The Nineteenth Century in Print: Books

Sampler of Collection Themes: Introduction | The Civil War | Slavery and Abolition | Religion | Education Self-Help and Self-Improvement | Travel and Westward Expansion | Poetry

Religion

Throughout the nineteenth century, religious belief and practice were powerful forces in the lives of many individuals and in the social, cultural, and political life of the nation, as the debate over slavery demonstrates. In this era Americans of many different backgrounds chose to frame the deepest impulses of identity and aspiration, both for themselves and for their country, in explicitly religious terms. The Nineteenth Century in Print offers readers an opportunity to explore a wide range of American religious works: prayer-books and sermons and hymnals, histories and moral instruction and volumes of theological reflection, certainly, but also writings about the relationship between faith and science, about missionary evangelism, and works that exemplify the era’s strong currents of anti-Catholic and anti-Mormon bigotry. The latter sorts of publications, in particular, demonstrate the degree to which American religious tolerance has been a process rather than an achievement and suggest the sometimes bitter struggles of an overwhelmingly Protestant Christian nation to come to terms with the diversity of faiths within its borders and in the world. Here is a sampling of these titles:

John Quincy Adams, Baptists, the Only Thorough Religious Reformers (1876).

Felix Adler, Creed and Deed: A Series of Discourses by Felix Adler (1880).

American Tract Society, Toils and Triumphs of Union Missionary Colportage, for Twenty-Five Years. By One of the Secretaries of the American Tract Society ([1866?]).

Leonard Bacon, The American Church. A Discourse in Behalf of the American Home Missionary Society, Preached in the Cities of New York and Brooklyn, May, 1852 (1852).

Albert Barnes, Prayers for the Use of Families . . . Together with a Selection of Hymns (1855).

J. H. Beadle, Life in Utah; or, the Mysteries and Crimes of Mormonism, Being an Expose of the Secret Rites and Ceremonies of the Latter Day Saints ([1870]).

The Beecher Trial: A Review of the Evidence. Reprinted from the New York Times of July 3, 1875. With Some Revisions and Additions (1875).

David Benedict, Fifty Years among the Baptists (1860).

The Bible in the Public Schools (1870).

John A. Broadus, A Treatise on the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons (1871).

William Bross, America as a Field for the Exertions of the Christian Scholar. An Address Delivered before the Alumni of Williams College (1866).

William G. Brownlow, Americanism Contrasted with Foreignism, Romanism, and Bogus Democracy, in the Light of Reason, History, and Scripture; In Which Certain Demagogues in Tennessee, and Elsewhere, Are Shown Up in Their True Colors (1856).

J. M. Buckley, Christians and the Theater (1876).

Christianity and Modern Thought (1873).

Church Psalmist; or, Psalms & Hymns for the Public, Social & Private Use of Evangelical Christians (1856).

T.L. Cuyler, Sermon on Christian Recreation and Unchristian Amusement. . . . Delivered at Cooper Institute, New-York, Oct. 24, 1858 (1858).

George E. Ellis, A Half Century of the Unitarian Controversy, with Particular Reference to Its Origin, Its Course, and Its Prominent Subjects among the Congregationalists of Massachusetts (1857).

W. Ellis, The American Mission in the Sandwich Islands: A Vindication and an Appeal, in Relation to the Proceedings of the Reformed Catholic Mission at Honolulu (1866).

Episcopal Church, House of Bishops, The Pastoral Letter of the House of Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church; Read before the General Convention at Trinity Church, Boston, Mass., on Wednesday Evening, October 24, 1877 (1877).

E. Eppstein, Confirmant's Guide to the Mosaic Religion (1868).

Silas Farmer, The Association Hymn Book, Comp. for Young Men's Christian Associations and Union Religious Meetings ([1869]).

F. W. P. Greenwood, Sermons to Children (1868).

Charlotte Maria Haven, Beginning and Growth of the Christian Life; or, The Sunday-School Teacher (1867).

Joshua Huntington, Gropings after Truth: A Life Journey from New England Congregationalism to the One Catholic and Apostolic Church ([c1868]).

S. J. [Sarah Jackson], Letters to a Young Christian (1852).

Peter Jones, translator, A Collection of Chippeway and English Hymns, for the Use of the Native Indians (1854).

John C. Lowrie, A Manual of Missions; or, Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church: With Maps, Showing the Stations, and Statistics of Protestant Missions among Unevangelized Nations (1854).

Andrew Manship, Thirteen Years' Experience in the Itinerancy (1856).

Methodist Episcopal Church, The Catechism of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Numbers 1, 2, and 3, in One Volume, Designed for Consecutive Study in Sunday Schools and Families (1855).

Gerald Molloy, Geology and Revelation: or The Ancient History of the Earth Considered in the Light of Geological Facts and Revealed Religion (1870).

Nicholas Murray, The Difference between Popery and Protestantism, in a Letter to an Inquiring Friend, by "Kirwan” ([1850]).

National Council of Congregational Churches, Debates and Proceedings of the National Council of Congregational Churches, Held at Boston, Mass., June 14-24, 1865 (1866).

New Jerusalem Church, General Convention, Book of Public Worship, for the Use of the New Church, Signified by the New Jerusalem in the Revelation (1853).

Robert Patterson, Fables of Infidelity and Facts of Faith (1875).

A. P. Peabody, Christianity the Religion of Nature. Lectures Delivered before the Lowell Institute (1864).

S. Phillips, The Christian Home, As It Is in the Sphere of Nature and the Church (1865).

N.L. Rice, Immortality of the Soul and Destiny of the Wicked ([1871]).

Merrill Richardson, The Relation of the Bible to Science. Three Discourses Delivered at the Salem Street Church, Worcester, February, 1868 ([1868]).

Henry A. Riley, The Restoration at the Second Coming of Christ. A Summary of Millenarian Doctrines (1868).

Minot Judson Savage, The Religion of Evolution (1876).

S.S. Schmucker, The American Lutheran Church, Historically, Doctrinally and Practically Delineated, in Several Occasional Discourses (1852).

Hiram K. Stimson, From the Stage Coach to the Pulpit, Being an Autobiographical Sketch, with Incidents and Anecdotes, of Elder H. K. Stimson, the Veteran Pioneer of Western New York, Now of Kansas (1874).

Harriet Beecher Stowe, Woman in Sacred History; A Series of Sketches Drawn from Scriptural, Historical and Legendary Sources ([1873]).

Francis Vinton, The Christian Idea of Civil Government (1861).

James Walker, Reason, Faith, and Duty. Sermons Preached Chiefly in the College Chapel (1877).

Anna Bartlett Warner, Hymns of the Church Militant (1858).

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