⁄
There the paper might well have
been left to gather dust had Tafel’s
parents not decided to celebrate their
golden wedding anniversary and
gather together the very extensive
Tafel family in Pennsylvania, which
included several ministers (and
still does). The event happened to
coincide with the Annual Meeting
of Convention at which Tafel was
given the opportunity to address the
ministers meeting.
So The Authority of the Writings
was aired once again and this time in
a country where crazy revolutionary
ideas had a better chance of survival
than in tradition-bound England.
No immediate judgment was passed,
but it was agreed that the paper
deserved serious consideration and
should be published so that it could
be better digested. So it rapidly acquired a wider audience. The seeds Tafel
wished to sow now had a much better chance to germinate – and germinate
they did.
The rest is history, as they say. As a result, in 1876 a group of 12 men,
including Tafel and several of his relatives, got together and formed an
“academy” (discussion group) to explore the new ideas. This is the ancestor
of The Academy (College) we know today. Tafel had been its instigator, but he
returned to England and the main impetus was carried forward by [William
Henry] Benade and [William Frederic] Pendleton, and would lead to the
foundation of the General Church of the New Jerusalem. That story readers
will probably be aware of, but let me return to Camden Road and the two seeds
that had fallen by the wayside.
Now that The Authority of the Writings had acquired fame in America,
the English Swedenborgian publisher James Spiers felt encouraged to publish
it in London in 1877. So Tafel’s seeds began to germinate in a number of
English minds too. Because the New Church College for the ministry had
temporarily closed, Tafel had grasped the opportunity to start his own New
Church Educational Institute, offering ministerial training along Academy
lines. Several men applied. One pupil was Robert Tilson, who was to launch an
Academy-style church in England in 1890, well before one was given definite
So The Authority of the
Writings was aired once
again and this time in
a country where crazy
revolutionary ideas had a
better chance of survival
than in tradition-bound
England. The seeds Tafel
wished to sow now had
a much better chance
to germinate – and
germinate they did.
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