2024年3月10日发(作者：)

Lecture Two: Transcendentalism: Emerson and Thoreau

Ralph Waldo Emerson published

Nature

in 1836 which represented a new

way of intellectual thinking in America. “New England Transcendentalism” or

“American Renaissance” was the first American intellectual movement, which

exerted a tremendous impact on the consciousness of the American people.

New England Transcendentalism was, in essence, romantic idealism on Puritan

soil. It was a system of thought that originated from three sources: 1. Unitarianism.

2. Idealistic philosophy from France and Germany. 3. Oriental mysticism of Hindu

and Chinese classics.

一神论派，Unitarianism ，（或称一位论派、神体一位论、唯一神论、独神论、一位

论、独神主义），是否认三位一体和基督的神圣的基督教派别。此派别强调上帝只有一位，

并不如传统基督教相信上帝由三个位格（即圣父、圣子和圣灵）组成。由于“三位一体”

这词并没有在《圣经》上出现，三位一体论只是通过根据经文的上下文及前后联系推理，

到公元四世纪后的大公会议才确立，是故受到一位论派所质疑。早在尼西亚会议中，主张

上帝只是一位和耶稣不具有完全的神性的论调（由阿里乌派提出）就曾被教会定为异端。

直到宗教改革时期，有改革家强调《圣经》为信仰的唯一根据，再次提倡“一位论”。

但随即遭到天主教反对，而新教的主要改革家马丁·路德、加尔文和慈运理等都加以反对。

当时，任何人如果支持“一位论”都会被迫害，有支持者曾因此而被捕、遭囚禁和处死。

16－17世纪，有组织的一神论派运动出现于匈牙利和波兰，之后传到英国、美国和其他地

方。其中支持“一位论”的著名神学家有西班牙的塞尔维特、波兰的索西尼、英国的比德

勒和林西、法国的普利斯特里等人。

The major concepts of Transcendentalism:

1. It stressed the power of intuition, believing that people could learn

things both from outside world by means of the five senses and from the inner

world by intuition.

2. As romantic idealism, it placed spirit first and matter second.

3. It took nature as symbolic of spirit or God.

4. It emphasized the significance of the individual and believed that the

individual was the most important element in society.

5. Emerson envisioned religion as an emotional communication between

an individual soul and the universal “Oversoul”.

6. It held that commerce was degrading and that a life spent in business

was a waste of life.

The significance of Transcendentalism:

Transcendentalism can be best understood as a somewhat late and localized

manifestation of romantic movement in literature and philosophy.

Transcendentalism was also an ethical guide for a young nation of America.

Emerson (1803-1882)