Common Sense Applied to Religion; Or, The Bible and the People

Transcriber's Note.
Apparent typographical errors have been corrected; inconsistencies in the use of hyphens have been retained.
BY CATHARINE E. BEECHER.
AUTHOR OF LETTERS TO THE PEOPLE ON HEALTH AND HAPPINESS, PHYSIOLOGY AND CALISTHENICS, DOMESTIC ECONOMY, DOMESTIC RECEIPT-BOOK, &c., &c.
NEW YORK: HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE.
MONTREAL: BENJAMIN DAWSON. 1857.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, by Harper & Brothers, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York.
TO THE PEOPLE, AS THE SAFEST AND TRUEST INTERPRETERS OF THE BIBLE, AND TO WOMAN, AS THE HEAVEN-APPOINTED EDUCATOR OF MIND, THIS WORK Is respectfully Dedicated.

This work is the result of thirty years of devotion to the training of the human mind for the great end for which it was created. Early in that period it was felt that at the very foundation of such efforts were opposing theological theories , that seemed at war with both the common sense and the moral sense of mankind.
In the progress of such duties, a work was prepared on Mental and Moral Science , as a text-book for the institution under the care of the writer, which was printed, but never published. After submitting this work to the criticism of a number of the leading minds of various schools and sects, it was found to contain so much that might result in theological controversy, that it was deemed modest and wise to wait until age, experience, and farther examination had lent their maturing influence.
After a delay of over a quarter of a century, the conviction above stated not only remains, but has been strengthened by the discussions and developments that have intervened in that period.