And he's a Swedenborgian.... I wonder what other xristards think of that?
http://www.ukapologetics.net/11/swedenborgianism.htm
Not much, apparently.
http://www.ukapologetics.net/11/swedenborgianism.htm
Quote:Without question this group's legalism, the rejection of the vicarious atonement of Christ (as being the only way that mankind could ever be reconciled to God), its rejection of the devil as a real being, its rejection of the Holy Trinity and its demotion - if not outright rejection - of all the writings of Paul, plus the Book of Acts, make the Swedenborgians a very dangeous and subversive cult. In common with numerous other cults and sects, Justification by Faith Alone is denied and it is 'justification by works' which is very clearly taught as the path to salvation. If this teaching should be correct (and it is not), one might even ask why Christ had to intervene in human history in order to die upon a cross! This group have set their own agenda, an agenda which denies several biblical teachings which are most vital.
Just as with the other founders of religions, such as Joseph Smith, Ellen G. White, Mary Baker Eddy and others too, Swedenborg claimed a whole series of 'divine visions' to justify his teachings; Swedenborgianism now upholds these claims. Of course, "divine visions" cannot be challenged - since nobody else was there at the time! - but, in common with other claimed "visions" or "new revelations" this one attempts to overturn the teachings of Scripture, a teaching which, substantially, has been accepted by all the great Christian writers and theologians and many thousands of Christian believers for several hundreds of years. Here we find a new 'Christ,' Paul the Apostle gets 'dropped from the team' (conveniently, since his writings conclusively show their own teachings to be wrong). Moreover, since Luke's 'The Acts of the Apostles' reveals that the early church did not uphold their teachings, that book too is usually rejected as being in any sense meaningful for members of this group. Do we even need to say more? As with all such groups, many sincere people will be found to be adherents, but we cannot allow such considerations to sway us. This is very clearly a cult which should be avoided.
Robin A. Brace. February 20th, 2011.
Not much, apparently.