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The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia
of Religious Knowledge, Philip Schaff Vol. XII:
Abridged and edited for
greater clarity. |
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ROGER
WILLIAMS (C. 1600–1684)
Founder
of Rhode Island; early advocate for the separation of church and
state.
The phase "separation of
church and state" utilized within this biography has little in common with the
term as it has come to be understood and applied today. As can be seen by the
context of this document, Williams desired to have freedom in regard to the
practice of his religion, a freedom that had been largely denied up to that
time in history. "He believed that the civil government was responsible
to preserve law and order, but that it had no authority to influence or
interfere with religious belief and practice".1
The
First Ammendment says in part, "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof; . . ." *
As you can see, the
amendment is in complete agreement with the stated goals of Roger Williams. It
was a common practice for the government and religion to be "wed" to the point
of establishing a State sanctioned religion to which all must adhere. One of
the driving reasons many came to the colonies was to escape this form of
tyranny only to be faced with it once more in the early colonial settlements.
William's outspoken stance against this form of institutionalism was not well
received and resulted in banishment, which by God's providence, gave birth to
Providence, Rhode Island.
* Religion in this context
and, based on the given situation prevalent at the time, is a reference to
Christian denominations. In Europe various denominations were linked
inextricably with the governments. In England; the Anglican Church, Scotland;
the Presbyterians, Germany; the Lutherans and many countries in which
Catholicism reigned.
John M. Fritzius 1Excerpt from:
Who's
Who In Christian History - Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. - M. R.
Norton
Roger
Williams was a Separatist Anglo-American theologian, advocate of liberty of
conscience, and founder of Rhode Island; b. probably in London about 1600 (the
date is uncertain; Knowles gives 1599; Waters, 1599-1602; Guild, Dec. 21, 1602;
Straus, 1607); d. at Providence, R. I., 1684. Under the patronage of Sir Edward
Coke, the famous jurist, he was educated at Sutton's Hospital and at the
University of Cambridge (B.A., 1627). He seems to have had a gift for
languages, and early acquired familiarity with Latin, Greek, Dutch, and French,
and, during his early years in New England, mastered the language of the
natives to a remarkable degree. At an earlier date he gave John Milton lessons
in Dutch in exchange for lessons in Hebrew. Some time before the end of 1630 he
adopted separatist views and reached the conviction that he could not labor in
England under Laud's rigorous administration. He turned aside from offers of
preferment in the university and in the Church, and resolved to seek in New
England the liberty of conscience denied him at home. Arriving at Boston (Feb.,
1631), he was almost immediately invited to supply the place of the pastor, who
was returning to England. But he had found that it was "an unseparated church "
and he "durst not officiate to" it. He was prompted to give utterance to his
conviction, formed no doubt before he left England, that the magistrate may not
punish any sort of "breach of the first table," such as idolatry,
Sabbath-breaking, false worship, and blasphemy; and that every individual
should be free to follow his own convictions in religious matters. The Salem
church, which through intercourse with the Plymouth colonists had imbibed
separatist sentiments, invited Williams to become its teacher; but his
settlement was prevented by a remonstrance addressed to Governor Endicott by
six of the Boston leaders. The Plymouth colony received him gladly as teacher
or associate pastor. Here he remained about two years, and, according to
Governor Bradford," his teaching was well approved. "While there he spent much
time among the Indians, his "soul's desire" being "to do the natives good."
"God was pleased to give me a painful, patient spirit, to lodge with them in
their filthy, smoky holes . . . to gain their tongue." Toward the close of his
ministry at Plymouth, according to Brewster, he began to give expression to
various personal opinions and sought to impose them upon others.
Meeting with opposition, Williams removed to Salem (summer of
1633) and became unofficial assistant to Pastor Skelton. In Aug., 1634 (Skelton
having died), he became acting pastor and entered almost immediately upon
controversies with the Massachusetts authorities that in a few months were to
lead to his banishment. He was formally set apart as pastor of the church about
May, 1635, in the midst of the controversies and against the remonstrance of
the Massachusetts authorities. An outline of the issues raised by Williams and
uncompromisingly pressed includes the following:
- He regarded the Church of England as apostate, and any
kind of fellowship with it as grievous sin. He accordingly renounced communion
not only with this church but with all who would not join with him in
repudiating it.
- He denounced the charter of the Massachusetts Company
because it falsely represented the king of England as a Christian, and assumed
that he had the right to give to his own subjects the land of the native
Indians. He disapproved of "the unchristian oaths swallowed down" by the
colonists "at their coming forth from Old England, especially in the
superstitious Laud's time and domineering." He drew up a letter addressed to
the king expressing his dissatisfaction with the charter and sought to secure
for it the endorsement of prominent colonists. In this letter he is said to
have charged King James 1. with blasphemy for calling Europe "Christendom" and
to have applied to the reigning king some of the most shameful epithets in the
Apocalypse.
- Equally disquieting was Williams' opposition to the
"citizens' oath," which magistrates sought to force upon the colonists in order
to be assured of their loyalty. Williams maintained that it was Christ's sole
prerogative to have his office established by oath, and that unregenerate men
ought not in any case to be invited to perform any religious act. In opposing
the oath Williams gained so much popular support that the measure had to be
abandoned.
