Disparaged by his critics as a liberal, Calvinist, mystic, and heretic, Horace Bushnell’s theology—particularly his notion of Christian nurture—has prevailed as a significantly influential model for religious education. His legacy reveals one who attempted to bridge the divides of his time, including the chasm between Orthodox Calvinism and Unitarianism. Though many were confused by his language theory and mediating stance on doctrinal issues, his principles of Christian nurture clearly served as a pilot light that ignited the flame of the twentieth-century religious education movement.