Emanuel Swedenborg portrait   Save
Emanuel Swedenborg Collection
Description: Eighteenth-century Swedish scientist and theologian Emanuel Swedenborg, who began his life as a Lutheran, but as a result of a religious experience in 1743, began to teach ideas that were sometimes contrary to those of the Lutheran Church. Swedenborg claimed that he had direct access to the spiritual world and was able to converse with angels and other spiritual beings. His followers, the Swedenborgians, expanded into Ohio in the first half of the 19th century, eventually founding Urbana College in 1850. Swedenborgians--also known as the Church of the New Jerusalem--believe that a person obtains salvation by believing in Jesus Christ's victory over evil, and teach that the spiritual world is evident within all aspects of the physical world. The most famous Swedenborgian in Ohio was John Chapman, also known as Johnny Appleseed. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04043
Subjects: Ohio--Religion; Swedenborgian Church; Religious societies; Appleseed, Johnny, 1774-1845
Places: Emanuel Swedenborg Collection