In this first biography of Elihu Palmer, Kirsten Fischer depicts a once notorious freethinker who countered Christianity with the idea of an interconnected universe infused with a divine life force. Denounced as "heretical," Palmer's speeches and writings shaped the contest over freedom of religion and of speech in the new United States.

Prologue. "A Religious Tornado"
Part I. Expansive Christianity
Chapter 1. Steady Habits Upended
Chapter 2. A Liberal Education
Chapter 3. "All is Alive"
Chapter 4. Freelance Universalist
Part II. The Making of an "Infidel"
Chapter 5. Palmer's Rubicon
Chapter 6. Hard Fate
Chapter 7. Fellowship
Chapter 8. Sensitive Atoms
Part III. Lightning Rod
Chapter 9. Specter of Infidelity
Chapter 10. Controversy Among Freethinkers
Chapter 11. Weaponizing Freethought
Chapter 12. The Best Kind of Revolution
Epilogue. Into the Future
Notes
Index
Acknowledgments