Anne Hutchinson

[alexanderjames]

I couldn’t find much already on the Board about the 17th century woman Anne Hutchinson and the controversy surrounding her life and ministry in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

I’m especially interested in the interplay between her views, and the ministries of John Cotton, Thomas Shepard, as well as the views of other prominent figures like Thomas Hooker and Cotton Mather.

I’m not interested in the contemporary effort to make Hutchinson into some kind of early feminist hero. But I do want to know what parts of her criticisms were valid, if any.

Do you know of any reliable resources on the subject?

 

[arapahoepark]

While it's obviously not a theological commentary, Murray Rothbard's Conceived in Liberty talks about her. I have typically looked at it as a reference because it's 5 volumes. It's free online might be worth a look.
Edit: I looked. It's not extensive (7 pages) so might not be what you are looking for.

 

[jwithnell]

As I recall, she gathered people to critique the sermons, her doctrine countered orthodoxy, and she was in an odd place regarding teaching as a woman. It's been many years since I've read on the topic so I can't point you to specific works. In the last few years I've seen her mentioned as a type of counter-culture folk hero.

 

[alexanderjames]

From what I read over the weekend, Hutchinson was very much against the preparationism of the ministers at the time, including that of Shepard and Hooker, accusing them and others of preaching a covenant of works, and she erred on the side of antinomianism, largely in disregarding any influence of moral obedience/good works when it comes to one's assurance of salvation. Her views were coming firstly from the influence of Cotton under whose ministry she sat for a long period of time, but went further into antinomianism and against the likes of Shepard and Hooker such that she departed from Cotton's theology later down the line. Apparently during the trial she eventually made a partial recantation but the damage was done by her accusations, reliance upon personal revelation, and seditious meetings.

This raises a number of questions of interest, chiefly that of the preparationism in the ministries of these New England preachers (including Shepard & Hooker's views vs Cotton's), as well as regarding the extent of the validity of Hutchinson's teachings along the way, and whether she was dealt with in a thoroughly fair way by those presiding over her trial.

 

[chicagophil]

I spent last summer diving into this. There's a lot of ink spilled on it. I started with Winship's Making Heretics. Stoever's Faire and Easy Way documents a fair bit of Reformed theology up to the time of the controversy. I used the latter as a guide to primary sources and read a lot of them last year. (Winship has a lot of good leads to primary sources as well). I read a couple of the primary sources thanks to davejonescue giving them the treatment for monergism when I asked about them last year (thanks again!). There is an excellent book by Philip Craig called the Bond of Grace and Duty. It is about John Owen's anti-antinomian sentiments (without naming antinominianism) and has a couple of chapters on the NE controversy.

 

[jwright82]

From what I read over the weekend, Hutchinson was very much against the preparationism of the ministers at the time, including that of Shepard and Hooker, accusing them and others of preaching a covenant of works, and she erred on the side of antinomianism, largely in disregarding any influence of moral obedience/good works when it comes to one's assurance of salvation. Her views were coming firstly from the influence of Cotton under whose ministry she sat for a long period of time, but went further into antinomianism and against the likes of Shepard and Hooker such that she departed from Cotton's theology later down the line. Apparently during the trial she eventually made a partial recantation but the damage was done by her accusations, reliance upon personal revelation, and seditious meetings.

This raises a number of questions of interest, chiefly that of the preparationism in the ministries of these New England preachers (including Shepard & Hooker's views vs Cotton's), as well as regarding the extent of the validity of Hutchinson's teachings along the way, and whether she was dealt with in a thoroughly fair way by those presiding over her trial.

When I read the OP and the replies until this one, my first thought was "for better or worse, I would have thought given the historical context that she would be on trial" and then you mentioned a trial.

 

[pmachapman]

Cotton Mather covers the account in his Magnalia Christi Americana, book 7, chapter 3, section 8 (Vol. 2, p. 517 in the Banner of Truth edition). See https://archive.org/details/magnaliachristia00math/page/18 (1st ed., 1702) and https://archive.org/details/magnaliachristia02byumath/page/516 (3rd ed., 1853).

He uses the anagram "The Non-such" to refer to her.

Cotton Mather obviously wasn't alive when the episode occurred, but his account shows evidence he had access to the court records of the account, and perhaps even family records or anecdotes.

 

[alexanderjames]

I spent last summer diving into this. There's a lot of ink spilled on it. I started with Winship's Making Heretics. Stoever's Faire and Easy Way documents a fair bit of Reformed theology up to the time of the controversy. I used the latter as a guide to primary sources and read a lot of them last year. (Winship has a lot of good leads to primary sources as well). I read a couple of the primary sources thanks to davejonescue giving them the treatment for monergism when I asked about them last year (thanks again!). There is an excellent book by Philip Craig called the Bond of Grace and Duty. It is about John Owen's anti-antinomian sentiments (without naming antinominianism) and has a couple of chapters on the NE controversy.

Which were the primary sources you used and found most helpful? I'll check out the others, thanks.

 

[chicagophil]

Sure. Please note, these are primary sources for the theology behind the controversy, not the controversy itself. The primary sources for the controversy itself would be the writings of Cotton, Shephard, Norton, and a few others. Here is from the end of my notes on Stoever's faire and easy way:

"
So, what to read:
(done - notes taken)Ames Marrow seems mandatory
Rollock (done) catechism on the covenants, (done) on effectual calling - a kind of short summary of theology with differences from Rome
Perkins (done - notes taken) the Golden Chain, (done - notes taken) Cases of Conscience, Grace and Free Will, (done - notes taken) Treatise on Vocations
(done - notes taken) Ball Treatise of Faith
Sibbes has quite a few: (done - notes taken) Excellency of the Gospel above the law, (done - notes taken) fountain sealed, (a good pair of sermons, not about assurance, but asserting the effect of the Spirit on one who lives the) life of faith, (done - notes taken) Conflict of a Soul with Itself
John Preston Breastplate of Faith and Love (notes taken - some good stuff but awfully repetitive and long-winded, and not very precise)
"