William Fairfield Warren
Encyclopedia
William Fairfield Warren (13 March 1833 – December 7, 1929) was the first president of Boston University
.
, he graduated from Wesleyan University
, Middletown
, Conn.
(1853), and there became a member of the Mystical Seven
. He later studied at Andover Theological Seminary and at Berlin
and Halle. He entered the New England Conference
in 1855 and was professor
of systematic theology in the Methodist Episcopal Missionary Institute at Bremen
, Germany
(1860–1866). He was acting president of the Boston University School of Theology
(1866–1873), president of Boston University
(1873–1903), and dean
of the Boston University School of Theology (1903–1911). After 1873 he was also professor of comparative theology and philosophy of religion. He published:
When Boston University was chartered in 1869, he helped make it the first university in the country fully open to women. He also helped create Wellesley College in 1870. He was the brother of Henry White Warren
.
entitled Paradise Found: The Cradle of the Human Race at the North Pole (1885). In this work Warren placed Atlantis
at the North Pole, as well as the Garden of Eden
, Mount Meru, Avalon
and Hyperborea. Warren believed all these mythical lands were folk memories of a former inhabited far northern seat where man was originally created.
Warren's identification of Atlantis with the North Pole was maintained by positioning Atlas
in the far north by mapping out ancient Greek cosmology. Warren equated the primordial Titan Atlas
of Greek mythology who supported the Heavens on his shoulders (or supported the earth on a pillar) to the Atlas described in Plato's dialogue Critias as the first ruler of Atlantis (Critias, 114a). In Warren's view, all the axis mundi
or cosmic-axis of ancient legends (Yggdrasil
, Irminsul
and Atlas' pillar) had to be in the far north "at the top of the world":
Warren noted how Homer
, Virgil
and Hesiod
all placed Atlas or his world pillar at the "ends of the earth", meaning in his view the far northern arctic regions, while Euripides
related Atlas to the Pole Star. Therefore in Warren's view Atlantis sat in the far north, at the North Pole, since the Atlas in his ancient Greek cosmological mapping stood in the far northern zenith, under the Pole Star.
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
.
Biography
Born in Williamsburg, MassachusettsWilliamsburg, Massachusetts
Williamsburg is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 2,482 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.-The Mill River Flood:...
, he graduated from Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
, Middletown
Middletown, Connecticut
Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, 16 miles south of Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated as a town under its original Indian name, Mattabeseck. It received its present name in 1653. In 1784, the central...
, Conn.
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
(1853), and there became a member of the Mystical Seven
Mystical Seven (Wesleyan)
The Mystical Seven is a society founded in 1837 at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut that currently is in existence as two separate groups. Publicly, members are called Mystics.-Early history:...
. He later studied at Andover Theological Seminary and at Berlin
Humboldt University of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...
and Halle. He entered the New England Conference
New England Conference
The New England Conference was a collegiate sports conference in the eastern United States, more specifically in New England, that operated from 1938 to 1947...
in 1855 and was professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of systematic theology in the Methodist Episcopal Missionary Institute at Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
(1860–1866). He was acting president of the Boston University School of Theology
Boston University School of Theology
Boston University School of Theology is the oldest theological seminary of American Methodism and the founding school of Boston University, the largest private research university in New England. It is one of thirteen theological schools maintained by the United Methodist Church...
(1866–1873), president of Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
(1873–1903), and dean
Dean (education)
In academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...
of the Boston University School of Theology (1903–1911). After 1873 he was also professor of comparative theology and philosophy of religion. He published:
- The True Key of Ancient Cosmology (1882)
- Paradise Found—the Cradle of the Human Race at the North Pole (1885)
- The Quest of the Perfect Religion (1886)
- In the Footsteps of Arminius (1888)
- The Story of Gottlieb (1890)
- Religions of the World and the World Religion (1900)
- The Earliest Cosmologies (1909)
- The Universe as Pictured in Milton's Paradise Lost (1915)
When Boston University was chartered in 1869, he helped make it the first university in the country fully open to women. He also helped create Wellesley College in 1870. He was the brother of Henry White Warren
Henry White Warren
Henry White Warren was an American Methodist Episcopal bishop and author, brother of William Fairfield Warren. He was born at Williamsburg, Mass., and graduated in 1853 at Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn. He taught ancient languages at Wesleyan Academy, Wilbraham, Mass. , and then entered...
.
Cradle of the Human Race at the North Pole
Warren wrote a book promoting his belief that the original centre of mankind once sat at the North PoleNorth Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...
entitled Paradise Found: The Cradle of the Human Race at the North Pole (1885). In this work Warren placed Atlantis
Atlantis
Atlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....
at the North Pole, as well as the Garden of Eden
Garden of Eden
The Garden of Eden is in the Bible's Book of Genesis as being the place where the first man, Adam, and his wife, Eve, lived after they were created by God. Literally, the Bible speaks about a garden in Eden...
, Mount Meru, Avalon
Avalon
Avalon is a legendary island featured in the Arthurian legend. It first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 pseudohistorical account Historia Regum Britanniae as the place where King Arthur's sword Excalibur was forged and later where Arthur was...
and Hyperborea. Warren believed all these mythical lands were folk memories of a former inhabited far northern seat where man was originally created.
Warren's identification of Atlantis with the North Pole was maintained by positioning Atlas
Atlas
An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a map of Earth or a region of Earth, but there are atlases of the other planets in the Solar System. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats...
in the far north by mapping out ancient Greek cosmology. Warren equated the primordial Titan Atlas
Atlas
An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a map of Earth or a region of Earth, but there are atlases of the other planets in the Solar System. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats...
of Greek mythology who supported the Heavens on his shoulders (or supported the earth on a pillar) to the Atlas described in Plato's dialogue Critias as the first ruler of Atlantis (Critias, 114a). In Warren's view, all the axis mundi
Axis mundi
The axis mundi , in religion or mythology, is the world center and/or the connection between heaven and Earth. As the celestial pole and geographic pole, it expresses a point of connection between sky and earth where the four compass directions meet...
or cosmic-axis of ancient legends (Yggdrasil
Yggdrasil
In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is an immense tree that is central in Norse cosmology. It was said to be the world tree around which the nine worlds existed...
, Irminsul
Irminsul
An Irminsul was a kind of pillar which is attested as playing an important role in the Germanic paganism of the Saxon people. The oldest chronicle describing an Irminsul refers to it as a tree trunk erected in the open air...
and Atlas' pillar) had to be in the far north "at the top of the world":
Warren noted how Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
, Virgil
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
and Hesiod
Hesiod
Hesiod was a Greek oral poet generally thought by scholars to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. His is the first European poetry in which the poet regards himself as a topic, an individual with a distinctive role to play. Ancient authors credited him and...
all placed Atlas or his world pillar at the "ends of the earth", meaning in his view the far northern arctic regions, while Euripides
Euripides
Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
related Atlas to the Pole Star. Therefore in Warren's view Atlantis sat in the far north, at the North Pole, since the Atlas in his ancient Greek cosmological mapping stood in the far northern zenith, under the Pole Star.
External links
- Women Helping Younger Women Since 1876.
- W.F. WARREN DIES, NOTED EDUCATOR; President Emeritus and a Founder of Boston University Was in His 97th Year. WIDELY KNOWN ORGANIZER Helped Start Wellesley College and Other Institutions—Was Also a Prominent Theologian. New York Times