Divinity School Adress

First of all i think Emerson is very brave. To state that Christianity has errors in front of recent divinity school graduates takes some guts. Even though i am not religious in any sense, i actually began to agree with his doctrine of religious freedom. It makes total sense to be appreciating God through his very creation - nature, instead of listening to the unoriginal preachings within the walls of a church. Emerson argues that nature needs not be explained instead it should be celebrated and appreciated. ""The man who renounces himself, comes to himself by doing so." I was very intrigued by this statement in its paradox. To truly know yourself you must first abandon who you perceive yourself to be or who you believe you should be. Emerson then goes on to point out the flaws or errors within the very institution these graduates have just committed their lives to. He states that the first error is that Christianity has corrupted all attempts to communicate religion. He means that the words we use to praise God are too formal and stiff, and should be more enthusiastic and friendly. In this same paragraph he states that you must subordinate your nature to Christ's nature. I interpreted this as Emerson advising the graduates to flee from private property and developed land and to live in the pureness of nature in its most original state. "That which shows God in me, fortifies me. That which shows God out of me, makes me a wart and a wen." This quote expresses how Emerson believes that God should be praised through thought and experience rather than in a secular, physical way (i.e. preaching in a church). The second defect he says "is a consequence of the first," it being that the Moral Nature, the Law of laws is not explored as the foundation of the established teaching in society. The church doesn't emphasize personal exploration to reach God, instead they simply try to focus on the practices of worshiping god. I like when Emerson compares the sermon in the church to the snowstorm outside, and how he says that the snowstorm is real and the preacher a mere spectral. He then goes on to explain that a preacher's sermon has become so impersonal that the people learn nothing of the preacher's biography and only of his taught history. He says that preaching now "comes out of memory and not out of the soul; it aims at what is usual, and not at what is necessary and eternal; therefore historical Christianity destroys the power of preaching, by withdrawing it from the exploration of the moral nature of man, where the sublime is, where are the resources of astonishment and power." I think this is a very powerful line in expressing how instead of strengthening religion, preaching destroys it. Then what is the remedy for these two errors in Christianity? The soul is the solution. My favorite part is when Emerson states that "The silence that accepts merit as the most natural thing in the world, is the highest applause." Meaning, when a good deed goes unappreciated and is treated as any other everyday duty, that is the highest compliment of all. I can see why Emerson's speech would be rejected by Harvard but i can't help but wonder if his words influenced any of the graduates and their views of religion.