Some Texas Baptists today adamantly argue
the atonement, whether it was particular/limited
or general/unlimited. At the close of the 19th century,
though, Texas Baptists had an argument that challenged the orthodoxy of the
atonement itself.
George M. Fortune was pastor of the
First Baptist Church of Paris, Texas, from 1891 until 1896. After resigning as
pastor, he continued to preach there as a supply until the summer of 1897.
After that he left and moved to Indian Territory (not yet a state).
George M. Fortune was (probably) born in
Virginia.[1] He
may have been the son of Zachariah Fortune and Sarah Churning/Chewning (d.
1883) who married in 1831 in Nelson County, Virginia, and later moved to Meigs
County, Ohio. They had a son named George who is about the right age, but it
cannot with present facts be established who are the parents of our George M.
Fortune.[2] If
these are his parents, his movements can be traced as follows.
In 1850 the family was in Virginia and by
1860 had moved to Ohio. In 1870, George and his wife Esther (nee Brown,
perhaps) were living by themselves, without any children, in Darwin, Clark
County, Illinois. His occupation is listed as “minister, gospel”. Around 1879
he was the pastor of the Methodist Church of Havana, Illinois.[3] He
and Esther were living at Waverley, Morgan County, Illinois in 1880, with four
children of their own and a stepdaughter. A state census shows that in 1885
George and Esther were in Douglas, Butler County, Kansas. By 1886 he was
married to Anna and they had a son named Dean born in December of that year.[4] By
1891 George Fortune was in Paris, Texas, having passed through Arkansas for a
time before arriving there.[5]
After leaving Texas, the Fortunes lived at McAlester in Indian Territory –
where his occupation is listed as lawyer rather than minister.[6]
They lived in McAlester until at least 1907,[7]
and are then found in Clifton, Wilson County, Kansas in 1910 and 1920.[8] In
1910 he was a farmer who owned or worked on a poultry farm. In 1920 he is once
again listed in the census as a minister. George M. Fortune died December 7,
1929. He, his wife Annie and their son Dean are buried at the Buffalo Cemetery in
Wilson County, Kansas.
In late 1891 the First Baptist Church of
Paris, Texas,[9]
being without a pastor, invited George M. Fortune – recently from Arkansas – to
preach for them. Afterward they called him as their pastor. According to one
member of the church, “He was a man of fine address, of a literary turn, and
seemed to be scholarly in his attainments, and withal a fine pulpit orator.”[10]
Soon Fortune preached views not heard in the average Baptist pulpit, “that
Christ’s death on the cross was not effectual for salvation, there was no
personal Satan, original sin did not exist, there was no eternal punishment,
and that the Scriptures were not fully inspired by God.”[11] In 1894 Fortune published two sermons on the
atonement. According to Fuller, Fortune “boldly and pointedly repudiated the
doctrine of the vicarious atonement of Jesus Christ, denying that Christ died
for, and instead of sinners, becoming the sinners’ substitute; rejecting also
the doctrine of the imputed righteousness of Christ; maintaining that we are
not saved by Christ’s death, but by his life.” Both of the state Baptist papers
quickly condemned Fortune’s sermons and his position.
In 1895 the Baptist General Convention
of Texas adopted a resolution declaring, among other things: “Resolved, that no
one shall be recognized a member of this body who holds and teaches...that
Christ is not the believer’s substitute, penalty and righteousness, a doctrine
held by ‘Fortunism’.”[12] The
First Baptist church of Paris was denied seats at the Convention. In spite of
the strangeness of Fortune’s views, a majority of the church followed him,
causing them to break ties with the regular Baptists of Texas. The offended
minority of the church investigated his background. They which found he had
been a Methodist preacher in Illinois, a Baptist preacher in Arkansas, as well
as a lawyer and temperance lecturer in Kansas. There seemed to be a possibility
that he had a living wife from a first marriage. The minority of the church called
a special meeting in Paris, which met on February 11, 1896.
In 1896 a Baptist council meeting in
Paris found Fortune guilty of heresy, declaring they “after careful
consideration do unhesitatingly declare said George M. Fortune, on the
following points, anti-scriptural.” The council alleged he was in denial of
nine biblical points of doctrine and teaching three aberrations of Baptist church
polity – and also recognized the minority as the true First Baptist Church of
Paris. The majority of the church kept G. M. Fortune on as pastor until 1896.
