Battling Aggressive Infidelity: Debating Robert Ingersoll

Peterson, Stephen J.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-97996-0_7

Stephen J. Peterson²

119 Accesses

Abstract

Gladstone defended biblical truth in his 1888 debate in the North American Review with Robert Ingersoll, the most famous agnostic in America. During the controversy the statesman reached the peak of his fame as a Christian apologist. The Gladstone-Ingersoll debate illuminated the widening gulf between traditional Christianity and atheism in the United States as well as the fissures within Christianity itself. Opinions in America were again divided about Gladstone’s effectiveness as an apologist. Freethinkers and skeptics believed he had suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Ingersoll. Unitarians and adherents of progressive orthodoxy judged his attack on infidelity to have fallen well short of the mark. Conservative evangelicals once again stood by their champion, believing he had triumphed over Ingersoll.

[I am] a listener from across the broad Atlantic to the clash of arms in combat between Colonel Ingersoll and Dr. Field on the most momentous of all subjects.

W. E. Gladstone, May 1888 (WEG, “Colonel Ingersoll on Christianity: Some Remarks on His Reply to Dr. Field” , North American Review , 146 (1888), p. 481)

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Notes

1.
See Stephen Peterson. “The Gladstone-Ingersoll Debates in the American Periodical Press.” Nineteenth-Century Prose 39:1,2 (2012): 173–200.
2.
See Whitehead, Fred and Verle Muhrer, Free-Thought on the American Frontier (Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1992).
3.
Sydney Warren, American Freethought, 1860–1914 (New York: Gordian Press, Inc., 1966), 19–44.
4.
Susan Jacoby, Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2004), 151–156.
5.
See Timothy Larsen, Crisis of Doubt: Honest Faith in Nineteenth-Century England (Oxford UP, 2009).
6.
See Edward Royle, ed., The Infidel Tradition from Paine to Bradlaugh (London: Macmillan Press, 1976); and Royle, Victorian Infidels (Manchester UP, 1974).
7.
Roderick Bradford, “American Inquisition,” in D. M. Bennett: The Truth Seeker (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2006), 97–129.
8.
James R. Moore, The Post-Darwinian Controversies: A Study of the Protestant struggle to come To terms with Darwin in Great Britain and America, 1870–1900 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979), 30.
9.
James Turner, Without God, Without Creed: The Origins of Unbelief in America (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1985), 150–153.
10.
Leslie Stephen, Journal, 26 January 1865, quoted in Frederic William Maitland, The Life of Leslie Stephen (London, 1906), 144, cited in Turner, 203.
11.
Robert G. Ingersoll, “Col. Ingersoll to Mr. Gladstone”, North American Review , 146 (1888), 609–615.
12.
Ingersoll, “Col. Ingersoll to Mr. Gladstone”, 603–4.
13.
Turner, Without God, Without Creed, 203.
14.
Robert Ingersoll, quoted in Eva Ingersoll Wakefield, The Life and Letters of Robert G. Ingersoll (London: Watts & Co., 1952), 6.
15.
Wakefield, 1–6.
16.
Roger E. Greeley, ed., Ingersoll: Immortal Infidel (Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1977), xi.
17.
Jacoby, 158–164.
18.
“Col. Ingersoll’s Popularity,” New York Sun, June 2, 1888, 4.
19.
Bebbington , Mind of Gladstone, 245.
20.
WEG, “Colonel Ingersoll on Christianity: Some Remarks on His Reply to Dr. Field,” NAR, 146:378 (1888): 483–85.
21.
WEG, “Colonel Ingersoll on Christianity,” 484.
22.
WEG, “Colonel Ingersoll on Christianity,” 508.
23.
Robert G. Ingersoll, “Col. Ingersoll to Mr. Gladstone,” NAR, 146:379 (1888), 601.
24.
Ingersoll, “Col. Ingersoll to Mr. Gladstone,” 610.
25.
Ingersoll, “Col. Ingersoll to Mr. Gladstone,” 609.
26.
Ingersoll, “Col. Ingersoll to Mr. Gladstone,” 639, 640.
27.
Ingersoll, “Col. Ingersoll to Mr. Gladstone,” 640.
28.
“Gladstone and Ingersoll,” ZH, 2 May 1888, 140; “Gladstone’s Reply to Ingersoll,” Chicago Daily Tribune , April 29, 1888, 28.
29.
