MR. JOSEPH SYMES'S CONVERSION.

Freethought Review, Volume I, Issue 9, 1 June 1884, Page 15

MR. JOSEPH SYMES'S CONVERSION.

We have received the following interesting summary of a lecture delivered by Mr. Joseph Symes on the subject of his conversion to Secularism : On April 6th, at the Hall of Science, Melbourne, Mr. Symes delivered a lecture entitled—“My path from the Wesleyan pulpit to the Secularist platform.” He commenced by briefly sketching his early religious life. His parents were strict Methodists, and brought him up in their faith. He had heard since his arrival here that an Australian parson has related a sad story about his father having become broken-hearted because his son had adopted Atheism and left the pulpit. The truth was that his father jhad been dead fourteen years,nearly three years before his secession from the church, so that gave the story the lie at once. Under the guidance of his father he soon became an earnest Methodist, believing in the doctrines of original sin, hellfire, &c. His father was very puritanic in his tuition, and only allowed his children to go into the garden on Sunday on one condition, and that was that they took a good book with them. In his seventeenth year his (Mr. Symes’s) “conversion” took place. After a deal of putting-off he had at last resolved that he would pay his debt to his God, and after this was accomplished, he must say, he felt happy. This was only natural, as any honest man would feel so after relieving his mind of what he believed to be a big debt. Had he been a Mahommedan he would similarly have looked forward to his journey to Mecca as the great duty he had to perform. His conversion roused his whole nature and he went into the work with zeal. On Sundays he would go to the early prayermeeting ; then after breakfast he joined in the family prayers ; next he went round the neighbourhood circulating tracts, and if he saw a sabbath-breaker he would reprimand him, sometimes rightly getting snubbed for his pains ; Sunday School teaching came next, and it was in this capacity that he made his first speech, the superintendent calling upon him one morning to address the children. This occured several times so that he got accustomed to it. After school there was another prayer meeting, then church,then the day ended with prayer again. This programme he adhered to for seven or eight years. One Sunday he was present at a service that was being conducted in the schoolroom. The man that was to preach was a very bad speaker, and, strange to say, he knew his failing, and asked Brother Symes to take his place. He at first refused, but the other told him it was his duty to God ; that argument touching his weak point, he consented. This was his first sermon. By a strange coincidence, he delivered a freethought lecture many years after, about six years ago, in the same place, it having been since converted into a carpenter’s shop. After this first attempt he went as a local preacher. In 1864 he was accepted as a minister of the esleyan church, and was three years in the Wesleyan college. His subsequent conversion to secularism is a difficult thingto explain. Nothing occured in college until he had been there about a year and a half, when one day he got into a discussion with a fellow student while they were walking in the meadow. It was on the subject of original sin, his companion affirming that science proved there was death in the world before Adam; and after an attempt to defend his position, Mr. Symes was obliged to confess himself beaten. On after reflection he saw that if animals died before Adam’s time death was natural and not the result of Adam’s sin. This reasoning finally proved too much for his belief in original sin. During his first circuit he saw it announced that two Swedenborgian ministers would lecture on Trinity and Unity,” after which discussion was invited. He decided that his “duty” demanded his presence there. He determined to study the Testament by itself for the occasion without the aid of commentaries. This was the worst thing he could have done, for he was unable to find what he wanted, and after reading the original Greek with the same result he shut up the book much shocked in mind. During another circuit he went a step further. The Pope had called together the Ecumenical Council to decide about the infallibility of himself ; and all Protestantism were abusing him for it. This caused Mr Symes to examine the protestant sects, and finding that they also claimed infallibility indirectly, he repudiated all creeds and placed his faith only in his Bible. He dismissed the belief in an intervening providence on hearing of a sermon preached on the great war, the preacher explaining how providence had guided the victors. In his last circuit, about fourteen years ago, he had so far developed as to have become a republican, and a preacher for land nationalisation. The next step was the rejection of hell-fire, and doubts on the doctrine of the atonement. he found now that he was no longer a Methodist, and he told his friends that he must resign the ministry. They urged him to modify his views, and stay in the church, and asked him what he would do for a living. He told them he had a conscience which demanded his secession, and in August 1872, after a lot of prayer about it, he wrote a letter of resignation. He had no idea then that he would finally be an Athiest. The whole family of his beliefs had been taken sick with consumption ; he kept them alive as long as he could, but they died, and then he buried them. It took two more years for him to reach Atheism, and 44 years after leaving the pulpit he took the secularist platform, that is, seven years ago. He now preaches secularism to make atonement for his past errors, as secularism, in his opinion, means the best of everything in civilization. In conclusion he recommends the orthodox to explain his conversion, as they are so fond of talking about conversions the other way. W. C. A.