Lyman Beecher

Personal Statement:

Hello to all and God bless. My name is Lyman Beecher and I was born on October 12th, 1775 in New Haven, Connecticut. My mother died shortly after my birth, so I was adopted by my uncle. I received a formal education at Yale and I graduated in 1797. I was then given a licence to preach by the New Haven West Association and I preached at a Presbyterian church in East Hampton, Long Island. I was then ordained in 1799. In 1832, my family and I moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. I had high hopes for the West, and felt that America had a duty to demonstrate by example what other peoples can achieve. I denounced the Roman Catholic religion, and published a book, A Plea for the West, which denounced the church and warned of its inevitable and corrupting influence. I co-founded the American Temperance Society, which was devoted to such reform topics as slavery, temperance, women's rights, and overall improvement of society. I became the president of the Lane Theological Seminary. I also believed that religious leaders should look past denominational differences to come together to reform the nation and spread Christianity. I was charged with heresy by my own congregation, the Presbyterian Church, after I supported the controversial New Measures initiated by revivalist Charles Finney, but the charges were dropped. I gained some popularity in 1806 after giving a sermon before the duel of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, but my claim to fame, as you say nowadays, is being a leader of the Second Great Awakening. I began moving away from strict Calvinist doctrine. I acknowledged that human beings are deeply sinful, but I also taught that they had the ability to accept God's grace, if they decided to do so. I am credited with being one of the most influential religious thinkers and social reformers of my time.

Issue:

An issue Lyman Beecher was involved with was the Second Great Awakening. As I said before, he is credited as being one of the leaders of it. Beecher favored the Protestant faith and felt that Catholicism should be stopped of its inevitable and corrupting influence. Beecher’s motivation was religious, seeing he was an ordained minister and preacher of the Protestant faith.  

Solution:

The solution that Beecher feels will help the nation is for the religious leaders of the time (except Catholic leaders), should come together and reform the nation and spread Christianity. Beecher strongly favored religious voluntarism and competition, but he felt that Catholicism should be stopped before its corrupting influence spread. I believe that Beecher was successful in his solution. The 2nd Great Awakening changed the lives of thousands of Americans and popularity of the Protestant religion. An example of his success is when he was the president of the Lane Theological Seminary in Cincinnati. While he was president, many successful organizations devoted to the spread and reform of Christianity were created including: the American Bible Society, American Educational Society, American Sunday School Union, American Tract Society and American Society for the Promotion of Temperance. The criticism the Beecher faced was when he supported the controversial New Measures initiated by revivalist Charles Finney. To other reform leaders, this was a controversial move. He was tried for heresy, but the charges were dropped.

Relationship to Others:

The people I would feel most comfortable talking with at the Dinner party would be: Catharine Beecher, Charles Finney, William Lloyd Garrison, Elizabeth Cady Stanton. I would feel least comfortable talking to Joseph Smith and Brigham Young seeing they both are leading figures in Mormonism and I am a leading figure in Protestantism.