Chapter I: Front Matter

Introduction.--My early life.--Enter the Church.--The Ministry.--Happy days.--Sad change.--How happened it? 17

CHAPTER II.

Causes of unbelief.--Vice.--Other causes.--Constitutional tendencies to doubt.--Disappointed expectations about Christianity.--Mysteries of Providence.--Misrepresentations of Christ and Christianity in human creeds.--Church divisions.--Ignorant advocates of Christianity.--Wrong principles of reasoning.--False science, 19

CHAPTER III.

Another cause of unbelief.--Bad feeling between ministers or among church members.--Alienates them from each other.--Then separates them from the Church.--Then from Christ.--How it works.--My case, 26

CHAPTER IV.

Origin of the unhappy feeling between me and some of my brother ministers.--Tendencies of my mind.--Rationalizing tendency.--Its effects.--Reading.--Investigations.--Discoveries, 30

CHAPTER V.

Modification of my early creed.--Unscriptural doctrines relinquished.--Scriptural ones adopted.--Some doctrines modified.--Theological fictions dropped.--Eager for the pure, simple truth as taught by Jesus.--Doctrine of types given up.--Other notions relinquished.--Alarm of some of my brethren at these changes, 44

CHAPTER VI.

How preachers and theologians indulge their fancies on religion.--John Wesley.--His resolution to be a man of one book.--What came of his resolution.--His sermon on God's approbation of His works,--unscriptural and unphilosophical throughout.--Illustrations and proofs.--And Wesley was one of the best and wisest, one of the most honest and single-minded of our theologians.--What then may we expect of others?--Evils of theological trifling.--Mischievous effects of mixing human fictions with Divine revelations, 55

CHAPTER VII.

Further theological investigations.--Unwarranted statements by preachers.--John Foster's Essay on Some of the Causes by which Evangelical Religion is Rendered Distasteful to Persons of Cultivated Minds.--Introduction of similar views to the notice of my ministerial brethren.--The reception they met with.--No Church has got all the truth.--Most Churches, perhaps all, have got portions of it, which others have not.--My attempts to gather up the fragments from all.--Freedom from bigotry.--Love to all Christians.--Judging trees by their fruit.--Reading the books of various denominations, like foreign travel, liberalizes the mind.--I found truth and goodness in all denominations.--Appropriated all as part of my patrimony.--Results.--Suspicions and fears among my brethren.--Mutterings: Backbitings: Controversy. Bad feeling, 65

CHAPTER VIII.

My style of preaching.--Decidedly practical.--Using Christianity as a means for making bad people into good ones, and good ones always better.--Reasons for this method.--A family trait.--Hereditary.--Great need of practical preaching.--Folly of other kinds of Preaching.--Littleness of great Preachers.--Worthlessness of great sermons.--The Truly Great are the Greatly Good and Greatly Useful.--My Models.--The Bible.--Jesus.--My Favorite Preachers.--Billy Dawson, David Stoner, James Parsons.--My Favorite Books.--The Bible--Nature.--Simple Common Sense, instructive, earnest, moving books.--How my preaching was received by the people.--Its effects on churches and congregations.--Uneasiness of my colleagues.--Fresh mutterings; tale bearings; controversies; and more bad feeling, 82

CHAPTER IX.

Extracts from my Diary.--A strange preacher.--Horrible sermons.--Lights of the world that give no light.--Theological mist and smoke.--Narrow-mindedness.--Intolerance.--T. Allin,--Great preaching great folly.--A. Scott,--A good preacher.--Sanctification.--Keep to Scripture.--R. Watson: theological madness.--Big Books on the way of salvation; puzzling folks.--Antinomian utterances about Christ's work and man's salvation.--Preachers taking the devil's side; and doing his work.--Scarcity of common sense in priesthoods, and of uncommon sense.--The great abundance of nonsense and bad sense.--Common religious expressions that are false.--Favorite Hymns that are not Scriptural--Baxter's good sense, 98

CHAPTER X.

