The True Christian Religion

The True Christian Religion is a book by Emanuel Swedenborg, first published in 1771. In this work Swedenborg sets out a systematic theology intended as a practical and spiritual summary of his earlier revelations.

It treats the nature of God and Christ, the authority and inner meaning of Scripture, the Ten Commandments, faith and charity, free will, repentance, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The book is both apologetic and prophetic, presenting the idea of a renewed or “New Church” founded on inner spiritual life rather than external formality.

Influential far beyond Swedenborg’s own circle, it became the theological foundation of the Swedenborgian movement and attracted the interest of theologians, writers and mystics concerned with the relation between doctrine and lived faith.

Thoughtful and occasionally polemical, the work stands at the crossroads of eighteenth-century religious controversy and a continuing conversation about how belief must meet the needs of the soul.