Divinity School Address

Ralph Waldo Emerson’s speech is a theologically provocative assertion of how Transcendental beliefs can right the wrongs of what he calls “historical Christianity.” Emerson’s poetic language and argumentative structure aim to guide his audience—current and soon-to-be ministers of Unitarian congregations—to consider how they might leave the “uncertain and inarticulate voice” of the church and embrace their own God-given intuitions (11). He relies on historical evidence, his belief in self-divinity, and philosophical reasoning to deliver a message that was controversial among theologians. Additionally, he ends with a call to action for the graduating class, a call to which many in attendance took offense. The controversial aspects of the speech include Emerson’s assertion that Jesus is simply one of the prophets who commune with God, and that each man has the same access to the living God as Jesus and therefore should minister as a divine being.

Emerson’s goal is to balance philosophical truths with concrete applications for ministers and theologians. His primary theme is the Inherent Virtue of All Beings, which argues for the inherent divinity of man, a core tenet of Transcendentalism. His argument is a continuation of his primary thesis from Nature: Humanity is a part of nature, and by returning to it, they can reawaken the spiritual self. In the “Divinity Address,” Emerson refers to this concept as the “Supreme Wisdom” (5-6). It is the basis of what people call good and evil, an understanding of the divine soul that is shared by humanity, nature, and God.

Emerson’s diction is rooted in spiritual and religious language. He uses Biblical allusions to attempt to convince his audience of the righteousness of his unorthodox arguments. For example, he claims that preachers should offer up their own life experiences to their congregations: “[L]ife passed through the fire of thought” (14). There are many references to passing through fire in the Bible, including as a test of faith (1 Peter 1:7) and as a confirmation of God’s protection (Isaiah 43:1-2). He also invokes worship, temples and oracles, and the idea of everlasting love to describe the role of Supreme Wisdom in one’s life. However, he also invokes the legitimacy of other world religions, insinuating that Christianity is not unique in its access to the divine. While Unitarians were split on this issue at the time, he is using language that his audience would understand well, through which he attempts to establish credibility before outlining his grievances against Unitarians.

Emerson does not shy away from powerful language and direct statements when highlighting his specific grievances with historical Christianity. Emerson telling the audience that many preach “as if God were dead” is an incendiary way of expressing his concern that ministers too often follow tradition rather than intuition (11). Emerson uses a poetic alliteration (a rhetorical device that appeals to memory) when arguing that “the seer is a sayer” (11), suggesting that ministers must speak from their soul and not convention. Emerson’s declarations about the Ineffectiveness of Modern Teachings were controversial.

Emerson refers to the beauty of nature in his speech as a foundation for building his argument. He describes nature as the primary way in which one can experience the sublime, and by guiding his audience to notice the picturesque summer day, he invites them to believe in a world in which beauty is immediately accessible to them. The speech is full of natural imagery, particularly sunrise and sunset and plants, animals, and rivers, to inject elements of the sublime into the language. Consequently, he directs his audience’s respect for nature to respect for humanity.

Emerson uses the word “laws” to describe this connection. He argues that people only come to understand “virtue” through “reverence and delight” of these divine laws (2). He reasons that the existence of all religions relies on this universally available virtue, and then invites his audience to consider that all things that are good, beautiful, and right exist “in one mind” (4). He returns to this sentiment at the close of this speech, when he admonishes the listener to see that their “[d]uty,” understood as personal benevolence, is “one thing with Science, with Beauty, and with Joy” (22). This circularity of structure reinforces his arguments about unity.

Emerson returns the idea of the soul throughout the speech and uses it as his anchor for divine inspiration. While soul and laws often seem opposed, Emerson differentiates the laws he discusses with laws of the church. Emerson’s laws are metaphysical laws that humans do not have to follow so much as become aware of. When a person looks into their intuition, they are becoming aware of the virtue of the universe directly. Since Emerson sees all things as existing as one, his use of virtue, laws, and intuition become interchangeable, even as he must differentiate them for his audience. Emerson attempts to mediate this issue in the beginning, when he admits that these terms “elude our persevering thought; yet we read them hourly in each other’s faces, in each other’s actions, in our own remorse” (3). In true Transcendentalist fashion, he suggests that one must look to experience to truly understand these concepts.

While Emerson is mounting an argument, his tone is poetic. He, in fact, never considered himself a philosopher but a poet, even though he delves heavily into philosophy. As well as crafting evocative language of the sublimity of the natural world to keep his listener’s attention, Emerson weaves his poetic tone throughout his speech as he transitions to stating controversial beliefs in the divinity of man and the ineffective teachings of ministers. “The soul is not preached,” Emerson says, and “[t]he Church seems to totter to its fall, almost all life extinct” (12). The images of falling and extinction are hyperbolic in their poeticism. It is this poetic and yet urgent language that commands his audience to reorient their beliefs. Ultimately, his poetic language becomes an invitation for his audience to participate in the sublimity and power of the natural world.