Reverend Francis Ellingwood Abbot (1836-1903) was a philosopher and theologian who sought to reconstruct theology in accord with scientific method. As a spokesman for "free religion", he asserted that Christianity, understood as based on the lordship of Christ, is no longer tenable. He rejected all dogma and reliance on Scriptures or creeds, teaching the truth is open to every individual. He served Unitarian churches in Dover, N.H., and Toledo, Ohio, but his ministry proved controversial, and in 1868 New Hampshire"s highest court ruled that the Dover, New Hampshire, First Unitarian Society of Christians" chosen minister was insufficiently "Christian" to serve his congregation. But opinions concerning Abbot diverged widely. Frederick Douglass, for example, praised him for doing "much to break the fetters of religious superstition, for which he is entitled to gratitude. " Following the controversy in New Hampshire, Abbot left the ministry in 1868 to write, edit, and teach. Abbot"s...