Evolution and Religion

A famous nineteenth-century preacher argues powerfully for the application of evolutionary philosophy to Christian life and thought.

Henry Ward Beecher (Author)

9781108000468, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 20 July 2009

300 pages
21.6 x 1.7 x 14 cm, 0.38 kg

Henry Ward Beecher was an American Congregationalist minister, social reformer, journal editor and orator. People flocked to hear his lecture tours and preaching, in which - in addition to campaigning against slavery and promoting women's suffrage - he embraced the theory of evolution at a time when many pastors were violently opposed to it. Volume II of Evolution and Religion, published in 1885, two years before Beecher's death, is a collection of lectures in which he uses the insights of evolutionism to probe various facets of Christian life and doctrine, including love of God and neighbour. Beecher's powerful writing reveals the charisma and enthusiasm which made him such a popular speaker in his day and makes this book particularly rewarding reading for historians of nineteenth-century science, religion and society.

Introductory
1. The manifold Christ
2. The conversion of force
3. The drift of the ages
4. The hidden man
5. The rest of God
6. God's loving providence
7. The New Testament theory of evolution
8. God's goodness man's salvation
9. Poverty and the gospel
10. God in the world
11. Jesus the true ideal
12. The growth of creation
13. The battle of life
14. The liberty of Christ
15. Concord, not unison
16. Liberty and the duty of the pulpit
17. The vitality of God's truth.

Subject Areas: History of ideas [JFCX]