Anne Hutchinson's Argument Against The Puritan Doctrine Of Predestination

Third, in the confrontation with Anne Hutchinson, Winthrop faced the sins of Arminianism, the belief that one could influence God and secure salvation by "preparing" oneself to receive it, and of Antinomianism, the belief that since God has predetermined who is to be saved one's behavior here on Earth does not matter, that one's sinfulness or

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.

Anne Hutchinson was a remarkable colonial woman who first came to Massachusetts in the fall of 1634. She is less remembered for her contributions in the new world as a wife, mother of fourteen, and midwife to many than for her eventual trial and banishment from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. I was interested in writing a paper on a colonial woman and chose Anne Hutchinson after a "Google" search turned up a very good review on a recent book about her life. I have been intrigued by the fact that the Puritans came to America to practice their religion freely, yet allowed no freedom to question their

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

She began hosting discussions about Cotton’s sermon, but the article, "Anne Marbury Hutchinson,” clearly explained, “Gradually, the meetings shifted to critiques of Puritan beliefs about the Covenant of Works – the role of good works and adherence to religious law in salvation.” (Michal) Anne Hutchinson inserted her personal beliefs in the gatherings. As the population of the attendees increased, the attention of the wrong individuals grew as well.Due to the wrong attention Hutchinson brought on herself “the growing tensions of the era became known as the Antinomian Controversy,” (“Anne Hutchinson”) The puritan church accused Anne Hutchinson and her followers of practicing something which is opposed to the law of grace; this practice is known as Antinomianism. Despite of the trouble, Anne Hutchinson continued attempting to justify her reasons for her words. Anne Hutchinson is a figure displaying Henry David Thoreau’s belief of one doing what is necessary to stay true to the morals and

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

During the period of colonization, John Winthrop lead the Puritans, a new religious group, across the Atlantic to settle in Massachusetts Bay Colony. By the 1630s the colony had established a theocracy that supported its conservative culture. Sarah Vowell discusses the functionality of the Puritan community in her editorial, The Wordy Shipmates. She uses several excerpts from the play The Examination of Mrs.Anne Hutchinson at the court of  Newton, November 1637 written by Anne Hutchinson, to form her opinion. Anne Hutchinson was a leader in her community who occasionally gave sermons that challenged the authority of the church. She was called to court by John Winthrop and his council who aimed to charge her for sedition and heresy. Vowell argues that Winthrop’s claims were ungrounded and did not have any reasonable explanations, whereas Anne Hutchinson rebutted with facts. Sarah Vowell’s analysis of the Puritans in The Wordy Shipmates is legitimate, her reactions to the case are logical, and like Anne Hutchinson she is easily able to justify her position with direct quotes to answer assumptions of her audience.

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.

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.

extremist of sorts when it came to the role of women under the Puritan religion.

     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

The reason I picked this topic is because I admire Anne Hutchinson and the history of her

Anne Hutchinson has long been seen as a strong religious dissenter who paved the way for religious freedom in the strictly Puritan environment of New England. Another interpretation of the controversy surrounding Anne Hutchinson asserts that she was simply a loving wife and mother whose charisma and personal ideas were misconstrued to be a radical religious movement. Since this alleged religious movement was led by a woman, it was quickly dealt with by the Puritan fathers as a real threat. Whatever her motives, she was clearly a great leader in the cause of religious toleration in America and the advancement of women in society. Although Anne Hutchinson is historically documented to have been banished as a religious dissenter, the real

Anne Hutchinson is considered the future because her beliefs are those ones, which we are living. God’s words have been interpreted for every single human and as soon as they can identify any group’s religion in mutual agreement, different groups in faith will be formed. People believe what they want, and at this time is absolutely absurd to imprison people in just one concept. This is the freedom time; we are in America , a multicultural nation. Like Obama’s said in his Inaugural Address in 2009, “We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth,” I am so proud of this, this is really fascinating. At the end, Anne and George were