A LTHOUGH today it is often assumed that eighteenth-century American

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I LATE EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY RELIGIOUS LffiERTY A LTHOUGH today it is often assumed tat eigteent-century American religious dissenters sougt a separation of curc and state, tey in fact struggled for a

1 I LATE EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY RELIGIOUS LffiERTY A LTHOUGH today it is often assumed tat eigteent-century American religious dissenters sougt a separation of curc and state, tey in fact struggled for a very different type of religious liberty Tat te eigteent-century Americans wo dissented (rom teir state establisments djd not desire a separation of curc and state may seem strange to modern Americans Cenainly in an era in wic separation of curc and state is widely accepted as a fundamental American ideal an effort is required to imagine a world in wic separation was neiter so familiar nor so admired-a world in wic separation of curc and state was, at best, only one of various types of religious liberty_ Suc, owever was te world in wic American religious dissenters demanded religious liberty Indeed separation of curc and Slate first became widely familiar as te fear of establisment ministers rater tan as te desire of religious dissenters Beginning in te late sixteent century some prominent establisment ministers worried tat te religious liberty sougt by dissenters would ave te effect of separating religion and tus also morality from civil government Accordingly, from te late sixteent century troug te late eigteent, establisment clergymen occasionally accused dissenters of separating curc and state or even of separating religion and government In fact tis was a caricature of te religious liberty sougt by dissemers AJmost none of te dissemers wo struggled for teir liberty from religious establisments revealed any desire for a separation of curc and state or for a separation of religion and government

20 LAtt Eigtttnt-Cenrury Rtligious Uberty Eventually, owever some anticlerical intellectuals embraced tis establisment misrepresentation Tese advocates of separation tended to distrust te clergy and

2 20 LAtt Eigtttnt-Cenrury Rtligious Uberty Eventually, owever some anticlerical intellectuals embraced tis establisment misrepresentation Tese advocates of separation tended to distrust te clergy and te worldly institutions of te curc Tey terefore welcomed te almost uneartly purity of te separation metapor, wic depicted te curc as existing apart from te world and worldly government Looking back to tese few anticlerical writers, many istorians ave assumed tat te religious dissenters wo organized against establisments including late eigteent-century American dissenters also supported separation Yet most dissenters djd notjng to deserve eiter te establisment accusation of separation or te later istorical attribution of it Tey were neiter so indifferent to te religious and moral foundations of government nor so ostile to clergymen and curc institutions as to seek a segregation of curc and state Ever conscious of te broad relevance of tcir beliefs, teir congregations and te Cristian curc to teir lives in tis world late eigteent-century American dissenters advocated conceptions of religious liberty more compatible wit teir opes for temselves and teir Cristianity 1,- Separation, Purity, and Anticlericalism LONG before separation became an American icon, it offered an image of purity Like so many metapors, tat of te separation of te curc was put to different uses Yet, in all of its diverse contexts, tis image of separation lent itself to portrayals of extreme demarcation Repeatedly, it was adopted for its depiction of a purified curc segregated from worldly tings, not least te state Te power of separation as an image of purity did not necessa rily make it a popular vision of te Cristian curc's relation to te state and te world In a corrupt world an image tat empasized te purity of te curc could seem almost oterworldly and terefore could seem to callenge conveolional Cristian assumptions about curc and clergy and teir role in te world Accordingly, in te centuries prior to 1800 te idea of te separation of curc and state appealed to only a tiny fraction of Europeans and Americans-a small number wo not only distrusted te clergy but also oped to purify te curc beyond wat was ordinarily considered possible Yel, even wile te idea re mained unpopular, tere were already ints as to wy it migt one day seem morc attractive Some Early Conceptions o/te Relationsip between Curc and State Since te time of Jesus, Cristians discussed te relationsip between curc and state Tey developed various conceptions of tis relationsip, and, in so doing tey often took for granted tat curc and state were distinct institutions, wit diucrent jurisdictions and powers Yet, even wen

22 taft Eigttent-Cmtury Rtfigious Libtrty drawing a distinction between curc and state, tey typically did not conceive tat te curc sould be kept separate or apart from te state From teir beginnings

3 22 taft Eigttent-Cmtury Rtfigious Libtrty drawing a distinction between curc and state, tey typically did not conceive tat te curc sould be kept separate or apart from te state From teir beginnings Cristians ad differentiated curc and state Jesus ad declared (in Jon 1836) "My kingdom is not of tis world," and on suc foundations, te Curc Faters and te Catolic Curc distinguised te curc from civil government Later, Martin Luter also differentiated between te "two kingdoms onc te kingdom of God, te oter te kingdom of te world- and argued tat "tese two kingdoms must be sarply distinguised" and even tat tey '" must be kept apart" He meant, owever tat tey sould be kept apart conceptually and recognized as very different institutions, and it was in tis sense tat "we must clearly distinguis tese two kingdoms from eac oter" 1 Similarly, wen commenting on te "two kingdoms, " Calvin began by pointing out tat "tese two must always be examined separately; and wile one is being considered, we must call away and tum aside te mind from tinking about te oter" He followed tis a~~roac in order to expound te N[dJifferences between spiritual and ov11 government: insisting tat "we must keep in mind te distinction so t~t we do not (as so commonly appens) unwisely mingle tese I\~O, wic ave a completely different nature" 2 Ln examining tese kl~gdoms separately and, in tis way, keeping tem apan and not mingng ~e~, tese Cristians empasized tat curc and state were distina mstltulions but ardly concluded tat tey sould be segregated and ~ept separate or apan from eac oter On te contrary, Luter eld tat te temporal gove mment IS a d lvlne order" and urged all dties in Germany to establis Cristian scools) Calvin described bot curc 1 An Optn Lttrtr Qmarning tt Hard Book LUltr 4: 265 (P!ladelpi A H H I agmnst tt Ptaumts (1525), In Works of Martin Sould Bt Ob d 1"'31 ; a "b:d' 0 man Co 1931); Semlar AUlority: To Wat Exttnllt ~, "n I I,3' 237' Stnn 'M alter Trinity), ed Jon Nicolas Le~' ons 0) artm Luter, 5: 319 (23rd Sunday 5: 280 (22nd Sunday alter T I er (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House 1983); ibid IC ' nnay alvin, IlUlitllres of tt Cristian Rtfi ion ' Lewis Battles (PUadelp" w g, ' I 847 (lvxlxis), 2: 1486 (IVxxl), trans Ford, es,mllllsler Press 1960 k nows ow to distinguis 1_ bod ' ) He also wrote: "But woever "",ween y and soul - I al fulure eternal lif" "':11 ' ""tween te present fleeting life and,"' Wit OUi difficult kn ~rlst and te evil government are tin y ow t~t C~sl'S spiritual Kingdom 01 To It COlmcilmm 0' All Ci _ "'_ gs completely distinct Ibid, 2: 1488 (IVxxI) ' 1 m manytait"'- "~ II 524), lit Works of Mamn Lut 4' q ~/a u and Mamtain Cristian Sdtoo/s m tt, 121 Suc were ', d ore severe doctrines, For te \an' IS VIews even before e adopte (New York As--"'-';o :r, see Josep LeCler, T(Jltralion and It Rt'ormation I: _ " It uess, 1960), J', Stparation, Pun"ty, and Antic/tricalism and state as divinely ordained and oped eac would sustain te oter in fulfilling teir divine obligations, In panicular, te ~spiritual polity," altoug "Quite distinct from te civil polity,, greatly elps and furters it" By te same token "dvil government" ad Nte duty of rigtly establising religion" and ad as its ~appointed end" to ~ceris and protect te outward worsip of God to defend sound doarine of piety and te position of te curc" Clearly te distinction between curc and state, by itself, ardly amounted to te nolion tat tey sould be separated or walled off from one anoter Indeed, te distinction between curc and state seemed fully compatible wit a relatively rigorous establisment of religion, In te sixteent and seventeent centuries tis was demonstrated by Luter in Germany, Calvin in Geneva, and te Congregationalists in New England In te eigteent century in England, te most prominent Enligtenment defender of establisments, william Warbunon, justified an establisment as an alliance between two different institutions-te distinct existence of curc and state making teir alliance necessary, Gradually, te distinaion between curc and state (and, underlying ii, te distinction between te two kingdoms) also came to be employed as te foundation for ideas about freedom from religious establisments In te nineteent century te distinction even seemed to legitimate a separation between curc and state Yet as may be illustrated by Warburton and is numerous imitators te distinction between curc and state continued to be understood by many Cristians to justify various modes of collaboration and even alliance between te two, Evidently te distinction did not in itself imply eiter a disestablisment or a separation of curc and state, In distinguising between te state and te curc, Cristians also differentiated between civil and ecclesiastical jurisdiction-between te powers of regl1llm and sacerdotium-but Cristians did not employ tese jurisdictional diffe rences to demand a separation of curc from state, 1nsritutn oftt Cristian Rtligion, 2: 121 I (IV,xU); ibid 2: (IVxx2-3) Quoting tese texts, Jon Wille: observes Ial Calvin also suggested curc and stale were ~conjoined' _furter evidence, if any were needed, tat "Calvin's prindple of separalion of curc and state bore lillie resemblantt, to te modem American understandings of 'a ig and impregnable wall betwun curc and state:' Jon Witte, Jr, "Moderate Religious Ubeny in Ie Teology of Jon Calvin," in Noel B Reynolds and W Cole Our am, eds RtliSious Ubtrry in Wtsttnr ToLlSl (Atlanta: Scolars Press 1996) 2J

