O CONSISTENCY!

WE refer to the attitude the various churches have assumed relative to Eld. Canright since he has left us and commenced his war upon us. These churches in popular parlance seem to have “pooled their issues” and given a new illustration of the old political phrase, “Anything to beat Grant.” Methodists, Baptists, Disciples, first-day Adventists, doctors of divinity, here and there, feel wondrously happy in welcoming to their folds this Adventist of twenty-eight years’ standing; ordain him in a few weeks over a church, inviting him here and there to preach in their pulpits, furnishing him generous space in the columns of their religious papers to “expose Adventism,” etc, etc.RCASDA 110.1

A large experience in Adventism does not seem to hurt a man very much if he will only leave it, and come over and preach for them. They class us with all kinds of fanatics in their public attacks upon us; but we have before noticed that they are wonderfully glad to get any of us into their churches if we will only come over to them. Would they do this so quickly should a person leave the Mormons, Spiritualists, or others with whom they are kind enough to class us? Would they have a reformed spiritual medium over a church, occupying the pulpit in a few weeks after he had left them? or a Mormon elder? How is this?RCASDA 110.2

Again, they do not seem to be wonderfully particular either whether a man believes with them even on cardinal and very important points in their system of theology, if he will only leave the Adventists, and go for them hard enough. For instance, take the case of Eld. Canright himself. All of his old friends knew full well if there was any doctrine of the Advent faith upon which he delighted to write and speak, it was the sleep of the dead and the total destruction of the wicked. If there was anything he felt happy in flaying alive it was the doctrine of endless misery, the folly of the idea of going to heaven at death, and the monstrous doctrines which grow out of the heathen notion of the immortality of the soul. Here he was in his element. We can furnish our orthodox brethren who now love the Elder so much, some hundreds of pages from his pen which will no doubt edify them greatly on these subjects.RCASDA 110.3

We feel warranted in believing that they have taken the Elder in, and made him a pastor, and fully indorse him as a minister, and he still holding to these terrible “infidel notions,” as they sometimes characterize these views. The reason why we so believe is that in all his raid upon us and our doctrines, ridiculing and opposing, we recollect not a word from his pen intimating that we are wrong concerning our views of the soul and the dead. We are also informed that in his examination before the council of Baptist ministers, just before his re-ordination at Otsego last spring, when those points of faith involving the soul question came up, the Elder was meekly modest in his statements, and “wanted time” to further examine the subject before he felt inclined to state his positions. And also that he was accorded a private examination by the council of divines on this question, the proceedings and result of which we have never been able to learn. We therefore conclude that the Elder has put a padlock upon that mouth which so freely speaks on other subjects, and agrees to keep these views to himself. He probably does not consider them “so important” as of yore. In view of this state of things, we feel ourselves fully justified in concluding that here are a few “rags” of Adventism which the Elder has not yet given up.RCASDA 110.4

The family of doctrines growing out of the immortality of the soul is a large one, and one, also, which is considered of vast importance in the orthodox platform of faith. Indeed, we have often know divines of that persuasion, when opposing us, plainly to state that they considered our views of the non-immortality of the soul far more “infidel” and dangerous than our views of the Sabbath. Yet now that the Elder will oppose Adventism, he is taken into full communion at once, granted large range, lauded in their papers, made a fullfledged pastor in a few weeks, and made much of in many ways. What a beautiful consistency do we see here on both sides! They take him in, ignoring one of their most important doctrines, intrusting the sheep of their fold to one holding heretical views, which they have ever considered exceedingly dangerous, while he padlocks his mouth on a doctrine which for a quarter of a century he has considered a matter of vast importance, leaving the people under his charge, the responsibility of whose souls is intrusted to his keeping, ignorant of a most important Bible truth. “So they wrap it up.” But they can join hands in making a raid on the Adventists, even as Pilate and Herod could settle their quarrels and unite their interests when the Saviour of the world was being persecuted. “O consistency, thou art a jewel!”RCASDA 111.1

G.I.B.