Points Of Emerson's Critique Of Organized Religion In The Divinity School Address
There are two key points of Emerson’s critique of organized religion in “The Divinity School Address.” The first error he explored was that Historical Christianity failed to deliver the original religion. He wrote “As it appears to us, and as it has appeared for ages, it is not the doctrine of the soul, but an exaggeration of the personal, the positive, the ritual. It has dwelt, it dwells, with noxious exaggeration about the person of Jesus.” In the other words, the church emphasized on the story of Jesus Christ. But they didn’t recognize the importance of the spiritual emancipation for all believers. The second error in the church was the limited way of using the mind of Christ, and it the consequence of the first error. He accused the