Reforming tendencies.--Corruptions in the Church.--Bad trades.--Faults in the ministry.--Toleration of vice.--Drinking habits.--Intemperance.--The Connexion.--Faulty rules.--Bad customs.--Defective institutions.--All encouraged to suggest reforms and punished for doing so.--Original principles of the Connexion set aside, and persecution substituted for freedom.--My simplicity.--My reward.--The Ministry.--Drunkenness.--Teetotalism.--Advocacy of Temperance.--Outcry of preachers.--My Evangelical Reformer.--Articles on the prevailing vices of the Church; On Toleration and Human Creeds;--On Channing's Works; On Anti-Christian trading, &c., get me into trouble.--Conference interference.--Conference trials.--The state of things critical.--No remedy.--Matters get worse and worse.--Exciting events: too many to be named here.--Envy, jealousy, rage, strife, confusion, and many evil works.--Conspiracies: Fierce conflicts.--Expulsion, 117

CHAPTER XI.

Explanations about the different Methodist Bodies.--Grounds of my reformatory proceedings.--About immoralities.--Christianity not to blame for the faults of professors and preachers.--My own defects, 153

CHAPTER XII.

Story of my life continued.--Results of my expulsion.--Fierce fighting.--Desperation of my persecutors.--Great excitement on my part.--Rank crop of slanders.--Monstrous ones.--And silly ones.--Bad deeds as well as wicked words.--Hard work.--Exhaustion.--Powerlessness.--Three days' rest.--Long sleep.--Wonderful,--delightful,--result.--Public debates.--Remarkable occurrences; seemed Providential.--A lying opponent unexpectedly confronted and confounded.--New Body,--Christian Brethren.--My church at Newcastle.--Change in my views, and fresh troubles.--Losses.--Poverty.--Learn the Printing business.--Follow it under difficulties.--Want of funds.--Generous friends. Family on the verge of want.--Pray.--An unlooked-for cart-load of provisions.--Trust in Providence.--False friends.--True ones.--A mad utterance.--A worse deed.--Theological Conventions.--Free investigations and public discussions.--Change of views, 103

CHAPTER XIII.

Approach to Unitarianism.--Kindness of Unitarians.--Preaching and lecturing in their pulpits.--Ten nights' public discussion with Rev. W. Cooke.--Subjects.--Results.--Publications.--Now periodicals.--Unitarian invitation to London.--Public reception.--Liberal contributions to Steam Press Fund.--Press presentation.--Dr. Bateman; Dr.-Sir-John Bowring.--Pleasurable change from intolerance and persecution to friendship and favor.--Discoveries.--Unitarianism has many phases.--Channingism.--Anti-supernaturalism.--Deism.--Atheism.--Gradually slid down to the lower, 191

CHAPTER XIV.

The Bible.--My earliest views of its origin and authority.--Changed as I grew up.--Further changes.--Important facts about the Bible.--False theories of its Divine inspiration.--The true--the Bible's own,--doctrine on the subject.--Needful to keep inside of this.--No defence outside either for the Bible or for Bible men.--Explanations: illustrations: testimonies of celebrated writers.--The PERFECTION of the Bible--in what does it consist.--Foolish and impossible notions of perfection.--No absolute perfection in any thing.--No need for it.--Foolish talk about infallibility.--Other important testimonies, 202

CHAPTER XV.

Enters politics.--Advocates extreme political views.--Republicanism.--Foretells the French Revolution of 1848.--Great political excitement in England.--Government alarmed.--Get arrested.--Lodged in prison.--Trial.--Triumph over Government.--Great rejoicings.--Elected member of Parliament for Bolton, and Town Councillor for Leeds.--Exhaustion from excess of labor.--Health fails.--Terrible Pains.--Voyage to America and back.--Removes to America.--Objects in doing so.--Settles on a farm.--Gets into fresh excitement.--The Abolitionists.--Women's Rights.--All kinds of wild revolutionary theories.--Go farther into unbelief instead of getting back to Christ.--A mad world, with strange unwritten histories, and awful, nameless mysteries, 241