Three Discourses On The Religion Of Reason - Softcover

Gerrit Smith

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0371757789 ISBN 13: 9780371757789

Publisher: HardPress, 2021

Synopsis

Three Discourses On The Religion Of Reason by Gerrit Smith. This collection presents Gerrit Smith's late-19th-century audience with a radical call to replace doctrinal religion with a 'religion of reason' that harmonizes faith with human experience and reason. In Peterboro sermons delivered in 1858–1859, Smith argues that true religion is a life of justice, mercy, and honesty, not allegiance to creeds, churches, or clerical authority. He critiques clergy for preaching salvation by doctrinal assent rather than by compassionate deeds—feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick—and urges a simple democratic church where lay members freely speak. Reason, he asserts, is the final judge and the basis of faith; the Bible should serve reason, not override it. He condemns slavery, polygamy, temperance abuses, and sectarian exclusivity, while championing individual conscience, the equal rights of all, and a form of Christianity grounded in the life and fruits of love. The work presents a polemical challenge to the religious establishment and a call to imagine a universal religion grounded in nature, justice, and reason.

Edition details

• Publisher: HardPress
• Publication date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0371757789
• ISBN 13: 9780371757789
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 94