Colonial American Religion

1. Colonial American Religion Overview, Geography, Key Figures

2. Map showing EuropeanColonies1700-1763

3. The Thirteen British Colonies • Each of the Thirteen Colonies had a distinct religious orientation • The Colonies can be divided into three geographic groups for convenience in understanding their religious development

4. The Southern British Colonies • Southern Colonies: Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia - founded as Crown Colonies, they lived by the Elizabethan settlement and were bound to maintain conformity to the Church of England, enforced by the state. • Despite this official religious outlook, these colonies were often not very religiously pious.

5. The New England Colonies • New England Colonies: Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire (earlier, absorbed colonies of New Haven and Plymouth, too) • These colonies were founded by Puritans and/or Radical Reformers; religion was a primary reason for their existence.

6. The Mid-Atlantic Colonies • Mid-Atlantic Colonies - New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware - adopted religious pluralism because they attracted trade. This area created some lasting and successful experiments in religious tolerance. • Pennsylvania was founded by Quakers, for themselves and other Radical reformation groups. Maryland was, at times, a refuge for British Catholics.

7. Pilgrims: Non-Conformist Separatists • Pilgrims had refused to conform to the Church of England. Temporarily fleeing to Holland, they eventually settled in Plymouth colony, south of Boston. • This artistic re-imagining of the Mayflower Compact features William Brewster, one of Pilgrim leaders.

8. Puritans: Conformist Reformers • Puritans sought to purify the Church of England. • They were conformists who sought to reform the Church of England • They received a legitimate charter from King Charles I to settle in Massachusetts in 1630 The Arabella: The perfectly functional ship on which the Puritans arrived from England in 1630

9. Charles I: the Puritan’s Anti-Christ • Came to throne in 1625 • Distrusted Puritans • Sought to re-establish divine right of kings and absolute rule by monarch • Dismissed Parliament • Puritans believed he was the anti-Christ predicted in the Book of Revelation • Famous portrait by Van Dyck

10. Puritans Have to Decide • Stay in England and fight evil King Charles? • OR • Move to New World and launch a religious utopia that will prove to the world the justice and godliness of the Puritan cause?

11. Puritans Decide…for Regicide! • Some stay in England to fight evil King Charles, and win a revolution in England • AND OTHERS • Move to New World and launch a religious utopia that will prove to the world the justice and godliness of the Puritan cause, by founding the Puritan colony of Massachusetts Execution of King Charles I, 1649

12. The Puritan Reputation • The Puritans were quite strict with themselves, and with others • Note, from the current catalog of SJSU’s English Department, the course offerings in British theater. • Puritans, in control of England from 1642 to 1660, closed all the theaters.

13. John Winthrop (1588-1649) • First Governor of Massachusetts Colony • Puritan leader who wrote “A Model of Christian Charity” aboard the Arabella • Technically separates government and religion, but also maintains that religion should be uniform throughout colony. • Clergy and political officials should be visible saints.

14. “A Model of Christian Charity” • “Thus stands the cause between God and us: we are entered into covenant* with Him for this work” • But, Mr. Winthrop, how can this be? God does not often appear like in Biblical times… • “we have taken out a commission*, the Lord hath given us leave to draw out our own articles.”

15. Covenant and Contract • John Winthrop was a lawyer • He uses both ‘covenant’ and ‘commission’ • A covenant is a special kind of contract • A covenant involves • ongoing commitment • reciprocity on both sides • personal relationship between parties • often a structural inequality between parties

16. “A Model of Christian Charity”How Will We Know God’s Will? • “We have professed to enterprise on these actions…we have hereupon besought Him of favor and blessing. Now if the Lord shall please to hear us and bring us in peace to the place we desire, then hath He ratified this covenant and sealed our Commission, [and] will expect a strict performance of the articles contained in it.” • But the Puritan’s ship was nearing Boston…

17. “A Model of Christian Charity”If We Disobey, There’s Hell to Pay • “But if we shall neglect the observations of these articles which are the ends we have propounded, and dissembling with our God, shall fall to embrace this present world and prosecute our carnal intentions, seeking great things for ourselves and our posterity, the Lord will surely break out in wrath against us, be revenged of such a perjured people, and make us know the price of the breach of such a covenant.”

