author
Frederic Henry Hedge
1805–1890
A key early voice in American Transcendentalism, this Unitarian minister helped spark the conversations that shaped the movement, even as he kept an independent mind of his own. He was also widely respected for bringing German literature and theology to American readers.
1 Audiobook
Christianity and Modern Thought
by Henry W. (Henry Whitney) Bellows, James Freeman Clarke, Athanase Coquerel, Orville Dewey, Charles Carroll Everett, Frederic Henry Hedge, James Martineau, Andrew P. (Andrew Preston) Peabody, George Vance Smith, Oliver Stearns
About the author
Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1805, Frederic Henry Hedge spent part of his youth studying in Germany before graduating from Harvard College and Harvard Divinity School. That mix of American and German education shaped much of his later work as a minister, scholar, translator, and critic.
Hedge is best remembered as a founder of the Transcendental Club, the circle connected with Ralph Waldo Emerson and other major New England thinkers. Although he was important in the movement's early development, he did not follow every turn it took, and he built a reputation as an independent-minded Unitarian theologian and intellectual.
Over the course of his career, he served Unitarian congregations in New England and later taught at Harvard, including work in ecclesiastical history and German literature. He also became known for introducing American readers to German writers and religious thought, helping broaden the literary and philosophical world available to his audience.