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The Catholicity of American Spirituality

Amanda Porterfield

in The Transformation of American Religion: The Story of a Late-Twentieth-Century Awakening

The blossoming of spirituality in late twentieth‐century America involved the mainstreaming of Catholicism within American culture. It also involved increasingly porous boundaries between American ... More

The blossoming of spirituality in late twentieth‐century America involved the mainstreaming of Catholicism within American culture. It also involved increasingly porous boundaries between American Catholicism and New Age religions. In a society previously dominated by Protestants and Protestant culture, Catholic spirituality moved to the fore as a matrix through which a wide variety of religious developments came to expression. This chapter traces some of the antecedents of this open, liberal form of Catholic spirituality to Transcendentalist interpretations of Catholic spirituality in nineteenth‐century America, and to progressive American Catholic leaders, especially Orestes Brownson and Isaac Hecker, who emphasized the importance of the Holy Spirit for social as well as personal life.Less

Conclusion: The Great Awakening of the Late Twentieth Century

Amanda Porterfield

in The Transformation of American Religion: The Story of a Late-Twentieth-Century Awakening

The changes that took place in American religious life during the late twentieth century were, in some important respects, unprecedented. As the U.S. became hospitable to virtually all the religions ... More

The changes that took place in American religious life during the late twentieth century were, in some important respects, unprecedented. As the U.S. became hospitable to virtually all the religions of the world, more religious switching and experimenting occurred than ever before. In other respects, the enthusiasm for spirituality in this period was similar to previous Great Awakenings that have marked American religious history in the past. This concluding chapter compares the transformation of American religion in the late twentieth century to previous awakenings, suggesting that the impetus to spiritual expansion can be traced back through the American Transcendentalists to the New England Puritans and their influential role in shaping American culture.Less

The Emergence of Unchurched Traditions

Robert C. Fuller

in Spiritual, but not Religious: Understanding Unchurched America

In colonial America, only 15% of the population belonged to a church. The majority was nonetheless spiritual at a personal level, but fashioned their personal beliefs by drawing upon a variety of ... More

In colonial America, only 15% of the population belonged to a church. The majority was nonetheless spiritual at a personal level, but fashioned their personal beliefs by drawing upon a variety of magical and occult philosophies. Astrology, divination, and witchcraft permeated everyday life in the colonies. By the early and mid‐nineteenth century, the writings of the Swedish mystic Emanuel Swedenborg and the American Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson gave middle‐class Americans a new vocabulary for describing their inner‐relationship to unseen spiritual dimensions of life. And, by the latter part of the nineteenth century, both mesmerism and spiritualism provided general audiences with new ways of exploring this inner‐relationship to the spirit world.Less

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

Louis P. Masur (ed.)

in “… The Real War Will Never Get in the Books”: Selections from Writers During the Civil War

The most famous intellectual in America at the time of the Civil War, Ralph Waldo Emerson had started out confused and rebellious. Like his father he became a minister, but he resigned his pulpit in ... More

The most famous intellectual in America at the time of the Civil War, Ralph Waldo Emerson had started out confused and rebellious. Like his father he became a minister, but he resigned his pulpit in 1832 feeling that Unitarianism did not respond to the stirrings of the heart. In the next decade, he developed his ideas on the place of the individual in society. In Nature, he encouraged readers to break free from the stranglehold of the past, from empirical science, and from artificial social arrangements, all of which had combined to fracture and blind mankind. He called for intuition and spontaneity. By the time he was done, he had followers. Some were also young New England men and women who gathered together, became known as Transcendentalists, and published a paper called The Dial.Less

A New England Inheritance

Charles Capper

in Margaret Fuller

This chapter examines New England ancestry and the inheritance of Margaret Fuller, the organizer of the transcendentalist movement journal Dial. Fuller was in her habitat and ancestry a thorough New ... More

