frederick Pendleton as its bishop. This church, a year after its organization, counted 300 members, but at present numbers 1,000 members,
all of whom have been received by individual application. There are sixteen societies and circles, with twenty-two ministers. Five of the societies maintain local parish schools, conducted according to the principles of the Academy. The bishop is assisted by a consistory and a general council. The council of the clergy and the (lay) executive committee meet annually. There are annual district assemblies, and a general assembly every third year. New Church Life, a monthy magazine established in 1881, is the official organ of the General Church; it is published at Bryn Athyn, Pa., and is edited by Rev. Carl Theophilus Odlmer and Rev. Alfred Acton. C. T. Odhner.
Bibliography: For the history consult: R. Hindmarsh, Rise and Progress of the New Jerusalem Church in England and other Parts, London, 1861; New Church Almanac, Boston, 1889 (contains historical account of the denomination). G. Field, Memoirs, Incidents, and Reminiscences of the Early Hist, of the New Church in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, New York, 1879; J. Bayley, New
Church Worthies, London, 1884; R. Sundelin, Swedenborgianismens historia i Sverige, Upsala, 1886; the Journals of the General Convention, 1817-35, were reprinted in 3 vols., Boston, 1888; G. H. Briggs, Hist, of the Rhodes New Church Society, 1797-1902, London, 1904; C. F. Dole, The New Church; what, how, why? New York, 1906. The principal treatment of the doctrine of the New Jerusalem Church is given in the article Swedenborg (q.v.). Consult further: B. F. Barrett, Lectures on the New Dispensation, Philadelphia, 1842; idem, Catholicity of the New Church, New York, 1863; A. Clissold, Creeds of Athanasius, Sabellius, Swedenborg, Compared, London, 1873; J. Clowes, Outlines of Swedenborg's Doctrines, London, 1873; New Jerusalem Church, Creed of the New Church, London, 1883; J. Worcester, Lectures upon the Doctrines of the New Church, Boston, 1886; T. Parsons, Outlines of the Religion and Philosophy of Swedenborg, Boston, 1894; J. F. Buss, What the New Church Teaches, London, 1897; F. Sewall, Swedenborg and Modern Idealism, London, 1902; G. Trobridge, Foundations of Philosophy, London, 1904; E. Swift, Manual of the Doctrines of the New Church, Boston, n.d.
NEW JERUSALEM, GENERAL CHURCH OF THE. See New Jerusalem Church, § 6.
NEW LIFE CHURCH. See New, John Fair.
NEW LIGHT ANTIBURGHERS. See Presbyterians.