May 23, 2003 The great ‘ennobler’ By Richard Higgins Ralph Waldo Emerson’s belief in the ”infinitude” of the soul had an ”ennobling influence” on many people, as William James once observed. James’s novelist brother, Henry, however, was not one of…
Remembering The Emerson Who Sought God by Richard Higgins I t is hard to overcome strong first impressions. This helps explain why, when it comes to religion, Ralph Waldo Emerson is often seen as a borderline atheist, a pantheist, a…
Cover Story March/April 2003 Emerson at 200 Emerson’s Mirror What do we see in the legacy of Ralph Waldo Emerson, "the most recognized and revered figure in the Unitarian movement"? His two-hundredth birthday makes this a good time to ask.…
July 2, 2003 BOOK REVIEWIlluminating Emerson’s spiritual development The Spiritual Emerson: Essential Writings by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Edited by David M. Robinson Beacon, 288 pp., $25 By Richard HigginsGlobe Correspondent Even now, as we mark the 200th anniversary of his…
Getting to the Root of Bush: Nickname,Metaphor and the Biblical “George Bush” Reading and researching Emerson in preparation for the recent bicentennial filled many gaps, corrected mistakes and clarified at least some of the haze in my knowledge of this…