This chapter examines New England ancestry and the inheritance of Margaret Fuller, the organizer of the transcendentalist movement journal Dial. Fuller was in her habitat and ancestry a thorough New Englander and her lineage was long, beginning with the first Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This chapter describes Fuller's negative perception of the Puritans and traces the records of her own Puritan ancestors.Less

The Transcendentalist [1839–1840]

Charles Capper

in Margaret Fuller

This chapter examines the life and career of Margaret Fuller during the period from 1839 to 1840. In starting her Conversations for women, Fuller launched her career as a transcendentalist leader. ... More

This chapter examines the life and career of Margaret Fuller during the period from 1839 to 1840. In starting her Conversations for women, Fuller launched her career as a transcendentalist leader. Her timing was perfect because it was during this time that the transcendentalist movement was gaining attention spurred by Ralph Waldo Emerson's remarkable address to the graduating class at Harvard Divinity School. Several other transcendentalists published critical books and journals including Orestes Brownston and George Ripley.Less

James Martineau and the Evolution of Unitarian Hymnody ∗

Alan Ruston

in Dissenting Praise: Religious Dissent and the Hymn in England and Wales

Chapter 7 outlines the history of Unitarian hymnody from its origins in English Presbyterianism in the eighteenth century to the denominational hymn-books of the early twentieth. The mid nineteenth ... More

Chapter 7 outlines the history of Unitarian hymnody from its origins in English Presbyterianism in the eighteenth century to the denominational hymn-books of the early twentieth. The mid nineteenth century saw the publication of a variety of hymn-books, each reflecting the variations in the evolution of Unitarian thought. The pioneering collections of James Martineau, Hymns for the Christian Church and Home (1840) and Hymns of Praise and Prayer (1874), are analysed. These books demonstrate the width of his selection of hymns, which included American transcendentalist writers as well as works of Catholic piety. Martineau claimed that he rarely altered the text of hymns, but detailed research has shown that this was not the case. Unitarians were among the last of the dissenting churches to prepare a denominational hymn-book, which first appeared in 1890. By 1914 it had almost wholly replaced Martineau’s collections among Unitarian congregations.Less

Are Theological and Religious Studies Compatible?

Jonathan Z. Smith and Christopher I. Lehrich

in On Teaching Religion: Essays by Jonathan Z. Smith

This chapter presents Jonathan Z. Smith's account of the compatibility of theological and religious studies. He says that aside from matters of academic politics, there is no conflict between ... More

This chapter presents Jonathan Z. Smith's account of the compatibility of theological and religious studies. He says that aside from matters of academic politics, there is no conflict between theological and religious studies. The conflict, as he sees it, “arises almost wholly with the transcendentalists who propose a powerful, rival understanding of the necessarily plural interpretative and comparative ventures which characterize the study of religion”.Less

Spiritual Seeking

Michele Dillon and Paul Wink

in In the Course of a Lifetime: Tracing Religious Belief, Practice, and Change

This chapter discusses the concept of the spiritual seeking of Americans. In America, the first spiritual awakening dates back to the 1830s and 1840s, and that is associated with the emergence of the ... More

This chapter discusses the concept of the spiritual seeking of Americans. In America, the first spiritual awakening dates back to the 1830s and 1840s, and that is associated with the emergence of the transcendentalist movement and renowned figures such as Emerson and Thoreau. What is new about American spiritual seeking in the post-1960s era is its pervasiveness. Prior to the 1960s, only a small proportion of Americans attempted to fulfill their spiritual needs outside the domain of denominational religion. Since then, a vastly expanded spiritual marketplace has produced a growing trend toward uncoupling religion and spirituality. The autonomy associated with spiritual seeking is different. This chapter charts a path that may have relatively little truck with the ways established in traditional religious beliefs and practices. It is constituted by a personal autonomy that tends to be somewhat removed from, rather than in singular conversation with, church-based religion.Less

Emerson's Platonizing of American Thought

Douglas R. Anderson

in Philosophy Americana: Making Philosophy at Home in American Culture

This chapter examines the essay “First and Second Series and Representative Men” to suggest the ways in which philosophical reconstruction occurred. Emerson drew on the tradition of Platonism and on ... More

