Parker, Theodore
The Oxford Companion to United States History
|
2001
|
|
© The Oxford Companion to United States History 2001, originally published by Oxford University Press 2001. (Hide copyright information)
Copyright
Parker, Theodore (1810–1860), Unitarian clergyman, theologian, and abolitionist.A Unitarian minister associated with the intuitive rationalism of
transcendentalism, Theodore Parker was one of New England's most zealous social and religious reformers. The grandson of Captain John Parker, one of the Lexington minutemen of
Revolutionary War fame, Theodore grew up in modest circumstances. A precocious child, he read voraciously and soon revealed an extraordinary aptitude for languages. Supported by the tutelage of Watertown's scholarly minister Convers Francis, Parker entered Harvard Divinity School in 1834, where he encountered German higher criticism. Ordained and settled over the Spring Street Church in West Roxbury in 1837, he was soon regarded by his fellow Unitarian clergy as a more radical figure than Ralph Waldo
Emerson. In an ordination sermon on
The Transient and Permanent in Christianity (1841), Parker denied the personal authority of Jesus but celebrated Jesus's apprehension of the absolute, pure religion that reposes in the hearts of all people. As Parker focused on the immanence of God and down‐played the centrality of Jesus, he became a virtual pariah among the Boston Association of Ministers.
In 1845, through the intervention of some Unitarian laymen, Parker left West Roxbury and took his ministry to Melodeon Hall in
Boston, forming the Twenty‐eighth Congregational Society. From this pulpit Parker vigorously addressed the social issues of the day—temperance, penal reform,
education, and
slavery. Aroused by the
Fugitive Slave Act (1850), he became active in efforts to resist the arrest of escaped slaves and became a staunch supporter of abolitionist John
Brown. His health began to decline in 1857 and he died three years later in Florence, Italy.
See also
Antislavery;
Channing, William Ellery;
Religion;
Temperance and Prohibition;
Unitarianism and Universalism.
Bibliography
Henry S. Commager , Theodore Parker, 1936.
Charles Capper and Conrad Wright, eds., Transient and Permanent: The Transcendentalist Movement and Its Contexts, 1999.
Robert J. Wilson III
Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.
|
" A Brave Man's Child": Theodore Parker and the memory of the American Revolution
Magazine article from: Historical Journal of Massachusetts; 7/1/2001; ; 700+ words
; ...30, 1845, the Rev. Theodore Parker of West Roxbury, Massachusetts...Slave Act of 1850, Parker consciously constructed...article will show that Theodore Parker's abolitionism...past in such spaces, Theodore Parker used alternate public...
|
|
Theodore Parker: Orator of Superior Ideas.
Magazine article from: Church History; 9/1/2000; ; 633 words
; Theodore Parker: Orator of Superior Ideas. By David B. Chesebrough. Great American...Greenwood Press, 1999. xxii + 138 pp. $65.00 cloth. This overview of Theodore Parker's oratory focuses on the "superior ideas" that Parker expounded...
|
|
|
American Heretic: Theodore Parker and Transcendentalism.(Book Review)
Magazine article from: Church History; 6/1/2003; ; 700+ words
; ...Grodzins' biography of Theodore Parker is scholarship at its...of just how troubled Parker's domestic life was...year of his wedding, Parker had come to see his marriage...relentlessly. Only when Theodore and Lydia were rid of...
|
|
American Heretic: Theodore Parker and Transcendentalism
Magazine article from: The Catholic Historical Review; 7/1/2003; ; 700+ words
; American American Heretic: Theodore Parker and Transcendentalism. By Dean Grodzins. (Chapel Hill...the guide for moral perfection? Dean Grodzins' portrait of Theodore Parker (1810-1860) as an "American heretic" amplifies our understanding...
|
|
Theodore Parker, 76, electrical engineer Worked on Sears Tower, Orchestra Hall and new Cook County Hospital
Newspaper article from: Chicago Sun-Times; 6/5/2002; ; 677 words
; Electrical engineer Theodore E. Parker rarely read novels. But when he...him. A stickler for safety, Mr. Parker was perhaps drawn to the book because...affected the safety," his son, Robert Parker, said. "He always took a stand...