18. “A Model of Christian Charity”The Puritans as Covenant Community • “Now the only way to avoid this shipwreck and to provide for our posterity is to follow the counsel of Micah: to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with our God.” • Micah, one of the minor prophets at the end of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, is used here to affirm the prophetic mission of the Puritans, but also to counsel humility

19. “A Model of Christian Charity”The Puritans as Covenant Community • “For this end, we must be knit together in this work as one man. We must entertain each other in brotherly affection; we must be willing to abridge ourselves of our superfluities for the supply of others’ necessities….We must delight in each other, make others’ conditions our own, rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work, our community as members of the same body.”

20. “A Model of Christian Charity”We Will Be the People Most Pleasing to God • “So shall we keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, the Lord will be our God and delight to dwell among us, as His own people, and will command a blessing upon us in all our ways, so that we shall see much more of His wisdom, power, goodness, and truth than formerly we have been acquainted with.” • Meaning: if the Puritans can establish their utopic vision, God will be closer here in America than elsewhere = God Bless America

21. “A Model of Christian Charity”The Puritans are a Community • “We shall find that the God of Israel is among us, when ten of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies, when He shall make us a praise and glory, that men shall say of succeeding plantations: “The Lord make it like that of New England.” • The Puritans see their narrative in epic terms of Biblical proportions

22. “A Model of Christian Charity”The Puritans are Exemplars to the World • “For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, as so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword through the world:”

23. “A Model of Christian Charity”If We Fail, We Injure God’s Reputation! • “we shall open the mouths of enemies to speak evil of the ways of God and all professors for God’s sake; we shall shame the faces of many of God’s worthy servants, and cause their prayers to be turned into curses upon us, till we be consumed out of the good land whither we are going.”

24. Uses of “City on a Hill” • The phrase comes from the Bible, the Gospel of Matthew, during Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount • Politicians, though, attribute it to Winthrop • American politicians have adopted the phrase to stand for American exceptionalism

25. John F. Kennedy: “City on a Hill” “I have been guided by the standard John Winthrop set before his shipmates on the flagship Arabella three hundred and thirty-one years ago, as they, too, faced the task of building a new government on a perilous frontier.
"We must always consider," he said, "that we shall be as a city upon a hill—the eyes of all people are upon us.”
Today the eyes of all people are truly upon us—and our governments, in every branch, at every level, national, state and local, must be as a city upon a hill—constructed and inhabited by men aware of their great trust and their great responsibilities.
For we are setting out upon a voyage in 1961 no less hazardous than that undertaken by the Arabella in 1630. We are committing ourselves to tasks of statecraft no less awesome than that of governing the Massachusetts Bay Colony, beset as it was then by terror without and disorder within.” (Jan 9, 1961 speech)

26. Ronald Reagan: “City on a Hill”pt. 1 ...I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it and see it still…

27. Ronald Reagan: “City on a Hill”pt. 2 And how stands the city on this winter night? More prosperous, more secure, and happier than it was eight years ago. But more than that. After 200 years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And she’s still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home. We’ve done our part. And as I “walk off into the city streets,” a final word to the men and women of the Reagan Revolution — the men and women across America who for eight years did the work that brought America back. My friends, we did it. We weren’t just marking time; we made a difference. We made the city stronger — we made the city freer — and we left her in good hands. All in all, not bad — not bad at all.

28. Ronald Reagan: “City on a Hill”pt. 3 And so, goodbye, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.” Thus concludes Ronald Reagan’s Farewell Speech to the Nation, delivered on January 11, 1989 Notice that he checks in to make sure America followed the covenant during his time as a leader.

29. Michael Dukakis1988 Speech Accepting Democratic Presidential Nomination And my friends, what we have done reflects a simple but a very profound idea, an idea as powerful as any in human history. It is the idea of community, the kind of community that binds us here tonight. It is the idea that we are all in this together, that regardless of who we are or where we’ve come from or how much money we have each of us counts; and that by working together to create opportunity and good life for all, all of us are enriched, not just in economic terms, but as citizens and as human beings.

