Keywords
Faith and Reason, Human Nature, Calvinism, Enlightenment
Abstract
In his 1838 Divinity School address, Ralph Waldo Emerson said that "every man is an inlet into the deeps of Reason." Heavily influenced by Hindu Monism, Emerson believed human beings were one with the universal soul the immanent divinity of the natural universe. Because of humanity's divine nature, Emerson saw reason as an intuitive revelation springing from within every individual, while faith was simply a recognition of one's innate intuition. Faith and reason were two sides of the same coin. Emerson's Transcendentalism illustrates how conceptions of faith, reason, and their relationship often rest on underlying beliefs about human nature.
Recommended Citation
Kime, Bradley
(2013)
"Human Nature and the Integration of Faith and Reason,"
The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing: Vol. 42:
Iss.
1, Article 13.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/thetean/vol42/iss1/13
Included in
Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons, History Commons, Medieval Studies Commons, Religion Commons