Puritan Prophet

Anne Bradstreet was a woman in conflict. She was a Puritan wife and a poet. There is a conflict between Puritan theology and her own personal feelings on life. Many of her poems reveal her eternal conflict regarding her emotions and the beliefs of her religion. The two often stood in direct opposition to each other. Her Puritan faith demanded that she seek salvation and the promises of Heaven. However, Bradstreet felt more strongly about her life on Earth. She was very. She was very attached to her family and community. Bradstreet loved her life and the Earth.

The Threat of Anne Hutcherson Anne Hutchinson was a Free Grace advocate, more commonly known as an Antinomian. Antinomians believed in “the covenant of grace” instead of the Puritan idea of predeterminism. This caused conflict between the leaders of the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony and Hutcherson. The leaders saw Hutcherson as a threat to Puritan society because she went beyond the traditional role of a woman, deemphasized the values of the Puritan church, and thus began to take power away from the Puritan church.

Anne's was a life filled with significant events. The trial and home confinement of her father was the most significant of her childhood. The education she received from her father at this time would prepare her well for her own trial. She had a deep confidence in

David D. Hall looks at the Examination Of Mrs. Anne Hutchinson at the Court at Newton (1637). (Hall p 55) In his writing he talks about the Anne Hutchinson and her summons before A council of leading Ministers and magistrates of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, where Anne Hutchinson would defend her unorthodox and beliefs and teaching. Anne Hutchinson was a seventeenth century women who used her voice freely and forcefully, as a result political maneuvering by the council destroyed her. Which this would lead the Antinomian Controversy. This controversy made Hutchinson famous in the unfolding in the Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1636 to 1638, which the council was deeply satisfied with the teachings of several church leaders; begin to publicly express their discontent. “Hutchinson and others argued that preachers were promoting a covenant of works rather than a covenant of grace, wrongly communicating the idea that an indivual could be saved by obedience and duty rather than solely by redeeming grace of the holy sprit”. (Smith p 437) Hutchinson and followers wanted an endorsement that was clear of the

On one hand, Anne Hutchinson offers a stark contrast to Roger Williams. While it is true that both held strong views that often times went against Puritan values, there is something that set them apart-gender roles. Indeed, gender heavily influenced both dissenters’ stories in the sense that Anne Hutchinson is portrayed in history in a more negative light because she did not conform to the Puritan image of a respectable woman. Again, both Williams and Hutchinson were viewed as radicals due to their extremist ideologies. However, Williams

‘She made people pay attention to Cotton’s spirit-centered theology, making him and her brother-in-law John Wheelwright as true Christian ministers against the “legal” preachers who: taught that a moral life was sufficient grounds for salvation.” (1.) “Cotton and Wheelwright, Hutchinson believed that redemption was God’s gift to his elect and could not be earned by human effort: the soul remained passive to the work of divine grace in the drama of salvation.” (3.) John cotton plays an important role in Anne Hutchinson’s life he is her husband.

Anne Hutchinson: Puritan Prophet is a novel that tells the story of a puritan who fought for religion. She fought for the belief of predestination and of free grace. Hall uses her life to tell the story of religion and how her inspiration got religion to where it is in modern day. He shows us how Hutchinson’s courage to speak her thoughts helped make free religion which was a new concept for the world. Anne Hutchinson fought hard for what she believed in. She faced the humiliation of being banished just so the world can have free grace.

In Puritan led Massachusetts Bay Colony during the days of Anne Hutchinson was an intriguing place to have lived. It was designed ideally as a holy mission in the New World called the "city upon a hill," a mission to provide a prime example of how protestant lives should have subsisted of. A key ingredient to the success of the Puritan community was the cohesion of the community as a whole, which was created by a high level of conformity in the colony. Puritan leaders provided leadership for all facets of life; socially, economically, religiously, and even politically. A certain hierarchy was very apparent in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, in which ministers always seemed to have gotten their way.

Anne Hutchinson held meetings at her house on Sundays to recall what had been said during the church sermon as well as to add her own ideas and thoughts on the topics that were being discussed. At first this seemed very normal but when her teachings began influencing people to pull away from the other Puritans, Winthrop recognized this as a problem. Anne Hutchinson taught others of her numerous propositions, which opposed the purpose of this excursion to New England. Morgan states that, Mrs. Hutchinson’s beliefs, “…threatened the fundamental conviction on which the Puritans built their state, their churches, and their daily lives, namely that God’s will could be discovered only through the bible” (Morgan). Anne Hutchinson was in fact an Antinomian, she opposed the fixed meaning of God’s moral law that Winthrop had worked so hard to teach these people. As a result, Mrs. Hutchinson was causing a huge threat to the settlers. She was trying to manipulate others to share her religious beliefs. Winthrop would not tolerate such behavior, as she was behaving sinfully, she must be punished accordingly or else as Winthrop believed, they would all suffer from God’s wrath. Winthrop took Mrs. Hutchinson to a court hearing and after a long, battle it was decided by the court that Mrs. Hutchinson was to be banished from Massachusetts. Mrs. Hutchinson was set as an example for the others who may