30. Michael Dukakis1988 Speech Accepting Democratic Presidential Nomination The idea of community, an idea planted in the New World by the first governor of Massachusetts. “We must,” said John Winthrop, “love one another with a pure heart, fervently. We must delight in each other, make each other’s condition our own, rejoice together, mourn together, and suffer together. We must,” he said, “be knit together as one — knit together as one.” Now John Winthrop wasn’t talking about material success. He was talking about a country where each of us asks not only what’s in it for some of us, but what’s good and what’s right for all of us.

31. Pat Robertson1988 Speech Addressing RepublicanNationalConvention • Pat Robertson, a well-known televangelist and preacher, had competed for the 1988 Republican Presidential Nomination. • He did not win the nomination, but he had enough support that American political protocol ensured that he could address the convention • He was livid that Dukakis had appropriated Winthrop’s speech, and so Robertson decided to return Winthrop’s speech to the Republican party • Robertson’s speech delivered August 16, 1988, one month after Dukakis’

32. Pat Robertson1988 Speech Addressing RepublicanNationalConventionpt. 1 • Ladies and Gentlemen, the Republican Party wants to write a tale of another city. • We are the children of those who tamed the wilderness, spanned a continent, and brought forth the greatest nation on the face of the earth. We are the heirs of those who enriched the world with the electric light, the telephone, the airplane, mass-produced automobiles, the transistor, and countless wonderful inventions. • Yet we are the heirs of a more enduring legacy than mere material progress. We are heirs of a legacy of ideas -- a legacy of freedom -- of equality -- of opportunity. A legacy of government of the people, by the people, and for the people. We are the heirs of an experiment in freedom that has given hope and promise to all of the people on this earth.

33. Pat Robertson1988 Speech Addressing RepublicanNationalConventionpt. 2 • We see a city set on a hill. A shining light of freedom for all of the nations to see and admire. A city made great by the moral strength and self-reliance of her people. A city where husbands and wives love each other and families hold together. A city where every child, whether rich or poor, has available to him the very best education in the world. A city where the elderly live out their lives with respect and dignity, and where the unborn child is safe in his mother's womb. A city where the plague of drugs is no more and those who would destroy and debase our children with illegal drugs are given life sentences in prison with no chance for parole. A city where the streets are safe. Where criminals are locked up and the law abiding can walk about without fear. A city where the water is pure to drink, the air clean to breathe, and the citizens respect and care for the soil, the forests, and God's other creatures who share with us the earth, the sky, and the water. A city with limited government but unlimited opportunity for all people.

34. The Puritans’ Discontents Anne Hutchinson at her trial (left) Roger Williams wandering south into Rhode Island (right) • The New World could not contain the religious energies of a people empowered to think for themselves. • The most significant of the rebels were Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams, both of whom clashed directly with John Winthrop.

35. Anne Hutchinson (1591-1643) • Anne Hutchinson at her trial • Raised by her father, a rebellious proto-Puritan minister. • He provided Anne a strong education • Moves to Massachusetts Bay Colony with her husband in 1630s • Starts women’s discussion group • Critiques Puritan ministers • Claimed direct communication with God • Antinomianism (challenge to necessity for authorities) • Put on trial for sedition • Her miscarriage used as evidence against her (she had 15+ pregnancies, most resulting in live births!) • Exiled from Massachusetts Bay

36. Roger Williams (1603-1683) • Ultimate Protestant thinker, he changed his denominational affiliation numerous times: born Church of England (Anglican), to Puritan, to Non-Conformist, to Baptist, to Seeker

37. Roger Williams (1603-1683) • Exiled from Massachusetts Bay, he founded Rhode Island, and demanded total separation of religion and state, in order to protect the search for religious truth from the sordid nature of politics.

38. Native Americans and Williams • Roger Williams treated the Native peoples as human equals, learned their languages, wrote the first functional grammar of an Algonquian language, and negotiated with the Narragansett tribe for the use of their land in establishing Rhode Island.