24 Latt Eigtttrlt Century Rtligious Libtny As recorded in Mattew 2221, Jesus ad admonised -Render terefore unto Caesar te tings wic are Caesar's; and unto God te tings tat are God s~ Medieval

4 24 Latt Eigtttrlt Century Rtligious Libtny As recorded in Mattew 2221, Jesus ad admonised -Render terefore unto Caesar te tings wic are Caesar's; and unto God te tings tat are God s~ Medieval Cristians also repeatedly distinguised between wat was owed to te state and wat was owed to a iger power, and in doing so tey discussed te different powers of te state and te curc' During te Reformation Protestants relied upon te contra st between tese jurisdictions in teir arguments against te Catolic Curc and eventually dissenting Protestants employed tis contrast to callenge Protestant establisments [ndeed muc later in te nineteent cen tury Americans would allude to tis jurisdictional difference in teir arguments for a separation of curc and state Yet, until te late eigteent century in America, and until later ce nturies elsewere most Cristians understood tis differentiation of jurisdictions, like te distinction between curc and state to be entirely compatible wit one or anoter type of establisment including Calvin's vision of mutually supportive institutions and Warburton'S alliance Some Cristians reaced te conclusion tat curc and state must ave different personnel Most prominently Calvin argued tat officers of te curc sould not also be orticers of civil government: "U we seek te autority of Crist in tis matter, tere is no doubt tat e wised to bar te ministers of is Word from civil rule and eartly autority" ACC?rdlOg to Calvin, Crist eld "not only tat te office of pastor is distinct from tat of prince but also tat te tings are so different tat tey ca~not come togeter in one man" 6 ln Sixteent-century England some dissenters demanded tis division of offices, and in seventeentcent~ry New England te Congregational establisments put it into pra~tl~e by excluding ministers from civil positions Yet none of tese Cnsuans, from Calvin te Ole ongregauonasts, " tougt tat tey were tereby separating curc and state On te contrary tey expected te state to protect t ' e cure and Its ministers and, in turn to enjoy te support and moral guidance of te curc Ewan Lewis Mtditval Palirica/ fdfqs 2' 50 Lewlswrlles: Cenainlyno asol d" 6 (London: Routl~d~ & Kegan Paul 1954) and state could logically be dc'ri~~~ f~asm, completely scpar~ting te spc'res of curc mary importan~ of salvatio d f ~m te continuing medieval conviction of te pr! trougwkdivinelawwn,an 0 t e rolc of te prie5tood as te ne«ssary agency Interpreted and salv t' d' sccularcon~ms wasin<on-i i d a IOn me lated IAI state wit purdy va e an an absolul d I' ' Calvin, fnsrirllrn afrt Crini R /, e ua Ism was a nonmquitur,-lbid 555 an tlglon, 2: 1220 (IVx!'8) Stparation, Purity, and Anticltricalism 25 More broadly, some Cristians considered temselves a people separate or apart from oter peoples Te Jews ad felt obliged to maintain teir identity separate from oter nations or peoples and some Cristians drew upon tis tradition For example SI Paul (in 2 Corintians 617) told te Corintians to leave beind unbelievers and idol worsipers, saying "come out from among tem and be ye separate sait te Lord, and touc not te unclean ting; and I will receive you W Later Cristian writers, ranging from some of te Curc Faters to Calvin and many New Englanders, ecoed tis sense tat Cristians stood apart Tey sometimes even used te metapor of a wall For instance, in is Commentary on Jeremia, Calvin wrote tat ~God built, as it were, a wall to separate is people [rom aliens~ and tereby gave "some preludes of is favor and of te calling of te Gentiles w7 Jesus ad wpulled down~ te Mwall of separation" between Jew and Gentile in o rder to favor te Gentiles wit a wall tat separated tem from oter peoples 8 Yet noi all Gentiles would be so favored, and Calvin reminded is readers tat many wo considered temselves Cristian migt not be called-tat some migt be distinct from oters Of course, some of te Calvinists wo considered temselves favored wanted sarper demarcations between temselves and tose wo were not so fortunate On tis account, tey particularly welcomed te idea of a separation from oter peoples-a tendency tat led some of te regenerate elect to call temselves "Separatists'" Yet Iis notion of a people separated from oters-even if separated by a wall-did not constitute or even necessarily imply a separation of curc and state Indeed as will be seen, tose wo wrote about temselves as separate from oters did not demand a separation between curc and state Some Cristians oped to separate o r disentangle temselves from 1 Calvin, Commmlaryon lt PrOptl Jtrt1rlla lecture 173 (Jer 2496), in CaMn's Commm larin II (pan I): 63 (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House t984) Similarly, C' wrotc' of tc' JC'ws ill Egypt tat,c'lr mc'an and colllc'mplible mode of life proves a wall of SC'paralion betwun tem and te Egyptians; yc'a, Josep SC'ems purposely \0 labor 10 cast off, In a moment, te nobility e ad acquired, tat is own posterity migt noi be! swallowc'd up in,c' population of Egypt: Calvin, Commmltlryon Gtnnis (Gen 47,3), in Colvin 's Commtn ltlrin 18 (pan 2): 437 Calvin, Commmlarin on tt Acts oflt Aposlln (Acts 1028), in Colvin's Commtntarin, 18 (pan 2): 437 In te mid-sixtunt century te Englis refonnc'r, Cox, wrotc' to te cid pastor at Wonns, Weidnerus tai te Eng1is were breaking down te popis l-dge, and restoring te lord's vineyard" LcnC'r of Cox 10 Weldnerus (May 20, 1559), in Jon Sitype, Annals of lf IlIformation, I (pan 1): 197 (Oxford: Clarendon Pre5S, 1824)

26 Lar~ Eigtftnt-Ctmury Religious LiMny te world but tis loo was very different from a separation of curc and state Cyprian ad noted tat ~le Lord tcus us tat e becomes perfect and complete wo sells

5 26 Lar~ Eigtftnt-Ctmury Religious LiMny te world but tis loo was very different from a separation of curc and state Cyprian ad noted tat ~le Lord tcus us tat e becomes perfect and complete wo sells all is goods and distributes tem for te use of te poor," to wic Cyprian added tai according to Jesus, "tat man is able to follow Him" wo ~is involved in no entanglements of worldly estate,'" Somewat differently Augustine wondered ow an incorporeal deity could speak to corporeal men and urged tem if tey would ear, to "disentangle temselves "from te world "10 Exactly ow Cristians were to separate temselves from te world was il queslion (Q wic medieval Cristians found different answers-weter in convents and monasteries walled off from te world o r in te mendicancy by wttic some Frandscans and olers separaled temselves from worldly goods Tey did nol, owever, conceive temselves to be separating curc from state Similarly, in te sixteent century Anabaptists witdrew from worldly affairs In te words of te Scleiteim Confession of 1527: "A separation sall be made from te evil and from te wickedness wic te devil planted in te world; in tis manner, simply tat we sall not ave fellowsip wit Iem Ite wicked] and not run wit tem in te multitude of teir abominations" In suc attempts to witdraw from Babylon and te eartly Egypt" Anabaptists not only questioned te use of evil force against dissentient beliefs but also doubted weter a Cristian wo served as a magistrate could long retain is Cristianity Many fel~ ~s staled in te Scleiteim Confession, "tat it is not appropriate for a Cnstlan to serve as a magistrate because of tese points: Te government's magistracy is according to te fles, but te Cristians' is according to te Spirit- te,' rouses an d d' wellmg remain In tis world, but te Cnstlans' dtizensip is in eaven" T e A na b' apllsts Wit, d rew so far from dvil government as to old tat Cristian individuals ougt not seek justice in couns of la II w T us, ' m separatmg, from te world, Cyprian, Treatise 4, On tt Lord's Pr{l r ( Filtm 5: 4H (New Y k' C I ~ para 20), In Alexander Robens, ed, Anlt-Nirtnt " A or ares Scribner's Sons 1926) ugusun Hom/lits "" It GMpti "S J ' Pllip Scaff, C(I, A Stltet Libra a; I ~ n, Tractate n~ 23 (para 8) (Jon ), In Eerdmans Publising t981) ry t tn/ant and Pou-N/rtnt Falm 7: t54 (Grand Rapids: "5t/tilt/m Confmion (1527) in W U 102, t03 (Nlewkoop: DeGruf' 1976)~ ~ar::e R Estep, Jr Anabaptist Beginnings (152J-J), Guy F Hersberger ed T R,0 n Kreider, '"Te Anabaptists and te State in 10 Harold S Bmdtr, '193 ' (S~II:vr~ o~ It A"{llu!ptist Vision: A Sixtitt An/vmary Tributt c:, a Herald Press 1957) Sec: also George: Huntston Separation, Pudty, and Anticltn'(alism 27 Anabaptists witdrew from dvic life Tey conceived temselves to be separating not simply te curc, but all Cristians, from civil government, and tey did so as part of teir broader renunciation of worldly abominations Tis separation of Cristian individuals from worldliness was very different from a separation of curc and state Wen distancing teir curc from corrupt alternatives, Cristians often adopted te image of an adulterous union Te Book of Revelation ad described te curc as te bride of Crist and ad seemed to int at te dangers of a corrupt union wit oters, and, already during te early istory of Cristianity, commentators used suc ideas against tose wom tey considered eretics For example, one Donatist complained: "Crist committed His bride to our care: do we keep er uncorrupt and undefiled, or do we betray er purity and castity to adulterers and corrupters? For e wo makes te baptism of Crist common wit eretics bet ra ys te bride of Crist to adulterers 1l Te potential faitlessness of te Cristian curc became a common teme and more tan a tousand years later, wen Protestants departed from Rome, tey remonstrated against its adulterous union" of curc and state EventuaUy Protestant dissenters employed tis metapor in teir critiques of Protestant establisments For example in 1777 an Englis Baptist Robert Robinson, condemned bot Catolics and Anglicans for arguing tat curc and state ad interlocking ierarctties, and e mocked te concept of a universal Cristian curc united in wat e considered an adulterous union wit te state Te ~imaginary being called te curc as sex, in violation of te Englis language, and te laws of predse argumentation-se is eiter married or a prostitute -AII tis may be retoric: but noting of tis is reason, less still can it be called religion, and least of all is it tat religion wic Jesus taugt"l ) Across te Atlantic, during te same year, a dissenter in Virginia wrote: N A virgin, owever caste before, wen once deflowered, loses er native modesty; William and Angel M Mergal eds Spiritual and Anabaptist Wrirtn: Documtnts l/iustrativr oflt RadiCAl Rtformatian (Piladelpia: Westminister Press 1957); Walter Klaassen, Ana baptism in Oullint: Seltettd Primary Sourrrs (Waterloo Ont: Herald Press, 198t); Roben Kreider, "Te Relation of te Anab"lptim 10 te Civil Autorities in Switzerland " (PD diss, University of Cicago Dept of History, 1953) II Te Seven Books of Augustin on Baptism, Against te Donatis\s (bk 7, e Il, para 24) (quoting Venantius of Tinisia), In A Stltet Library of It Nictnt and Posl Niant Falm 4: 50l "Robert Robinson Tt History and tt Mysttry afgood-friday 15 (1777; london: IBn)