In the trial of Anne Hutchinson, we meet a well intentioned yet lost people described and labelled as the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Company. These self governing Puritans, once a people who sought God to set them on their way, settled only to be found as a people who simply lost their way. This journey to lost began when first motivated by a desire for religious reform and separation from the liturgy, ceremonies and practices of the Church of England. Once they banned together, they set on their way and traveled in groups to the New World. With the Word of God as their ultimate authority and the desire for a personal relationship with God, these people landed in Boston in 1630 united to self govern the newly founded Massachussets Bay Colony. Unfortunatly, this self rule resulted in a government of intolerance, fear and a liturgy not much different from what was once found in the Church of England. A system designed to set apart outward morality, or sanctification, to strengthen the authority of the Church only worked to neglect the place of true piety purposed to strengthen the spiritual lives of the people it served.

concept of freedom which consisted of natural liberty (doing whatever you want) and moral liberty (doing what is good). In the Massachusetts Bay colony, the Puritans wanted to have the right to worship and govern themselves but had to exercise good moral conduct by obeying religious and government authority. Winthrop explains the idea of freedom with an example of the status of women in society. He states that a woman has the liberty to choose her husband and thus is subject to his authority. So, a woman gets the liberty to choose who rules over her but then must obey everything her husband says. This shows that in the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies, individuals needed to conform to the colony and practice what the authority wanted them to practice; they had low individuality and women had low status and rights under her husband. The trial of Anne Hutchinson also supports this idea as she was prosecuted for having views that differed and “endangered” society by holding meetings to discuss religious issues. Hutchinson was brought before the court led by John Winthrop because she “seduced honest people” in her meetings (Foner 36) thereby dishonoring the commonwealth and disrupting society. Winthrop stated that Hutchinson holding meetings and talking about churches is not fitting of her sex, showing that women were not supposed to discuss

Anne Hutchinson believe that everyone should attend to church. She opened her house for people that believe in Christ, she had read the bible in her house for all people who arrived. She then had to go to court, the court believe something wrong happened. Court let her continue with her private reunions on her house. People seemed to be better when they accompanied Anne to read the bible. In the year 1645 the English settlers were mainly Puritans who came to American in pursuit for liberty. Religious acceptance and uncontrolled human conduct were not part of their freedom. John Winthrop governor of the Puritans Colony at Massachusetts Bay came up with the idea of two different kinds of liberty. His described natural liberty as something responsible for making the man evil and immoral because this liberty let him to do what he wants to do “good or evil”, there was nothing bad by making our decision, as bad they referred to not to follow any religion or try to follow

In the late 1500s, a girl by the name of Anne Hutchinson was born and her father was a clergyman who started to rebel against the Church of England. Her father, Francis, was later sentenced to home-arrest which gave him time to teach Anne Marbury in several subjects, and one is to be a fighter for one own’s belief. Anne Hutchinson married and had several children, but moved to the New World in Massachusetts Bay Colony in search of freedom. Hutchinson believes the opposite of the Puritans and was unwilling to mold herself for any church with her husband always supporting her which was for women be subservient and quiet. Anne Hutchinson started having weekly women's meetings after the church sermons at her

Several parallels can be drawn between Anne and Hester’s personalities, such as strength, independent thinking, defiance of Puritan beliefs, and confidence, especially in the seemingly proud and dignified way they behaved during their public trials. They were both considered threats to the foundations of the Puritan establishment because they were challenging and stepping out of their rightful place as women in a patriarchal society. Dexter’s report on Anne’s trial is a historical document that supports the idea that being a woman in that society was inherently condemning. On the first day of trial, John Cotton, English clergyman at the Massachusetts Bay Colony, advises the women he believes have been corrupted by Anne in the meetings she held to talk about religion. He says: “Let not the good you have received from her, make you to receive all for good that comes from her; for you see she is but a Woman and many unsound and dangerous principles are held by her”. His words suggest that women and unreliable and the fact that Anne is a woman takes away her credibility.

She was self taught and learned also by reading the books within her father’s library. Her family was middle class and members of the church. Her father was a reverend. She married William Hutchinson a magistrate in the colony. Hutchinson like many other women played a role in child bearing as a midwife. She held the same roles within the household as other women. It was her actions outside of the household that Hutchinson was held accountable for. Hutchinson began following the sermons of John Cotton, an outspoken advocate of self-determination of congregational government. Following this ideology Hutchinson started hosting meetings that presented theological interpretations of sermons and scriptures; ideas that contradicted with the Puritan religion. The church found her a threat to the commonwealth. The meetings were not only appealing to men but to women as well. Many listened to what she had to say and the church feared that people who begin to follow her as well. Hutchinson had stepped beyond a gender role that during the early 17th century was were considered inappropriate for women. As a woman she was allowed to express religious experiences but was not supposed to go around teaching their own interpretation of God’s word. When placed on trial Hutchinson spoke open mindedly, but within context of male hierarchy. She was challenging the ministers therefore, challenging government due to the large ties between the