Transcendentalism In The Alchemist

In Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, an ancient king named Melchizedek and an alchemist from the desert tell a young shepherd boy about a property which governs all things. This property, known as ‘the Soul of the World,’ creates a path for all people and ornaments it with omens— messages from the Soul directing a person’s actions along this path towards their Personal Legend. According to the novel, all people have a Personal Legend: a destiny which includes each individual’s purpose in the world. These concepts are far from foreign to transcendentalism, a school of thought which claims the existence of a life-force which threads through all of existence, that the secrets of the universe are contained in an individual, and that the divine can be found in all things.
According to the bible, God is over, through, and in all things— He is everything (“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” —Ephesians 4:4-6). One could even consider God to be the transcendentalist ‘life-force’ known as an Oversoul. However, where transcendentalism and The Alchemist conflict with Christianity is the concept of the individual being in control of their path and containing the secrets of the universe. Per Proverbs 16:1-4 and 16:33, “To humans belong the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the proper answer of the tongue. All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord. Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your