Alternative Religions...Page Eight.

Alternative Religions, Con't...

Page Eight

Out of the humanistic views of the goodness of man reflected in Unitarian and Universalist thought, Swendenborg’s work and the “unity of all creation.” (Britannica) In 1836, Ralph Waldo Emerson and others began meeting in a group to discuss theological and spiritual things. Then in 1838, Emerson gave a public address at the Harvard Divinity school and publicly broke away from Unitarianism stating that intuition is how to know God. He said that all of life is a miracle, not just the works of Jesus and that nature is the source of all wisdom. In the 1840’s, the group began to publish their shared views in a journal called “The Dial.” Through these writings, Emerson’s ideas became more influential and attracted a following with no formal creed that initially rejected the idea of being labelled a “religion.” Emerson prophesied that Swedenborgianism would contribute more to religion and faiths than any other religious view due to its law of correspondences which became central to transcendentalism.

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