Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), The
Emerson resigned as minister of Second Church in Boston in 1832 and began a long career as America's most famous public lecturer. To the new "transcendentalism" he represented, with its optimism about human nature, its belief that individuals must find the truth within themselves and not at second hand, and its sense of the divinity of the human soul, even Boston Unitarianism seemed too theologically conservative. Emerson delivered this lecture at the Harvard Divinity School in 1838; he was never invited back (p. 121).
There is much optimism about the human nature. Individuals must find the truth within themselves and not from second hand sources. Observe nature. Respect the perfection of this world, though not as something displaying the sovereignty of God, but rather as perfection in and of itself. The world is not the product of manifold power, but of the will, of one mind, and that mind is everywhere. The heart gives assurances that the law is sovereign over all natures. This sentiment is divine and deifying. It makes man illimitable. It corrects the capital mistake of deriving advantages from another, by showing the fountain of all good to be himself. Man is the greatest good. Jesus Christ saw with an open eye the mystery of the soul. He alone in all of history estimated the greatness of man. He saw that God incarnates Himself in man. Yet, every other recording of the events of Jesus’ life have been distorted. Today, men speak of revelation as being completed in the past, as if God were dead. Man needs to be made sensible that he is an infinite soul, always constantly drinking of God. Good seeks good, and evil seeks evil. So by their own choice souls proceed into heaven, or into hell. Humans should go at life alone. Love God purely, without a mediator or a veil, such as tradition or the Bible.
Tomorrow: Mary Baker Eddy
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