He continued to supply the pulpit for them until he left for Oklahoma (then
still a territory) in 1897.[13]
It is not clear the extent of the influence
that George M. Fortune beyond the area of Paris, Texas. Though the Baptists
across the state were much astir about the situation, the fallout appears to
have been limited. Fortune did move in circles throughout the state, though,
For example, the Galveston Daily News
in August 1893 reports that Fortune was assisting Baptist pastor J. C. Wingo in
a protracted meeting in Bryan, Texas.[14] He
published at least two pamphlets on the subject in the mid-to-late 1890s, Atonement: a Sermon and The Atonement: Retrospective and
Constructive. It is also unclear what happened to the majority of the
Baptist Church in Paris that adhered to the positions or person of G. M. Fortune.[15]
At the time Fuller wrote his history in 1900, he claimed they “have become so
demoralized in faith and doctrine by Fortune’s heresy that they are not able to
do anything for Christ…As a body they are repudiated by Baptists everywhere,
and seem to be making no effort to keep up an organization…”[16] Perhaps
the fortunes of Fortunism died with those who followed him.
The quick overall response to pastor
Fortune’s unbaptistic positions and the strong opposition from within his home
church probably kept the controversy contained and the repercussions
restricted. Churches should not be hasty to hear and call those whom they do
not know, but should promptly respond to advanced error in the pulpit.
Sources
A
History of Texas Baptists: Comprising a Detailed Account of their Activities,
Their Progress and Their Achievements, J. M. Carroll,
Author, J. B. Cranfill, Editor, Dallas, TX: Baptist Standard Publishing Co.,
1923
A
Texas Baptist History Sourcebook: a Companion to McBeth’s Texas Baptists,
Joseph E. Early Jr., Denton, TX: University of North Texas Press, 2004
Decatur
Daily Republican (Decatur, Illinois), Thursday, July 29,
1897
“Fort v. First Baptist Church” in The Southwestern Reporter, Volume 55,
St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Co., pp. 402-410
History
of Texas Baptists, B. F. Fuller, Louisville, KY: Baptist
Book Concern, 1900
Honey
Grove Signal (Honey Grove, Texas), Vol. 5, No. 33, Friday,
February 14, 1896, p. 1
The
Baptist Standard (Waco, Texas), July 30, 1896
The
Galveston Daily News (Galveston, Texas), Vol. 52, No. 157, Sunday,
August 27, 1893
The
History of Menard and Mason Counties, Illinois,
Chicago, IL: O. L. Baskin and Co., 1879
The
New York Times, Sunday September 13, 1896
U. S. Federal Censuses, 1850-1920
Footnotes
[1]
Most censuses give his birth location as Virginia, but West Virginia and
Georgia are also given
[3] The History of Menard and Mason Counties,
Illinois, Chicago, IL: O. L. Baskin and Co., 1879, p. 525
[4] It
is not clear whether they separated or Esther died.
[5] History of Texas Baptists, B. F. Fuller,
Louisville, KY: Baptist Book Concern, 1900, pp. 398-408; Fuller was a member of
First Baptist, Paris, Texas
[6]
1900 U. S. Federal Census, South McAlester, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory
[7]
U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 on Ancestry.com. McAlester, Oklahoma, City Directory, 1907
[8] U.
S. Federal Census for Wilson County, Kansas in 1910 and 1920
[9]
This body was organized in 1854 upon the New Hampshire Confession as a United
Baptist Church.
[10] History of Texas Baptists, Fuller, pp. 398-399
[11] A Texas Baptist History Sourcebook, Early, p. 54
[13] The
Decatur (Illinois) Daily Republican reported in July of
that year that Fortune said, “For myself I shall not again accept the pastorate
of any orthodox church. These organizations are so constructed as to place the
control of their affairs into the hands of the least admirable part of the
congregation...I, therefore, must seek a place where I may feel the force of
present duty and leave the future in the hands of God.” (Decatur Daily Republican, Thursday, July 29, 1897, p. 3
[14] The Galveston Daily News. (Galveston,
Tex.), Vol. 52, No. 157, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 27, 1893, p. 9
[15]
One leader of the “Fortune Faction” was Dr.
Joseph Marston Fort. In The
Baptist Standard (July 30, 1896) J. B. Cranfill wrote, “It would not have
been possible for him [Fortune, rlv]
to have accomplished the harm he has done in Paris but for the help and
co-operation of Dr. J. M. Fort, who not only shares Dr. Fortune’s infidel
views, but is a man who has no scruples whatever in adopting any means, fair or
foul, in accomplishing his nefarious purposes.” In September a warrant was
issued for the arrest of Cranfill on charges of libel, but the outcome is
unknown. See “A Preacher to be Arrested: Charge with Libeling a Leading Citizen
of North Texas,” The New York Times,
Sunday September 13, 1896, p. 6
[16] As
a resident of Paris and a member of the church faction that opposed Fortune, B.
F. Fuller’s opinion is certainly biased. Evidence – such as the struggle to
control the church building – suggests the “Fortunites” surely had not given up
only three years after Fortune left. But Fuller’s assessment does seem to
summarize the end result.
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