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EARLY COLONIAL DAYS
For whatever reason, Roger Williams, the first pastor of the first Baptist Church in America left the denomination and became a seeker; not to be confused with today’s use among many Mega-Churches of unbelievers seeking God. In Williams’ day, “seekers” were Christians who believed in the fundamentals of Christianity only! That is, they were strict Calvinists who believed in avoiding doctrines, oaths, dogma and liturgy. The behavior of some members doing their religious services earned them such negative terms as seekers, ranters and quakers. Over time, members of this group accepted the name ‘Quakers’. Williams’ abandonment of the Baptist faith did not impact its growth, like John Smith he became the instrument in the hand of the Master to start this new faith in a ‘new land.’ Of his contribution to the growth of our denomination, the historian Perry Miller wrote, ”The American character has inevitably been molded by the fact that in the first years of colonization there arose this prophet of liberty…As a figure and a reputation he was always there to remind Americans that no other conclusion than absolute religious freedom was feasible in this society” (The Baptist, Anne Devereaux and J. M. Stifle, Hippocrene Books) Because of Roger Williams’s stance for religious freedom and total separation of church and state, religious dissenters found sanctuary on Rhode Island. The growth of the Baptist church in America continued its growth at the hands of John Clarke, another Separatist who had left the Church of England (The Anglican Church) and settled in Boston. Unfortunately, like Roger Williams, his arrival would not be without trouble. As Providence would have it, there was already controversy brewing in Boston between the Puritans and a godly woman named Anne Hutchinson. The Puritans’ effort to purify the church had essentially built walls between its members with it strict rules. One such rule or teaching was their subservient role of women. They could not speak in church and seen as inferior creatures. She should get her understanding of God solely from “the contemplation of her husband’s excellencies” (The Colonial Period of American History, Charles M. Andrews, Yale University Press). Hutchinson was a Puritan and devoted to her faith and had no desire to usurp the authority the church. She simply believed (in my understanding) in the pure word of God and the fact the indwelling Holy Spirit made it possible for all Christians to understand His word. She organized a women’s Bible study in the privacy of her own home to help other women understand the Scriptures. The church leaders tolerated these gatherings until they discovered she was expounding on the sermons from the Sunday worship services. Again, she was not disputing them, but simply bringing out biblical truths to the women. The women welcomed the Bible study. Finally, they to could share in the joy of learning God’s word. Its popularity grew to the point where each setting had more than sixty women present. Unfortunately, Puritan rules did not allow such a large number of women in one setting under the leadership (even in a private home) of a woman. This action became the issue used by John Winthrop to cause her arrest, subsequent trial, excommunication and banishment from the colony. Winthrop summed up her crime in this way, “The two capital errors with which she was charged were these: That the Holy Ghost dwells personally in a justified person; and that nothing of sanctification can help to evidence to believers their justification” (Woman’s Life in Colonial Days, Carl Holliday, Cornhill Publishing Company). I must point out that although these early Puritans showed little tolerance for other religious faith, we must understand most of them did so from the standpoint of preserving unity of the faith at any cost. The purity of the church was the dominant cause in all they did. As a result, the Church as a whole enjoys and benefit from the richness of their writings. Perhaps one of the most famous is Matthew Henry and Arthur Pink. What happened to the Puritans is the same as what happens to most groups who start off with the best of intentions but as generations pass, so does the fervor and commitment for truth. But I digress; let us return to John Clarke and his alliance with Ann Hutchinson. The Puritans treatment of Hutchinson and intolerance towards him and those who had chosen to join with him forced them eventually to leave Boston. He and his little band of followers “settled on the island of Aquidneck (later Newport) in Narragansett Bay,” and established the second Baptist church in America in 1648 (The Baptists).
In Christ, Minister John Cobb
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