This collection of sermons features the work of Horace Bushnell (1802-18776), an American Congregational minister and theologian. He was born in Connecticut and attended Yale University, graduating in 1827.

In 1833 Bushnell was ordained pastor of the Congregational church in Hartford, Connecticut, where he remained until 1859, resigning for health reasons. As a preacher, Dr Bushnell was very effective.

Though not a dramatic orator, he was original, thoughtful and impressive in the pulpit. Above all, he broke with the prevalent view which regarded theology as essentially intellectual in its appeal and demonstrable by processes of exact logical deduction.

To his thinking its proper basis is to be found in the feelings and intuitions of humankind's spiritual nature. He had a marked influence upon theology in America, This book gathers eight sermons originally delivered by Bushnell on various occasions and first published separately in pamphlet form: Unconscious Influence, Prosperity Our Duty, Barbarism the First Danger, The Fathers of New England, God's Thoughts Fit Bread for Children, Crisis of the Church, Speech for Connecticut, and California: Its Characteristics and Prospects.

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