Harriet Beecher Religion

In our previous bridge assignment we took a look at Christianity in its early stages, as a historically developing religion. We discussed some of its most prominent features. Christianity when looked at simplistically is the religion of those people who believe in Jesus Christ as the savior of the world. However, for this bridge assignment we will not be taking a look at what Christianity is, or its practices/ beliefs are, but at more specific examples of Christianity in two different scopes. The first is a ritual: the pilgrimage to Saint James of Compostela in Spain, as it developed in the twentieth century. The second is a biography of Harriet Beecher Stowe from the nineteenth century. What is this pilgrimage we speak of? Pilgrimage itself has a long history in Christianity as well as in other
Heirs of the protestant tradition, their vehicles of salvation were the study of theology. The Beecher’s were one of America’s most famous families at the time. Lyman Beecher had three wives in succession, bearing him eleven children. Five of which achieved wide renown. One of these five was his sixth daughter, Harriet Beecher. At a very early age Harriet was being recognized for her writing abilities, and later becoming an avid reader of romantic literatures and theological works. In 1836, at the age of twenty-five, Harriet married Stowe and had seven children. It was at this time that she began writing essays and magazine articles and regularly publishing them. A few years down the line she has great success with writing novels, selling millions of copies of her works. Harriet Beecher Stowe saw the religious ways of her father as a powerful discipline but thought that it left too many behind floundering in despair, so in 1864 Harriet joined the Episcopal Church. This new religion allowed for gradual growth in spirituality for those who chose such a