THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL by Dudley Marvin Canright

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 5, 1879

THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

ELD. D. M. CANRIGHT.

BISHOP LAW.

In 1755 another bishop in England startled the Episcopal church with his views on the state of the dead. He advocated the sleep of the dead, taking the same views that John Milton had before him. Of his book the historian says:—

“Bishop Law’s Appendix to his Considerations on the Theory of Religion, etc., made its first appearance in the year 1755. In this Appendix were examined, under several heads, all or most of the texts where the words soul or spirit occurred in the Scriptures, and the significations of them in the original languages explained from the several contexts to which they belonged. The cause of the conscious intermediate state was so shaken from its very foundations by the scriptural testimonies brought together in this Appendix, that numbers of its partisans ran in a hurry to lend a hand to support the tottering edifice.”

About this time William Kenrick, Dublin, put forth a book entitled, “The Grand Question Debated, or an Essay to Prove the Soul of Man is not, neither can it be, Immortal; the Whole Founded upon the Arguments of Locke, Newton, Pope, Burnet, Watts,” etc.

We simply refer to these books that the reader may see that the doctrine of the sleep of the dead and the mortality of the soul has had a history, and that it has had plenty of advocates all along. So many books upon this subject would never have been published had there not been a large demand for them; and there would have been no such demand for them unless there had been many believers in the doctrines thus defended.

In 1757, J. Robinson issued a book disproving the immortality of the soul.

In 1759, there was published in England, in three volumes, “Goadby’s Bible.” The editors of this work, in their notes, advocated eternal life only in Christ, and destruction for all the finally impenitent.

Samuel Bourn, of Norwich, England, in four volumes of sermons printed in 1760, argued the doctrine of the destruction, in the lake of fire, of all the incorrigibly wicked. He was a faithful and pious minister.

In 1765, Mr. Blackburn, A. M., archdeacon of Cleveland, England, issued his well-known and valuable book, “An Historical View of the Controversy concerning an Intermediate State.” In this he gives an account of the various works written on this question, from the Reformation till his own time. He reviewed and answered the main arguments advanced to sustain the immortality of the soul. He was a zealous and able advocate of the mortality of man, sleep of the dead, etc. In 1772, he published the second edition of his book, which has had a good circulation, and has given much help to the cause of truth.

JOSEPH PRIESTLEY.

In 1777, Joseph Priestley, a very learned philosopher and divine, wrote two volumes, “Disquisitions Relating to Matter and Spirit,” in which he discussed the relation of matter and spirit, and maintained the sleep of the soul in death. Being a profound scholar and a vigorous writer, and his writings having an extensive circulation, his influence in favor of the sleep of the dead was widely felt. The following sketch of his life is epitomized from the American Encyclopedia:—

He was born in England, in 1733, of Calvinistic parents. He learned Hebrew in his holidays, and with little instruction made good progress in the Chaldaic, Syriac, Arabic, French, Italian, and German. From his youth, he was naturally religious. He was a great student all his life. He was minister first to a congregation in Suffolk, next in Cheshire, and in 1761 he was chosen professor of belles lettres in Warrington Academy. He was an intimate friend of Dr. Frankland, by whose advice he wrote the history of electrical discoveries, which had a wide circulation. In 1768, he was pastor of a large church in Leeds. He received the title of LL. D. from the University of Edinburgh. In 1772, he received a medal from the Royal Society for his philosophical discoveries. His name as a man of science was now honored throughout Europe. He traveled upon the continent, and was introduced to the most celebrated scholars of the age. In 1780, he was pastor of the congregation in Birmingham. He wrote extensively in favor of the American Revolution. In 1794 he settled in America, where he became the intimate friend of John Adams and other prominent men. He was remarkable for his soundness of reason, for patience and zeal in public life, and for kindness in domestic relations. He was one of the first scholars and philosophers of his age. His writings embrace many volumes, which are still published and read extensively.

Thus the reader will see that the doctrine we advocate has been supported by many of the ripest scholars and greatest philosophers of the Christian age.

In 1772, at Leipzig, J. E. Walter published a book in German, maintaining the destruction of the wicked.

In 1789, at Newcastle, Edward Holmes wrote a book to “prove the materiality of the soul, by reason and Scripture.”

George Clarke, London, 1792, in a book of 284 pages, gave a “Vindication of the Honor of God; in a Scriptural Refutation of the Doctrine of Endless Misery and Universalism.”

This doctrine had found many believers and able advocates in America before this time, though it had not attracted so much attention as in England and on the continent. In 1795, an anonymous author published a book of 141 pages, in New York, under the title of “Observations,” in which he advocated the sleep of the dead.

John Marsom, in 1794, in two volumes issued at London, vigorously refuted the restorationism of Dr. Chauncy, and maintained the destruction of the lost, who would never receive immortality, but utterly die. A second edition of his works was called for, and issued.

EXTENT OF THE DOCTRINE AT THE PRESENT TIME.

