Abstract
In the introduction to this intellectual biography of Theodore Parker, Paul E. Teed warmly praises my Parker biography (American Heretic, 2002) (p. vii). I can honestly respond that Teed has written a good book, although it could have been better. Parker (1810–1860), the great New England Transcendentalist, abolitionist, scholar, and preacher, is today underrated. Teed's is the first complete life study of Parker to appear in many decades (mine stops in 1846). Teed shows readers the full sweep of Parker's remarkable career and his wide range as a thinker. Teed plausibly makes “revolutionary conscience” his central theme. He refers in part to one of Parker's key theological tenants: individual conscience was the nearly infallible voice of God. This idea had revolutionary potential. In the name of conscience, Parker demanded defiance of biblical authority and laws supporting slavery. By “revolutionary,” Teed also refers to the ideological heritage of the American Revolution, on which Parker drew deeply in his antislavery rhetoric.
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