MAKING HERETICS This page intentionally left blank 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 This page intentionally left blank 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 This page intentionally left blank 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