$\4 Tis image of an adulterous and unnatural coupling (togeter wit related metapors of prostitution and rape of virginal purity and corrupted wine) would continue to enliven antiestablisment arguments$

6 I 28 Lott Eigtunt-Cmtury Rtligious libtrty and ten to one but se becomes a common strumpet" Enticed and even "intoxicated" by er "fornications," many "Monarcs and Emperors - committed adultery wit er \4 Tis image of an adulterous and unnatural coupling (togeter wit related metapors of prostitution and rape of virginal purity and corrupted wine) would continue to enliven antiestablisment arguments for centuries induding eventually arguments for te separation of curc and state Yet, even as dissenting Protestants objected to te "adulterous union" of curc and state and attempted to "sever" any "unnatural alliance" tey did not tereby clearly endorse a separation of tese institutions On te contrary, teir attacks on a union or alliance left open te possibility of oter, non establisment connections Tere were many potential connections, ranging from te cooperative to te merely moral and sociological, tat came nowere near a formal ~ a11iancew or establisment let alone a genuine union of curc and state For example, even most curces tat were not establised prayed for t e government, taugt obedience to law, expected to be protected in teir legal rigts, and oped for legal recognition of teir propeny and some of teir rituals, suc as tat of marriage All of tese were connections between curc and state, and many of tese connections were essential parts of religious Iibeny Terefore, te overwelming majority of ProtestantS wo critidzed religious establisments and te union of curc and state did not understand temselves to be seeking separation Indeed, tey carefully avoided making suc a claim Tus an attack on te union of curc and state was not a demand for separation, and altoug in retrospect te notion of te separation of curc and state as seemed to armonize wit te idea of opposition to an impure union, te two concepts sould not be confused Last but not least Cristians gradually developed ideas about te IIlvlolable aulonty of individuals and te limited autority of civil government wit respect to relig' b I' f 10US e Ie Continental Anabaptists in te sixteent cemury and Eng\' IS B aptlsts III te seventeeol made arguments din about te freedom of an i d"d IVI ua I' s beef ' witin is conscience, an, ater, seventeent-century d' Issenters and allied pilosopers, suc f ' "~F rttman 0 Virginia - T( Frtmul1l s Rm1 Sting Scmt Rtmarks on ~ fait Pampln E t::;;na against (In E«/ts,tlS/I(1I1 flt(lblumtnl S/(llt 8 12 (Williamsburg: 1777) nm t (NtctSSlfy of an EstabllStd Curc in Any ~paration, Purity, and Antic/ericalism 29 as Jon Locke, generalized tese ideas inlo conceptions of religious freedom eventually employed by most American dissenters Increasingly joined wit suc ideas about belief and consdence were notions of te limited jurisdiction of civil government, wic dissenters graduauy adapted into arguments about equal rigts and about government's lack of power to grant financial privileges to curces In tese concepts of individual freedom and limitations on government power, Englismen and Americans developed wat would become te religious liberty guaranteed in American constitutions Strikingly, owever, as will be seen in more detail below, tey tereby conceived of teir freedom in ways very different from a separation between curc and state Suc were some of te traditional Cristian ideas of religious liberty and of te curc's relationsip to te state Later, advocates of a separation between cllurc and state would draw upon tese various ideas, viewing tem retrospectively as nascent manifestations of te principle tat curc sould be kept separate from civil government Earlier Cristians, owever, did not go so far Tey adopted many different conceptions of te relationsip between curc and state, but tey did not ordinarily, if ever, propose a separation, let alone a wall of separation, between tese institutions Te Wall Separating te Garden and te Wilderness Te wall separating curc and state was built upon te remains of an earlier wall, wic separated te garden from te wilderness Tis metapor of a wall separating te garden was applied in many ways but always in a manner tat suggested te purity of te curc Weter te wall represented te separation of te curc from te world, te separation of te regenerate from te unregenerate, or te separation of particular Mgatered'" curces from a national curc, it consistently depicted te curc set apan from te taint of worldly tings Early and medieval Cristians found in te distinction between te enclosed garden and te wilderness a profound image of teir curc and its purity Tey read in Genesis of te Garden of Eden, and, more commonly, tey read in te Song of Songs (412) of te enclosed garden or ortus conclusus: "A garden inclosed is my sisler, my spouse; a spring sut up, a fountain sealed Weter imagining te garden surrounded by a edge, fence or wall Cristians perceived tis enclosure as signifi-

30 lale Eigteent-Century Religiolls Libtrty Separation Purity, and Anticlericalism 3J cant, seeing it as a type or intimation of teir walled monasteries and convents, of teir fait and inner life, of

