God breathes through nature and man attempts to open himself up to this influx. Nothing is static. The greatest goal is to achieve the transcendental moment, the moment when one is open to the to and fro flow of the influx. Though not essentially a religion, transcendentalism is fraught with theological consequences. A case could be made for transcendentalism as a form of secular religion, as opposed to revealed religion.
Man is at the center of a fundamentally moral universe.
Ethically the central concept is self-reliance. Emerson strongly believed in a fundamental morality. The sensual side of man is regarded as mostly evil in that it distracts man from higher pursuits. Strong emotion of the baser varieties is discouraged. There is also a tendency towards hero worship, the holding up of a few great men as exemplars for the great mass of men.