The Religious Life of LondonRitchie, J. Ewing (James Ewing)
Religion
The Religious Life of London
Ritchie, J. Ewing (James Ewing)
London (England) -- Religion; Religious thought -- England -- London
As a philosophy Swedenborgianism is the exact opposite of Materialism.
Everything in nature, Swedenborg tells us, exists first in spirit. “We
are created by the Lord, so that during our life in the body we may
converse with spirits and angels, as indeed was the habit of the people
of the most ancient times.” During his worldly life “he (man) is not
seen in spirit, because he is immersed in nature.” God is in
everything—is the life of everything. In heaven all is love—in hell all
is selfishness. There is besides a spiritual world.
There are four Swedenborgian congregations in London. The principal one
is that in Argyle Square, King’s Cross, at which preaches the Rev. Dr.
Bayley—a tall, pleasant gentleman, in the prime of life. Outside, the
place presents the appearance of a well-built, superior sort of chapel;
inside, the massive pillars give it almost a cathedral appearance. It
holds about 700 people; there are no galleries, and it is generally well
filled. The people have a respectable appearance, and some of them have
arrived at the dignity of “carriage folk.” The preacher is attentively
listened to, and if passages of Scripture are referred to in the course
of the sermon, there is at once an appeal to innumerable Bibles. There
is service twice a day; and in the afternoon there is a conversation
class, at which the Sunday-school teachers meet and take tea together.
In the course of the week there is a theological class; and then, in
connexion with the chapel, there are societies of a friendly and
philanthropic character; there is also a lending library, and a day as
well as a Sunday school. At either school the average attendance is the
same—about three hundred.
At the far end, as you enter, there are two desks or pulpits, one for the
minister and another for the assistant reader. The minister is in the
one on the right-hand side. Between them is the communion-table. Both
the minister and the assistant are dressed alike, in white robes—typical,
we may suppose, of the doctrine and the life.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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