Of course, there are times when science and religion work together. There are times when our experiments reaffirm our beliefs, whatever they may be. They could tell us of the beauty of this world, the deities that may or may not be living in it, the powers over us, or even the accidents that caused our glorious homes to appear. These concepts characterized what became known as the Transcendentalist Movement.

The movement began as a small club in Massachusetts, whose members included the likes of Frederic Henry Hedge and Ralph Waldo Emerson. The club, originally called the "Hedge's Club", grew into the Transcendentalist Club after a review of Emerson's Nature was published in 1837. The club was used as a way to express frustration towards contemporary American society and intellectualism. The club garnered such a reputation that publications such as The Christian Examiner refused to publish the club's works. Because of this, the club decided to form their own work publication, titled The Dial. While The Dial was halted due to financial difficulties, it still laid the groundwork for a philosophical phenomenon.

The Transcendentalist Movement was a time in which many scholars criticized the growing use of experimentation and intellect. They called for a return to faith and pushed the narrative that humans were inherently good. Much of the writing produced during this movement focused on love for oneself. It emphasized the need for the individual to be free and that society was a corrupter of the individual. In other words, they believed the individual should not be restrained by another’s expectations and instead should live out their own purity without a need for society’s approval. Transcendentalists also praised nature, focusing on it not just for aesthetic reasons, but also for spiritual ones. Nature is mentioned many famous Transcendentalist works, such as Walden by Henry David Thoreau, and Summer on the Lakes by Margaret Fuller.

The movement wasn’t without its critics. Nathaniel Hawthorne believed the movement was merely a dream, that while it would be nice for the movement to sustain itself in the long-term, it wasn’t practical. He emphasized this in his novel Romance, which he based on a short-lived Transcendentalist community. Edgar Allen Poe went as far as to call it a disease, suggesting that transcendentalists saw meaning in subjects where there is supposed to be none. Even so, the movement was backed by its many famous writers, some of which include George Ripley, Walt Whitman, and Sullivan Dwight.   

The movement managed to inspire various movements that came after it. The New Thought Movement showed life’s beauty to many intellectuals. These intellectuals focused on writing on subjects such as positive thinking, healing, and personal power. The movement also inspired a church called Unity, which taught its followers how to use the Christian faith to live in a way that’s both peaceful and contributes to their happiness. Religious Science teachers taught that everything is connected and that they can use this power to help better themselves. Even now, while the Transcendentalist Movement certainly had its critics, writers still draw inspiration from it, regardless of their philosophies.