The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1881-05-04
A CHANGE or FAITH:
An Episcopal Rector Joins the Roman
Catholic Communicable Story of His
Doubts, Trials and Trfbulations.

1 @aseAr anu ATtOuidttOnb.
baltimore Gazette
Rev. Edward Winslow Gillian. late Prot
estant Episcopal clergyman and rector of
hinton IN. CD Church, who, in January
last. resigned his charge on account of GER
tain theological doubts, and announced his
intention of becoming Roman Catholic. is
Al 81. Mary Seminary on North Paca street.
and is the guest of the Roman Catholic
fathers connected with that Institution
MT: Gillian went to st. Mary's on the
llth inst to obtain, as he says,
rest from doubts OF the most conflicting and
torturing nature, which assailed him as to
The truth of the teachings of the Protestant
| Episcopal Church. These doubts were
brought about by reading Episcopal books.
and covered period of seven or eight wears.
In an interview with a Gazette representa-
tive at St Mary's, yesterday, Mr.. Gillian
gave short history of his life and the causes
which resulted in his detection from the
Protestant Episcopal Church He was born
| in oxford, \. c., and is the son of DR.. James
Z. Gillian and nephew of Judge Gillian,
both of Oxford. He was educated In the
town of his birth until he became seventeen
or eighteen years of age, when he was sent to
the University OF North Carolina where he
graduated. He then returned to Oxford
where he studied law under his uncle
Judge Gillian, but, not liking the profess
sion, renowned it, and entered upon a study
of theology and divinity for the Episcopal
ministry under Bishop Atkinson, OF North
Carolina All of his family are consistent
Episcopalians. He was ordained by Bishop
Atkinson in 1863, and was given the charge
of Church. Shortly afterward he married.
He went from one charge to another in
North Carolina, but his ministry was not
confined to that State He filled several
Churches in Texas, on the Red River. and
in 1878 or 1879 returned to North Carolina
and took charge of the Protestant Episcopal
Church in Clinton. He gave general salts
faction wherever he went and until
1874 or 1875 he was a sound the
ol0gian and strict believer in the
tenets of the Church in which he was or
dained About that time however" to
continue in his own words, Il began to
doubt the sOundness of my faith. | was a
close student of Cranmer's life, and read |
with the utmost care and studied Browns |
thirty-nne articles, from which Cranmer
and conceived that the Roman Catholic |
Church alone possessed the rightful power to
interpret the meaning of the Scripture. Re- |
member. now, that il was not from Roman |
books that drew this conception, which has |
now grown intOa firm and irrev0cable belief |
1t was from strictly Episcopal works and the |
idea was drawn from the rules of faith and |
the canon of Holy Scripture. The rule |
of faith is the teaching of Scripture with |
regard 10 IneSe points essential TO saliva |
ton, and the doubt rose in my mind |
whether it was not that the Roman Catholic |
teaching was the right and the Protestant |
Episcopal the wrong one. With regard to |
the canon of Scripture, the doubt was
whether the Roman Catholic Church was not |
alone empowered with authority to speak as
to its Interpretation and its Divine deriva-
ton. These doubts began to assail me eight |
years ago. l bore up under them the best |
/ hfF tort inc H.
or six years i continued to discharge the |
duties of my sacred calling, and to believe
implicitly what l taught, but could not. j
The demon of doubt, was upon me, and /
night after night sat>up and wrote out my |
thoughts, and year byvear enlarged them as
new ideas occurred to me. All this was done
secretly, and / tried as much as possible to /
divert the attention of my eongrega-
ion from myself so that they would not |
discover what was passing in my mind.
think was successful in this, and that they /
never knew, until | made ii known, that /
did not believe all | said. / never men,
toned ii to any one; not even my wife |
knew of it. / bore it as long as possible,
and at last 1 could stand it no longer. re-
signed my charge at Clinton the list of last |
January, and after | had got the papers
upon which | had inscribed and elaborated |
my doubts and thoughts in good shape, / |
went to Bishop Lyman and stated the |
trouble. The Bishop argued with me and |
presented his convictions, the teachings of |
the Church, etc, but none of them would |
remove the difficulties. and | could think |
of nothing else to do but to come to |
Baltimore and confer with Archbishop Glib |
bons. The Archbishop conceded with me |
IN the main, but corrected me on several |
points and advised me to do as | have done |
His advice was in accordance with my |
desires, and came here last Monday week to |
obtain rest and quiet and TO read" Ii is Mr. |
Gilliams intention 10 receive conditional |
baptism in the Roman Catholic Church, and |
to sever entirely his connection with the |
Protestant Episcopal. He stated that he |
would enter the Catholic priesthood, but |
that bar to this existed in the fact that he |
is a married man with four children-all |
boys. One of them is with him at ST. |
Mary's. He. expects to obtain the position |
of teacher, and will shortly return to Ok
ford n. G.. His wife and three of his child
rem are in Raleigh. Mr.. Gillian is man of
small stature, about forty years old. of good |
address, and has black hair, blue eyes and |
black side whiskers. He Announces his in
tention of writing an article defining his po-
sition and detailing his reasons for leaving |
the Protestant Episcopal Church.