Henry Ward Beecher Collection (35 vols.)

At 4:30 am on April 12, 1861, Confederate artillery opened fire on Fort Sumter, bombarding the fortified Union base with shells and mortar rounds. The American Civil War had begun. Two days later, on the afternoon of April 14, Major Robert Anderson surrendered Fort Sumter on the condition that his soldiers might give a 50 gun salute to the Union flag prior to its lowering and their retreat.

Four years later, at the end of the war and the quelling of the rebellion, Abraham Lincoln invited Henry Ward Beecher to give the primary address as “The Old Flag”—the very same flag that was lowered four years prior—was raised up again on Fort Sumter.

This volume contains his momentous speech from April 14, 1865, at Fort Sumter. Later that same evening, President Abraham Lincoln—only a few months into his second term as US President—was assassinated. In memory of this “martyr for liberty,” Henry Ward Beecher gave a stirring and unforgettable speech, which is also included in this volume.

During the American Civil War, at the behest of Abraham Lincoln, Henry Ward Beecher travelled throughout Great Britain at public political meetings, giving passionate speeches to undermine Great Britain’s economic support for the South. Beecher travelled to Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool, and London, delivering impassioned orations to tumultuous political assemblies. These speeches contain not only Beecher’s orations, but the parenthetical interruptions—the moments of cheering, jeering, laughter, and applause of British assemblies during his actual oration. You’ll find that reading these historical and spiritual orations is like attending the wild British political assemblies in which they were first spoken in 1863.

These 27 Sunday sermons of Henry Ward Beecher are a glimpse at Beecher as a powerful rhetorician and a masterful scholar of biblical interpretation and application. On practical topics ranging from repentance to generosity and theological topics from the Trinity to salvation, these sermons speak to everyone. Explore the words that earned him the honorific “most influential man in America” from the president of the same country.

These 26 Sunday sermons of Henry Ward Beecher are a glimpse at Beecher as a powerful rhetorician and a masterful scholar of biblical interpretation and application. Designed to awaken moral feeling and strengthen Christian principles, these six months’ sermons provide courage and apologetics for the Christian church. Discover Beecher’s response to the rise of the Enlightenment and the growth of atheism in mainstream culture.

These 26 Sunday sermons of Henry Ward Beecher are a glimpse at Beecher as a powerful rhetorician and a masterful scholar of biblical interpretation and application. Especially expounding on the divine nature of Christ, the activity of the Holy Spirit, and the doctrine of the Trinity, these volumes cover a wide range of topics and still find themselves rooted in divinity.

These 26 Sunday sermons of Henry Ward Beecher are a glimpse at Beecher as a powerful rhetorician and a masterful scholar of biblical interpretation and application. Beecher preaches heavily on spiritual warfare and Christian character in these six months, discussing the tricks of the enemy, the defenses of the Christian character, and the danger of sin on eternal souls.

These 26 Sunday sermons of Henry Ward Beecher are a glimpse at Beecher as a powerful rhetorician and a masterful scholar of biblical interpretation and application. In these sermons, readers find consistent preaching with themes of God’s love and the work of Christ within us.

These 26 Sunday sermons of Henry Ward Beecher are a glimpse at Beecher as a powerful rhetorician and a masterful scholar of biblical interpretation and application. In these sermons, Beecher preaches on the conviction of the soul and the work of the Gospel. The majority of these sermons bring up the power of the Gospel in the changing of lives, and the requirement to be not just hearers of the Word, but also doers.

These 26 Sunday sermons of Henry Ward Beecher are a glimpse at Beecher as a powerful rhetorician and a masterful scholar of biblical interpretation and application. Each of these sermons is quite distinct, exposing an array of different topics Beecher preached during this six-month period. Many of these sermons display his concern for public affairs, such as the right of a woman to vote, the right of a woman to preach from the pulpit, and the corruption in politics during his time.

These 26 Sunday sermons of Henry Ward Beecher are a glimpse at Beecher as a powerful rhetorician and a masterful scholar of biblical interpretation and application. A few of these sermons concern themselves with eschatology and the theology of death and eternal life, and yet others address the Christian life. What is the “Christian life,” and how does one live it? Beecher’s preaching prepares the reader to live Christ’s mission not only in this life, but also in the next.

These 26 Sunday sermons of Henry Ward Beecher are a glimpse at Beecher as a powerful rhetorician and a masterful scholar of biblical interpretation and application. This volume of diverse homiletic topics covers the usual range of theological and practical sermons to be expected of Beecher. Dive right in to his preaching on love, liberty, and humility and discover the truth of his pulpit orations.

These 23 Sunday sermons of Henry Ward Beecher are a glimpse at Beecher as a powerful rhetorician and a masterful scholar of biblical interpretation and application. These sermons include expositions in salvation, self-discipline, mercy, instruction of children, and human reason, among many other topics.

