Cyrus Augustus Bartol
Cyrus Augustus Bartol was a prominent Unitarian minister and theologian born on April 30, 1813, in Freeport, Maine. After graduating from Harvard Divinity School in 1835, he began his ministry in Cincinnati before returning to Boston in 1837 as an associate pastor of the West Church, where he served for twenty-four years. In 1859, he earned a doctorate of divinity from Harvard and, following the death of his colleague in 1861, became the church's sole pastor. Bartol was notably aligned with the Transcendentalist movement and played a significant role in advocating for reform within the Unitarian Church, leading to the establishment of the Free Religious Association in 1867, which emphasized reason and spiritual insight. While he shared common goals with fellow Transcendentalists like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bartol maintained a more conservative stance on various issues. Throughout his life, he was also active in philanthropy and contributed numerous essays to religious publications. Bartol retired in 1889 and passed away in 1900, leaving a legacy of theological inquiry and social reform.
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Cyrus Augustus Bartol
Nonfiction Writer
- Born: April 30, 1813
- Birthplace: Freeport, Maine
- Died: December 16, 1900
- Place of death: Boston, Massachusetts
Biography
Cyrus Augustus Bartol was born in Freeport, Maine, on April 30, 1813. In 1835, he graduated from Harvard Divinity School. He moved to Ohio and preached in Cincinnati until 1836. In 1837, he returned to Boston and was ordained an associate pastor of the West Church of Boston (Unitarian). He continued his career as associate pastor for twenty-four years, during which time he received his doctorate of divinity from Harvard College (1859). Upon the death of his colleague, the Reverend Charles Lowett, in 1861, Bartol became the sole pastor of the West Church of Boston.
During his pastorship, Bartol established himself as a Transcendentalist and began organizing a movement to liberate the Unitarian Church from its conservative forms and rituals. Bartol’s dedication to change was the genesis of the Free Religious Association (1867). This association promoted a renaissance of conscious faith in the power of reason and in the reality of spiritual insight. Bartol was considered to be a conservative among his fellow Transcendentalists. Although he shared a common ground in the search for a higher religion of spirit with other Transcendentalists of his time, Bartol persistently disagreed with the more extreme positions of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Theodore Parker.
In 1850, Bartol, always active in philanthropic movements, published his first work. He also contributed many essays to the Christian Examiner, the Radical, the Index, and the Unitarian Review. In 1889, he retired as pastor of the West Church. He died in 1900.