Theodore Parker (August 24, 1810 – May 10, 1860) was an American Transcendentalist and reforming minister of the Unitarian church. A reformer and abolitionist, his own words and quotes he popularized would later influence Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr. Theodore Parker was born in Lexington, Massachusetts, the youngest child in a large farming family.

His grandfather was John Parker, the leader of the Lexington militia at the Battle of Lexington. Most of his family had died by the time he was 27, probably due to tuberculosis. He was educated privately and through his personal study until he attended Harvard College and graduate in 1831.

He then entered the Harvard Divinity School and graduated in 1836. Parker specialized in a study of German theology. He was drawn to the ideas of Coleridge, Carlyle and Emerson.

Parker spoke Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and German. His journal and letters show that he was acquainted with many other languages, including Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, Coptic and Ethiopic. He considered a career in law but his strong faith led him to theology.

Parker held that the soul was immortal, and came to believe in a God who would not allow lasting harm to any of his flock. His belief in God's mercy made him reject Calvinist theology as cruel and unreasonable. Parker studied for a time under Convers Francis, who also preached at Parker's ordination ceremony.

In the 1830s, Parker began attending meetings of the Transcendental Club and became associated with Ralph Waldo Emerson, Amos Bronson Alcott, Orestes Brownson, and several others. Unlike Emerson and other Transcendentalists, however, Parker believed the movement was rooted in deeply religious ideas and did not believe it should retreat from religion.

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