Charles Bradlaugh: a Record of His Life and Work, Volume 2 (of 2): With an Account of his Parliamentary Struggle, Politics and Teachings. Seventh EditionRobertson, J. M. (John Mackinnon)
Religion
Charles Bradlaugh: a Record of His Life and Work, Volume 2 (of 2): With an Account of his Parliamentary Struggle, Politics and Teachings. Seventh Edition
Robertson, J. M. (John Mackinnon)
Bradlaugh, Charles, 1833-1891
I have noticed these two points because it has been a common error
to assume that because my father did not quail before opposition,
therefore he courted it, and that because he was not ashamed when
the law said, "You are an Atheist, and as such you are outside our
protection," therefore he rejoiced in being so distinguished. Both
assumptions are equally and entirely without foundation.
* * * * *
In the same year also Mr Bradlaugh held a written discussion with
the Rev. John Lightfoot, of Wolverhampton, on the subject of
Eternal Torment. This controversy consisted of four letters from
each disputant, and was printed in the _National Reformer_; it was
afterwards issued in pamphlet form, and is still obtainable.
In 1877 he had too much work to allow him to indulge in public
discussions on theological subjects, but in 1878 he held a debate
with the Rev. R. A. Armstrong, a Unitarian minister much respected in
Nottingham. This encounter was the result of a lecture given by Mr
Bradlaugh in Nottingham in defence of Atheism, and as a reply to some
lectures delivered by Professor Max Müller under the Hibbert Trust.
Mr Armstrong offered some opposition at the close of Mr Bradlaugh's
address, and a debate was suggested. Nothing further was said at the
time, but the local Secular Society took the matter up, and pressed
Mr Armstrong in such "courteous and earnest terms," that after
consultation with his friends, he agreed to accept the challenge. The
subject selected for discussion was, "Is it reasonable to worship
God?" and the time appointed was the 5th and 6th of September. The
debate was a great success, not indeed as furnishing the audience
with a cut-and-dried answer "Yes" or "No" to the question argued by
the disputants--a result rarely, if ever, attained--but both sides
of the question were put forward with a calm and serious earnestness
which must have been very pleasant to listen to. Mr G. B. Rothera
made an admirably impartial chairman, and the audience, which crowded
every corner of the Co-operative Hall long before the hour fixed for
commencement, listened throughout with close and appreciative attention.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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