Lyman Abbott (1835-1922) was American Protestantism's foremost interpreter of the scientific, theological, and social revolutions challenging the nation after the Civil War.

Lyman Abbott was born on Dec. 18, 1835, in Roxbury, Mass., the son of Jacob Abbott, clergyman and author of the celebrated "Rollo" books for children. Upon graduation from New York University, young Abbott successfully practiced law but soon entered the Congregational ministry. His first pastorate after ordination in 1860 was in Terre Haute, Ind., and although Civil War sympathies in the community were divided, Abbott ardently upheld the Union. With the coming of peace, he joined the American Union Commission in the healing work of reconstruction. When a subsequent New York pastorate left him discouraged, he turned to a new calling, journalism. He wrote for Harper's Magazine and edited the new Illustrated Christian Weekly, then joined Henry Ward Beecher in the editorship of the Christian Union (after 1893 the...