This chapter examines the essay “First and Second Series and Representative Men” to suggest the ways in which philosophical reconstruction occurred. Emerson drew on the tradition of Platonism and on the ideas of his fellow Transcendentalists to reconstruct philosophical practise. In part, the revision has to do with how philosophy is actually defined. But it also has to do with how one goes about defining.Less

The Music of America

Günter Leypoldt

in Cultural Authority in the Age of Whitman: A Transatlantic Perspective

This chapter discusses American music, starting with the vague image of the poet as an Orphic singer. The next sections look at the ambiguities of the romantic metaphysics of music and the ... More

This chapter discusses American music, starting with the vague image of the poet as an Orphic singer. The next sections look at the ambiguities of the romantic metaphysics of music and the transcendentalist concepts of music. The chapter presents symphonic music as a language of the sublime, and addresses the question of the conventional distinctions between the ‘sacred’ and ‘secular’ forms. It identifies the features of American transcendentalist music discourse from its European influences, and then differentiates democratic and aristocratic music.Less

‘This is IT’: Alan Watts and the visionary tradition

Laurence Coupe

in Beat Sound, Beat Vision: The Beat Spirit and Popular Song

This chapter examines Alan Watts' relationship with the Beats, as well as Christianity, which is the dominant religion of North America, and its common points with the philosophies of Hinduism, Zen, ... More

This chapter examines Alan Watts' relationship with the Beats, as well as Christianity, which is the dominant religion of North America, and its common points with the philosophies of Hinduism, Zen, Taoism and Buddhism. It takes note of Watts' doubts about the Beats' spiritual authenticity and discusses his philosophy, which is rooted in the tradition of the American Transcendentalists, where mysticism is considered to be the most important goal of religion.Less

Emerson: Prospects

Michael T. Gilmore

in The War on Words: Slavery, Race, and Free Speech in American Literature

Emerson's efforts at reform and his Transcendentalist aversion to social witting and unwitting set the agenda for most antebellum writers by reinvigorating the prophetic voice—a breakthrough that ... More

Emerson's efforts at reform and his Transcendentalist aversion to social witting and unwitting set the agenda for most antebellum writers by reinvigorating the prophetic voice—a breakthrough that Emerson associated with the recovery of sight. Emerson's idea of the poet-actor, his powers no longer vitiated by blindness or retrospection, dominates the American Renaissance. Although Emerson's turn toward reform has been copiously documented, repairing the overemphasis on his Transcendentalist aversion to the social witting and unwitting, with the controversy over slavery, has not been recognized. The consensus is that Emerson did not awaken to the magnitude of the nation's original sin until August 1844, when he committed himself to abolition with his “Address on...the...Emancipation of the Negroes in the British West Indies.” This chapter analyzes this claim merged with the larger political drama of the antebellum years.Less

Democratic America: The Ethos of Liberalism

Drew Maciag

in Edmund Burke in America: The Contested Career of the Father of Modern Conservatism

This chapter looks at the prevailing intellectual perspectives on Edmund Burke in postrevolutionary America. Burke's impact was more directly felt during the turbulent era of the American Revolution, ... More

This chapter looks at the prevailing intellectual perspectives on Edmund Burke in postrevolutionary America. Burke's impact was more directly felt during the turbulent era of the American Revolution, but during the more peaceful antebellum period the primary driving force of human agency in America shifted from a relative handful of important men to a larger and more diverse collection of citizens intent on reaping the benefits of their new social, political, and economic order. Unfortunately, in this new, progressive, democratic era, no national self-image could have been less hospitable to the exaggerated Anglo-traditionalism of Edmund Burke. Yet the chapter notes that Burke's ideals have gained purchase even in this new era of national development, as illustrated by the later treatment of Burke in such eminent circles as the transcendentalists and the Jacksonians, and even by the historian George Bancroft himself.Less

Introduction Embodying “The Newness”

