Page:A Cloud of Independent Witnesses.djvu/53

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TESTIMONY OF REV. JOHN CLOWES. 47

evil, and doing what is right and good according to the commandments, he is a member of the New Jerusalem, a living stone in the Lord's new Temple, and a part of that great family in heaven and earth, whose common Father and Head is Jesus Christ. Every one, therefore, will call his neighbor Brother, in whom he observes this spirit of pure charity; and he will ask no questions concerning the form of words which compose his creed, but will be satisfied with observing in him the purity and power of a heavenly life."— |bid.

He did not believe in separating from other Christian communions on receiving the heavenly doctrines. He regarded such separation as unauthorized and needless, so long as one's Christian rights and privileges are not denied him. He believed it was fraught with danger and tended to foster the growth of a sectarian and anti-Christian spirit. He, therefore, spoke against it, wrote against it, and worked against it till the day of his death. He published a discourse on this subject, under the title of "An Address from the Translator to the Readers of the Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, intended to point out the general design and tendency of those Writings, and particularly to show that they do not authorize their readers in a separation, at this time, from external

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