Minister's Book Discussion

A book discussion of American Sage: The Spiritual Teachings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, by Barry M. Andrews

NOTE: Thursday discussion is in person, Saturday discussion is online.

Emerson was a nineteenth century Unitarian minister who left the ministry to pursue a career of essay-writing and lecturing. He was a key figure of American Transcendentalism, a movement that drew from direct transcendent experience in the natural world.

Transcendentalist philosophy became a current in mainstream Unitarianism and later, Unitarian Universalism. Andrews, a UU minister, explores what Emerson taught, grounding his accessible account in the historical context of the time, with implications for how Emerson’s legacy can still inspire us.

Copies of the book are available to purchase at Take Cover Books, 59 Hunter Street East.

A good companion volume is The Spiritual Emerson, edited by David M. Robinson, (Beacon Press, 2003), which contains Emerson’s most salient spiritual essays.

Led by Rev. Peter Boullata

About The Minister's Book Study: “These works of theology and philosophy have shaped my ideas and I am excited to share them with the congregation and others. Each Sunday, I try to reflect on moral, religious and spiritual questions. Now, this is an opportunity to go deeper with some of the themes that you have heard in my sermons.” ~Rev. Peter Boullata

Host or Publisher Wonder & Inquiry (Unitarian Fellowship)