M. E. Billings’s Crimes of Preachers in the United States and Canada is a freethought tract compiling reports of misconduct and crime among the clergy. Published in the late nineteenth century, the book gathers newspaper accounts of offenses committed by ministers of various denominations.
Polemical in purpose, the work was intended to challenge the moral authority of organized religion by documenting the failings of its representatives. It stands as an artifact of the freethought movement and the era’s debates over religion and skepticism. This free EPUB edition is formatted for reading on any e-reader, tablet, or phone.