| Theodore Parker |
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| 1810 births | |
| 1860 deaths | |
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Theodore Parker ( August 24 1810 , Lexington, Massachusetts - May 10 1860 , Florence , Italy ) was an American Transcendentalist and Reforming Minister of the Unitarian Church . In 1850 , Parker was the first1 to use the phrase, "of all the people, by all the people, for all the people" which later influenced Abraham Lincoln 's Gettysburg Address . In words made famous by Martin Luther King, Jr. a century later, Parker predicted the success of the abolitionist cause: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." EARLY LIFE Theodore Parker was the youngest child in a large farming family. Most of his family had died2 by the time he was 27, probably due to Tuberculosis , and he grew to hold a Faith that the soul was Immortal , and came to believe in a God who would not allow lasting harm to any of his flock. His belief in God's mercy made him reject Calvinist theology as cruel and unreasonable. He considered a career in Law but his strong faith led him to Theology . In 1834 , despite having no college degree, Harvard Divinity School gave Parker advanced standing and patrons helped with Tuition .3 He spoke Latin , Greek , Hebrew , and German . His journal and letters show that he was acquainted with many other languages, including Chaldee , Syriac , Arabic , Coptic and Ethiopic . CHURCH AND SOCIAL MISSION While he started with a strong faith, with time he began to ask questions. He learned of the new field of historical Higher Criticism of the Bible , then growing in Germany , and he came to deny Tradition al views. Ultimately, he rejected all Miracle s, and saw the Bible as full of Contradiction s and Mistake s. He retained his faith in God. Parker was attacked when he denied Biblical miracles and the authority of the Bible and Jesus . Some felt he was not a Christian , nearly all the pulpits in the Boston area were closed to him, and he lost friends. .]] Parker accepted an invitation from supporters to preach in Boston in January 1845 . He preached his first Sermon there in February. His supporters organized the 28th Congregational Society of Boston in December and installed Parker as minister in January 1846 . His congregation, which included Louisa May Alcott , William Lloyd Garrison , Julia Ward Howe , and Elizabeth Cady Stanton , grew to 7000.5 Supporting the Temperance Movement and Prison Reform , Parker's most Controversial stance was to become an Abolitionist at a time when the American union was beginning to split over Slavery .6 He wrote the scathing '' To A Southern Slaveholder '' in 1848 , as the abolition crisis was heating up. Parker defied slavery7 and advocated violating the Fugitive Slave Law Of 1850 , a controversial part of the Compromise Of 1850 which required the return of escaped slaves to their owners. Parker worked with many fugitive slaves, some of whom were among Parker's congregation. As in the case of William and Ellen Craft,8 he hid them in his home and, although he was indicted, he was never convicted. During the undeclared War in Kansas (see Bleeding Kansas and Origins Of The American Civil War ) prior to the actual outbreak of the American Civil War , Parker supplied money for Weapon s for free state Militia s. As a member of the Secret Six , he supported the abolitionist John Brown , whom many considered a Terrorist , and wrote a public letter, "John Brown's Expedition Reviewed," defending John Brown's actions after his arrest, defending the right of slaves to kill their masters. Boston's Unitarian leadership opposed him to the end, but younger ministers admired him for his attacks on traditional ideas, his fight for a free faith and pulpit, and his very public stances on social issues such as slavery. The Unitarian Universalists now refer to him as "a canonical figure—the model of a prophetic minister in the American Unitarian tradition." .]] Parker's ill health forced his retirement in 1859 . He developed tuberculosis and departed for Florence , Italy where he died on May 10 1860 , less than one year before the Union split. His Grave is in the English Cemetery, Florence 9 where a headstone by Joel Tanner Hart later replaced the original. Other Unitarians buried in this cemetery include Thomas Southwood Smith and Richard Hildreth . Fanny Trollope , who is also buried here, wrote the first anti-slave novel and Hildreth wrote the second. Both were used by Harriet Beecher Stowe for '' Uncle Tom's Cabin .'' Frederick Douglass came straight from the railroad station to visit Parker's tomb. After Parker's death, his ministry continued until 1889 . REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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