Note 217 — Chapter IX · THE HEIR-PRESUMPTIVE.

One was Dr. Rowland Williams, whose essay on Bunsen’s Biblical Researches—affirming that the Bible was “an expression of devout reason, and therefore to be read with reason in freedom”—was supposed to deny that it was the actual word of God. It also affirmed that “the doctrine of merit by transfer is a fiction.” The other defendant was the Rev. H. B. Wilson, whose essay on “Séances Historiques de Genève” was said to deny that the Holy Scriptures were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and to challenge the doctrine of final judgment and eternal punishment.