Lord's New Church Doctrinal Papers of Historical Significance

The Lord's New Church believes in a deeper meaning of the Word.   We have a strong connection to our history and how our Church was formed.  We invite you to learn more about us.
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​Address to the Assembly 
by Mr. H.D.G. Groeneveld Sunday, April 13th, 1947 
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​Mr.H.D.G. Groeneveld delivered this doctrinal paper at the first international assembly of the Lord's New Church Which Is Nova Hierosolyma in 1947.
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In this doctrinal paper, Mr. Groeneveld declares that the Third Testament is the Divine Human of the Lord, and applies the Divine History found in the Third Testament about the formation of the Churches by the Lord to the individual member of the New Church, since the Divine, Divine History cannot be bound by time nor space.

At that time in 1947, Mr. H.D.G. Groeneveld was considered the leading layman in the Church by the Priesthood, and reportedly is the author of all the major doctrinal statements of The Lord's New Church Which is Nova Hierosolyma.
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Diagrams Illustrating the
Influx of the Lord
​in the Churches
by Mr. H.D.G. Groeneveld

This 1955 doctrinal class by Mr. H.D.G. Groeneveld was given in Bryn Athyn to its Society members. This is the last known English doctrinal paper written by and publicly presented by Mr. Groeneveld, who was considered the leading layman of the Church.

This doctrinal class is an extension of and further explanation of his 1947 assembly address given at the first assembly of the Church.
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The first six pages of this doctrinal paper describe the Influx of the Lord in the Historical Churches as described in the Letter of the Third Testament.  And the last three pages (page 7-9), apply this Divine Historical Formation of the Churches to the individual member of the New Church.
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On the Reading of the Word 
​by Rt. Rev. Philip N. Odhner

In this 1970 doctrinal paper by Bishop Odhner, the phrase "one man" is used, which appears to be the first written use of this phrase to describe the nature of the internal sense of the Word. 
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Here is how the phrase “one man” is used in this doctrinal paper:

"He must acknowledge that in the internal sense of the Word, one man is being treated of, and that all things that are said in the sense of the letter about the heavens and hells and about the Most Ancients, Ancients, Hebrews, Jews,
Protestants and Catholics, and all said about persons, refer in their internal sense to the things that are or will be present in the man of the Church..."
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The phrase "one man" is taken directly from the Literal Sense of the Third Testament, and this principle for understanding the Word is commonly referred to as "The One Man Principle". 
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​* The Latin word for the English "man" here is "homo," which refers to both males and females, not just males.

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