The Highest Revelation

 1.         Emerson wrote: "The highest revelation is that God is in every man." Emerson is saying that the elements of love, freedom and power which are God reside in everyone; God is in our soul.  He is saying that God is personal and can be known through the intellect, and through mystical inner experiences.  He is saying that everyone is responsible for their spiritual growth and development, and that everyone has the power within to transform their life.

2.         A cluster of ideas that left much room for individual interpretation, transcendentalism was an America attempt to produce a new philosophy that would serve a new nation. Transcendentalism is the search for a truth that might be true at all times in all places; the belief that evidence for such a spiritual truth might be found in and through the physical world, and the idea that each individual has the capacity to experience this truth in a personal way.  Transcendentalism stresses a divine force in each individual, a force that is also linked to nature and has the power to transform lives, as well as social institutions.  The sources of transcendentalism include English Romanticism, German idealist philosophy and Unitarianism as well as Eastern religions. Transcendentalism developed within a uniquely American environment, but it also extends back to roots in Europe and forward to a global audience.  Transcendentalism embodies the desire to reconcile science and rationality with religion. 

Introduction

Hello All:

When I arrived at Unity Village in 2014, 2017 seemed like an eternity.  How could I possibly make it through three years of Missouri winters after living in the Caribbean for most of my life.  The first thing I did when I arrived in Missouri was to affirm mild winters for the time I was going to be here, and so far that has been the case.  There is nothing like a affirmation!

I really had no idea what to expect from this class, but having listened to the first five of Professor Nichol's lectures on Emerson, Thoreau and the Transcendentalist Movement, I think fascinating would be a bit of an understatement in describing what I have learned to date.  This is going to be quite a journey into transcendentalism!