Why is lyman beecher important

The infrastructure created by these organizations contributed to social cohesion and unity, and Beecher believed that religious leaders should look past denominational differences to come together to reform the nation: "With trumpet-tongue, the providence of God is calling upon Christians of every denomination, to cease from their limited views, and selfish ends, and to unite in the conflict which is to achieve the subjugation of the world to Christ.

Even as he called for unity, he became caught up in fractious religious controversies, including a debate about the proper role of ministers. Should they take the lead on social reform efforts?

Or should they focus on saving individual souls? Beecher strongly favored religious voluntarism and competition, but his defense of religious diversity had limits.

To Beecher, religious disagreement and competition was desirable only if the end result was Protestant agreement and unity. Christians who did not believe in the Trinity, such as Unitarians, did not belong in his vision of America. Neither did Catholics. Beecher himself was charged with heresy by his own congregation, now the Presbyterian Church, after he supported the controversial New Measures initiated by revivalist Charles Finney ; the charges were dropped after protracted litigation.

But these arguments and contradictions of his own principles did not stop him from becoming one of the most influential religious thinkers and social reformers of his time. Mahoney In , during the Second Great Awakening, Protestant faiths drew new converts across the United States and a renewed focus fell upon proper social and religious behaviors. Yale University. Beecher, Lyman. A Plea for the West. Cincinnati, OH: Truman and Smith, Blocker, Jack S.

Fahey, and Ian R. Beecher, Charles, ed. Autobiography, Correspondence, Etc. Hall, John. Of equal importance were excessive indulgences and in particular alcohol. Reverend Beecher resolved to take a stand against it and in he delivered and published six sermons on intemperance. In Beecher was called to Boston 's Hanover Church. In the meantime events were happening in the West. Joshua Wilson. The institution existed in name only however, without professors, students, money or buildings.

He was considered the archetypal Yankee—canny, waggish, relentless in logical argument, sinewy, and ungraceful. As the abolitionist movement heated up in the city, Beecher discovered how voluntary groups could powerfully work toward healing social ills. This, in turn, prompted him to reevaluate his Calvinist doctrine of sin and to put a greater emphasis on free will. His Calvinism was increasingly shaped by Arminians like Charles Finney, and what has been called New School theology, summarized by one Beecher biographer: "Sin is black, grace abounds, the will is free.

In the Calvinist-imbued Congregationalism of the time, this didn't sit well, and Beecher was charged with heresy, but he was eventually acquitted.

Beecher's greatest legacy may be the family he produced. He was said to be the "father of more brains than any man in America," for among his children were Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin , and Henry Ward Beecher, the most famous American preacher of his day.