A critical look at Dr. Beecher's Worcester sermon, exposing the debate over Calvinist and Arminian ideas and the early American religious discourse around it.
This edition summarizes the sermon’s core claims, notes its anticalvinist tone, and tracks how contemporaries weighed its view of free will, salvation, and moral government. It also places Beecher’s argument in a broader historical context, citing how later readers and critics framed its influence.
The material surveys the preacher’s statements on free agency, the law of God, atonement, and the means of conversion, then contrasts them with orthodox Calvinist positions. It also discusses how Unitarian perspectives were received in revival moments and how early church fathers have been used in this dispute.
- Concise outlines of major doctrinal points and how they were argued.
- Discussion of how “the Evangelical System” and “the Liberal System” were contrasted.
- Historical context showing the influence of Augustine, Origen, and other early writers on the debate.
Ideal for readers of 19th-century religious controversy, church history, and debates over faith, reason, and freedom.