Denominations that include “New Church” or “New Jerusalem” in their names, found mostly in Britain, the United States, and South and West Africa, all go back to the Swedish “visionary” (so I. Kant) Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772), the first in the modern period to present revelations from the spirit world. As a brilliant scientist, engineer, and inventor, Swedenborg was one of the leading thinkers of his age. He had doubts, however, regarding whether we can truly grasp reality with scientific means, which brought to the surface his repressed religious endowments (Religion, Personal S…