7 30 lale Eigteent-Century Religiolls Libtrty Separation Purity, and Anticlericalism 3J cant, seeing it as a type or intimation of teir walled monasteries and convents, of teir fait and inner life, of Mary's virginity and of te curc itself-eac of tese being distinct from te world and its poilu tions Strengtening tis image of purity was anoter, contrasting type, te wilderness of Sinai, in wic te Jews ad to wander before reacing te Promised Land-a wilderness wit its own antitypes in te pysical and spiritual wilderness of te world Altoug sixteent-century Protestants pulled down te walls tat su rrounded medieval monasteries some of tem continued to re ly upon te walled garden as an image of te Cristian curc Luter mocked te early Cristian monks wo lived inside te enclosure formed by "'a simple fence or edge suc as is made of buses and plants and soots to keep in cattle or as a pen for seep" and wo tus "led a separated life" Yet e imself could refer to "te garden of te Curc,"I' Wit greater empasis on te enclosed caracter of te garden, oter Protestants-notably Calvin-still described te Cristian curc as a garden walled off from te treats of te world For example, Calvin alluded to Israel and te curc wen, in commenting on Ezekiel, e wrote of "'builders, wo, if tey see a breac in a wall, instantly and carefully repair it: tey are like gardeners wo do not allow eiler a field or a vineyard to be exposed to wild beasts"16 For many seventeent-century Englismen tis image of te garden separated from te world illustrated te interior, mental state of individuals seeking spiritual development As sow n b y SIS tan ey lewan, numerous Englismen portrayed t e gar d en as a place for contemplauon, as te \ocatlon m wic individuals could' reject vam stnvmgs a f ter wor Idl y onors, and as a state of mm d' ' III w Ic, under te protective sade of grace, te soul flo uns e d an d acieved transcendence It was a verdant Image of COntem I P allon most sympatetically cultivated by Andrew Marvell in wose ' poetry It remams memorable even toug lis teological foundations are usuall y f orgotten: M~an wile te Mind, from pleasure less Witdraws IOtO its appiness: n Luter, On /l Councils lind /i Cu ell 247 r N Pan 2 (1539), in Works o/mgrfin Lurn- 5: Calvin, Ccmmml4ry on tt PrOplt E ki I mm/grin, 12 (pan I): 19 U t lecture 13 (Ezck tl, in CaIVln's Com, Te Mind, tai Ocean were eac kind Does streigt its own resemblance find; Yet it creates, transcending tese Far oter Worlds, and oter Seas; Aniilating all tat's made To a green Tougt in a green sade ll In meditation te mind could reac beyond Iis world and even beyond te worldly metapors of te garden and its sade Associating te garden wit grace, Englismen oen perceived te enclosed garden as an apt depiction of te purified curc For example in is 1623 volume, Strange Vineyard in Palzstina, Neemia Rogers merged te image of te enclosed garden wit Isaia's depiction of Israel as a vineyard 10 empasize te role of te greatest of gardeners in establising is curc: A Vineyard we know is a place severed and edged in from te open campaine or common It dol noi of it selfe spring up, or naturally grow; but it is planted by and and An, and so it is made a Vinryard: And tus te Curc is called and separated (rom te rest of te world bot in life and conversation and is gatered by te word Ln tis Protestant adaptation of Catolic imagery, te curc, like [srad was "called" and "gatered by te word~ and tus was "separated" or "'severed and edged in" from te open, uncultivated land "God at taken it in out of te vast wildcrnesse of tis wretced world and at imparked it wit te pales of is mercy, and separated it from all oter grounds watsoever, to be a Vineyard for imself"i' As William Prynne rymed: Gardens enclosed are wit walls, pales, bounds, Hedges, dikes, and more fenc'd tan oter grounds: So God is Curc and cosen dot enclose, And fence wit walls, pales, dikes against all foes It 17 Stanley Siewilrt Tl En(/OStd GDfdln: Tl TrDdili(1fl Dnd ti lmagt in Sn'tnltlfll-Ctn'ury Potlry t (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1996), quoting Marvell II Ibid, 54, quoting Neemia Rogers, SlfDngl Vintygrd in PDinrina (1623) As Siewan explains, te "enclosure rrpresents te cosen Bride, wetrr se be Israel or te Curc Ibid "Ibid 197, note 45, quoting William Prynne, "A Crislian Paradise" in MounlOrgulif t52 (1641)

)2 LaIr Eigtttnt-Ctntury Rtfigious Libtrty Separation, Puriry, and Anticlericalism JJ No longer te curc as conceived by Catolics tis walled garden enclosed te elect Clearly te garden eld different

8 )2 LaIr Eigtttnt-Ctntury Rtfigious Libtrty Separation, Puriry, and Anticlericalism JJ No longer te curc as conceived by Catolics tis walled garden enclosed te elect Clearly te garden eld different meanings for Catolics and for Protestants Por bot, owever, it provided an image of te curc in a fallen world-an image in wic te curc ad been set apart from te world and its impurity Ricard Hooker Te wall separating curc and state evolved from te wall separating te garden and te wilderness Yet, unlike its predecessor te wall between curc and state seems to ave become popular as an object of derision rater tan as an ideal In particular it first became widely known in England wen Ricard Hooker ungenerously used it to caraderize te position of Protestant dissenters wo sougt to purify te Englis Curc In te 1590s, te learned Anglican apologist Ricard Hooker wrote is voluminous Of te Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, in wic e defended te Englis middle ground between Catolidsm and Puritanism He publised five books of is monumental work before is deat in 1600 and left among is papers te roug manuscript notes for tree additional pans Te Eigt Book was eventually publised in 1648, and, near te beginning of tis book, Hooker postumously but prominently accused dissenters of seeking a separation of curc and state Hook cr ' s " ~ccusatlon ec oed earer Anglican attacks upon dissente~s-most slgmficantly, one by Hadrian Saravia A Dutc Calvinist, Saravla would lat~r, in 1607, become one of te translators of te King James Bible He arnved from te Continent at a time wen Englis dissenters were callenging te Anglic an b" " IS ops on many grounds including teir ~ealt ~nd civil offices Troubled by tese attacks, Sara~ia in 1590 pub Ised Ius De Gradibus-a defense of te Anglican ierarcy-in wic, among oter tings, e rep u d" late d t e assault of dissenters upon te :'b gt of t~ e clergy to old dvil office Saravia eld tat curc and dly ot denved from one and t d d e same autor" and tat Ie "two divers an IStmd estates" were bot f bot Curc & pan a one society: "Ie same sodetie is l CUlle, and te autority of tem is bot drawen from c same ead" On suc assu' "e't 1 d mpuons, Saravia argued against tose wo I er exc u e te Magistrate f te Mi' f rom causes Ecclesiasticke, or sequester mster rom affaues polit"k " H I e e even objected to tis as a danger- ous divorce of Minister and Magistratc: "But tese two (te Magistrate and te Minister) so long as tey salbe distracted into partes, and as it were divorsed in state te one from te oter, and sall not take sweete counsell togeter like friends, or not communicate in consent for teir common benefite tey cannot but conceive divers and doubtful! surmises, ronde yea, and some times fa lse opinions of eac oteres governement" Of course, as Saravia explained in a paraprase of Cyprian te clergy "sould by no meanes ber calltd away from teir devine function, neiter suld be intangled wit troubles and wor/due affaires " Nor was it "an y pan of te Ecclesiasticall function, to intermeddle in dvil affaires, te wic indeed is OUI of all controversie" lnstead, Saravia simply argued tat te same individual could old bot ecclesiastical and civil posilionstat te "diverse fullctions" of tese different persons "are not confounded albeit undertaken of one mall " Accordingly, "THAT wic is commonly said of te state Ecclesiastique, (tat it is distinct from te Civil estate,) is altogeater impeninent to tis questi on: seeing bot callings become not one, toug one man be called to tem bot" For example, e argued, "Are not te pans of a Lawyer diverse, and te partes o f a Pysidon diverse? yet te same party may play bot partes, and proove as good a Lawyer as a Pysidon In like manner, te same man may be bot Pysidon and Divine" Not only could a man ave two funaions or callings but also no suc spedalization deprived a man of is place in sodety Pointing out tat "Curriers, Diers, Weavers, Beere-brewers, Smites, Fullers, Marcauntes and Pedlers, furnis te common ouse, and give teir voyce in tings concerning te common wealt," Saravia concluded tat if "te Pastors of Curces soulde stande excommunicate Out of teir generall assemblies," it would be "a ting utterly againsl te equal rigt of al Cittizens" In suc ways, Saravia attacked dissenters for taking a position tat "as it were divorced" minister from magistrate 2o It was a miscaraaerization of dissenters 10 wic Hooker would give muc 11 D Saravia, I Oftt Divtrst DtfJrm fjftt /tfinistm oftt GfJSfNlJ 2 Oftt HfJrlor Wic 11 Out unto tt Prinus and Prdatn of tt Curc J Of Sacriltp and tt Punismmt ]'uro/ )2, A3 143, 166, (1590; London: 1591) (tnddentally, te- paraprase' of Cyprian was from is Epistle- 65, altoug a printers error alludes to Epistle- 66) Saravia, ibid, 143 Saravia also wrote tat 'wen as Curc and common wealt arc imbark~ in te same vessell & saile tog~ter in te sam~ danger: ow sould te devout minister be IC'S~ solidte-d for te safety of t~ common state-, Ie-n are Ie- common BurgC'Sses Ibid, 18S

34 Lau Eigtetnt-Ctntury Religious Liberty greater prominence wen e attribulcd to tem te position tai tere sould be a wall of separation between curc and state Among te dissenters, only te so-called

