Saint Albertus Magnus was a Roman Catholic saint, scientist, philosopher, and theologian. He was known as “Albert the Great” and “
Doctor Universalis” (Universal Doctor) in recognition of his extraordinary genius and extensive knowledge. He was proficient in every branch of learning cultivated in his day and surpassed all his contemporaries, except perhaps
Roger Bacon, in the knowledge of nature.
In general, the New England Transcendentalists were not exactly pleased with Catholicism. Indeed, many Transcendentalists, such as
Convers Francis, condemned the evils of what they called “Popery.” Then, too, conditions were not helped by the negative reaction of most Transcendentalists to
Orestes Brownson’s disdainfully leaving their group, in the 1840s, and joining the Catholics instead. Yet, one of the all-abiding strengths of Transcendentalism, and in fact perhaps the major reason why Transcendentalism is no ‘ism,’ is that it possesses no systematic doctrine from the standpoint of which it can exclude any reasonable point of view. That is to say, Transcendentalism out-freethinks even the freethinkers by freely admitting almost any thought without being limited to so-called freethought alone. Rather, it is the feeling, motivation, context, and spirit of the thought—more so than the thought itself—that ultimately matter to Transcendentalism. In this manner, and for this reason, Transcendentalists such as
Theodore Parker could express admiration for men like Albertus Magnus and
Rabanus Maurus, despite their avowed Catholicism.