39. The Bloudy Tenant of Persecution (1644) • Roger Williams wrote this treatise in response to both the excesses of Massachusetts Bay Puritans, and the European Thirty Years War of religion • ‘Tenant’ here is related to ‘tenacity’ – the Bloody Hold that Religious Persecution had/has on the minds of Christians (Catholic and Protestant)

40. Précis of “Bloudy Tenent” • “First, that the blood of so many hundred thousand souls of Protestant and Papists, spilt in the wars of present and former ages, for their respective consciences, is not required nor accepted by Jesus Christ the Prince of Peace.” • Note: “Papist” is a derogatory name that Protestants gave to Catholics; it means followers of the Pope.

41. The Two-Step of How Protestants Argue • “Secondly, pregnant scriptures and arguments are throughout…proposed against the doctrine of persecution for cause of conscience. • “Thirdly, satisfactory answers are given to scriptures, and objections, produced by Mr. Calvin, Beza, Cotton, and the ministers of New England churches, and others former and later, tending to prove the doctrine of persecution for cause of conscience.”

42. The Two-Step of How Protestants Argue • “pregnant scriptures and arguments” are used to support a position – people are saved by faith alone, in the word of God (Bible), so all arguments must have a scriptural basis • However, other Protestants hold opposing viewpoints, supported by scripture • Therefore, Williams must demonstrate how his opponents are misinterpreting scripture

43. Précis of “Bloudy Tenent” • “Fourthly, the doctrine of persecution for cause of conscience is proved guilty of all the blood of the souls crying for vengeance under the altar.” • There is a cost, in eternal guilt and shame, for holding a wrong doctrine, according to Williams. This is a cosmological presupposition: that our sins/failings/crimes have eternal consequences.

44. Précis of “Bloudy Tenent” • “Fifthly, all civil states with their officers of justice in their respective constitutions and administrations are proved essentially civil, and therefore not judges, governors, or defenders of the spiritual or Christian state of worship.” • The function of government is a legitimate one (e.g. establishing and administrating laws), but it does not allow government to judge or administer matters of the spirit. This is a direct critique of the Elizabethan Settlement.

45. Williams’ Christian Integrity • “Sixthly, it is the will and command of God (since the coming of his Son the Lord Jesus) that a permission of the most paganish, Jewish, Turkish (Muslim), or antichristian consciences and worships be granted to all men in all nations and countries; and they are only to be fought against with that sword which is only (in soul matters) able to conquer, to wit, the sword of God’s spirit, the Word of God.”

46. Williams’ Christian Integrity • Williams was a Seeker, who changed denominations frequently in his search • Williams was always a religious exclusivist • Here, though, he says that religious pluralism is a situation that God permitted • Williams maintains that if you use coercion to convert people, you do not believe in the power of your own religious ideals

47. Précis of “Bloudy Tenent” • “Seventhly, the state of the Land of Israel, the kings and peoples thereof in peace and war, is proved figurative and ceremonial, and no pattern nor precedent for any kingdom or civil state in the world to follow.” • Note: This is a direct critique of Winthrop in Massachusetts, who claimed that Massachusetts was a New Israel.

48. Précis of “Bloudy Tenent” • “Eighthly, God requireth not a uniformity of religion to be enacted and enforced in any civil state, which enforced uniformity (sooner or later) is the greatest occasion of civil war, ravishing of conscience, persecution of Christ Jesus in his servants, and the hypocrisy and destruction of millions of souls.”

49. Précis of “Bloudy Tenent” • “Ninthly, in holding an enforced uniformity of religion in a civil state, we must necessarily disclaim our desires and hopes of the Jew’s conversion to Christ.” • Note: Williams’ Rhode Island became the first New England colony to have Jewish settlements, because of his policy of religious tolerance

50. Précis of “Bloudy Tenent” • “Tenthly, an enforced uniformity of religion throughout a nation or civil state, confounds the civil and religious, denies the principles of Christianity and civility, and that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.” • Note: This combines Williams’ desire to separate church and state, because they perform different functions, and to maintain that authentic belief does not require government enforcement. Both of these are Radical Reformation ideals.