Winthrop led a group of about 1,000 merchants to found the MBC and the city of Boston (his famous “City on a Hill) in 1630 under a system of self-governance through their General Court. There was no separation of church and state since church membership was required to vote and to participate in government as long as you were an adult male. This meant if you were a member of the church congregation you understood the doctrine of truth only being illuminated through the interpretation of the 66 books of the Protestant Word of God. There were no dissenting opinions within the General Court: we are here to govern because God has ordained it, and we make governing decisions as those God has elected because we find all truth from within His Word.
When their fellow colonist Anne Hutchinson started teaching the Bible in her home – coupled with the idea that she could receive enlightenment directly from God through the Holy Spirit – she was not only going against the strict interpretation that enlightenment only occurred from interpreting Scripture, but she was going against the core governance of the colony. Her in-home Bible studies were gaining ground and influence with both women and men. Governor Winthrop and the General Court could not tolerate this.
She was put on trial in 1637 with a list of indictments, including a restatement that only the elect can interpret Scripture, and there was no revelation from God outside of Scriptural interpretation, including direct revelation from the Holy Spirit.
Mrs. Hutchinson (as she was referred to in her trial before the Court) was the daughter of a Puritan pastor, and the recorded dialogue of her trial shows she was able to dispute the Council’s arguments with quotes from the Bible. For example, she quoted from Acts 18 that Priscilla and Aquila taught Apollos (who was “competent in the Scriptures” (ESV)) and helped him to more accurately see the teaching of God. Governor Winthrop replied Priscilla didn’t do any teaching without her husband Aquila being present. Most scholars recognize the “fix was in” against Mrs. Hutchinson before the trial began.
Anne and her husband William had migrated from England to the MBC in 1634 with their 12 children surviving children (they had 15 in all), and when she was banished from the MBC, they moved to Rhode Island. Fellow-banished colonist Roger Williams had established his colony there in 1636. The Hutchinsons helped to form the city of Portsmouth, and today, a memorial herb garden recognizes her influence as seen in the above photo.
After William died in 1642, Anne and her children moved to the New Netherlands (present-day Bronx in New York City) just as Dutch/Native American tensions were rising. Anne and many of her children were killed in a raid by the members of the Siwanoy tribe.
Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams were two lasting examples of why the delegates to the US Constitutional Convention in 1787 wanted to ensure the church was indeed separate from the state.
(Photo credit: By Michael Steven Ford – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0)
By Nick Walters, Center for Christian History founder and adjunct history professor, Mississippi College