9 34 Lau Eigtetnt-Ctntury Religious Liberty greater prominence wen e attribulcd to tem te position tai tere sould be a wall of separation between curc and state Among te dissenters, only te so-called SeparatiSls demanded any son of separation" but even tey did not seek a se paration of curc from stale On te contrary, tey aimed to separate te regenerate from te unregenerate by disavowing any national curc Most Protestant dissenters felt tai te Curc of England, troug its unscriptural prelacy and ils accretion of "Popis" ceremonies, ad deviated from early Cristian practices and terefore needed to be reformed or purified In place of te government-appointed Anglican ierarcy, some of tese reformers oped to impose Scottis-style presbyteries Oters aimed 10 substitute congregations -ga lered ~ from among te regenerate Of course neiter Presbyterians nor tose wo would later come to be known as -Congregationalists" ohered muc ope of toleration except for temselves for tey ad Calvinist expectations of a national curc in wic tey-te regenerate elect-would set standards coercively enforced by a civil government attentive to teir aspirations Te advocates of congregational organization feared tat Anglican curc~s corruptly gave membersip to te unregenerate, and terefore tese dissenters believed tat a true Gospel curc ad to be "gatered and "covenanted" from among te regenerate Accordingly tey sougt te reconstruction of te Englis Curc by forming teir own independent congregations wic were, in effect, regenerate substitutes for Anglican paris curces Some purifiers, owever-te Separatists-sougt a more toroug reformation b' Y pursumg te congregational model wit greater ngor Takmg congregation a I pnnclp I es 10 teir logical conclusion, t e Separatists argued tat no c urc defined by a paris, nation, or oter geograpic boundary co u Id b e gat ered or covenanted among te regenerate alone for if it, included a II m I labltants of a paris or nation, it would embrace te unregenerate 0 ntis ba SIS, te Separatists argued tat te C urc 0 f England being ' a nallonal curc, could never become a true c litc T c cy terefore f e I t bl 0 Iged not only to depart pysically into ongregauons of teir Own ( d d rej'co t as I te Congregationalists) but also to e vcry concept of a Cu c rei tcy separ" d f' r 0 ng and, and it was in tis sense mat e rom u Put generau S national co y, eparatlsts abandoned te idea of a venant Wereas Angr d d England or I Icans an Congregationalists elevate,at east Ncw England as a new Israel-as a cosen nation wit Separation Purity, and Anticlericalism 35 its own curc-te Separatists openly callenged expeaations tat a national or oter territorial curc was even possible, and tey tereby, not suprisingly, separated teir teology as well as temselves from teir nation's curc11 Yet even tese te most purifying of te purifiers, did not go so far as to advocate te separation of curc and stale Anxious to separate te regenerate from te unregenerate, te Separatists sougt a type of separation very different from tat between curc and state Altoug most dissenters never sougt a disestablisment, and altoug even te Separatists apparently never asked for a separation of curc and state, many Congregational djssenters demanded te end of te Anglican prelacy on grounds tat distinguised between civil and ecclesiastical power, and it was tese dissenters against wom Saravia and ten Hooker most clearly aimed teir allegations of divorce and separation Witout typically rejecting cooperation between curc and state or te power of civil government to enforce religious conformity, tese dissenters sougt wat tey believed was a more scriptural curc government in wic, following Calvin's admonitions, tere would be a division of labor among civil and ecclesiastical officers, te latter belonging to presbyteries or congregations rater tan an episcopal ierarc y appointed by te civil magistrate Tus suc dissenters argued tat te same person could not old bot civil and spiritual office-tat a single individual could not Simultaneously be an officer of te Crown and an officer of te Curc-but tey did not ordinarily conceive of tis as an attempt to ~ divorce ~ te c1crgy from te magistrates or as a separation of curc and statc ll Noneteless, drawing upon Saravia's polemical miscaraaeriza- "Tis accoum of te Separatists more or less follow1le analysis of Edmund S Morgan ~r Williams: Tr Curc Qnd tr Stair (New York: Nonon, 1967) U For uample in 1591 Henry Barrow argued Ial Anglican bisops were "no crisllan bisopps, in tat tey exerdse sam dvile office or offices logeter wit tis Ielr pretended ministrie God imself al made IWO distinct offices and appointed unto lem two distinct and several persons for ministers; ii being no more lawfull for a bisop to e"«tile te dvue magi'male's office, tan for Ie dvlle magistrate 10 adminisler Ie sacraments" Barrow A P/Qinr Rr/uIQtion, lit In Leland H Carlson, ed, Te Writings Df Hmry Barrow Elizabelan Non Conlormisl Texts vol 5 (London: George: Allen & Unwin, 1966) See also Henry Barrow, A Pttilion Dir«ltd td Hrr Most Excel/rnl Majrstit 8 (1591 ) MManin Marprelate" argued: -No dvil! magistrale can be an ordinary preacer wilout sinne" Manin Marprtlill O rrqd Owr, D Jon 8n'dgnltDr it is worty woru: Or an rpitome of te fyrstt Bookrlof tat rigt Worsip{ull volumrlwritttn agar'nst te PuritantSJin te drfma of te noble dtargitlby IU worsip{ull Q pritsltljon Brid!JtSl (quire E4v) ( 1588) See also Trsn ManiniQnae: Till is, Certaine lxmonstrijtiw Conclusions Nos 67 and 68 (ca 1589)

36 Latt Eiglffnl-Cmlury Religious Liberty lions, Hooker suggested tai te arguments of dissenters rested upon an unstated assumption tat curc and state sould be kepi separatc,lj According to Hooker te

10 36 Latt Eiglffnl-Cmlury Religious Liberty lions, Hooker suggested tai te arguments of dissenters rested upon an unstated assumption tat curc and state sould be kepi separatc,lj According to Hooker te arguments of te dissenters against te government-appointed Anglican prelacy did noi make sense, "'unless tey against us sould old tat te Curc and te CommOl1Wfalt arc two bot distinct and separate societies, of wic two te one compreendet always persons not belonging to te oter," Indeed in Hooker's view, dissenters seemed to be arguing from te position tat tere was a wall of separation between curc and commonwealt Tey appeared to believe "tat Bisops may noi meddle wit te ahayrs of te commonwealt, because tey arc governours of an oter corporation, wic is te Curc, nor Kings, wit making laws for te Curc because tey ave governement not of tis corporation, but of an oter djvided from it, te Commonwealt, and te waijes of separation between tese two must for ever be upeld" Altoug, as Hooker pradically admined, dissenters ad noi demanded "walles of separation" between curc and commonwealt, e must ave been pleased to believe tat dissenters ~u~ teir arguments upon tis foundation, for e could easily demolis 11 All Hooker ad to do was to point out tat Englismen were members simultaneously of England's curc and of its commonwealt If a person could be bot an Anglican and an Englisman-bot a servant of Crist and a subiect of t C - J e Town-tere was no wall of separation between curc and commonwealt In accusing dissenters osee f k- IIlg walls of separation Hooker wen! OUt of is wa y to admit tat is Own position could be co~sidered a son o f separation ' but e did so I arge I y to avoid any "cildis" tendency "10 1I isaac Walton r«ords tai te "learn" tat In 1595 "Iese two II ed Doctor Saravia sougt Hooker's friendsip, and ig and mutual affecrio exce em ' persons be, an a If- - 0 y nendslp, Increasing dally to so ns,lattetrtwowiusse d L-b d I elr designs bol for te glo f G eme to, ut one and te same: an ing eac Oter's vlnut"!i a d"'' dod, and peace of te Curc, still assisting and improv, I ' n t e eslred comfo f ed an early nlneteem_cemu d' ns 0 a peaceable piety--a passage' at menu of te It"!is celebrated f ry e Itor 01 Saravia I 0 SU&gt"!i1 I e lmponancc - of "te scnu - of It Cristill1l Pntflood Vlo~ e~wo Hadrian Saravia, A Trelltiu on tt DifJutnt IXgrtt1 JudidoUI Divint Mr Rica~d;; ~ ( ;ford: 1840) See also Tt Works of Tat llarntd and 1888) 00 tr 330-)) I cd Jon Keble (Oxford: Clarendon PreSS,, Hooker revealed is understandin tat t e Indulged In te Supposition,,~ e dissenters ad nol sougt a separation wen te Cc,"mOlllltlr4/l arc two bot' d~~ t"!is tey against us sould old tat te CllUrt and Pi I ISlincr and sep" ~" rl)' n Workr of Ricllrd H(J(Jkt 3' ra c "",-,etles" Of te LAws of E«Jai(lstic(l/ Belknap 1981) T, 319 (VIIIIll cd W Speed Hill (Cambridge, Mass: Stparation, Purity and Anticltn'calism 37 lurk under sifling ambiguities and equivocations of wordes ~ Bot e and is opponents sougt Iypes of wat could be called "separation," but e distinguised between two types, te personal and te natural Dissenters eld "te necessitie of personail separation, wic," according to Hooker, "deane exdudet te power of one mans dealing in bot [curc and commonwealtl~ In contrast, Hooker supported only a "natural" separation-a mere distillaion between te curc and te commollwealt-"wic dot noi inder but tat one and te sa me person may in bot bear a principal sway n or course, dissenters did not exclude all members of te curc from te commonwealt Tey simply wanted different civil and ecclesiastical officers Hooker, owever, suggested tat a more sweeping separation underlay dissenting positions Te "separation~ sougt by Hooker was simply te age-old distinc tion between curc and Slate, wic, for Hooker, as for so many earlier Cristians, seemed perfectly compatible wit an establised religion, in eluding te combination of civil and curc aulority in anyone person Hooker readily would "graunt" tis "difference ~ wic posed no obsta de lo is traditional view tat bot curc and commonwea "may and sould always lovingly dwell togeter in one subject" Like Saravia, e terefore brused off arguments based on te distinction between curc and state as irrelevant: I sall not need to spend any great store of wordes in answcaring Iat wic is brougl out of oly Scripture 10 sewe tat secu lar and Ecclesiaslical! affayres and orfices are distinguised, neiter Iat wic as been borrowed from antiquitie using by prase of speec to oppose te Commonwealt 10 te Curc of Crist; neiler yet te reasons, wic are WOnt to be brougt fon as witnesses tai te Curc and Commonwealt are alwayes distinct For witer a Curc and a Commonwealt doe differ is not te queslion we sirive for, but our controversyie is concerning te kinde of distinction, wereby tey are severed te one from Ie oter According to Hooker, te words "curc" and "commonweall" referred 10 different or "several functions of one and te same Communities," and e noted tat even a Catolic apologis! Cardinal William Allen, admitted tat, "in Cristian Commonwealts," political power and spiritual power were "joyned toug not confounded" Tus "[tje difference I' Ibid, 3: 318, (V1II12)

