Parker, Theodore (1810-1860), was an American Unitarian clergyman and social reformer. He belonged to a philosophical movement called transcendentalism (see Transcendentalism ).
Parker was born on Aug. 24, 1810, in Lexington, Massachusetts. From 1837 to 1846, he was pastor of a Unitarian church in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, near Boston. During this period, he caused great controversy by insisting that Christians reject the Bible and religious doctrines and rituals. Parker urged Christians to worship God directly. Unlike the transcendentalist leader Ralph Waldo Emerson, however, Parker did not totally oppose organized religion. In 1841, he stated his views on religion in a sermon called “Discourse on the Transient and Permanent in Christianity.” During the 1850’s, Parker became one of the leading abolitionists. He died on May 10, 1860.
