John Norton (Puritan divine)
Encyclopedia
John Norton was a Puritan
divine, and one of the first authors in the United States of America.
(BA 1627) and ordained in his native town. He became a Puritan and sailed in 1634 to New England
, landing at Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1635. He was 'called' to the new settlement of Ipswich, Massachusetts
and ordained 'teacher' there in 1638.
He was an active member of the convention that formed The Cambridge Platform
in 1648, and was a contributor to its drafting. In 1652 he became a colleague of John Wilson at the first church in Boston
, where he succeeded John Cotton as minister. In the following years, Norton became a leading opponent of the Antinomians and a chief instigator of the persecution of the Quakers in New England. However, he, along with Wilson, privately opposed the conviction and execution of Ann Hibbins
for witchcraft
. Mrs. Hibbins was hanged on April 19, 1656. She was the third person to be executed for witchcraft in Boston.
In 1662 he accompanied Governor Simon Bradstreet
as agent of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
to present an address to King Charles II
after his Restoration, and to petition on behalf of New England. The king assured them that he would confirm the charter of the colony, but he required that justice should be administered in his name, and attached other conditions that the colonists regarded as arbitrary. Upon the return of the agents to Massachusetts, they were regarded with suspicion, and the report was circulated that they had sold the liberties of the country. This undermined Norton's popularity as a preacher, and it is supposed that it hastened his death.
He was renowned for his scholarship, a prolific author and polemicist. He wrote the first Latin book composed in the Colonies in 1645, which was published three years later in 1648, and his life of John Cotton was the first separately-issued biography to be published there in 1658.
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
divine, and one of the first authors in the United States of America.
Career
Norton was educated at Peterhouse, CambridgeCambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
(BA 1627) and ordained in his native town. He became a Puritan and sailed in 1634 to New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
, landing at Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1635. He was 'called' to the new settlement of Ipswich, Massachusetts
Ipswich, Massachusetts
Ipswich is a coastal town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 12,987 at the 2000 census. Home to Willowdale State Forest and Sandy Point State Reservation, Ipswich includes the southern part of Plum Island...
and ordained 'teacher' there in 1638.
He was an active member of the convention that formed The Cambridge Platform
The Cambridge Platform
The Cambridge Platform was a doctrinal statement for the Puritan Congregational churches in Colonial America. It was drawn up in August, 1648 by a synod of ministers from Massachusetts and Connecticut, which met pursuant to a request of the Massachusetts General Court...
in 1648, and was a contributor to its drafting. In 1652 he became a colleague of John Wilson at the first church in Boston
First Church in Boston
First Church in Boston is a Unitarian Universalist Church founded in 1630 by John Winthrop's original Puritan settlement in Boston, Massachusetts. The current building is on 66 Marlborough Street in Boston.-History:...
, where he succeeded John Cotton as minister. In the following years, Norton became a leading opponent of the Antinomians and a chief instigator of the persecution of the Quakers in New England. However, he, along with Wilson, privately opposed the conviction and execution of Ann Hibbins
Ann Hibbins
Ann Hibbins was executed for witchcraft in Boston, Massachusetts, on June 19, 1656. Her execution was the third for witchcraft in Boston and predated the Salem Witch Trials. Hibbins was later fictionalized in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. A wealthy widow, Hibbins was reputed to be...
for witchcraft
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
. Mrs. Hibbins was hanged on April 19, 1656. She was the third person to be executed for witchcraft in Boston.
In 1662 he accompanied Governor Simon Bradstreet
Simon Bradstreet
Simon Bradstreet was a colonial magistrate, businessman, diplomat, and the last governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Arriving in Massachusetts on the Winthrop Fleet in 1630, Bradstreet was almost constantly involved in the politics of the colony but became its governor only in 1679...
as agent of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...
to present an address to King Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
after his Restoration, and to petition on behalf of New England. The king assured them that he would confirm the charter of the colony, but he required that justice should be administered in his name, and attached other conditions that the colonists regarded as arbitrary. Upon the return of the agents to Massachusetts, they were regarded with suspicion, and the report was circulated that they had sold the liberties of the country. This undermined Norton's popularity as a preacher, and it is supposed that it hastened his death.
He was renowned for his scholarship, a prolific author and polemicist. He wrote the first Latin book composed in the Colonies in 1645, which was published three years later in 1648, and his life of John Cotton was the first separately-issued biography to be published there in 1658.
Writings
- Responsio ad totam quaestionum syllogen à clarissimo viro domino Guilielmo Apollonio, : ecclesiae middleburgensis pastore, propositam. : Ad componendas controversias quasdam circa politiam ecclesiasticam in Anglia nunc temporis agitatas spectantem. / Per Iohannem Nortonum ... Londini : typis R.B. impensis Andreae Crook ..., 1648. (The first book written in Latin in New England.)
- Responsio ad Guliel, 1648. (A Latin treatise on New England church governance.)
- A Discussion of that Great Point in Divinity, the Sufferings of Christ, 1653. (An attack on the heresy of William PynchonWilliam PynchonWilliam Pynchon was an English colonist in North America best known as the founder of Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. He was also a colonial treasurer, original patentee of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and the iconoclastic author of the New World's first banned book...
, who denied that Christ suffered the torment of Hell.) - The Orthodox Evangelist, 1654. (Norton's most famous work is an important theological treatise endorsed by John Cotton, who had provided a prefatory epistle.)
- Abel Being Dead Yet Speaketh; or, The Life and Death of ... John Cotton, 1658. (The first separately-published biography in America.)
- The Heart of N-England Rent at the Blasphemies of the Present Generation, 1659. (Theological controversies opposing the Quakers and advocating the death penalty.
- Three Choice and Profitable Sermons Upon Severall Texts of Scripture, 1664. (The final, posthumously published, collection of Norton's religious writing, containing "Sion the Out-cast," "The Believer's Consolation," and "The Evangelical Worshipper".)