Divinity School Address

Emerson had developed philosophical questions about the validity of Holy Communion, also called The Lord's Supper.

In his address, he not only rejected the notion of a personal God; he castigated the church’s ministers for suffocating the soul through lifeless preaching.

Also in attendance were theologians including Andrews Norton, Henry Ware Jr., and Divinity School Dean John G.

The address touched off a major controversy among American Unitarian theologians, especially among those present, who saw the speech as an attack on their faith.

[4] Dissenters primarily addressed the necessity of belief in the historical truth of the Biblical miracles, but the response involved other secondary issues as well.

Henry Ware Jr., one of Emerson's mentors as a divinity student more than a decade prior, delivered the sermon "The Personality of the Deity" on September 23, 1838.