A Good Step in Backsliding.
UNDER the heading, “A Backsliding Pastor,” the Bay City (Mich.) Journal of March 16, 1872, says:— “Rev. Jas. Paton, late pastor of the Baptist church at Almont, was tried before an ecclesiastical council February 28, whereof Rev. A. J. Frost, of Bay City, was Moderator. The following charges were preferred against him by the church. 1st. That he taught that man by nature is not an immortal being. 2d. That the souls of the dead are unconscious until the resurrection. 3d. That the wicked will be annihilated. When Mr. P. was asked by the council whether he would plead guilty or not guilty to these charges, he persistently refused to answer, although earnestly invited and advised to do so. The evidence being such as to abundantly sustain the charges, the council brought in its decision accordingly—that it was satisfied of Mr. Paton’s guilt. The finding of the council was embodied in a series of resolutions reported by Rev. S. W. Titus, of Flint, expressing the grief and displeasure of the council at the disrespectful and unchristian bearing of Mr. Paton toward it. Also in the opinion of the council, Mr. Paton was no longer worthy of being a minister of the gospel in the Baptist denomination, and that it withdraw the hand of ministerial fellowship from him, advising the church also to withdraw from him the hand of church fellowship—which was done by the church immediately after the rising of the council. In the afternoon an able sermon was preached by Rev. A. J. Frost, refuting the doctrines of Annihilation, so called, which was a clear statement of the history of the fallacy and the dangerous and immoral tendency of the doctrine. An interesting paper was also read by Rev. H. L. Morehouse, against the materialistic error that man by nature has not immortality.” And so it has come to pass that if a person presumes to differ from the belief and customs of the immaculate present, he is on the high road back to heathenism or something worse. A man cannot keep the Sabbath in these days of over refined piety without “falling from grace.” And if he returns to the Bible doctrine of the nature of man and the destiny of the wicked, he becomes at once a backslider. It would be well if the great majority of the theologians of the present day, having wandered far into labyrinths of heathen mythology, would backslide, that is, slide back, into the Bible path. On one point we would be glad to see a very thorough investigation instituted. The charge is very frequently made, as by the “Rev.” A. J. Frost, above mentioned, that the doctrine of Annihilation, so called, is “dangerous and immoral” in its tendency. Now we judge of the tendency of a doctrine by the course which it leads its adherents to pursue. If its tendency is immoral it is shown by leading them to immoral practices. We say that spiritualism is immoral in its tendency. Why? Because it leads its votaries to practice immorality. This fact is patent to all, and can easily be proved upon them. But we would like to know who has been led into immorality by the Bible doctrine of the unconscious state of the dead and the destruction of the wicked? Who pleads this doctrine as an excuse or a reason for sin? How many criminal cases can be found made up from this class? How many, on account of cherishing this belief, plunge into wholesale free lust, as spiritualists do, on account of the doctrines they hold? Will those who prefer so grave charges, give us some information on these points, and furnish some shadow of ground for the statements they make. Until they do this, all their talk in this direction is simply empty and hypocritical cant.