Fair Game - Hannah Adams

1755–1831

A shy woman, single all her life, Hannah Adams loved to gather knowledge. An avid reader as a child, she learned Greek and Latin from seminary students who boarded in her family’s Massachusetts home. The Revolutionary War broke out when she was about twenty, and money was tight. Hannah helped out by making lace and tutoring young men.

Before she turned thirty, she published her first book, An Alphabetical Compendium of the Various Sects Which Have Appeared in the World from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Present Day. This work not only detailed the distinctions of Christian denominations, but also examined the beliefs of Islam, Judaism, Deism, Paganism, and other world religions. Other Christian authors of the time might merely have pointed out all the errors in these competing faiths, but Adams was far ahead of her time in the respect she showed them. She tried to treat each belief system fairly.

This won her the support of a group of influential freethinkers in Boston, who supported her financially as she kept writing. As a result, Hannah Adams is generally considered the first American woman to make her living as a writer. Her books, mostly on religion (Evidences of Christianity) and history (A Summary History of New England), continued to gather and dispense knowledge.

For instance, The Truth and Excellence of the Christian Religion (1804) impressively presents arguments for the truth of the Bible and Jesus as Messiah, quoting extensively from leading Christian authors. Chapters cover the testimony of fulfilled prophecy, of the Resurrection, and of the miraculous growth of the church. Later in life Adams described herself as a Unitarian (possibly influenced by her Boston supporters), but these earlier works seem as evangelical as you can get.

Nowadays, Christians need to steer clear of two pitfalls. One is to go along with the general idea that it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you’re sincere about it. It does matter. We can and should, as Hannah Adams did, muster convincing arguments for the truth of the Christian gospel.

But we must also avoid the other pitfall—mistreating those who disagree with us. Church history is full of horror stories along this line—so-called Christians violently abusing others for their beliefs. It makes no sense to hurt people, to slander them or spew hatred, in defense of the one who said, “Love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44).

Anyone who is not against us is for us.

Mark 9:40