- In a dispute between the Massachusetts Bay court and the
Salem colony regarding the possession of a piece of land (Marblehead) claimed
by the latter, the court offered to accede to the claims of Salem on condition
that the Salem church make amends for its insolent conduct in installing
Williams as pastor in defiance of the court and ministers. This demand involved
the removal of the pastor. Williams regarded this proposal as an outrageous
attempt at bribery and had the Salem church send to the other Massachusetts
churches a denunciation of the proceeding and demand that the churches exclude
the magistrates from membership. This act was sharply resented by magistrates
and churches, and such pressure was brought to bear upon the Salem church as
led a majority to consent to the removal of their pastor. He never entered the
chapel again, but held religious services in his own house with his faithful
adherents.
The decree of banishment (Oct. 19, 1635, carried into effect Jan.,
1636) was grounded on his aggressive and uncompromising hostility to the
charter and the theocracy, and was the immediate result of the controversy
about the Marblehead land. His radical tenets, involving complete separation of
Church and State and absolute voluntaryism in matters of religion, and his
refusal to have communion with any who gave countenance or support to the
existing order, made his banishment seem necessary to the theocratic leaders of
Massachusetts. He had scarcely recovered from a severe illness contracted
during his trial, when it was intimated to him that the authorities were
arranging to send him back to England to be dealt with by the Laudian
government. Accompanied or followed by a few devoted adherents, he plunged into
the wilderness and made his way to his Indian friends, who gave him such
entertainment as they could. "I was sorely tossed for one fourteen weeks, in a
bitter winter season, not knowing what bread or bed did mean." In June he
arrived at the present site of Providence and, having secured land from the
natives, he admitted to equal rights with himself twelve "loving friends and
neighbors" (several had come to him from Massachusetts since the opening of
spring). It was allowed that others could become members of their commonwealth
from time to time if they were in agreement with the views of the majority.
Obedience to the majority was promised by all, but "only in civil things." In
1640 another agreement was signed by thirty-nine free men, in which they
express their determination "still to hold forth liberty of conscience." In
1643 Williams was sent to England by his fellow citizens to secure a charter
for the colony. The Puritans were then in power, and through the good offices
of Sir Henry Vane a thoroughly democratic charter was readily obtained. In 1647
a somewhat similar but larger colony having been planted on Rhode Island by
William Coddington, John Clarke, and others, Providence was united with the
Rhode Island towns under a single government, and liberty of conscience was
again proclaimed. Disagreement having arisen between Providence and Warwick on
the mainland and the towns on the island and between the followers of Clarke on
the island and those of Coddington, Coddington had gone to England and in 1651
had secured from the council of state a commission to rule the islands of Rhode
Island and Conanicut. This arrangement left Providence and Warwick to
themselves. Coddington's scheme was strongly disapproved by Williams and Clarke
and their followers, especially as it seemed to involve a federation of
Coddington's domain with Massachusetts and Connecticut and a consequent
imperiling of liberty of conscience not only on the islands but also in
Providence and Warwick, which would be left unprotected. Many of the opponents
of Coddington were by this time Baptists. Later in the same year Williams and
Clarke went to England on behalf of their friends to secure from Cromwell's
government the annulling of Coddington's charter and the recognition of the
colony as a republic dependent only on England. This they succeeded in
accomplishing, and Williams soon returned to Providence. To the end of his life
he continued to take a deep interest in public affairs.
In 1638
several Massachusetts Christians who had been led to adopt antipedobaptist
views and found themselves subject to persecution removed to Providence. Most
of these had probably been under Williams' influence while he was in
Massachusetts, and some of them may have been influenced by English
antipedobaptists before they left England. Williams himself probably knew of
the Arminian antipedobaptist party of which John Smyth, Thomas Helwys, and John
Murton were founders (1609) and of the rich literature in advocacy of liberty
of conscience produced by this party after its return to England. He could
hardly have failed to learn something of the Calvinistic antipedobaptist party
that arose in London in 1633, a short time after his departure, led by
Spilsbury, Eaton, and others. It is not likely that Williams adopted
antipedobaptist views before his banishment from Massachusetts, for
antipedobaptism was not laid to his account by his opponents. Winthrop
attributes Williams' "Anabaptist" views to the influence of Mrs. Scott, a
sister of Anne Hutchinson, the Antinomian. It is probable that Ezekiel Holliman
came to Providence as an antipedobaptist and joined with Mrs. Scott in
impressing upon William the importance of believers' baptism. About Mar., 1639,
Williams was baptized by Holliman and immediately proceeded to baptize Holliman
and eleven others. Thus was constituted the first Baptist church in America,
which still survives. Williams remained with the little church only a few
months. He became convinced that the ordinances having been lost in the
apostasy could not be validly restored without a special divine commission. He
assumed the attitude of a "Seeker" or "Come-outer," always deeply religious and
active in the propagation of Christian truth, yet not feeling satisfied that
any body of Christians had all of the marks of the true Church. He continued on
the most friendly terms with the Baptists, being in agreement with them in
their rejection of infant baptism as in most other matters. Williams' religious
and ecclesiastical attitude is well expressed in the following sentences (1643)
: "The two first principles and foundations of true religion, or worship of the
true God in Christ, are repentance from dead works and faith toward God, before
the doctrines of baptism or washing and the laying on of hands, which continue
the ordinances and practises of worship; the want of which I conceive is the
bane of millions of souls in England and all other nations professing to be
Christian nations, who are brought by public authority to baptism and
fellowship with God in ordinances of worship, before the saving work of
repentance and a true turning to God."
A. H. NEWMAN |
