author
Orville Dewey
1794–1882
Raised on a Massachusetts farm and educated at Williams and Andover, this influential Unitarian preacher became known for clear, humane sermons that helped shape liberal religion in 19th-century America.
2 Audiobooks
Christianity and Modern Thought
by Henry W. (Henry Whitney) Bellows, James Freeman Clarke, Athanase Coquerel, Orville Dewey, Charles Carroll Everett, Frederic Henry Hedge, James Martineau, Andrew P. (Andrew Preston) Peabody, George Vance Smith, Oliver Stearns
About the author
Born in Sheffield, Massachusetts, in 1794, Orville Dewey grew up in a family tied to the town’s earliest settlers. He graduated from Williams College in 1814 and from Andover Theological Seminary in 1819, then moved away from orthodox Calvinism toward Unitarian beliefs.
He served as assistant to William Ellery Channing in Boston, later pastored a Unitarian church in New Bedford, and in 1835 became minister of the Church of the Messiah in New York City. He earned a wide readership through sermons, essays, and lectures noted for their warmth, moral seriousness, and accessible style.
Dewey was also a prolific author, with works including The Old World and the New, Discourses on Human Life, and The Problem of Human Destiny. He died in Sheffield in 1882, leaving behind a reputation as one of the best-known American Unitarian voices of his era.