Center for Swedenborgian Studies

The term "Swedenborgian" derives from the name of Emanuel Swedenborg, an 18th-century Swedish philosopher, scientist, theologian, and mystic. The "Studies" component signifies a focus on academic inquiry and the systematic exploration of his extensive writings and spiritual insights.

The Center for Swedenborgian Studies (formerly called the New Church Theological School or NCTS and also previously known as the Swedenborgian House of Studies) is the seminary of the Swedenborgian Church of North America at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. It offers a Certificate in Swedenborgian Studies and a Certificate in Swedenborgian Ministry Studies. It also functions as a think-tank for Swedenborgian studies globally. The Center for Swedenborgian Studies or CSS (formerly...

In our contemporary world, often characterized by fragmented knowledge and a yearning for deeper meaning, institutions like the Center for Swedenborgian Studies serve as vital anchors. They offer a curated space for the sustained contemplation of a singular, complex spiritual vision, much like the monastic scriptoria of old preserved and disseminated sacred texts. Emanuel Swedenborg, a figure who straddled the worlds of empirical science and ecstatic revelation, presents a compelling case study in the integration of intellect and spirit. His extensive writings, detailing intricate hierarchies of angels, the symbolic language of the Bible, and the mechanics of the afterlife, invite a rigorous, scholarly approach that transcends mere devotional reading. The Center’s work, in fostering both theological education and global research, echoes Mircea Eliade’s observations on the perennial need for sacred spaces and traditions that mediate between the human and the divine. It allows for the careful dissection and understanding of a unique cosmology, revealing how even the most esoteric pronouncements can be rendered into a coherent, albeit challenging, system of thought. This academic pursuit of Swedenborg's legacy is not merely an academic exercise; it is an act of preserving a particular mode of spiritual inquiry, one that posits a deep, interconnected reality accessible through both reason and a cultivated inner sight. The Center’s existence suggests that the profound, the visionary, and the deeply personal can, and perhaps must, be subjected to the clarifying lens of scholarly investigation to endure and continue to illuminate the human condition.