Coming down to the present century, we find Bishop Timothy Kendrick, in two volumes of sermons issued at London, 1805, devoting sermons two, three, and four to proving that the soul of man dies with the body, and is restored to life at the resurrection and the second advent of the Lord. This was a bold effort for a bishop of the Episcopal church, but the reader will observe that several other bishops and high dignitaries of that church have publicly taught that doctrine. But perhaps no man has dealt a heavier blow against the immortality of the soul than the eminent and learned Dr. Whately, archbishop of Dublin. His popularity as a scholar, and his high position as an ecclesiastical dignitary, have secured to his writings both attention and a wide circulation. His work entitled, “A View of the Scripture Revelations Concerning a Future State,” evidently made many converts to his faith; for it was soon followed by many other books from different ministers in England, advocating the same views.

In 1805, Robert Forsyth, of Edinburgh, in a work on Moral Science, advocated no future immortality and endless life, except for the good alone, who render themselves worthy of it.

A “Member of the Church of England,” in 1817, in a work of 240 pages, printed in London, entitled, “Eternal Punishment proved to be not Suffering, but Privation; and Immortality dependent on Spiritual Regeneration,” etc., set forth the better view of man’s nature, and the destiny of evil.

In 1834, Dr. John Thomas advocated, in this country, in a journal called “The Apostolic Advocate,” the above doctrines, and that neither Adam nor his posterity possessed immortal souls. Immortality was our Lord’s gift, and evil souls would die.

The next year these views were presented in a volume entitled, “Christ our Life,” published anonymously by a clergyman of the church of Ireland, at Dublin; author unknown.

Rev. Reginald Courtenay, D. D., a rector of the church of England, in a London volume of 438 pages, ably written and set forth in 1843, maintained the sleep of the soul, and argued against its natural immortality. A second edition came out in 1857.

This brings us to a time in the history of this controversy in England when these views began to spread rapidly through all parts of the kingdom. Several books in each year have been issued, advocating in some way the mortality of man, the sleep of the dead, and the annihilation of the wicked. Tracts, pamphlets, volumes, and other publications have been many. We could not even name the different authors who have accepted these views. Mention may be made of a few of the more prominent ones.

Rev. H. H. Dobney, an able Baptist minister of England, first published his “Scripture Doctrine of Future Punishment,” in 1844. A second edition was struck off in the United States in 1856. He maintained the mortality of man, his sleep in death, and the destruction of the wicked.

About the same time, Edward White, Congregational minister at Hereford, England, put forth a volume in defense of the same doctrine, entitled, “Life in Christ.”

Ministers in Edinburgh, and in Bristol, and in Plymouth, have spoken out boldly and well in defense of the unpopular doctrine of the mortality of man, sleep of the dead, and destruction of the wicked. J. Panton Ham has done good execution this way. A distinguished advocate of this doctrine has appeared in the Right Honorable Sir James Stephen, Prof. of History, Cambridge, England. Advocates of this doctrine are now springing up all over Great Britain. One paper, The Rainbow, published by Wm. Leask, D. D., 34 Sundringham Road, Kingsland, London, and another, The Bible Echo, Hankow Villa, Birkbeck Road, Leyton Stone, E. London, advocate this long-neglected truth. Also, in Scotland, The Messenger, published by W. M. Strang, Glasgow, does the same.

In a late article, the English correspondent of The Presbyterian, Philadelphia, Pa., says:

“There is, and has been for some time, a good deal of discussion among a limited number of both churchmen and non-conformists on the awful question of everlasting punishment, and it is gradually revealing opinions and arguments which are sure to do much mischief. It has come to pass that the church of England and the Congregational body have men of mark who hold that the wicked and impenitent will not be consigned to endless torment; but will be utterly extinguished and literally destroyed.” He then names several ministers who hold these views. Says The Advance, a Methodist paper, “The doctrine of the annihilation of the wicked is receiving increased attention in Great Britain and in America.”

An editorial in The Christian World (Congregationalist), London, England, 1868, says:—

“The many books and pamphlets that have been published of late upon the subject of the future punishment of the wicked confirm the conviction, to which we gave expression a few months ago, that a great number of the most devout and thoughtful persons in our churches are deeply exercised regarding it, and are anxiously desirous of ascertaining the real teaching of the Holy Scripture thereupon. . . . It is not a little startling to find the extent to which this opinion is spreading in our evangelical churches. Several well-known ministers, whose orthodoxy on other points is as firmly fixed as ever, have ventured to brave the opposition, sure to arise, by writing boldly and earnestly in support of this new reading of the many declarations of the New Testament, to the effect that life and immortality come only by accepting the gospel of Christ. These names include a Baptist, the Rev. William Miall, Congregationalist, the Rev. E. White, Rev. Dr. Leask, and many others; and it is stated that one of the rising leaders of this section of non-conformists is about to issue a book on the same side, that will certainly arouse the attention of the whole church to which he belongs. Of the Episcopalian clergy, quite a host have declared themselves on this side, of late. The Rev. William Ker, M. A., Vicar of Tipton, has published a very elaborate argument; and more recently the Rev. Samuel Minton, M. A., minister of Eaton Chapel, Eaton Square, has penned a powerful letter to Mr. Robt. Baxter.”

Rev. Henry Constable, late prebendary of Cork, Ireland, has lately published two excellent volumes on the subject, one on Future Punishment, and one on Hades. In the last ten years, the light upon this subject has been spreading so rapidly that now there are believers raised up, missionaries sent out, and churches established in England, Scotland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, and Egypt. So the good work goes forward.