author
David Low Dodge
1774–1852
A merchant-turned-reformer, he became one of the earliest and strongest American voices for organized peace work. His writing and activism helped shape the young republic’s moral debate over war, religion, and public duty.
1 Audiobook
War Inconsistent with the Religion of Jesus Christ
by David Low Dodge
About the author
Born in Connecticut in 1774, David Low Dodge was an American theologian, merchant, and social reformer who is best known for helping found the New York Peace Society in 1815. He also helped establish the New York Bible Society and the New York Tract Society, showing how closely his religious convictions and public work were connected.
Before becoming widely known as a peace advocate, he worked as a teacher and later as a dry-goods merchant. His Christian beliefs led him to argue that war was incompatible with the teachings of Jesus, and he wrote forcefully against violence at a time when organized peace activism in the United States was still very new.
Dodge died in New York City in 1852. He is remembered as an important early pacifist whose life joined business, faith, and reform, and whose efforts helped lay groundwork for the American peace movement.