Saint Paul's Church

Before class please read  below and prepare some questions

to ask me.

I am not a Christian, but I like the architecture and atmosphere, so when I lived in Britain I often went to churches. From 1979 to 1988 I worked in Saint Paul's Square in Birmingham. In the middle of the square was Saint Paul's church. Both the church and the square are beautiful, but moreover historically significant places. During the industrial revolution, Birmingham became Britain's most important industrial city. Saint Paul's church was the church for the first manufacturers and merchants in Birmingham. James Watt, the inventor of the steam engine and Matthew Bolton, the maker of the first modern factory had personal pews there. Compared to other European countries, at that time, Britain had relative religious freedom. Therefore scientists were not hindered by the Christian church. But in London there were many strong guilds, but at that time there were no guilds in Birmingham, therefore development was easy. Because of this Birmingham was the most influential city during the industrial revolution and maybe Saint Paul's church was the industrial revolutions spiritual home.

Before class prepare a talk about a historically significant building in Japan. 

僕はキリスト人じゃないけど、建築と雰囲気が好きなので、イギリスに住んでいた時教会によく行った。1979年から1988年までバーミンガムのSaint Paul's Squareで働いた。その広場の中でSaint Paul's教会がある。教会と広場は美しい、その上歴史的に重要な場所。バーミンガムは産業革命の時代の中でイギリスの一番大切な産業の町になった。Saint Paul's教会はバーミンガムの最初の製造者と商人の教会だった。スチームエンジンの発明者、James Wattと世界で一番最初のモダンな工場を作った人、Matthew Boltonはその教会で自分の席を持っていた。他のヨーロッパの国と比べて、その時イギリスは相対的な宗教的自由を持っていたので、科学者はキリスト教からあまり妨害されなかった。でもロンドンでは強い商業組合が多かったが、その時バーミンガムでは商業組合がなかったので、開発は簡単だった。だから、バーミンガムは産業革命の一番影響力のある町だった。たぶんSaint Paul's教会は産業革命の心の家。
John Rowan 2017