In 1840 she published in the "Biblical Repository" an article on Free
Agency, which has been acknowledged by competent critics as the ablest
refutation of Edwards on "The Will" which has appeared. An amusing
incident connected with this publication may not be out of place here.
A certain eminent theological professor of New England, visiting a
distinguished German theologian and speaking of this production, said:
"The ablest refutation of Edwards on 'The Will' which was ever written
is the work of a woman, the daughter of Dr. Lyman Beecher." The worthy
Teuton raised both hands in undisguised astonishment. "You have a
woman that can write an able refutation of Edwards on 'The Will'? God
forgive Christopher Columbus for discovering America!"
Not finding herself able to love a God whom she thought of in her own
language as "a perfectly happy being, unmoved by my sorrows or tears,
and looking upon me only with dislike and aversion," she determined
"to find happiness in living to do good." "It was right to pray and
read the Bible, so I prayed and read. It was right to try to save
others, so I labored for their salvation. I never had any fear of
punishment or hope of reward all these years." She was tormented with
doubts. "What has the Son of God done which the meanest and most
selfish creature upon earth would not have done? After making such a
wretched race and placing them in such disastrous circumstances,
somehow, without any sorrow or trouble, Jesus Christ had a human
nature that suffered and died.
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