- Andrews Norton
Andrews Norton (
December 31 ,1786 -September 18 ,1853 ) was an American preacher and theologian. Along withWilliam Ellery Channing , he was the leader of mainstreamUnitarianism of the early and middle 19th century.In his early career, Norton helped to establish liberal Unitarianism, and stridently opposed harshly conservative
Calvinism andTrinitarianism . Nevertheless, later in life, he became the chief conservative Unitarian opponent ofTranscendentalism . As a vocal and well-published theologian, he earned from some the joking title of "the UnitarianPope ".He was born in Hingham,
Massachusetts , son of Rev.John Norton . Norton graduated fromHarvard University in 1804 and continued as a graduate student and lecturer there and atBowdoin College . In 1819, Harvard made him Dexter Professor of Sacred Literature, a position he held until 1830; he also served as Harvard College Librarian from 1813 to 1821.Norton engaged in vigorous debates with
George Ripley in 1836 andRalph Waldo Emerson in 1838 (over Emerson's "Divinity School Address "). He opposed himself to the rise ofTranscendentalism and insisted on the truth of the Biblicalmiracle s.External links
* [http://www.bartleby.com/226/1309.html Norton page] from early-20th-century "Cambridge History of English and American Literature"
* [http://www.webuus.com/timeline/Andrews_Norton.html Norton capsule biography] from "The Unitarians and the Universalists" by David Robinson
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