Reproduction of the original: A History of American Christiany by Leonard Woolsey Bacon

This book provides a detailed history of the Congregational Churches in America. Walker traces the origins of the denomination, its growth and development throughout the years, and its impact on American religious life. This book provides an essential resource for scholars and students of American religious history. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This book deals with the history of the particular American religious sect which, because of its large and varied membership, its intellectual vigor, and the part played by its clergy in shaping public thought, affords the richest field for a study of the influence of religious organizations upon American life. The story of the struggle of the Old School Presbyterian leaders to choose between their desire to avoid a break in their church and their feeling that it was their duty to voice their loyalty to the Union forms an interesting and illuminating commentary on the problems of the troublous times of the War of the Rebellion. The minor Presbyterian groups played varying parts, but always occupied more than their proportionate share of public attention because each met its own problems with a characteristically Presbyterian individuality. Professor Vander Velde's monograph is important not only for American religious history but also for the fact that it illustrates how closely Church and State were related during the Civil War period.

This book represents the history of the New England theology from 1750 to 1830, revealing a significant conflict of attitudes and ideals involved in the decline of orthodoxy and the rise of the modern spirit in religion. It follows the course of theological discussion from Jonathan Edwards to Nathaniel W. Taylor, in whom liberalism triumphed. It shows how and why historical Christianity became unpalatable and unreasonable to the cultured in New England, how a great spirit was lost with the passing of the Edwardean theology, and how a new Christianity appeared in the place of the old. The author gives some clues to the source and nature of the weaknesses in present-day religious thought and makes a timely contribution to the launching of that reconstruction in Protestant theology, which is, admittedly, very much needed.