J8 Lat~ Eigltent-Crntury Religious LiMrty Separation, Purity, and Anticltricalism 39 eiter of affayres or offices Ecdesiasticall from secular is no argument tat te Curc and te Commonwealt are always

11 J8 Lat~ Eigltent-Crntury Religious LiMrty Separation, Purity, and Anticltricalism 39 eiter of affayres or offices Ecdesiasticall from secular is no argument tat te Curc and te Commonwealt are always separate and independent te onc from te OtCT",l6 Anyting more tan te natural"' separation between tese institutions wem beyond te traditional Cristian concept of a distinction between curc and state and terefore a more substantial separation seemed vulnerable to Hooker wo all too readily assumed tat it underlay te claims of dissenters Roger Williams A alf cemury later, drawing upon some of te same Cristian sources familiar to Hooker Roger Williams adopted te wall of separation as an image of te purity e sougt in religion Yet wat Hooker depicted a5 an unrealistic assumption of te dissenters and wat oter Protestants employed as a poetic image of te regenerate curc, Williams look al most literally So far did Williams pursue spiritual purity and a separation from te corruptions of tis world tat e separated imself from all of is contemporaries n )0 Ibid, 3: (VIlIi4-5) JT My interpretation of WiUiams' ric mod I ' s separatism and is desire for purity follows some of te Rogtr WiI~:an; ;, a~ IP, ;P«Iall y tat of Morgan, Gilpin, and Hall Edmund S Morgan Mil/marian Pit' 0 r R urc a~d Ir Stair (New York: NOrton, 1967); W Clark GilpIn 11rr -R""er Willia! f,"' r Williams (:lcago: University of Cicago, 1979); Timoty L Hall -0 an t e FoundatIons of Rdl,' U"-" 71' 455,482 (1991); Tlmot L 10US """ny, &Sum Umv Law RMN' Ubmy (U ba Y H~\I, Stp(lr(lllng Curc and Slatt: R09rr Williaml and RtligioliJ 'Symbolis~ an' F ',na:tumversit y of Ulinois, 1998) See also Ricard Manin Reinit% ree om: e Use of BibI' 1 Typol I eration In Seventeent Cemu lea ogy as an Argument for Religious T~' of Rocester 1967)' D, u"'iengland and Amenca, (P,D dlss" University,VI II e "Rog wur State: In Rrligion and ft Sial ~ er lams and te Separation of Curc and Baylor University Press 198;;' W; In Honor of Lto Pftfftr, ed James E Wood, Jr (WaCO: (Qn Rtpublir 182_1" IN' _ y' k lam Lee Mlller, Tt FiNt Libmy: Rtligion and tt Amtn', J W or Parago 1988) 1 dtna of Rogrr Wil/i(lttll, 2: 23 (ovide n, ; G enn W LaFantasit:, ed" Tr CoruspDfI' Spurgin, ROj(r Wil/iattll and Pu nce Rode Island Hislorical SodelY, 1988); Hug E Edwin Mellen Press 1989)~~; ~di(qlis", in It Englis SqJar(ltisl Tradition (lc'wlston: Amtrica ~Grand Rapids:' Wima~ B ~~r S Gaustad, Libmy of O;mscitnrt: R~r Williams m Tere is a ' b " drnans, 1991 ) -~ I I Iy t at Roger Will' a Laws of EalnillSlical Polity Probab\ :ms dread t(' Eigt Book of Hooker's Of tt te Surviving drafts for te Eigt ~ a k ut 1630, various Hooker manuscripts, including , owever durin,,- ""I' ad b«n acquired for Lambet Palace On June La "- ' lumu t of Ie Civil W muo;:t Palace Ubra"' to H", p ar, t e HouS(' of Commons gave te d I, u eters-asare df sa t mes of te Curc's canfu'" war or IS remarkable service in tose Hoo/ur, 3: xviii (VIII) Tis prom;:' B~:r ~1\1' of Eaiaiastical POlity, in Works of Ricard ardly fall imo a fouler and" lb" ~ Kmg to say tat Hooker's manuscripts -could I, XXVIII note 21 R, oger Wllams may well ave ad Williams was a Separatist Wereas Anglicans and tose wo would eventually be known as Congregationalists looked back to te example of Israel to suggest tat teir entire nation ad a divine covenant and were a dlosen people, Separatists feared tat, under te New Dispensa tion, nations necessarily included te unregenerate Terefore, as as been seen, Separatists not only gatered in teir own congregations, in te manner of Congregationalists, but also declared temselves and teir ~ particular " curces separate from any national curc Williams joined is fellow Separatists in breaking away from Anglicans and teir conception of a national curc, and, beginning at least in 1631 wen e arrived in Boston, e furter separated from te Puritans of Massacusetts and teir Congregational version of a national Englis curc In adering to is Separatist principles, Williams on more tan one occasion sacrificed valued friendsips, and wen quarreling Wil te Congregationalists, e increasingly found imself opposed to an old friend, Jon COli on, wo ad become te most persistent advocate of te Massacusetts colony's national Congregational vision Williams took is Separatism so far as to insist on separating even from most Separatists, Like oter Separatists, e argued tat panicular curces or congregations were obliged to separate from territorial, national curces, weter te Curc of England or te Congregational curces of Massacusetts Yet, for Williams, not only a particular congregation but eac individual member of it ad to be fully separated from te impurity of!e unregenerate Most Separatists ad no complaint about fellow congregants wo, wen visiting England, occasionally attended Anglican services Williams, owever, could not tolerate suc impurity, and accordingly e la sted only briefly in any congregaa different view, for, already in 1637, e referred to Peters as "my wony friend: Roger Williams, lc'tter 10 Jon Wintrop (July ), in LaFantasie, Tt Corrapondtllrt of Rogrr Williams, 1: 106 Even before June 1644 Hooker's manuscripts probably amaned inler~t, for Bisop King afler disparaging Hug Peters, added, -yel tere wanled noi oler endeavours to corrupt and make t('m spt'ak tat language for wic te faction ten fougt Works of Ricard Hocktr, 3: xxviii note 21 Bot before te summer of 1644 and after, Hooker's manuscripts would ave b«n t(' focus of som(' anention, and by 1648 te printer's notice to te first publication of te Eigt Book could observe tat -Copies are abroad: Indeed te 1648 edition was bard on six manuscripts and today at least ten are extant, none of wic can certainly be identlfi('d as one of te six relied ujlon by te editors of te 1648 edition Ibid x){ix Accordingly, by te time Williams publised is Mr Qmon's Uti(/', Lattry Printtd, Exa",intd and Anrmrtd in February 1644, e may ave seen eiter Hooker's drafts or copin of tem

40 LAte Eigttent-Cmtury Religious Libtrty tion Williams '"refused to join wit te congregation at Boston, because tey would not make a public declaration of teir repentance for aving communion wit te

