Conflict of Ages—The Great Debate of the Moral Relations of God and Man
Edward Beecher, 489 pgs., 1853, Phillip A. Ross, editor, 2012
This book is needed by the Christian church in our day.
Written in 2011, published in 2012, 489 pgs. This is a dangerous book. Dangerous because it deals with perhaps the most serious conflict in history, and I commend it with some trepidation. That conflict began in Genesis and has continued unabated through history. Many people believe it to be a conflict between believers and unbelievers, and a great many people, traditions, and religions have framed the conflict in these terms. The Old Testament prophets described the conflict as between the one true God and the many false gods, or the true prophet and the false prophets. Both conceptions are equally true, but the latter is to be preferred because the former suggests that those who oppose the God of the Bible don’t believe anything, when in fact they believe as strongly as believers, but believe falsely.
The Beecher Legacy stands today as a crown jewel in the treasury of American culture, though it is full of conflict. The Beechers have been a prolific, cantankerous, well-placed, and very human family. It seems to have begun with Lyman Beecher, Edward’s father. He survived three wives and was the most consistent person at the source of that legacy, firing up his children with the great concerns and big questions of life and history. Lyman Beecher played a significant role America’s Second Great Awakening. Edward’s sister, Harriet Beecher Stowe, has cornered the market on the Beecher legacy, to the paucity of the available treasure, I should add. Nothing against Harriet, but there is much more to this legacy than Harriet’s work. All of the Beecher children were serious scholars, writers, and theologians and are worthy of serious study and reflection.
In my estimation, this book by Edward Beecher needs to be reconsidered from a slightly different perspective. Or, because he has been forgotten by history, it needs to simply be considered. He was consumed with both temporal (historical) and eternal concerns, and those concerns and his treatment of them may significantly contribute toward the renovation that is so needed by the Christian church in our day.
I was working on a project regarding the nineteenth century religious history of Marietta, Ohio, and discovered that the first honorary degree granted by Marietta College was given to Edward Beecher in 1841 (Doctor of Divinity). The leaders of Marietta College must have been pleased with Beecher’s book, Statement of Anti-Slavery Principles (1837), which had recently been published and encouraged a growing theme in American society at the time. It proved to be one of the most important themes of all American history, and it continues to provide cutting-edge concern in the twenty-first century.
Conflict Of Ages has been dedicated to “Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger also known as Benedict XVI who serves as Bishop of Rome the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church, the largest branch of Christianity, in the hope for Christian Resolution.”
Order Conflict Of Ages today! Be prepared for a challenging read through the volumes of Christian history.
Conflict Of Ages must be read in conjunction with Concord of Ages.