author
L. K. (Lemuel Kelley) Washburn
1846–1927
A sharp, independent voice in American freethought, this 19th-century writer and editor challenged religious orthodoxy with plainspoken essays and fearless debate. His work still stands out for its direct questions about faith, reason, and public life.
1 Audiobook
Is The Bible Worth Reading, and Other Essays
by L. K. (Lemuel Kelley) Washburn
About the author
Born in 1846, Lemuel Kelley Washburn was an American freethought writer and editor best known for his outspoken essays on religion, skepticism, and ethics. He wrote in a clear, argumentative style that aimed to reach ordinary readers rather than scholars, which gives his work an immediate, conversational feel even now.
Washburn was associated with the Boston Investigator, an important freethought paper of its day, and he published a wide range of atheist and reform-minded writing. He also compiled Cosmian Hymn Book: A Collection of Original and Selected Hymns in 1888, a volume presented as free from sectarian limits.
Readers coming to Washburn today will usually meet him through essay collections such as Is the Bible Worth Reading? and Other Essays and The Miracles of Jesus, and Other Essays. Across those works, he comes across as bold, skeptical, and deeply committed to open inquiry. He died in 1927.