|
|
Theodore Parker Jr., 78, lawyer
Newspaper article from: Lancaster New Era Lancaster, PA; 2/19/2003; 346 words
; Theodore Albert Parker Jr., 78, of Lancaster, a lawyer, died...in Lancaster, he was the son of the late Theodore Albert Sr. and Marian C. King Parker...grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a son, Theodore A. III.
|
|
Theodore Parker, Lancaster attorney
Newspaper article from: Intelligencer Journal Lancaster, PA; 2/19/2003; 347 words
; Theodore Albert Parker Jr., 78, of Lancaster, died at home Monday...in Lancaster, he was the son of the late Theodore Albert Sr. and Marian C. King Parker...grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a son, Theodore A. III.
|
 "Albany Times Union (Albany, NY)")
|
THEODORE PARKER, 85.(CAPITAL REGION)
Newspaper article from: Albany Times Union (Albany, NY); 6/5/1994; 568 words
; TUCSON, Ariz. Retired Gen. Theodore W. Parker, 85, a former state commissioner...Schuyler Meadows Country Club. Parker's other military assignments...Survivors include his wife, Nina Hill Parker; three daughters, Kathleen O...
|
 "St Louis Post-Dispatch (MO)")
|
ILLINOIS DEATHS.(Metro)(Obituary\Albert T. Foy, Marguerite "Peggy" (Halloran) Hoerner\Matthew A. Netemeyer, Adam D. Ivanuck Jr.\Theodore "Ted" Price, Marjorie H. (Harrison) Luken\Margaret S. (Nell) Byassee, Genevieve "Sis" Parker\Clinton Leutwiler, Frances Elizabeth (Potter) Meyers\Margaret (Sinn) Caskey, Dorothy Reynolds\Robert Papkey, Simon Lutman)(Obituary)
Newspaper article from: St Louis Post-Dispatch (MO); 1/9/2001; 700+ words
; ...Anthony's Hospice or American Heart Association. FOSTERBURG Theodore "Ted" Price, 93, died Friday. He was retired owner of...College Avenue Presbyterian Church in Alton. Genevieve "Sis" Parker, 81, died Saturday. She was retired from the Olin Corp...
|
|
Franklin Parker, engineer on Burma Road
Newspaper article from: The Boston Globe; 8/27/2007; ; 700+ words
; Franklin Peabody Parker was a man of many achievements...live," said his son, Theodore of Wellesley. The Rev...paraphrased Unitarian minister Theodore Parker's description...footsteps of his father, Theodore Bissell Parker, a professor...
|
|
Theodore Parker
Encyclopedia entry from: Encyclopedia of World Biography
Theodore Parker Theodore Parker (1810-1860), American clergyman and militant, was a leading advocate of transcendentalism and a vocal abolitionist. Theodore Parker was born in Lexington, Mass., on Aug. 24, 1810. His schooling...
|
|
Parker, Theodore
Book article from: The Oxford Companion to United States History
Parker, Theodore (1810–1860), Unitarian...intuitive rationalism of transcendentalism , Theodore Parker was one of New England's most...minutemen of Revolutionary War fame, Theodore grew up in modest circumstances. A precocious...
|
|
Alton Brooks Parker
Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
Alton Brooks Parker 1852-1926, American jurist...Hill for governor of New York. Parker served as justice of the New York...currency issue and the popularity of Theodore Roosevelt helped make Parker's defeat overwhelming. Returning...
|
|
Transcendentalism
Dictionary entry from: Dictionary of American History
...1862), Margaret Fuller (1810 – 1850), Theodore Parker (1810 – 1860), Bronson Alcott (1799...James Freeman Clarke (1810 – 1888); and Theodore Parker's Twenty-Eighth Congregational Society (founded...
|
|
|
Octavius Brooks Frothingham
Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
...Salem (1847-55) he came under the influence of Theodore Parker . In 1859 he organized the Third Unitarian Church...1890), and biographies of his friends—Theodore Parker (1874), Gerrit Smith (1877), and George Ripley...
|
