What Ralph Waldo Emerson thinks about religion

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American essayist and lecturer (1803 to 1882); began his career as a Unitarian minister in Boston; author of essays including Self-Reliance, History, The Over-Soul and Fate.

Ralph Waldo Emerson did not write this page.

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Only Ralph Waldo Emerson on religion. See everyone on religion

2 dated positions, 1838 to c. 1841–1847, in their own words. Our reading of what Ralph Waldo Emerson has said — not written or endorsed by them.

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1. c. 1841–1847

   Our readingAn institution is the lengthened shadow of one man

   Their wordsAn institution is the lengthened shadow of one man; as, Monachism, of the Hermit Antony; the Reformation, of Luther; Quakerism, of Fox; Methodism, of Wesley; Abolition, of Clarkson.

   ↗Essays, First Series (1841)gutenberg.org All 22 from this book

3. 15 Jul 1838

   Our readingHistorical Christianity dwells with harmful exaggeration on the person of Jesus; the soul knows no persons

   Their wordsIt has dwelt, it dwells, with noxious exaggeration about the person of Jesus. The soul knows no persons.

   ↗Miscellanies: Nature, Addresses, and Lectures (Phillips, Sampson, 1856)gutenberg.org All 8 from this book