theWord Commentaries

He was pastor of the Congregational Church in Terre Haute, Indiana, from 1860 to 1865 and of the New England Church in New York City in 1865–1869.[8] From 1865 to 1868 he was secretary of the American Union Commission (later called the American Freedmen’s and Union Commission).[8] In 1869 he resigned his pastorate to devote himself to literature.

With Booker Washington and other dignitaries
Abbott worked variously in the publishing profession as an associate editor of Harper’s Magazine, and was the founder of a publication called the Illustrated Christian Weekly,[9] which he edited for six years. He was also the co-editor of The Christian Union with Henry Ward Beecher from 1876 to 1881. Abbott later succeeded Beecher in 1888 as pastor of Plymouth Church, Brooklyn. He also wrote the official biography of Beecher and edited his papers.[4]

From 1881 Abbott was editor-in-chief of The Christian Union, renamed The Outlook in 1891;[8] this periodical reflected his efforts toward social reform, and, in theology, a liberality, humanitarianism and nearly unitarian. The latter characteristics marked his published works also.

Abbott’s opinions differed from those of Beecher. Abbott was a constant advocate of Industrial Democracy,[10] and was an advocate of Theodore Roosevelt’s progressivism for almost 20 years. He later adopted a pronouncedly liberal theology.

He was a pronounced Christian Evolutionist.[11] In two of his books, The Evolution of Christianity and The Theology of an Evolutionist (1897), Abbott applied the concept of evolution in a Christian theological perspective. Although he objected to being called an advocate of Darwinism, he was an optimistic advocate of evolution, once saying “what Jesus saw, humanity is becoming.”

Abbott was a religious figure of some public note and was called upon on October 30, 1897, to deliver an address in New York at the funeral of economist, Henry George.[12] He ultimately resigned his pastorate in November 1898.[9]

His son, Lawrence Fraser Abbott, accompanied President Roosevelt on a tour of Europe and Africa (1909–10). In 1913 Lyman Abbott was expelled from the American Peace Society because military preparedness was vigorously advocated in The Outlook,[13] which he edited, and because he was a member of the Army and Navy League. During World War I, he supported the government’s war policies.

He received the degree D.D. from the University of the City of New York in 1879; from Harvard in 1891, from Yale in 1903, and LL.D. from Western Reserve in 1900.[8]