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Ralph Waldo Emerson's 'The Divinity School Address'

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Ralph Waldo Emerson, on July 15, 1838, delivered his acclaimed speech, “The Divinity School Address,” to the graduating class of Harvard Divinity School. Desiring to leave a lasting impact on the students’ beliefs on what religion truly was, Emerson cunningly utilized the opportunity that arose out of addressing an easily influenced graduating class. A fervent transcendentalist who believed in the innate goodness of people, Emerson attempted to convey, in this message, what he believed the essence of true religion was: a divine worship of one’s self, a belief that is in direct opposition with what Christianity encourages: a devoted worship of Christ and a reckoning of one’s carnal self. In “The Divinity School Address”, not only did Emerson …show more content…

True religion, for Emerson, appears to be narcissistic and egotistical and can be defined as promoting and being consumed by the deity of one’s self, yet, contradictorily, Emerson claimed that as one trusts and worships in themselves, they gain a renewed confidence in other men. The opposite often occurs and the selfish nature Emerson so boldly praised manifests itself when one chooses to focus primarily on themselves rather than Christ. Throughout “The Divinity School Address,” Emerson attempted to justify why the human soul should regard itself as its own god by arguing the “indisputable” power of the soul and its ability to determine everything, such as where it will go after death as Emerson believed nothing about the soul was predetermined. Although Emerson was, to some extent, correct about free will, he misrepresented what little power the soul truly has by implying that, ultimately, the soul, not God, holds, in itself, the power to determine its place in the afterlife. Furthermore, Emerson misuses this as “proof” of why the soul is all-powerful and should be worshipped. However, Christians know this to be false and in direct opposition to the Bible, which teaches that salvation through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross determines the soul’s outcome after

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Jonathan Edwards was a critical thinker in shaping the First Great Awakening and did this through his congregation in Northampton in New England. Edwards was born on October 5, 1703 in East Windsor, Connecticut to a minister and a daughter of Reverend Solomon Stoddard. Edwards prepared for his schooling by his father and elder siblings to later attend Yale College where two years after graduation he studied theology. While in college, Edwards took a liking to science, but unlike other students that went toward deism, he “saw the natural world as evidence of God’s masterful design,”(Marsden) Jonathan Edwards used his interest of science and the natural world in his sermons as evidence to God’s greatness on Earth. As he grew up and became a fill in pastor for different churches throughout the Northeast, he realized that he was not satisfied with his conversion.

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Following a period of religious decline in the early 1700s, the strong emotions that accompanied a revival left Puritans with a longing to “share [their] joy and tell [their] experience to others.” The “individual freedom and fraternal union went hand in hand.” The act of communicating with fellow Puritans compelled the realization of common beliefs between one another. These new conversations allowed personal religion interpretations to form without the worry of being considered a dishonorable Puritan. Additionally, the nature of individual conversions that accompanied the First Great Awakening signified the focus of Puritanism shifting away from “purifying” the Anglican Church and towards establishing a personal relationship with God.

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The Second Great Awakening and the Transcendentalism is a book written by Barry Hankins in 2014. The main idea that the book reflects is that the Second Great Awakening and the Transcendentalism reinforced Americans beliefs in the individual’s importance and support even as it helped to bring a sense of community to a highly nomadic masses. The Second Great Awakening movement transformed the American religion and society in a number of ways. While there was a large growth of the deism in New England. Church’s revolutionary fervor tended to alienate it from its constituency.

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(Erickson) The beliefs Emerson held closely relate to the beliefs of other Southern Christians who found themselves similarly influenced by the teachings of Southern ministers. Within the South, Christianity held enormous influence. Religious leaders “buttressed” Southern support of the Confederate cause by “reminding their countrymen of the role that divine intervention played in all things.” (Wesley)

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During the 1800s, a drastic religious revival swept across the United States. Much change and reform took place within the nation that shifted the character of American religion and culture. The beliefs and religious views of the 1800s helped influence the American identity today. Religion in the 1800s led to a revolution that had far-reaching effects on the U.S. that allowed it to assert its beliefs that have impacted society today.

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Belief of the Greater Good Science, reason, and observation of the physical world confirmed Jonathan Edwards 's deeply spiritual vision of a universe filled with the presence of God. Groomed to succeed his grandfather as pastor of the Congregational Church in Northampton, Massachusetts, Edwards entered Yale when he was only thirteen. Edwards 's formidable presence and vivid sermons helped to bring about the religious revival known as the Great Awakening . Intellectually, Edwards straddled two ages: the modern, secular world exemplified by such men as Benjamin Franklin, and the religious world of his zealous Puritan ancestors. The upholding power that a belief has, as an accessory Edward’s “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”,”

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What remains the one saying that parents always tell their child? Get an education. Humans have heard it over and over again. One needs a good education to get anywhere in this world. The positive impact of education has proven as one of the most important factors for every human.

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By that, he believed in the individual over the institution, which was a very dominant Transcendentalist trait. In 1837, Emerson was invited to deliver the address ‘The American Scholar’ at Harvard, which was one of the most influential American speeches made at his time. It consists of 45 paragraphs you can divide into five different sections. In the first seven paragraphs, he introduces his intention, which is to explore the scholar as one function of the

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