Soul Sleepers

A new comprehensive study of the rise and development of Christian Mortalism, also known as Conditional Immortality or Soul Sleep in England during the Reformation and Post-Reformation periods. Dr Bryan Ball traces the origins of the belief in Continental Reformation thought, and then in the writings of Wycliffe and Tyndale, and its growth and development in the writings of many other advocates, including Hobbes, Overton, Milton, Locke, Edmund Law, John Biddle, Peter Peckard, Francis Blackburne, among many others, concluding with the views of Joseph Priestley. In the context of being a historical study, this book challenges the traditional doctrine of the soul's innate immortality.Having previously written on English eschatological thought, Bryan Ball sets out to demonstrate here that this alternative view of man's essential nature and ultimate destiny was held across a wide theological spectrum in English thought for at least three centuries. While dealing with a subject that is at times difficult, the book has been written intentionally in a readable style, and will appeal to a wider audience than merely academics.The book provides important background information to the growing interest in the mortalist point of view in contemporary theological and historical circles.

'Ball is to be commended for bringing this movement more fully to light.' Charles Hambrick-Stowe, in Ecclesiastical History, January 2009 'Ball handles a technical subject with admirable clarity, authoritatively directing his reader through a concentrated and challenging intellectual environment, offering helpful explanations and assessments along the way.' David Parnham, Church History, 2010 'This book deserves to be widely read.' Gerhard Pfandl, in College and University Dialogue, 2008 'Well argued researched (and readable) academic work' Alan Ruston, in Transactions of the Unitarian Historical, 03/04/2009 'If you've ever imagined yourself to be the only person on earth to believe a certain idea, only to make the pleasant discovery that many others share that particular conviction, then significant happiness awaits in Bryan Ball's The Soul Sleepers.' in Ministry, September 2008 "This book offers readers what I believe are two valuable benefits: an up close view of the development of a key doctrinal argument, and additional support for the psychopannychist cause, something that remains a point of contention in Christian circles today. This book is worthy of the investment of money and time of any honest seeker after truth." James A. Cress, Ministerial Association secretary, General Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists, Ministry, June 11 2013 The book is a clear, well-written, and enjoyable account of the beliefs that emerged from the English Reformation. Bryan W. Ball has rendered his sources with sensitivity to their differences, which taken together makes for a great ensemble. Pierre Gauthier, Revue d'Histoire Ecclésiastique , 2019

Dr Bryan W. Ball is a retired academic and the author of numerous books. He holds a PhD from the University of London and has contributed to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and the Encyclopaedia of World Faiths. He was also Head of the Religious Studies Department at Newbold College, England, and Principal of Avondale College, Australia.