The William Bruce Lectures
The William Bruce Lecture series will present histories of some of the remarkable Swedenborgians and their impact on society. The first lecture will feature Vincent Roy-Di Piazza and Carl Wennerlind (Columbia University), discussing Swedenborg and Abolitionism.
The first lecture will be presented at Barnard College at Columbia University, in the Sulzburger Parlor, on Wednesday, July 1, 2026 at 4 PM Eastern time.
Vincent Roy-Di Piazza is a historian of early modern science, religion, and political economy, based in Finland. Vincent obtained his doctorate from the University of Oxford in 2022, with a dissertation on Swedenborg and the soul–body problem. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, his articles on Swedenborg have been featured in academic journals such as Annals of Science, Political Hermetica, and the Intellectual History Review.
Carl Wennerlind is Professor of History at Barnard College and affiliated faculty in the Department of History at Columbia University. A historian of economic thought and early modern Britain, his research explores the intellectual, political, and moral foundations of capitalism. Wennerlind's work focuses particularly on eighteenth-century debates over credit, money, and scarcity. He is the author of Casualties of Credit:The English Financial Revolution, 1620–1720 and Scarcity: A History from the Origins of Capitalism to the Climate Crisis. His scholarship connects economic ideas with broader questions about political order, environmental limits, and the historical development of modern market societies.
The William Bruce Lectures in New York City are sponsored by the New York New Church Legacy Fund and the Swedenborg Library Chicago. William Bruce Lectures in the City of New York. (Hybrid) Swedenborg and Abolitionism. Vincent Roy di Piazza & Carl Wennerlind (Columbia University) Sulzburger Parlor, Barnard College, Columbia University.
Vincent Roy-Di Piazza is a historian of early modern science, religion, and political economy based in Finland. Vincent obtained his doctorate from the University of Oxford in 2022, with a dissertation on Swedenborg and the soul-body problem. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, his articles on Swedenborg have been featured in academic journals such as Annals of Science, Political Hermetica, and the Intellectual History Review.
Carl Wennerlind is Professor of History at Barnard College and affiliated faculty in the Department of History at Columbia University. A historian of economic thought and early modern Britain, his research explores the intellectual, political, and moral foundations of capitalism. Wennerlind’s work focuses particularly on eighteenth-century debates over credit, money, and scarcity. He is the author of Casualties of Credit: The English Financial Revolution, 1620–1720 and Scarcity: A History from the Origins of Capitalism to the Climate Crisis. His scholarship connects economic ideas with broader questions about political order, environmental limits, and the historical development of modern market societies.
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Rev. William Bruce (1799–1882) was a minister of the New Jerusalem Church (the Swedenborgian denomination) in Edinburgh, Scotland, and one of the more prolific theological writers within the British New Church movement of the nineteenth century.
Bruce served as Secretary of the Edinburgh New Church Society for seven years, and in 1824 was invited to Dundee, where he helped establish a society on orthodox New Church lines. However, after roughly three years, the demands of the work proved too much for his health, and he returned to the capital, where he would spend the remainder of his ministry serving the Edinburgh congregation.
He served as minister at the New Jerusalem Church in Edinburgh and became known above all for his extensive biblical commentaries written from a Swedenborgian perspective. His published works include Marriage: Its Origin, Uses, and Duties (1850), Commentary on the Gospel According to St. Matthew (1867), Sermons Expository and Practical (1867), The Story of Joseph and His Brethren (1871), Commentary on the Revelation of St. John (1877), and The First Three Kings of Israel (1879). These volumes, collectively known as his "New Church Commentaries," applied Emanuel Swedenborg's doctrine of spiritual correspondence to the interpretation of Scripture. Their publication was made possible in part through the generous financial support of a prominent Paisley benefactor, Mr. David Spiers.
Bruce's long career — spanning most of the nineteenth century — made him an important figure in the growth of Swedenborgianism in Scotland, where the New Church remained a small but intellectually engaged community. He died in 1882, leaving behind a substantial body of theological writing that remains a powerful source for understanding the breadth of Swedenborg's writings. William Bruce (1799–1882) was a minister of the New Jerusalem Church (the Swedenborgian denomination) in Edinburgh, Scotland, and one of the more prolific theological writers within the British New Church movement of the nineteenth century. Bruce served as Secretary of the Edinburgh New Church Society for seven years, and in 1824 was invited to Dundee, where he helped establish a society on orthodox New Church lines. However, after roughly three years, the demands of the work proved too much for his health, and he returned to the capital, where he would spend the remainder of his ministry serving the Edinburgh congregation. He served as minister at the New Jerusalem Church in Edinburgh and became known above all for his extensive biblical commentaries written from a Swedenborgian perspective. His published works include Marriage: Its Origin, Uses, and Duties (1850), Commentary on the Gospel According to St. Matthew (1867), Sermons Expository and Practical (1867), The Story of Joseph and His Brethren (1871), Commentary on the Revelation of St. John (1877), and The First Three Kings of Israel (1879). These volumes, collectively known as his "New Church Commentaries," applied Emanuel Swedenborg's doctrine of spiritual correspondence to the interpretation of Scripture. Their publication was made possible in part through the generous financial support of a prominent Paisley benefactor, Mr. David Spiers. Bruce's long career — spanning most of the nineteenth century — made him an important figure in the growth of Swedenborgianism in Scotland, where the New Church remained a small but intellectually engaged community. He died in 1882, leaving behind a substantial body of theological writing that remains a powerful source for understanding the breadth of Swedenborg's writings.
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