Modern Thoughts in the Victorian Era

I was quite surprised with this speech by Emerson. It was quite progressive for the time period, and because of that quite ridiculed. Personally I was quite enjoying reading his descriptions of "jesus [being] of the true race of prophets" and of the pagan in particular. I was quite taken by his choice of topic and incredibly enthralled, but I realized that these were quite controversial words being spoken. It is interesting to note that there is a large portion of people who ponder this topic with the understanding that it is a philosophical concept more than anything...Ok I'm beginning to ramble...what's most interesting is how this address was over a century ahead of it's time. Is it to bold to quote this as being of great importance in our high criticism of this concept? Would people be as critical now, especially in America, if Emerson had not said these words? Interesting to consider. However, I am currently of the opinion that we probably would be considering this no differently had he or had he not discussed it in this address as High Criticism was beginning in Germany.