A second-generation Transcendentalist, Samuel Johnson is best known as an orientalist. Though generally dismissed for their reliance on texts in translation, the three volumes of Johnson's Oriental Religions and Their Relation to Universal Religion (1872-1885) represent a significant step in the field of comparative religions. His theory moves beyond the nineteenth-century notion of Christianity as the true religion toward which other major religions are progressing--suggesting, instead, that all major religions, Christianity included, are evolving toward a universal religion. Often overlooked are Johnson's "Discourses Concerning the Foundations of Religious Belief" and "Transcendentalism," important periodical publications offering clear and logical accounts of his transcendental philosophy.

The son of a physician, Dr. Samuel Johnson, and a descendant of an old Salem family, Anna (Dodge) Johnson, Samuel Johnson grew up with the wealth of a busy seaport town and the conservatism of a community wishing to protect its way of life. As...