Making Heretics: Militant Protestantism and Free Grace in Massachusetts, 1636-1641

341 Pages·2002·1.58 MB·English

by  Michael P. Winship

MAKING HERETICS
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MAKING HERETICS
MILITANT PROTESTANTISM AND FREE
GRACE IN MASSACHUSETTS, 1636–1641
Michael P. Winship
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON AND OXFORD
COPYRIGHT2002BYPRINCETONUNIVERSITYPRESS
PUBLISHEDBYPRINCETONUNIVERSITYPRESS,41WILLIAMSTREET,
PRINCETON,NEWJERSEY08540
INTHEUNITEDKINGDOM:PRINCETONUNIVERSITYPRESS,
3MARKETPLACE,WOODSTOCK,OXFORDSHIREOX201SY
ALLRIGHTSRESERVED
LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA
WINSHIP,MICHAELP.(MICHAELPAUL).
MAKINGHERETICS:MILITANTPROTESTANTISMANDFREEGRACEINMASSACHU-
SETTS,1636–1641/MICHAELP.WINSHIP
P. CM.
INCLUDESBIBLIOGRAPHICALREFERENCESANDINDEX.
ISBN0-691-08943-4(ALK.PAPER)
1.PURITANS—MASSACHUSETTS—HISTORY—17THCENTURY.
2.PROTESTANTISM—MASSACHUSETTS—HISTORY—17THCENTURY.
3.ANTINOMIANISM—MASSACHUSETTS—HISTORYOFDOCTRINES—
17THCENTURY.4.MASSACHUSETTS—HISTORY—COLONIALPERIOD,CA.1600–1775.
5.MASSACHUSETTS—POLITICSANDGOVERNMENT—TO1775.
6.MASSACHUSETTS—CHURCHHISTORY—17THCENTURY.7.RELIGIOUS
PLURALISM—MASSACHUSETTS—HISTORY—17THCENTURY.8.RELIGIONAND
POLITICS—MASSACHUSETTS—HISTORY—17THCENTURY.I.TITLE.
F67.W72002
277.44'06—dc21 2001036867
THISBOOKHASBEENCOMPOSEDINBERKELEYBOOKMODIFIEDTYPEFACE
PRINTEDONACID-FREEPAPER.∞
WWW.PUP.PRINCETON.EDU
PRINTEDINTHEUNITEDSTATESOFAMERICA
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Eleanor, Nathan, and Anna
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CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
ABBREVIATIONS xi
Introduction 1
ONE
AssuranceofSalvationintheEarlySeventeenthCentury 12
TWO
LivelyStones:JohnCottonandAnneHutchinson 28
THREE
TheMostGloriousChurchintheWorld:Boston,c.1636 44
FOUR
PracticingPuritanisminaStrangeLand:Massachusetts,c.1636 64
FIVE
SecretQuarrelsTurnPublic:Summer1636–January1637 83
SIX
ConvictingJohnWheelwright:January–March1637 106
SEVEN
Abimelech’sFaction:March–August1637 126
EIGHT
ReclaimingCotton:August–September1637 149
NINE
TheNovemberTrials:October–November1637 166
TEN
AnAmericanJezebel:November1637–March1638 188
ELEVEN
HoldingForthDarkly:March1638–February1641 211
TWELVE
GodlyEndings 235
NOTES 247
INDEX 313
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
S
UCHVIRTUESasMakingHereticsmaypossessaredueinnosmall
measuretothegiftedcommunityofscholarsthatnurturedit.Iwas
extremely fortunate to embark on this book at a time when Peter
Lakeandhisthenstudent,DavidComo,werebeginningsimilarprojects
onEnglishpuritanism.Theongoingroundsofdiscussions,sharedpanels,
andmanuscriptcritiqueshavebeeninvaluableforthebook.BesidesLake
and Como, readers of various drafts of Making Heretics include Dwight
Bozeman, Michael Ditmore, Frank Lambert, Michael McGiffert, John
Murrin,MaryBethNorton,andEleanorWinship.PeterHofferreadthe
manuscriptandgaveextensiveadviceaboutthelegalaspectsofthecontro-
versy.Hewasalsoanunfailinglyinvolvedandsympatheticsoundingboard
onatopicabout which,asmycolleagueatthe UniversityofGeorgia,he
heard inconceivably far more than any non-specialist should have to en-
dure.FrancisBremerreadchapter7.Allremainingfactualerrors,stylistic
infelicities,andquestionableinterpretationsareentirelymyresponsibility;
Ishuddertothinkhowmuchgreatertheirquantitywouldhavebeenhad
variousdraftsnotpassedundersomanyvigilanteyes.MerjaKytoprovided
me with her transcription of the non-sermonic sections of the Robert
KeayneBostonsermonnotebook.PeterLakemadeavailablehisBoxmak-
er’s Revenge while still a manuscript. As Making Heretics was going into
copy editing, Sargent Bush, Jr., sent me galley proofs of his edition of
JohnCotton’scorrespondence,allowingmetocheckandexpandcitations
in the light of his virtuoso paleographic skills and key them to Bush’s
invaluablebook.PatrickCurryprovidedahomeawayfromhomeinLon-
don,asever.
Research for the book was generously supported by grants from the
UniversityofGeorgiaHistoryDepartmentandtheUniversityofGeorgia
ResearchFoundation.AfellowshipfromtheUniversityofGeorgiaCenter
forHumanitiesandArtsprovidedtimeforwriting.Archivistsandlibrari-
ansattheAmericanAntiquarianSociety,BodelianLibraryofOxfordUni-
versity,BostonPublicLibrary,BritishLibrary,ConnecticutStateArchives,
DoctorWilliamsLibrary,HoughtonLibraryofHarvardUniversity,Lin-
colnshire Public Record Office, Massachusetts Historical Society, Massa-
chusettsStateArchives,NationalLibraryofScotland,NewEnglandHis-
toricGenealogicalSociety,NewYorkHistoricalSociety,NewYorkPublic
Library, Pennsylvania Historical Society, Philips Academy, Pilgrim Hall
Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, and York Minster Library were
unfailinglycourteousandhelpfulduringmyvisitstotheirinstitutions.I
wouldalsoliketothankthenumerousotherarchivistsandlibrarianswho