author
Richard B. (Richard Brodhead) Westbrook
A 19th-century writer, minister, and public lecturer, he is remembered for forceful books that questioned religious authority and argued over science, faith, and biblical interpretation. His work sits at the crossroads of freethought, theology, and public debate.
1 Audiobook
The Eliminator; or, Skeleton Keys to Sacerdotal Secrets
by Richard B. (Richard Brodhead) Westbrook
About the author
Born in 1820, Richard Brodhead Westbrook was an American minister, writer, and lecturer whose books took on big religious and philosophical questions. Sources on his life describe him as active in both preaching and public controversy, with a career that moved beyond the pulpit into writing and civic engagement.
His published works include Man, Whence and Whither?, The Bible: Whence and What?, and The Eliminator; or, Skeleton Keys to Sacerdotal Secrets. These titles show the subjects that most interested him: human origins, the authority of scripture, and sharp criticism of established religious systems.
Westbrook also served as a trustee of Philadelphia's Wagner Free Institute of Science from 1884 until his death in 1899. In his will, he funded the Richard B. Westbrook Free Lectureship to encourage open discussion of scientific questions, especially disputed issues in science and evolution, which helps explain why his writing still attracts readers interested in religion, skepticism, and 19th-century intellectual debate.