CHAPTER SIXTEEN: “Deacon” Grew—George Storrs Line of Transmission

I. “Deacon” Grew—Brings Conditionalism to George Storrs

A chain of connected witnesses begins with HENRY GREW (1781-1862). He was born in England but came to the United States with his parents at the age of fourteen. His father, a merchant and a Congregationalist, wished his son to pursue a mercantile career, but Henry chose the ministry instead. During the course of preparation he came to believe that the Bible calls for baptism by immersion, and so was led to join the Baptist church of Providence, Rhode Island. Upon completion of his ministerial training he became pastor of the First Baptist church of Hartford, Connecticut, in 1807. He was an earnest and consecrated Bible student, and a marked revival developed early in his pastorate there, many converts being added to the church.CFF2 300.1

1. RELINQUISHES PASTORAL POST BECAUSE OF CONVICTIONS

Then, after considerable study over the intriguing question of the nature and destiny of man, evidently from the Bible alone, he came to believe in Conditional Immortality, thus differing from the majority view of the members of his congregation and of his own denomination. This development brought on tensions. So in 1811 he relinquished his post as pastor. However, he continued to reside in Hartford for several years, where he served first as treasurer of the Hartford Peace Society, and from 1837 as secretary—treasurer of the Connecticut Peace Society.CFF2 300.2

Meantime, Grew wrote two important tracts setting forth his matured convictions on the nature and destiny of man—The Intermediate State (c. 1835); and Future Punishment, not Eternal Life in Misery (1844). Both passed through several subsequent editions. ^{11) The Intermediate State was reprinted in England in 1851, with notes by William G. Moncrieff.} Then, after living for a short time in Boston, he moved on to Philadelphia, where he continued to reside until his death. ^{22) Centennial Memorial of the First Baptist Church of Hartford, Connecticut—1790-1890, pp. 193, 194.}CFF2 301.1

Grew was a man of strong character and deep convictions, with absolute fidelity to what he believed to be true and right. For example, he was an ardent abolitionist, and during the conflict over slavery, championed the cause of the American slave. He likewise was active in the cause of peace. He was also an effective writer, particularly in the field of his deepest interest—Conditional Immortality. In fact, it was Grew’s pamphlet on the final destiny of the wicked that, as we shall see, in 1837 fell into the hands of the talented Methodist minister George Storrs, who, after several years of investigation, adopted his views and introduced them into the major groups of the great Second Advent Movement in North America.CFF2 301.2

2. UNIQUE RELATIONSHIP TO AMERICAN CONDITIONALISM

Grew thus holds a unique position in American Conditionalism, much akin to that of James Fontaine, of Britain, in relation to Edward White in England. ^{33) see p. 324.} So it was “Deacon” Grew, as he was commonly called, who wrote the leaflet that sparked the interest of Storrs, which, in turn, eventually led to Storrs’s break with his own church over his convictions relative to Conditional Immortality.CFF2 301.3

And like Edward White, the English Congregationalist—and at about the same time, though wholly independently—Storrs brought the doctrine of Conditionalism to large numbers through his convincing Six Sermons, which attained a circulation in excess of two hundred thousand, ^{44) See Bible Examiner, March, 1880, p. 401.} including a ten thousand reprint in Britain. And it should be noted that the total population of the United States in 1840 was only some seventeen million, according to the United States census. Proportionately, then, it reached a large segment of the religious leaders of the day.CFF2 301.4