During the 2008 presidential campaign, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch printed an amusing line about Sarah Palin, calling her “the least qualified running mate since the Swedenborgian shipbuilder Arthur Sewell ran as William Jennings Bryan’s No. 2 in 1896.”

This is a rare modern reference to the obscure wealthy shipbuilder from Bath, who did indeed run for vice president on the Democratic ticket.  Perhaps he would be better known if he won; perhaps not.  McKinley won the election, and he would later choose Teddy Roosevelt for his vice president.

It is also a rare reference to Swedenborgianism, a religion that has been part of Bath since the 1820s.  The church of New Jerusalem in Bath is a beautiful white Greek temple, with columns all around, dating partially to the 1840s. We are lucky to have it.

The Swedenborg church is so obscure that my spellcheck doesn’t even recognize the term “Swedenborgian.”  The group has only about 10,000 members worldwide, divided into four different sects.  The New Church Facebook page paints the religion as an open and accepting one, where doubts and questions are regarded as a part of human nature.

The church building collapsed under the weight of snow in March of 1920, according to Owen’s History of Bath.   have an old cabinet card in my collection that shows the aftermath. The entire middle of the building is gone, leaving the two end walls intact.

It was rebuilt to its former glory by William D. Sewell, grandson of an earlier William D. Sewall, who was one of the church founders.  To see the inside, go to one of the church’s frequent “name your own price” indoor yard sales, where I have found lots of great junk.

Emmanuel Swedenborg was an 18th-century scientist and engineer, and a pioneer in medical research as well. Later in life he began to have strange visions and dreams and believed that Jesus wanted him to drop the science stuff and become the new interpreter of Christianity. He was apparently given tours of heaven and hell and began to write and publish many volumes of theology. A small amount of research has not given me a very clear picture of what he believed, but apparently he rejected the concept of the Holy Trinity and thought Jesus was the physical manifestation of God and should not be worshipped separately. He also believed that anyone can enter heaven and become an angel simply by believing in God, being charitable, and living a good life, with the rest being explained upon arrival. Great news for the 99.99% of us who aren’t Swedenborgian.

Swedenborg’s writings did have an influence on several well-known people, among them Hellen Keller, Arthur Conan Doyle and Robert Frost. Others, who were not necessarily believers respected his philosophy and brilliance. Johnny Appleseed was a Swedenborg missionary who spread his writings across the country along with the apple seeds.

While Swedenborg didn’t set out to form a new religion, some people in Bath were reading his books by the late 1700s.  Zina Hyde attended a New Church convention in Philidelphia in 1817, and by 1820 had formed a group in Bath to discuss his writings, despite the fact that his own North Church had deemed them heretical. Meetings were held in various places until they built their own church building in 1844, the same one that stands today (the two ends of it, at least.)  As far as I can tell, it is still an active congregation.

Copy the Story Link

Comments are not available on this story.

« Previous

Scarborough proposal would ban stores selling pot

Next »

Scarborough Police Beat: Nov. 22