John Claudius Pitrat

John Claudius Pitrat was a French-born writer who had been a Roman Catholic priest before leaving the priesthood and emigrating to the United States; the title page of his 1857 book identifies him as a member of the University of France and "formerly a Romish priest." He published anti-Catholic works including Americans Warned of Jesuitism (1851) and the novel Paul and Julia. His Pagan Origin of Partialist Doctrines (Cincinnati, 1857), dedicated to the Universalist editor John A. Gurley, who had sheltered him as an exile, argued that the doctrines of endless punishment and limited salvation derive from pagan rather than Christian sources.

A convert's polemic: Pitrat, a former French Catholic priest turned American Universalist, traces the doctrines of 'partialism' — endless hell, a divided humanity, a vindictive God — to pagan sources channeled through Rome. Published by the Longley Brothers of Cincinnati, it pairs a European anticlerical education with western American Universalist zeal.

(Note: this summary was automatically generated and may be inaccurate.)