Lörber Society

The Lörber Society (in German, the Lörber Gesellschaft) is the organization of the students of Austrian seer and channel Jakob Lörber (1800-1864). Lörber was 40 years old when he claimed a voice commanded him to take up a pencil and write. He obeyed, and the voice eventually claimed to be Jesus Christ. Jesus dictated some 25 substantive books and a variety of shorter works. Supposedly, after Lörber's death, these revelations were given to Gottfried Meyerhofer (1807-1877), a retired army officer living in Trieste, Italy. After Meyerhofer died, the voice continued to speak through other individuals, including Leopold Engel, Johanne Ladner, Bertha Dudde, Johannes Widmann, Max Seltmann, Johanna Henzsel, George Riehle, and Johannes Friede. The revelations now fill over 40 volumes.

The works of Lörber were published by the Neutheosophischer Verlag, (after 1907 the Newsalems Verlag or New Jerusalem Publishing House) of Bietigheim, Germany, whose owner, Christoph Friedrich Landbeck, was a student of the materials. In 1924 Lörber's students founded the New Jerusalem Society. After the rise of Adolph Hitler and the annexation of Austria, the society was suppressed, but after the war it resurfaced as the Lörber Gesellschaft (or Lörber Society).

In 1921, Hans Nordewin von Koerber (1896-1979), professor of Asiatic studies at the University of Southern California, discovered the Lörber material and began to translate it into English. In 1962 he founded the Divine Word Society to publish and disseminate English editions of Lörber's writings. This society was very active through the 1970s but seems to have disbanded in more recent years.

Lörber's revelations amount to a revised gnostic interpretation of Christianity. According to Lörber, the universe was created by God as the environment for a society of living love. Many individuals, thought of as divine sparks, were to grow into the divine likeness. That plan was thwarted by Lucifer, who revolted and was entrapped in matter. God is now using matter as a filter through which the impure spirits can be purified. On Earth, spirits are given the opportunity to return to God. Jesus came to earth to speed the redemptive process.

Through the imitation of Christ, the individual can learn to love God and his neighbor. Reborn, the soul drops the body and ascends to the New Jerusalem. Meanwhile, on Earth, Christ will return in the near future to recreate the Earth and establish the millennium. The current social turmoil is a sign of his near return. When he appears, Lucifer and the earth-bound souls will have to make an ultimate choice. Those who refuse God and continue in rebellion will be destroyed.

Support for Lörber's revelations is strongest in German-speaking Europe, but followers can now be found around the world. Current address unavailable.

Sources:

Bunger, Fred S., and Hans N. Von Koerber. A New Light Shines Out of the Present Darkness. Philadelphia: Dorrance, 1971.

Lörber, Jakob. The Three-Days-Scene at the Temple of Jerusalem. Bietigheim, Germany: Neu-Salems-Society, 1932.