ipl-logo

Ralph Waldo Emerson's 'The Divinity School Address'

1305 Words6 Pages

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

Show More
Related

  • Summary Of The Second Great Awakening And Transcendentalism

    137 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • How Did Jonathan Edwards Contribute To The First Great Awakening

    1270 Words  | 6 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • First Great Awakening Research Paper

    589 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Religion And Society During The Second Great Awakening

    710 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • American Revolution: The Second Great Awakening

    463 Words  | 2 Pages

    Through its meetings being held and the number of people who had attended, the Second Great Awakening suggests that in order to gain member participation, there has to be a devoted style of preaching to its audience. The Second Great Awakening clearly noted a basic transition in American religion. American religious groups in the Calvinist tradition had focused their attention on the extensive indecency of human beings, and had believed that they would only be able to be saved by Gods grace. An Evangelical movement had placed increasing value on humans’ ability to change their situation all for the better.

    Read More

  • Nancy Emerson's Beliefs

    1054 Words  | 5 Pages

    (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)

    Read More

  • Great Awakening Rationalism

    1141 Words  | 5 Pages

    To those living in British America in the 1700’s, religion was a central fixture of everyday life. One’s denomination was intrinsically tied up in one’s ethnic and social identity, and local churches in the mid-Atlantic depended upon the participation and donations of their parishioners to survive. However, as the 18th century progressed, poorer farmers and ministers across the diverse sects of colonial America came to resent the domination of church life by the upper class. In a parallel development, a split had grown between the rationalists, who were typically wealthy, educated and influential men who represented the status quo, and the evangelicals, who disdained the impersonal pretention of the rationalists and promoted a spiritual and

    Read More

  • Ralph Waldo Emerson's Speech: The Positive Impact Of Education

    829 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Jonathan Edwards Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God

    918 Words  | 4 Pages

    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”,”

    Read More

  • More Than A Carpenter Summary

    894 Words  | 4 Pages

    McDowell begins the book with an anecdote of his life; a familiar story of the sceptical university Agnostic, ready to fire back a retort at the slightest mention of God, Christianity, and anything (or anyone) within. He recounted the all too common feeling of a meaningless life, the seemingly innate itch of human existence, and how it brought him to various places in his life—until he stumbled upon a particular group of people and was changed forever. This introduction, though short, is crucial to understand, for it sets the stage for the remainder of the book. It tells not only the story of a former non-believer, but the story of everyone—it presents us the life of Jesus Christ, not as a gentle sermon or a feel-good retelling, but as an assertive, rational reply to the accusation: ‘Christianity is a myth, and so is your God.’

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Enlightenment And The Great Awakening

    532 Words  | 3 Pages

    Followers, who had once felt unfulfilled and disheartened during sermons, suddenly felt and experienced the spiritual connection to God that they had each been longing for after attending preachings from these two men. The Great Awakening brought about religious freedom and free will (Smith, 2011) that would grant all

    Read More

  • Imagine There's No Heaven By Salman Rushdie

    805 Words  | 4 Pages

    A common questioning of a higher power beyond the physical realm lingers in society: Who and what is God?. However, many of these theological questions cannot be answered until we, of course, die. Due to human’s innate curiosity to understand the forces beyond their own, especially in terms of religion, humans find their own reasons to believe in God in the process of discovery. Religion is a sense of belief and worship to praise a higher power (God), and it provides a guide for human beings to have the opportunity to come together and live as one image of God’s children. “Imagine There’s No Heaven” is an article in which Salman Rushdie, the author, presents an atheistic view where religion is pointless, and a higher being is non-existent.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Clarence Darrow's The Myth Of The Soul

    745 Words  | 3 Pages

    In response to the long-standing philosophical question of immorality, many philosophers have posited the soul criterion, which asserts the soul constitutes personal identity and survives physical death. In The Myth of the Soul, Clarence Darrow rejects the existence of the soul in his case against the notion of immortality and an afterlife. His primary argument against the soul criterion is that no good explanation exists for how a soul enters a body, or when its beginning might occur. (Darrow 43) After first explicating Darrow 's view, I will present what I believe is its greatest shortcoming, an inconsistent use of the term soul, and argue that this weakness impacts the overall strength of his argument.

    Read More

  • World On The Turtle's Back, The Crucible, And Self-Reliance

    513 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Evolution of American Literature American literature has changed over many years. Some of these works have helped to shape how we live, work, and think. Others are a reminder of a past that may have been grim or pleasant, depending on how the writer may have seen it. Some works of literature that show the evolution of Americans and our religion could be The World on the Turtle’s Back, The Crucible, and Self-Reliance.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Romanticism And Transcendentalism

    1375 Words  | 6 Pages

    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

    Read More

More about Ralph Waldo Emerson's 'The Divinity School Address'

Open Document