# Andrews Norton

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Andrews_Norton
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Andrews_Norton.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrews_Norton
> Source revision: 1255935564
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

American theologian (1786–1853)

Andrews Norton Born December 31, 1786 Hingham Died September 18, 1853 (aged 66) Newport Alma mater Harvard University Occupation Librarian theologian Employer Bowdoin College Harvard University Spouse(s) Catherine Eliot Children Charles Eliot Norton, Grace Norton, Catherine Jane Norton, William Eliot Norton, Louisa Norton, Mary Eliot Norton Parent(s) Samuel Norton Jane Andrews Relatives Jane Norton Signature

**Andrews Norton** (December 31, 1786 – September 18, 1853) was an American preacher and theologian. Along with [William Ellery Channing](/source/William_Ellery_Channing), he was the leader of mainstream [Unitarianism](/source/Unitarianism) of the early and middle 19th century, and was known as the "Unitarian Pope".[1] He was the father of writer [Charles Eliot Norton](/source/Charles_Eliot_Norton).

## Biography

In his early career, Andrews Norton helped to establish liberal Unitarianism in New England, and stridently opposed harshly conservative [Calvinism](/source/Calvinism) and [Trinitarianism](/source/Trinitarianism). Nevertheless, later in life, he became the chief conservative [Unitarian](/source/Unitarianism) opponent of [Transcendentalism](/source/Transcendentalism). As a vocal and well-published theologian, he earned from some the joking title of "the Unitarian [Pope](/source/Pope)".

He was born in [Hingham, Massachusetts](/source/Hingham%2C_Massachusetts), son of Samuel Norton. Norton graduated from [Harvard University](/source/Harvard_University) in 1804 and continued as a graduate student and lecturer there and at [Bowdoin College](/source/Bowdoin_College). He was elected a Fellow of the [American Academy of Arts and Sciences](/source/American_Academy_of_Arts_and_Sciences) in 1815.[2] He was named Dexter Lecturer on Biblical Criticism in 1813, and in 1819, Harvard made him the first Dexter Professor of Sacred Literature, a position he held until 1830; he also served as Harvard College Librarian from 1813 to 1821.[3][1]

Andrews Norton attacks Transcendentalism in a caricature by [Christopher Pearse Cranch](/source/Christopher_Pearse_Cranch), c. 1836–1838

Norton engaged in vigorous debates with [George Ripley](/source/George_Ripley_(transcendentalist)) in 1836 and [Ralph Waldo Emerson](/source/Ralph_Waldo_Emerson) in 1838 (over Emerson's *[Divinity School Address](/source/Divinity_School_Address)*). He opposed himself to the rise of [Transcendentalism](/source/Transcendentalism) and insisted on the truth of some of the [Biblical](/source/Bible) [miracles](/source/Miracle), while rejecting "most of those in the Old Testament, and a few in the new", including rejecting the [virgin birth](/source/Virgin_birth_of_Jesus).[4] In rejecting the [virgin birth](/source/Virgin_birth_of_Jesus) he went beyond [William Ellery Channing](/source/William_Ellery_Channing).[5]

He died in 1853 in [Newport, Rhode Island](/source/Newport%2C_Rhode_Island).[1]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-papers_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-papers_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-papers_1-2) ["Norton, Andrews, 1786-1853. Andrews Norton papers, 1768-1890: Guide"](https://web.archive.org/web/20180703141434/http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~hou01492). Harvard University. Archived from [the original](http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~hou01492) on 2018-07-03. Retrieved 2018-05-11.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-AAAS_2-0)** ["Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter N"](http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterN.pdf) (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved September 9, 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Alfred Claghorn Potter, Charles Knowles Bolton (1897), *The Librarians of Harvard College 1667–1877*, Cambridge, Mass: Library of Harvard University, [OL](/source/OL_(identifier)) [7223959M](https://openlibrary.org/books/OL7223959M)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** *The Oxford Handbook of Transcendentalism* [Joel Myerson](/source/Joel_Myerson), Sandra Harbert Petrulionis, [Laura Dassow Walls](/source/Laura_Walls) p.53

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** John White Chadwick *William Ellery Channing* 1903 p440

## External links

- [Guide to Andrews Norton correspondence with Joanna Baillie](http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL.Hough:hou01164) at [Houghton Library](https://web.archive.org/web/20111121125844/http://hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/houghton/), [Harvard University](/source/Harvard_University)

- [Norton page](http://www.bartleby.com/226/1309.html) from early-20th-century *Cambridge History of English and American Literature*

- [Norton capsule biography](http://www.webuus.com/timeline/Andrews_Norton.html) from *The Unitarians and the Universalists* by David Robinson

- [Sermons](http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:DIV.LIB:div00382) by Andrews Norton are in the Harvard Divinity School Library at [Harvard Divinity School](/source/Harvard_Divinity_School) in [Cambridge, Massachusetts](/source/Cambridge%2C_Massachusetts).

Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND FAST WorldCat National United States Netherlands Israel Belgium People Deutsche Biographie DDB Other Open Library 2 SNAC Yale LUX

This article about a person involved with library and information science is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information.

- [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Library-bio-stub)
- [t](/source/Template_talk%3ALibrary-bio-stub)
- [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Library-bio-stub)

This Unitarianism-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information.

- [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Unitarianism-stub)
- [t](/source/Template_talk%3AUnitarianism-stub)
- [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Unitarianism-stub)

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Andrews Norton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrews_Norton) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrews_Norton?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.