NYE, May 17, 1888, 4. The NAR was sold for 50 cents compared with daily newspapers that generally sold for 2 cents.
30.
NYE, May 31, 1888, 4. Extra editions did not equal the number printed in the first run for regular subscribers. Extra editions commonly consisted of 500 copies but sometimes were not more than 250.
31.
NYE, November 29, 1888, 4.
32.
NY.Trib, June 9, 1888, 6.
33.
“Death of Allen Thorndike Rice,” CT, May 17, 1889, 4.
34.
Adrian Desmond, Huxley: from Devil’s Disciple to Evolution’s High Priest (Reading, MA: Perseus Books, 1994), 571.
35.
WEG, “Colonel Ingersoll on Christianity,” 481.
36.
Dr. Henry Field, NYE, May 3, 1888, 4.
37.
Ingersoll, “To Mr. Gladstone,” 601.
38.
“Gladstone and Ingersoll,” Chicago Daily Inter Ocean, April 29, 1888, 4.
39.
“Mr. Gladstone on Bob Ingersoll,” Raleigh News and Observer , May 1, 1888, col A.
40.
“Church Services Tomorrow,” Milwaukee Daily Journal, June 30, 1888, col D.
41.
“The Magazines and Reviews,” MQR 4:4 (1888), 622.
42.
“Gladstone on Ingersoll,” Philadelphia Inquirer, May 4, 1888, 4.
43.
Charles A. Littlefield, “Is it Wise?” ZH, August 1, 1888, 242.
44.
Littlefield, “Is it Wise?” ZH, 242.
45.
MQR 4:4 (1888), 622.
46.
Field, NYE, May 3, 1888, 4.
47.
“Gladstone and Ingersoll,” ZH, May 2, 1888, 140.
48.
WEG, “Remarks,” 491.
49.
“Mr. Gladstone on Mr. Ingersoll,” CU, May 3, 1888, 547.
50.
Methodist Review , 4:4 (1888), 622.
51.
Nym Crinkle, “Puncturing the Pagan,” Morning Oregonian, May 27, 1888, col D.
52.
“Mr. Gladstone on Bob Ingersoll,” Raleigh News and Observer , May 1, 1888, col A.
53.
“Mr. Gladstone on Bob Ingersoll,” Raleigh News and Observer , May 1, 1888, col A.
54.
W.M. Chandler, “He Stands Alone,” Boston Investigator , May 9, 1888, 6.
55.
W.M. Chandler, “Gladstone vs. Ingersoll: A Lecture,” Boston Investigator , June 13, 1888, col. A.
56.
Chandler, “Gladstone vs. Ingersoll,” col. A.
57.
Chandler, “Gladstone vs. Ingersoll,” col. A.
58.
L.K. Washburn, “Christianity No Encouragement to Intelligence or Morality: A Lecture,” Boston Investigator , December 12, 1888, col A.
59.
Washburn, “Christianity No Encouragement to Intelligence or Morality,” col. A.
60.
L.K. Washburn, “A Good Speech Not Reported,” Boston Investigator , June 6, 1888, col A.
61.
“Rome or Reason,” NYT, September 16, 1888, 4.
62.
“Gladstone and Ingersoll,” Milwaukee Daily Journal, May 7, 1888, col A.
63.
“Gladstone and Ingersoll,” Milwaukee Daily Journal, May 7, 1888, col A.
64.
“Gladstone and Ingersoll,” Milwaukee Daily Journal, May 7, 1888, col A.
65.
“News,” Atchison Daily Globe, June 30, 1888, col D.
66.
“Gladstone on Ingersoll,” Daily Inter Ocean, April 29, 1888, 4.
67.
WEG, “Remarks,” 482, 507.
68.
“Aggressive Infidelity Using its Advantage,” The Andover Review 9:54 (1888), 639.
69.
“Aggressive Infidelity Using its Advantage,” The Andover Review 9:54 (1888), 639, 642.
70.
Frederic H. Hedge, “Atheism,” UR 30:2 (1888), 122.
71.
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, “The Real Issues,” NAR 147:380 (1888), 2.
72.
Phelps, “The Real Issues,” 4.
73.
Phelps, “The Real Issues,” 4.
74.
Frederick R. Courdert, “The Combatants,” NAR 147:380 (1888), 28.
75.
Courdert, “The Combatants,” 29.
76.
Courdert, “The Combatants,” 29.
77.
Courdert, “The Combatants,” 31.
78.
WEG, “Remarks,” 496–97.
79.
Ingersoll, “Col. Ingersoll to Mr. Gladstone,” 623.
80.
Courdert, “The Combatants,” 33.
81.
Courdert, “The Combatants,” 36.
82.
Courdert, “The Combatants,” 28.
83.
Courdert, “The Combatants,” 36.
84.
“The Reply,” Boston Investigator, May 9, 1886, 6.

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Tulsa Community College, Tulsa, OK, USA
Stephen J. Peterson

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Peterson, S.J. (2018). Battling Aggressive Infidelity: Debating Robert Ingersoll. In: Gladstone's Influence in America. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97996-0_7

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97996-0_7
Published: 03 October 2018
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-97995-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-97996-0
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