Andrews Norton, once so significant a figure in North American liberal religion he was dubbed the “Unitarian pope” was born on this day in 1786. A biblical scholar as well as a minister, he taught first at Bowden college and then for the balance of his life at Harvard. He is often paired with William Ellery Channing as a champion of “classical American Unitarianism.” While considered a dangerous radical in his youth, he gradually saw his understanding of Unitarianism (he remained an advocate of the reality of biblical miracle stories throughout his life) slip out of the mainstream of North American liberal religion. His final years were engaged in a battle against the rising tide of Transcendentalism led by among others his former student Ralph Waldo Emerson.
While not thought of much any more, I personally find him an attractive figure worth recalling. His work to break the shackles of “orthodox” religion opened a way it turned out he was not willing to walk, but nonetheless prepare the way he did…
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