12 40 LAte Eigttent-Cmtury Religious Libtrty tion Williams '"refused to join wit te congregation at Boston, because tey would not make a public declaration of teir repentance for aving communion wit te curces of England, wile tey lived tere - 2I From Boston e went to te Separatist curc at Salem and finally retreated to te Separatist curc at Plymout te most separate of te Massacusetts Separatist congregations Yet WiJliams felt obliged 10 leave even tis congregation "someting abruptly" in 1633 wen e could not persuade its members to adopt is "rigid separation" Altoug e went back to te curc at Salem, e later refused to take communion tere on account of its impurity19 Wit an aborrence of any taint upon te regenerate, e insisted tat women "cover temselves wit veils wen tey went abroad, especially wen tey appeared in publick assemblies,'" and tat curc members not pray wit te unregenerate He apparently even eld tat a man sould not pray wit is wife if se were unregenerate He also argued tat "a magistrate ougt not to tender an oat to an unregenerate man, and e rejected te Boston curces ~as full of anticristian pollution- )O AJi of tis seemed scandalous to Colton and oter Congregationalists, wo understood teir curces to be fully regenerate and wo sougt to purify te Curc of England In questlomng " t e purity of te curces of Massacusetts, Roger Williams also callenged te colony's use of its civil power 10 force te regenerate to mix in curces wit te unregenerate Suc coerdon s~emed, to Williams, to treaten te freedom of individuals and te pu nty of te regenerate Ac cor d' mg I y, Williams argued tat "te magistrate ~ugt not to pu~ise te breace of te first table (of te Ten Command- O nen tsi: ~Ilerwlse ten in suce Cases as did disturbe te Civill peace 'l n l y CIVI offenses-breac f es 0 t e peace-were subject to dvil sanctions For years, te General C f s d W'II' ourt 0 Massacusctts attempted to perua C I lams to abandon is errors Finally, owever, in Odobcr 1635 U LaFantaslt Tt CorrtSpcndtnu of R " Ibid IqUotlng Monon' M C9tr ~lll!ams, 2: 12 (quoting Wintrop's Hislory, I; 63) II Ibid 16 I 21 ' M S t mon(li, ) and 21 -,, -, organ Rogtr W'/f ' 68 (Boston; 1834) ' I ItlntS, 27; Jamts D Knowles MtmoirofR~r WilamJ, " T t Journal of Jon Wifllrcp 16JQ-/ Savag~, and littia Ytandlt (Ca b'd ' 0 (July 8, 1635), td Ricard S Dunn, Jamts words cattl~ frorn t~ accusau' ttl n g~, Mass: Bc:lknap Prtss, 1996) Altoug ttst, d on agamst Wl\liam ' r_ o ouu, tt accuracy of tis carg~ Sin t ~ u;:ntral Coun, t~r~ is no rtason Separation, Purity, and Anticlericalism 41 Massacusetts made tangible its claim tat, like andent Israel it could use dvil power to enforce conformity to its national curc Williams ad reiterated is views tat te Boston magistrates ad acted oppres sively and tat te curc in Salem sould fully separate from oter Massacusetts curces and renounce communion wit temll In so doing e simultaneously repudiated religious beliefs e considered false and rejected te impure use of civil power in a realm governed by a iger power It was a stance tat left te General Court little coice Wit a punisment tat aptly expressed its national understanding of religion, te General Court banised im, and early te next year e departed to seek freedom in Rode Island, in a place e and is fellow settlers called MProvidence ~ Williams argued against infringements on religious liberty by adopting te arguments of te early seventeent century Baptists wo attrib uted different objects and weapons to Crist's kingdom and to civil goy' emmenth For example, in explaining te limits of dvil jurisdiction, Williams drew upon Jesus' parable of te tares and te weat According to Jesus (as recounted in Mattew ), a man planted weat and, wen te "enemy" sowed tares among te weat, te man's servants asked weter tey sould weed out te tares, but te man said: "Nay, lest wlle ye gater up te tares, ye root up also te weat wit tem Let bot grow togeter until te arvest" From tis, Williams concluded tat, "as te dvill Slate keepes itselfe wit a civill guard, in case tese Tares sall attempt ougt against te peace and welfare of it, let suc dvill offences be punised, and yet as Tares opposite to Crists Kingdome let teir Worsip and Consciences be tolerated" Te dvil state could apply its civil penalties to dvil offenses, as tese were opposed to te state, but it could not apply suc punisments to consciences or worsip as tese related to Crist's kingdom Concomitantly, Crist's kingdom ad com plete jurisdiction over consdence and worsip but none over dvil of fenses "But as te Civill Magistrate at is carge of te bodies and goods Il LaFantasit, Tt Co rrtspcndmct 01 Rogtr WiilitlmJ, I; II For Williams's views on ttse difftrtnt Jurisdictions str Uttlt, NRogrr Williams and tr Stparatlon of Curc and Statr"; Milltr, TIlt FiNl Libtny, ; Hall, -Roger Williams and I~ FoundatIons of Rtliglous Ubtny, 482; Hall, $qor(ltin9 Curc Qnd StQtt, 72-98; Gilpin Te MilltIIl1rian Pitty of ROBfl Wi/liQntS; Morgan, ROfJ" l\'ifljtlms; Spurgin, 1W r Wi/ Iiams ond Puri/an /ltidicalijm; Danlrl L Drtlsbac, Sowing Useful Truts and Prindplts, Journal ofcurdr and Stalt, 39; 483 (1997)

42 Lau Eigrttnt-Ctntllry Rt1igious Libeny of te subject: So ave te spiriruall Officers Governours and overseers of Crists City or Kingdome, te carge of teir souls, and soule safety"w Tus, in contrast

13 42 Lau Eigrttnt-Ctntllry Rt1igious Libeny of te subject: So ave te spiriruall Officers Governours and overseers of Crists City or Kingdome, te carge of teir souls, and soule safety"w Tus, in contrast to Colton and te oters in Massacusetts wo eld tai tere as in Israel te magistrate possessed bot dvil and spiritual power, Williams believed tat dvil governmenls ad not been given autority over spiritual matters Yet Williams look te division between te worldly and te spiritual far beyond Iis conventional Baptist argument about religious liberty For example, e argued tai an exclusively worldly foundation was ade ~uate for specialized worldly activities including government, family l~fe and commerce And ence it is true, tat a Cristian Cap/oint Cristian, Mercant, Pysitian, Lawyer Pilot Fater, Master, and (so conseq~ently) Magistrate, &c is no more a Captaille, Mercant Pysitian, Lawyer, PIlot, Farer Master, Magistrate, &c ten a Captaint', Maream, &c of any oter Consdence or Religion, "" and -A Pagan or Anticristian Pilot may be as skillfullto carry te Sip to its desired Port as any Cristian Mariner P"l n ' or /ot So severe was Williams's division between te spiritual and te worldly tat te Y seeme d a 1 most Irrelevant ' to eac oter leavmg, worldly activities_or at 1 east t I lose so speaazed ', as to seem secularunburdened by s I pmlua concerns Tis transcended te religious Hberty Ba~I,ists ad demanded and inted ow sodal specialization was seculanzmg uman life, st" nppmg re I' IglOO, of muc of its worldly significance By no COincidence suc b ' 0 servatlons came from te man wo, more tan any oter, rejected te opes of is contemporaries for curces tat mcluded entire communities, local or national In 1644 Williams wrote ' f IS amous B10udy Tenent of Persecution In 1643, wen England ' was m t e IllJddle of its civil war WiUiams oped to obtam a carter for ' ' 'I d IS new orne, Rode Island, and e terefore sat e to London He ar' d' nve m I e autumn al a dramatic moment In an attempt to solidt te r c r support 0 Scotland against te king te House o ommons adopted te Sol L ' Co emn eague and Covenant, by wic te mmons agreed to reform t C byterian mod I Of e urc of England on te Scottis Prese course, tose wo were not Presbyterians feared tat 11It Bloudy Ttntnl, 01 Ptrsrrutton lor CallY "fnj/ rmd Ptaa (1644) in Tn Co' I of ConK/tna discutstd jn II O1nltrmrt bnw«n ~us~1l & Russell, 196)) t "'pttt Wntmgs 01 Rogrr Wit/jams, 3: Ill, 127 (New York: Ibid, ) For t' 118' IS Interpretation of tis passage, see Morgan, Rogtr Williams, Stparation, Purity, and AntidtriCi1lism 43 te Solemn League and Covenant would treaten teir freedom In tese drcumstances, beginning in te winter of 1644, Roger Williams wrote is Bloudy Tenent of Persecution, wic e cautiously publised, owever, only in July 1644, after e ad obtained is carter and was ready to return to Rode Island Altoug e took aim most diredly a t -Me COli on, and te New England minislers, "" e wrote is Bloudy Tenent as a metodical compendium of all te arguments for freedom of consdence He designed it to contain te "wole Body"" of te ""Controversies of Persecutio,/ for cause of COllscifllce," wic was someting "beyond wat's extant "" Intending to present for te first time te wole of te debate over persecution, WiJliams metodically included "Arguments from Religion, Reason, [and) Experience"" Strikingly owever, in a book designed to compile all known arguments against persecution, Williams did not present is most purifying image te wall of separation)6 Instead, Williams discussed te wall of separation in anoter pamplet publised almost six monts earlier In 1636, sortly alter Massacusetts banised Williams, Jon Cotton ad written to Williams to justify te colony's refusal to rejed te Curc of England and its dvil enforcement of its Congregational establisment Toward te end of is letter, Cotton condemned Williams for separating from Englis paris curces and from te curces of New England tat allowed teir members to attend suc paris curces: It is not 10 clpc Jeova, but Satan against im, to witdraw te people or God rrom earing te voyce or Crist wic is preaced in te evidence, and simplicity, and power or is Spirit in sundry Congregations (toug tey be Parises) in our nalive Country In wic respect, Tt O1mpfr/t Wnrinpol Rogtr W;ffiaml, 3: 5-6 (dedication) WUliamn conttmporary, Willlam Cillillgwort, alludr-d 10 walls of separation in is arguments for religious IIbtrty but only as a metapor for te seaariall oplllions tat divided Cristians:,Tlls deifying our own Interpretations, and tyrannous fordng tem upon oters; tis rtstraining te word of God from tat latitudt and generalily and te understandings of men from Iat libtny werein Crist and te aposdes le tem is and at betn te only fountain of all te scisms of te curc, and tat wic makes tem immonal Take away test walls of sellaratlon, and all will quickly bt one Take away tis persecuting, burning, cursing damning of men for not subscribing to te words of m~n as te words of God; I say, take away tyranny, and rr"store Cristians to teir just and fulllibcny of captivating t~ir understanding to Scripture only; and as rivers w~n tty a\le a free passage, run all to te ~an, so it may wtll bt oped, by God's blessing tat universallibtny, tus moderated may quickly restore Cristendom to trut and unity, Cilngwon Tt Rtli 9iO" 01 Pro/ts/anu: A Saft Way /0 Sa/lutton 250 ( 1638; London: H G Bon, 1846)

44 fait Eigrunt-Cmtury Rtligious LilHrty toug our people tat goe over into England, coose rater to eare in some of te Parises were te voyee of Crisiis lifted up like a trumpet, ten in te separated

