Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
- Genesis 1:26-27
Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
- Genesis 2:7
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
- Romans 7:14-20
“Born in Boston, the American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson was also a noted philosopher. Inspired by the Romantic movement, he believed in the unity of nature, with every single particle of matter and each individual mind being a microcosm of the entire universe. Emerson was famous for his public lectures, which urged the rejection of social conformity and traditional authority. Emerson advocated personal integrity and self-reliance as the only moral imperatives, stressing that every human being has the power to shape his own destiny.”
- Sam Atkinson (senior editor), The Philosophy Book, Big Ideas Simply Explained
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) was an American essayist, author, lecturer, philosopher, minister, and poet. He was a Transcendentalist thinker, and his focus was on individualism and critical thinking. He inadvertently became the inspiration for Henry David Thoreau when he suggested that Thoreau keep a journal. When the fiftieth anniversary of the American Revolution was approaching, the town of Concord wanted to build a memorial. They asked Emerson to provide the hymn for the occasion, but delays in building the statue, an obelisk, left the resulting celebration to be in 1836. The Minute Man Statue hidden behind the arched bridge was built in 1874.
“By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired [the?] shot heard round the world”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson, Concord Hymn, first stanza
Note: The rude bridge is basically in the backyard of the Old Manse where Emerson lived on two different occasions, and Walden Pond is less than two miles away. But Emerson was probably in his early thirties when he met Thoreau for the first time.
But my question is where is this spark of goodness that Emerson thought was in every man?
Yes, we are made in God’s image. God breathed life into us.
But if there is any part of nature that is all nature within us, we are made from the dust of the ground and to the dust we shall return. I see no spark there.
But the Apostle Paul saw a different kind of spark. We have a sin nature, and that sin nature causes us to do what we ought not do and when we ought to do something, we find a thousand excuses to be doing something else that day.
In fact, we have little to no resistance to this sin nature. Only when we turn to God and God indwells us do we have the power to overcome the sin nature, other than in little spurts and each time we become so sanctimonious that the effect is ruined.
No, God within us gives us the desire and the power to resist that sin nature. Thus, Emerson’s idea falls apart unless he is only talking to Christians who have Jesus in their hearts. No one else needs to apply.
But then, what is the critical thinking for a person who is helpless in being truly good unless God is within him? How does that tie into individualism when God within is the only way we can get out of our own sinful way?
This was tough to trash such a significant contributor to our early national identity. His essays that promoted critical thinking might have been a lot better than his philosophical transcendentalism.
If you like these Tuesday morning essays about philosophy and other “heavy topics,” but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Tuesday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.
Soli Deo Gloria. Only to God be the Glory.
Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley 
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