Conflagration

In American Heretic: Theodore Parker and Transcendentalism (2002), Dean Grodzins attributed scholars' neglect of Theodore Parker to his having been “passionately religious ... without being theologically conservative,” a world view “that many today find alien” (p. xi). Former Unitarian Universalist Association president John A. Buehrens, who consulted with Grodzins while writing Conflagration, evidently took that observation as a challenge. Buehrens sets out to locate the Transcendentalists, Parker prominently among them, at the historical heart of what he considers an ongoing national pursuit of social justice. The core of his mission is presentist: concerned that “we are suffering through a recession in commitment to science, to human rights, and to global unity” (p. 9), he seeks to make Parker's “alien” religious position—theological liberalism—relevant for social activists. His introduction closes with a benediction: “May this narrative help each of its readers ... make a difference” (p. 11). The book's argument—framed as

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