Through an accident of British church politics -- her father spent time under house arrest for his heresies when Anne was young -- this uncommonly intelligent girl received an education in theology and logic that showed up later in her trials. I found the direct quotes from the trial transcripts to be fascinating and often dense. I reread many of them several times.
I began this book knowing virtually nothing about Hutchinson. The author allowed me to explore the concept of what happens to a thinker and teacher who is not supposed to think or teach.
Hutchinson was by no means a modern woman caught in the wrong century. Her argument was not with a woman's status. Instead, she took up rhetorical arms to defend theological points that seem arcane to modern thought (and perhaps even incomprehensible to many people of her time) because God had revealed these things to her. She would not move on points that had come to her through revelation. And since the church of her time did not accept individual revelation, and especially not to a woman, there was no room for compromise.
Hutchinson is not held up as a model for tolerance or freedom of conscience. She had little patience for those who disagreed with her concept of salvation by grace alone. And yet I am left wishing that the historical record left us more than the trial transcript to give us insight into her thinking. She may have held a great deal of spiritual influence as part of the founding community of Rhode Island. I'd have love to have heard her thoughts on the language in the Charter of Rhode Island (issued after she had died in New Amsterdam) holding that "No person... shall be any wise molested, punished, disquieted, or called in question, for any differences in option in matters of religion... but that all and every person and persons may... freely and fully have and enjoy his and their own judgments and consciences, in matters of religious concernments."
The author's research was impressive and generous. At times I needed to set aside the author's opinion on a point to reach my own conclusion.
I began this book knowing virtually nothing about Hutchinson. The author allowed me to explore the concept of what happens to a thinker and teacher who is not supposed to think or teach.
Hutchinson was by no means a modern woman caught in the wrong century. Her argument was not with a woman's status. Instead, she took up rhetorical arms to defend theological points that seem arcane to modern thought (and perhaps even incomprehensible to many people of her time) because God had revealed these things to her. She would not move on points that had come to her through revelation. And since the church of her time did not accept individual revelation, and especially not to a woman, there was no room for compromise.
Hutchinson is not held up as a model for tolerance or freedom of conscience. She had little patience for those who disagreed with her concept of salvation by grace alone. And yet I am left wishing that the historical record left us more than the trial transcript to give us insight into her thinking. She may have held a great deal of spiritual influence as part of the founding community of Rhode Island. I'd have love to have heard her thoughts on the language in the Charter of Rhode Island (issued after she had died in New Amsterdam) holding that "No person... shall be any wise molested, punished, disquieted, or called in question, for any differences in option in matters of religion... but that all and every person and persons may... freely and fully have and enjoy his and their own judgments and consciences, in matters of religious concernments."
The author's research was impressive and generous. At times I needed to set aside the author's opinion on a point to reach my own conclusion.
