Emerson argues that sticking to your morals is more important than sticking to a religious doctrine. He implies that Jesus Christ (though in his words a "prophet") is among others of the same ability; he discounts his historical "miracles."
Why did Emerson deem this a necessary situation to bring up such questions? We know from Emerson's past that he was once a scholar at a divinity school, but dropped out before graduation. Is this a sort of strange revenge? Perhaps Emerson merely wanted to enlighten his audience on his personal views. I agree with his main points..... the setting in which he brought them up seems almost inappropriate.
Celine,
ReplyDeleteA good post, but one that I wish you;d taken further (or will take further in a future post). Are some of your characterizations of the speech here really accurate? For example, does Emerson really imply that Christ "is among others of the same ability" (not quite sure what this means), is he really quiestioning their hardwork (or simply trying to help them make the most of it), and his this forum really inapporpriate 9and if so, in what sense)? in other words, you make some GOOD observations here, but you fail to explore each one in such a way that would give your reader a better sense of your meaning.