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. Beecher's book was originally published when America was deeply conflicted over the Great Awakenings and the New School/Old School controversies that set the stage for the American Civil War.Beecher wrote, "...soon after the opening...