These 26 Sunday sermons of Henry Ward Beecher are a glimpse at Beecher as a powerful rhetorician and a masterful scholar of biblical interpretation and application. Discover Beecher’s vigorous and inspiring sermons to Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, which include lessons on spiritual manhood, working spirituality into the mundane tasks of life, and staying true to God during times of suffering and trial.

These 26 Sunday sermons of Henry Ward Beecher are a glimpse at Beecher as a powerful rhetorician and a masterful scholar of biblical interpretation and application. This six-month series explores the relationship of religion and government—particularly justice and righteousness in government officials, religious liberty exercised in churches, and the nature of truth and its relation to society.

These 26 Sunday sermons of Henry Ward Beecher are a glimpse at Beecher as a powerful rhetorician and a masterful scholar of biblical interpretation and application. Taking previous themes even further during this six-month series, Beecher continues his sermons on the indwelling of Christ, the philosophy of the immortal soul, the mission of the church in society, government, and the world, and moral uprightness.

These final 26 Sunday sermons of Henry Ward Beecher are a glimpse at Beecher as a powerful rhetorician and a masterful scholar of biblical interpretation and application. Within these sermons, you’ll find lessons on the spiritual Christian life, the internal workings of the Holy Spirit, and the solidarity of Jesus as our foundation in all things.

Over 300 pages of eloquently and passionately spoken petitions from Beecher’s years of preaching at Plymouth Church are recorded in this volume. The devotional practices of Beecher at the pulpit inspired generations of Christians nationwide—discover them whether you’re looking to deepen your personal prayer life or to liven your public prayer practices.

Beecher’s famous and well-researched biography of Jesus explores the environmental conditions, culture, and political atmosphere of Jesus’ life, clarifying things unfamiliar or assumed by contemporary readers of the four Gospels. He makes frequent reference to many of the theological and cultural works of his time, including the popular and insightful The Land and the Book, The Life of Our Lord upon the Earth, and Smith’s Bible Dictionary, among many other resources.

Beecher constructs a theological treatment of the theory of evolution, demonstrating that evolution is not mutually exclusive with God’s creation. Beecher lauds the theory of evolution, explaining that not only does it explain the mysteries of the scientific universe so well, but that in doing so it also reveals the genius and glory of the God who envisioned it all. The first part is a concise eight sermons exploring the relationship of evolutionary philosophy with the primary doctrines of evangelical Christianity.

Beecher constructs a theological treatment of the theory of evolution, demonstrating that evolution is not mutually exclusive with God’s creation. Beecher uniquely finds a practical application for the integration of evolution into theology that brings both God’s church and the individual Christian into closer communion with him on a day-to-day level. Part two contains 18 sermons discussing the application of the evolutionary theories to practical aspects of religious life—Henry Ward Beecher’s favorite part of discussing evolutionary theory.

The Lyman Beecher Lectureship on Preaching has annually given lectures for over 140 years at Yale Divinity School. Established in 1871 by a gift from Henry W. Sage, esq. in memory of Lyman Beecher (Henry Ward Beecher’s father), the lecture series requires that the lecturer have demonstrated remarkable success in public Christian ministry. Notable lecturers have been William M. Taylor, Henry Clay Trumbull, and P. T. Forsyth. Henry Ward Beecher was asked to speak for the first three years of the lectureship. The first series was given in 1872 and reveals the key to Henry Ward Beecher’s success at public speaking and successful pastoring in preaching.

The Lyman Beecher Lectureship on Preaching has annually given lectures for over 140 years at Yale Divinity School. Established in 1871 by a gift from Henry W. Sage, esq. in memory of Lyman Beecher (Henry Ward Beecher’s father), the lecture series requires that the lecturer have demonstrated remarkable success in public Christian ministry. Notable lecturers have been William M. Taylor, Henry Clay Trumbull, and P. T. Forsyth. Henry Ward Beecher was asked to speak for the first three years of the lectureship. The second series was given in 1873 and explores those social aspects of the church that lend themselves to powerful preaching, such as the use of the worship set, the content and direction of weekly prayer meetings, and the conduct and philosophy of church revivals.

The Lyman Beecher Lectureship on Preaching has annually given lectures for over 140 years at Yale Divinity School. Established in 1871 by a gift from Henry W. Sage, esq. in memory of Lyman Beecher (Henry Ward Beecher’s father), the lecture series requires that the lecturer have demonstrated remarkable success in public Christian ministry. Notable lecturers have been William M. Taylor, Henry Clay Trumbull, and P. T. Forsyth. Henry Ward Beecher was asked to speak for the first three years of the lectureship. The third series was given in 1874 and explores the Bible and finding practical application out of general theological and philosophical doctrines.

