THE CHALLENGES OF ROGER WILLIAMS (Baptists)
Edition: 1st edition
Publisher: Mercer University Press
Published: June 1, 2002
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 300
ISBN-13: 9780865547711
Subjects: Biography: general; Protestantism & Protestant Churches; Church And Government; Reformation (1517-1648); Biography & Autobiography; Religion - Church History; Biography/Autobiography; Christianity - History - Protestant; Christian Theology - General; Christianity - History - General; Religious; 17th century; Church history; Freedom of religion; History; Persecution; United States
Description: "This book examines how biblical interpretation promoted both violent persecution and religious liberty in colonial America. Frequently, the Bible was a violent force in Puritan New England, where ministers and magistrates used biblical passages to justify the punishment of many religious radicals. Encouraged by the Bible, Puritans whipped and imprisoned Baptists, banished a variety of radicals from the Puritan colonies, and even sent Quakers to the gallows.

Among those banished was Roger Williams, the advocate of religious liberty who also founded the colony of Rhode Island and established the first Baptist church in America. Williams opposed the Puritans' use of the Bible to persecute radicals who rejected the state's established religion. In retaliation against the use of scripture for violent purposes, Williams argued that religious liberty was a biblical concept that offered the only means of eliminating the religious wars and persecutions that plagued the seventeenth century.

Empowered by his interpretation of scripture, Williams posed a serious challenge to a colonial society in which the Bible was the paramount guide in every aspect of life, both public and private."--BOOK JACKET.