Boston Court Upholds Bequest Opposing Immortality Doctrine
A Boston court has decided that it is legal to make a bequest of money for the purpose of opposing the popular belief in the immortality of the soul. Some months ago the sum of ten thousand dollars was willed to the Advent Publication Society of Boston for this purpose, and a nephew of the testator brought suit to recover the money, taking the ground that to leave money for the purpose of opposing this popular dogma constituted evidence of insanity. The leading Methodist organ in the United States made note of the circumstances, and said that the will ought to be sustained “if the man was not insane.” To believe the Bible on this point of Christian doctrine, to the extent of showing one’s faith by works, seems to be evidence of insanity from the standpoint of the popular creed. The court opinion in the case was written by the chief justice of Massachusetts, and establishes a precedent which may be useful in other cases where a testator’s sanity is questioned on the ground of his opposition to some popular church dogma.