David Dowling

in Emerson's Protégés: Mentoring and Marketing Transcendentalism's Future

This book examines the professional fates of an idealistic group of young talented writers in whom Ralph Waldo Emerson invested generous time, energy, creativity, and capital for their literary ... More

This book examines the professional fates of an idealistic group of young talented writers in whom Ralph Waldo Emerson invested generous time, energy, creativity, and capital for their literary success. It explores the broader and richer historical context of the literary market that mitigated the material consequences of the careers of Emerson's protégés, which included Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Samuel Ward, Jones Very, Ellery Channing, and Charles Newcomb. It shows how Emerson sought to engender these collegians to carry the torch for “The Newness,” the name given to the transcendentalist movement in Concord. The book also places the significance of the protégés' apprenticeships within the conceptual framework of the social role of literary vocation in transcendental authorship, together with the concept of genius as the framework for Emerson's mentorship.Less

4 Samuel Gray Ward: A Financier's Aesthetic

David Dowling

in Emerson's Protégés: Mentoring and Marketing Transcendentalism's Future

This chapter focuses on Ralph Waldo Emerson's mentorship of aristocratic Boston banker and art critic Samuel Gray Ward. It considers how Ward filled Emerson's need for an art critic in his journal, ... More

This chapter focuses on Ralph Waldo Emerson's mentorship of aristocratic Boston banker and art critic Samuel Gray Ward. It considers how Ward filled Emerson's need for an art critic in his journal, the Dial. Before analyzing the relationship between Ward and Emerson, the chapter examines Ward's decision to marry wealthy socialite Anna Barker rather than Margaret Fuller, and how that marriage was perceived by many as a defection from the transcendentalist movement. It then turns to the reaction of Emerson and Elizabeth Peabody to the Ward-Barker union before concluding with a discussion of Ward's writings on art criticism and history.Less

The New River Updated: Charles Ives and the Disappearing River Gods

Timothy J. Cooley (ed.)

in Cultural Sustainabilities: Music, Media, Language, Advocacy

In 1911 Charles Ives wrote “The New River,” a song unique among his works for its outspoken environmentalist stance. Composed in direct response to the diversion of waters from Ives's beloved ... More

In 1911 Charles Ives wrote “The New River,” a song unique among his works for its outspoken environmentalist stance. Composed in direct response to the diversion of waters from Ives's beloved Housatonic River to feed New York City reservoirs and plans for constructing a dam, the song also captured widespread national outrage over the Hetch Hetchy Dam being built at the same time through Yosemite National Park. Combining transcendentalist understandings of nature with more contemporary arguments to save Hetch Hetchy published by Robert Underwood Johnson and John Muir, Ives's song sounds his belief “the fabric of life weaves itself whole.”Less

Emerson's Close Encounters with Madness

in Theaters of Madness: Insane Asylums and Nineteenth-Century American Culture

This chapter poses the question of what the transcendentalist movement would look like if we placed McLean Asylum as the central institution against which the group defined its relation to New ... More

This chapter poses the question of what the transcendentalist movement would look like if we placed McLean Asylum as the central institution against which the group defined its relation to New England culture. The key figures in the story are Ralph Waldo Emerson and his acolyte Jones Very, the self-proclaimed Second Coming of Christ and writer of visionary poetry, who was confined in McLean Asylum shortly after hearing Emerson's infamous “Divinity School Address” in 1838. Through the writings on Very by Emerson, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, and others in this philosophical-literary movement, the chapter examines the transcendentalists' guarded accommodation to early psychiatry—a profession that would seem to cut against the core of their anti-institutional thinking, their emphasis on non-conformism, and their radical individualism, but that intersected with the movement in surprisingly frequent and intimate ways. What emerges is a glimpse of the uneasily shared ground of American literary romanticism and psychiatry, both of which movements saw themselves as fortifying the individual against the threats of modernization and social atomization. The chapter concludes with a reading of Emerson's essay “Self-Reliance.”Less