author
R. W. Beers
b. 1860
A late-19th-century Presbyterian minister, this little-known writer is remembered for a single forceful book that tackles one of the era's most heated religious and political debates. His work has the feel of a sermon, a study, and an argument all at once.
1 Audiobook
The Mormon puzzle, and how to solve it
by R. W. Beers
About the author
Born in 1860, R. W. Beers is a fairly obscure American author, and the details of his life are not widely documented in the sources available online. What can be confirmed is that he wrote The Mormon Puzzle; and How to Solve It, and that the book identifies him as Rev. R. W. Beers, A.M., pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Elkton, Maryland.
Published in 1887, with copyright entered in 1886, The Mormon Puzzle appears to be the only work widely attributed to him in major public-domain and catalog listings. In its preface, Beers presents the book as the result of about two years of research and describes Mormonism as one of the most pressing public questions in the United States of his day.
Because so little biographical material survives in easily verifiable sources, Beers is best understood through this book: a minister writing with conviction, curiosity, and the reforming energy of his time. Readers coming to his work today will find a window into 19th-century Protestant thought and the religious controversies that shaped American public life.