The Freedom Ring

Rev. Henry Ward Beecher was one of the most famous abolitionists, preachers, and inspirational orators during America's long fight against slavery. He became one of the leading voices of moral reason for the North leading up to and all throughout the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln considered him the most influential man in America.      He preached from his famous Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, NY. The church, which is still active till this day, was referred to as the "Grand Central Station" for the Underground Railroad. The church helped usher run away slaves coming from the South through New York and heading up to Canada.     Beecher became popular for his love of America's freedom, liberty and democracy. He became a member and supporter of the Republican Party, helping establish its original party tenets and was one of the most effective supporters of Lincoln's presidential campaign.      Below is an excerpt from one of Beec...

Famous and Historical Sermon by the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher Plymouth Church Brooklyn, NY - Sunday Morning July 17, 1870  Warring Turbulence of Man George Villiers, by Peter Paul Rubens, 1625 “From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not; ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain; ye fight and war, and yet ye have not, because ye ask not.” — JAMES IV. 1, 2. This is a description of the turbulence of man, regarded simply as an animal. There is a dormant implication here, also, of man as a spiritual being. As an animal, he is restless, avaricious, dishonest, plundering, murdering, forever desiring, and yet unsatisfied in his desires, because his lower nature never can be at rest, but, like the troubled sea, casts up grime and dirt. “Because ye ask not.” Because the spiritual side of man, which derives its being from God, and all the plentitude of its enjoyment from spiritual things, th...