The Trial of Anne Hutchinson
The Trial of Anne Hutchinson
The Trial of Anne Hutchinson
During 1630s, religious disagreement reached the Puritan of Massachusetts where Anne and other members preached against the conventional dogma. These actions made the Puritan fathers to view Anne's activities as a hazardous intimidation to the status quo. In 1637, Anne Hutchison was brought to the civil trial with charges of causing humiliations or disgrace to the ministers by making hateful and false statements. On this basis, Anne was accused of violating the fifth commandment according to the Christians that states that; honor your father and mother so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord gave you' (Exodus 20:2-17). In reference to this commandment, Anne was accused of supporting opposition against the fathers of the commonwealth. In this case, women who attended her congregations neglected the care of their own families. This study will be guided by a thesis stated as, despite her objections in the trial, Anne Hutchison deserved conviction and banishment from the orthodox colony' (Morgan 56-123).
According to the views of Puritan fathers and ministers, the trial of Anne was to protect the Massachusetts Christian society. Additionally, Anne's conviction and banishment should stand because even though she strongly believed in God, she had no point in preaching against her fathers in the commonwealth. In this case, she is considered as disobedience as she did not respect and honor her fathers as stated in the fifth commandment (International Bible Society 900-1190). It should be noted that, Anne was supposed to be banished from the colony as Puritans had a belief that God ceased to make matters of faith known from a personal revelation. According to Anne, she communicated directly to the Holy Spirit a thing that was considered heresy and blasphemy by ministers. Importantly, women were not allowed to spoke freely in the Puritan community and therefore Anne was considered as a law breaker when she freely spoke before men (Winship 12-140).
From the prosecution of Anne, it is clearly revealed that she led other women to dishonor the dogma that was preached by the Puritan ministers. On this basis, she violated what the bible says in the book of 1 Corinthians 11: 3; the head of every woman is the man'. In this case, Anne went against patriarchy and spoke confidently before men that she talks with the Holy Spirit directly. Additionally, according to Governor John Winthrop elder women should be instructing the younger ones on how conduct their businesses and love their husbands but not on how to bring trouble to their husbands. In this relation, 1 Corinthians 14: 34-36 advises women to maintain silence in the churches as they are not allowed to speak before men but are commanded to obey their husbands and fathers. On the contrary, Anne was accused of joining a group and preaching to women that resulted to their disagreement with their husbands and failure to fear them. On this grounds therefore, Anne was found guilty as a result of her acts and hence banished from the colony (International Bible Society 900-1190).
Further, Anne Hutchinson's conviction and banishment should stand because she could not obey her parents when she entertained people in her home which was against her parents' wishes. On this basis, she violated the fifth commandment by dishonoring her parents even though she was married with 15 children. Additionally, this meeting she held in her house was strictly condemned by the general assembly as it was considered as a thing neither acceptable nor attractive in the eyes of God (Morgan 56-123). It should be noted that, Anne was banished from the colony for discrediting the Puritan preachers by indicating that; they preached a covenant of works rather than a covenant of grace. In this case, she gave her sermons to the people who gathered to her house about how Puritan preachers were unable to preach the gospel (Morgan 56-123).
Additionally, Anne was accused of claiming that Puritan preachers and ministers were not able ministers of the New Testament who lacked the seal of the Holy Spirit. On this basis, Anne considered these preachers and ministers as not worthy to preach the word of God. A point worth noting is that, Anne's doctrine was considered anti-law as it challenged the doctrine of salvation by work as she emphasized salvation by grace (Carnes & Winship 34-102). Moreover, her doctrine on the direct experience with God raised the Holy Spirit above the bible which as a result challenged the authority of the clergy and of laws concerning individuals. According to the ideas of Anne Hutchinson, there should be balance between works and grace and hence she accused the orthodox for emphasizing more on works than grace. As a result of this, her ideas posed a challenge to the authority of the church and clergy resulting to her banishment. Lastly, conviction and banishment of Anne from the Boston church was appropriate as she was among those who signed the petition against the Boston church (Carnes & Winship 34-102).
On the other hand, it can be argued that the conviction and banishment of Anne Hutchinson from the colony should not stand because she did not broke any law by instructing young women on how to lead a good life (LaPlante 123-322). On this basis, the bible in the book of 1 Timothy 5:2 states that; older women should be treated as mothers and young ones like sisters. In this case, she did not break any law by calling young women in her house as they considered her as their mother. By doing this, she questioned the role of women among the Puritan society and said that they should be treated like men. Further, it was not against the law to teach women and men alike; hence Anne was wrongly accused f teaching women illegally (LaPlante 123-322).
Additionally, Anne was much more knowledgeable about the scriptures and dismissed the idea of the original sin. In this relation, there was no point of banishing her from the colony as she just indicated that no sins can be found in the eyes of a child by looking at them (Carnes & Winship 34-102). It should be noted that, the ministers and the clergy in Boston church wanted to retain the notion of patriarchy and hence felt threatened by the preaching and teachings of Anne Hutchinson. It has been indicated from the trial that, Puritan theology taught a covenant of grace but Puritan preachers preached the covenant of work hence Anne's oppositions centered on the notion of consecration (Carnes & Winship 34-102).
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