Bryn Athyn College

Founded in 1877, Bryn Athyn College is a small, private, coeducational, liberal arts college dedicated to a New Church approach to education. The curriculum pairs rigorous academics with spiritual inquiry, and emphasizes critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, public presentation, and experiential education. Bryn Athyn classes are small, with an average class size of 14 students and a student-faculty ratio of 7:1. The 130-acre campus is located in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, just 14 miles north of center-city Philadelphia.

Bryn Athyn College of the New Church serves as an intellectual center for all who desire to engage in higher education enriched, guided, and structured by the study of the Old Testament, New Testament, and theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. This education challenges students to develop spiritual purpose, to think broadly and critically from a variety of perspectives, and to build intellectual and practical skills. The ultimate purpose is to enhance students’ civil, moral, and spiritual lives, and to contribute to human spiritual welfare.

Bryn Athyn College religious perspective adheres to New Church theology, a form of Christianity based on teachings of the Bible and the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, who wrote, “All religion is of life, and the life of religion is to do good.” A Bryn Athyn College education emphasizes practical skills of writing, quantitative reasoning, public presentation, and experiential education, as well as the liberal arts values of critical thinking, interdisciplinary connections, and spiritual inquiry. Here, what matters most is how you expand your thought, live your beliefs, and make a difference.

At Bryn Athyn College, our courses pair the intellectual inquiry of a strong liberal arts education with spiritual inquiry rooted in the teachings of the New Church. You will explore this perspective in your religion courses, and you will also see it reflected in every other course that you take.