The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 2

IX. Taylor—Predicts Unfettered Interpretation of Punishment Will Come

ISAAC TAYLOR, LL.D. (1787-1865), Christian philosopher, philologist, antiquarian, and author, was trained for the ministry as a Dissenter, but became a member of the Established Church and settled down to a literary career. He was granted a civil service pension for his contributions to literature in the fields of history and philosophy. Taylor was author of eighteen volumes, including The Process of Historical Proof (1828), Spiritual Despotism (1835), Physical Theory of Another Life (1836), Ancient Christianity (1839-1840), Man Responsible for His Dispositions (1840), Wesley and Methodism (1851), and Logic in Theology (1859). CFF2 260.3

In his Wesley and Methodism, Taylor, anent the current agitation over the nature and destiny of man, said almost prophetically:
“When once this weighty question of the after-life has been opened, a controversy will ensue, in the progress of which it will be discovered that with unobservant eyes, we and our predecessors have been so walking up and down and running hither and thither, among dim notices and indications of the future destinies of the human family, as to have failed to gather up or to regard much that has lain upon the pages of the Bible, open and free to our use.” ²¹ CFF2 260.4

This is clarified by a letter received by Dr. Edward White, in 1871, from Rev. Isaac Jennings, learned contributor to Kitto’s Biblical Encyclopedia, who states that he was well acquainted with Taylor and could testify positively that Taylor— CFF2 260.5

“differed most decidedly from the popular opinion, and did not believe in the immortality of the soul. I remember once putting the question to him in the company of Professor Fraser, ‘Do you not think that the doctrine of the natural immortality of the soul is a delusion?’ He replied most distinctly, ‘I do;’ Professor Fraser expressing also his assent. I know from intimations he gave in various conversations that he did not believe in eternal torment.” ²² CFF2 261.1