Although Emerson abandoned his position as a Unitarian Minister, his religious training is very clear in his work, even stylistically. Emerson's writings, both those intended to be read aloud ("Divinity School Address") and those in print exclusively ("Self-Reliance") come off with a sermon-like and nearly self help-y style.
Take this line from the essay "Self-Reliance":
"Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine Providence has found for you; the society of your contemporaries, the connexion of events." (270)
or this, from "The Poet":
"Doubt not, O Poet, but persist. Say, 'It is in me, and shall out.' Stand there, baulked and dumb, stuttering and stammering, hissed and hooted, stand and strive..." (309).
Emerson is frequently commanding in tone, as opposed to discrete and weaving in sublime morals like might be expected from the time. It seems to me that Emerson is speaking from a pulpit (however metaphorically), and as if he is receiving his authority from God.
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