George Storrs was born in
Lebanon, New Hampshire on December 13, 1796, son to
Colonel Constant Storrs (a
wheelwright in the
Revolutionary Army) and the former Lucinda Howe (his wife). A
Congregationalist since age 19, George Storrs was received into the
Methodist Episcopal Church and commenced preaching at age 28; by 1825, Storrs had joined their
New Hampshire Conference. His biography notes, "Storrs, while a member of the New Hampshire Conference, was a strong man, able and influential in its councils, and the beloved pastor of several important churches." Storrs also engaged in the debate over anti-slavery preaching by ministers. In his article, "Desecrating the Sabbath," he defended abolitionists from the charge they were desecrating the Sabbath by preaching against slavery from the pulpit. "I solemnly believe the Sabbath belongs, in a peculiar sense, to the slave," he wrote in the article, which was reprinted by the abolitionist newspaper, The Liberator. In 1837, he found a copy of a pamphlet by
Henry Grew on a train, concerning the doctrines of
conditional immortality (the non-
immortality of the
soul), and
hell. For three years he studied the issues on his own, only speaking about it to church ministers. However, in 1840 he finally resigned from the church, feeling he could not remain faithful to God if he remained in it. Storrs became one of the leaders of the
Second Advent movement and affiliated with
William Miller and
Joshua V. Himes. He began publication of his magazine
Bible Examiner in 1843 and continued it until 1879 with a few breaks. After a considerable amount of study, Storrs preached to some
Adventists on the
condition and prospects for the dead. His book
Six Sermons explained his conditionalist beliefs. Storrs' writings influenced
Charles Taze Russell, who founded the
Bible Student movement from which
Jehovah's Witnesses and numerous independent Bible Student groups emerged. == References ==