This volume provides nine sermons on the stumbling blocks of the youth of his age—seven of which are among Beecher’s earliest writings. These sermons explore the nature of temptation and enticement, the ways in which the moral decision isn’t always obvious, and the key to discerning evil when it puts on its disguise of innocence. Beecher addresses idleness, dishonesty, sexuality, gambling, vulgarity, and the proper place for amusement and the pursuit of happiness.

The talks in this volume were given at Henry Ward Beecher’s weeknight prayer meetings. Colloquial rather than oratory, these discourses reveal more of Beecher’s personality and off-the-cuff thought and speech. These 48 talks cover a wide variety of personal and intimate topics Beecher and his church addressed in this small-group setting. The first talk is Beecher’s farewell to his prayer group before he left for the United Kingdom on his diplomatic mission on behalf of Abraham Lincoln, which is immediately followed by his first talk upon his return, and his personal thoughts on the trip and on England itself.

These articles were written under the title of “Thoughts as they Occur by one who keeps his Eyes and Ears open,” in a weekly column for the New York Ledger. Written in a completely humble and intimate style (compared with his usual sermons or orations), these articles expose the day-to-day appreciation of the little things—of art, of nature, and of country.

These collected writings, addresses, lectures, and sermons were pulled together from many public events over the course of many years. Written simply and elegantly, they cover a wide range of subjects in the popular rhetoric Beecher was made famous for. With 65 addresses, letters, and sermons not repeated in any other volume, Sunshine in the Soul is the completely reedited and revised edition of Beecher’s New Star Papers: Views and Experiences on Religious Subjects published almost 20 years prior. These writings are notably more personal and familiar than Beecher’s usual sermons, yet still display the power of his oratory style.

These 18 discourses are a theological look at national duty and democracy in the United States. Beecher expresses his uncompromising Christian principles against slavery: he articulates the Christian responsibility to speak against slavery and work morality into the lawmaking practices of his age. His discourses explore Christianity in the national government, the philosophies of liberty and duty, and how the Christian church should respond to injustice in the government.

This short volume is a long sermon outlining the spiritual, social, and economic virtues of sobriety and establishing the evils of the same kind. Preached on February 5, 1871, and then published for distribution by the National Temperance Society and Publication House, this sermon reached thousands of readers and fueled the temperance movement of the late nineteenth century, setting the stage for the passing of the Eighteenth Amendment several decades later.

This 366-day devotional was compiled by Lyman Abbott, a like-minded contemporary and co-minister of Henry Ward Beecher’s; it pulls together Bible verses and long, contemplative quotations from all of Beecher’s writings, public and private. It has devotional entries for morning and evening in each day of the 366-day year, with devotional entries not ignoring holidays or anniversaries of major events. With the pragmatic and provocative words of Beecher supplementing the eternal words of the Bible, this devotional is an ideal tool for supplementing any morning or evening devotional.

One of the earliest publications of Henry Ward Beecher’s sermons and lectures, this volume was originally printed and published without Beecher’s consent or knowledge. Compiled by a diligent note-taker in his congregation, these excerpts and quotations of Beecher’s sermons were edited and revised by Beecher in a later edition. This edition contains the unedited excerpts of transcriptions of his sermons, lectures, and talks.

With exactly 1,000 extracted and self-contained thoughts on equally as many topics, this volume gives readers unlimited ability to find relevant quotations from Henry Ward Beecher on any topic he spoke or wrote on. Generously indexed with over 500 pages, these gems were selected by British publishers to make Beecher’s works more accessible in Great Britain, where his popularity and respect grew into a devoted following.

Chronicling Henry Ward Beecher’s life and immediate family history, William Beecher (his son) and Samuel Scoville (his son-in-law) compile a complete biography of the long life of Henry Ward Beecher, finishing a task already started by the man himself.

Over 600 pages intimately explore his life—from humorous accounts of his childhood to the difficult account of his court trial in his later years. Discover the events that shaped Beecher and made him one of America’s most influential figures.

A concise and leisurely biography of Henry Ward Beecher, Beecher: Christian Philosopher, Pulpit Orator, Patriot, and Philanthropist is essential to studying Beecher’s life. Written so that those who have never met Beecher would get as close an encounter with the man as possible, the volume lends itself to its mission by increasing readability through brevity, and with its pages filled with excerpts from his sermons, writings, and orations, the reader may easily imagine sitting in a pew at Plymouth Church, listening to his passionate prayers or his convicting sermons.

An intimate and friendly biography and character study of Henry Ward Beecher by his close friend Lyman Abbott, this volume closely follows Beecher’s public life—from the pulpit to the politics. Lyman not only addresses the actions, writings, and events in Beecher’s life, but with detail shares the decision-making process behind Beecher’s choices and the public response to Beecher’s life as pastor, preacher, author, editor, reformer, and lecturer. This volume includes appendixes which feature Beecher’s analysis of Romans 7 and his lengthy theological profession of faith.