Easy Chair No. 153, September 4, 1987 - The Contemporary Influence of the Transcendentalists

Dr. Rushdoony and Otto Scott analyze modernism as a cultural and intellectual force rooted in the Transcendentalists, particularly Emerson and Frothingham, which rejects God and biblical authority in favor of the spirit of the age. Modernism elevates human impulses, experience, and cultural trends above objective moral standards, affecting education, art, literature, and politics. Scott emphasizes that liberalism, as the practical expression of modernism, erodes societal norms and weakens resistance to evil, while Rushdoony warns that liberal clergy spread this ideology within churches. Together, they conclude modernism functions as an anti-Christian force, dismantling Christian civilization and replacing divine order with human-centered, relativistic values.