14 44 fait Eigrunt-Cmtury Rtligious LilHrty toug our people tat goe over into England, coose rater to eare in some of te Parises were te voyee of Crisiis lifted up like a trumpet, ten in te separated Curces (were some of us may speak by experience we ave not found te like preseott: of Crist, or evidenct of is Spirit) Against te separated curces Cotton added: ~Jt is not Cirurgery bul Butcery to eale every sore in a member wit no oter medidne but absdssion from te body")7 Accordjngly, to prevent tis separation, evil government ad to enforce conformity by law Williams ad replied wit a leiter of is own, and tere te matler rested until te fall of 1643, wen someone (peraps Williams imself) arranged to ave Cotlon's letter publised in London Finally aving reason to respond publicly Williams in February 1644 publised is own leiter under te title Mr Cotton's Letter, Lately Pn'nted, Examined and Answered}I According to Williams Cotton and te oter Massacusetts Cong re gationalists failed 10 separate teir curces from worldly impurities Te Congregationalists combined te regenerate wit te unregenerate and teir dependence upon state cocrdon amounted 10 an admission 01 tis impurity ~IB)y compelling all witin teir )un'sdicrion to an outward conformity of te Curc worsip of te Word and Prayer and main/mana of te Ministry tereof tey evidently declare tat tey still lodge and dwell in te confused mixtures of te uncleane and cleane of te flock of Crist and te Herds of te World togeter I mean in spirituall and religious worsip ")9 Te Congregationalists coerdvely mixed in teir congreg a tions bot te regenerate and te unregenerate te clean and te unclean and tus seemed to old tat ~te Gardell and te Wilden/esse, te Curc and te World are all one"4(1 In contrast WiHiams oped to wall of te garden from te wilderness Te book of Isaia (55-6) ad warned tat te wall protecting te vineyard or garden would be broken down as a divine punisment: ~I will tell you wat I will do to my vineyard: I will take away te edge tereof and break down te wall tereof And I will lay it waste"' n A uttff of Mr Jon Cottom Ttamtr of It Curc jn 8Mlon In NtW England to Mr wi/lia/iij a Prtactr Ttn (london: 1643) in LaFantaslr-, Tt Corrtspondrncr of Rogtr WilliamJ, 1; 42- '3,, LaFantasir- Tt Corrtspondrna of Rogtr WU/ianu, I : to Tt Bloudy Tmtnt, of Ptrstcurion in Tt Compittt Writings of Rogtr williams, 3: 234 ibid }: 233 ' ~paration, Purity, and Anticltricalism 4' In requiring te regenerate to mix wit te unregenerate te Congregationalists and oter establised curces breaced te wall or edge separating te curc from te world and tey tereby brougt about te reduction of te garden to a wilderness-a wasteland in wic te regenerate were deprived of divine ligt: ttle faitful labours of many Witnesses of JtSUS Crist, extant to te world, abundantly proving, tat te Curc of te Jem under te Old Testament in te type, and te Curc of te Cristians under te New Testament in te Antitype were bot separate from te world; and tat wen tey ave opened a gap in te edge or wall of Separation between te Garden of te Curc and te Wilderness of te world God at ever broke down te wall it scife, removed te Candlestick, &c and made is Garden a Wilderness, as at tis day Terefore, if e were "ever please[d) to restore is Garden and Paradise again it must of necessitie be walled in peculiarly unto imselfe from te world "41 Williams desired religious liberty of a sort en undated by te Baptists, but clearly e also oped to build a wall separating te regenerate from te unregenerate and te curc from te world New Ligt on an Old Metapor Altoug Williams as become famous for is wah of separation, e in fad combined two images: te wall and te candlestick He placed te candlestick in te enclosed garden of te curc, and e tereby sed muc ligt on is radically individualistic and anticlerical understanding of te curc e would keep separate from te world Altoug not necessarily individualistic or anticlerical te image of a candlestick could ave suc implications and to discern tese, it is necessary to look back briefly to te late Middle Ages and te illuminated books of ours and prayer books frequently used for private devotions In te nortern Neterlands, as sown by James Marrow t e prayers contained in suc books sometimes described Jon te Baptist as te "lantern of te Lord "' or te "lantern of te world," and te accompanying illustrations sometimes depided im olding a lantern Later, in 41 Mr Cotton's!tIt" laltty Prinrtd Examintd and Answtnd (london: 1644), in ibid, 1: 392 (c 28) Williams addr-d,al all tai sall br- savr-d out of,r- world a~ to br- transplanted OUI of Ir- Wildr-mr-ss or tr- world, and addr-d unto is Curc or Gard~n Ibid

~r-------~ --------- 46 fait Eigtttnt-Century Religious Liberty at least one Illid-sixteent-century panel painting, e Id b ' 0 S a uil11il8 canelnt b' dl e words of te Gospel of Jon (535), L e B

15 ~r ~ fait Eigtttnt-Century Religious Liberty at least one Illid-sixteent-century panel painting, e Id b ' 0 S a uil11il8 canelnt b' dl e words of te Gospel of Jon (535), L e B apusl ' wasa ngt and si b Mar nmgligt 42 Evenlually owever, as also 5 own y I row, SOme boo ks of ours made for te Englis rna rkel d' I d it lsp aye antem on t e ground or anging (rom a tree in a n expanse f 0 ummproved land 01 t e son tat was known as a "desert or 'Id WI emess In tese IlIus! ' rations te Baptist stood nearby-in one Ulstance pollllmg to te lantern -suggesting an appreciation of anot er passage - J n In 0 (I 8 } He Wa r I' 'l' N 5 not tat ligt but was sent to bear wllness 0 t al Ig t w ow Jesus ' lmself rater tan te Baptist, appeared as t I lc r 18 to r I e orld " It was a ponentous cange-suggesting pra foun d pass l 'b I" I Itles I Of individual e n I' Igtenment and concomitantly dark su spicions ' r 0 t e e Icrgy ~ese evolving images may reveal an interest in te claims of Jon W yeffe and ot er reformers wo urged individuals to find II ' I ummallon ' ' b y reading t e Bible for temselves In early fifteent-century Eng I an d t Ose sympatetic to Wydiffite views-te so-called "LoJlards"_ad reo ated Prove r b s (62}) tat -Goddis comaundementis ben a lanteme & t al lawe is l' Ig t and even more radically, tey ad argued tat t e WII of CriSt is so dere ligt tat in ise word IS ter may no man erre; 1 e takit te persoone of pore nedi & spe k' It ' ' ' III poore men as m un slf fi' Ec ~ person, even te poor and needy, could read te Bible and nd Cnst's ligt imself, witout clerical assistance Accordingly, (e ~ntern of Ligt" was adopted as te name of a WycLiffite tract popular IZmg suc id eas and, morc broadly became a Wycliffite symbol 0 r t e Iliuminatio n eae person migt find for " Imself III te Scnptures S In ~~~mes Marrow "Jon te Baptist, Lantern for te Lord: New Attributes for te Baptist 'J J te Nonem Neterlands: Oud HoI/and 83: 13 (1968), quoting Jon 535 ames Marrow, "Jon te Baptist Lantern for te Lord: A Su pplement: Qud Holland ~5: 188 (1970) Ullan M SWlnburn ed Tt Lamtrn ol'lifgjt (London: Early,gUs Text Sodet y, 1917) Te second ' quotation cited MMat ~ XXV " (Quotations from te umltrn are n1am more readable ere by modemizing punctuation and onograpy and dropping te edi tor S ilallcizalion of letters 'nsened 10 fill in contractions) "tb'd I vi' ii Tis individual ' enligtenment cou Id cas, a " rong sadow 00 te one and, 'Ugt & sunne Is up spronngen & meke loweli ~n up~la~nsld 11(' enanced]" On te oter "Wat eucre tat ony man doit tat fajlit tjs gt It led blyndingis 10 fe dungun of elle" tbid, Incidentally, te key texts recited in te JAn/trn ;,e;::, not from Jon blu Wycliffites ~em to ave understood te importance of wat Jo d to say about te ligt Revea/ mg wat may ave been anxiety tat JeSus would not be understood ils aving given t(' Separation, Purity, and Anricltricalism 47 tese circumstances some Englismen and women, even if not LoHards seem to ave preferred images in wic te Baptist was not te ligt but merely te witness of it Eventually espedajly in te aftermat or te Reformation te Baptist dropped out of te picture altogeter and te lantern or a candlestick stood on its own in te wildemess-a representation of scripture ligting te way for individuals living in te world % ligt to individuals, some versions of te Wycliffe Bible provided alternative readings 10 Jon 535: "SotU e was a lanterne brennylnge and scynynge, - to wic some copies added "or Ig]yvynge ligt" Josia FONaU and Frederic Madden, eds Tt Holy Biblt Con taining tt Old and Ntw Tntamtnts in te Earlint EngliJ Vtniom Made from tt latin Vuigalt by Jon Wyclifft Imd HiJ Followtrt 3: 249 (Oxford: (850) Suc an image, wit te words "Praelucendo Pereo,' was used as a printer's device in London in te and 1630s-a5 was te more common variant tat empasized te role of scripture, te candle on a Bible Ronald B McKerrow Prin/trs Imd Pub/istrs' DtvictS in England and Scotland 1485-/64() 155 and illustration nos 41 3 and 412 (London: Bibliograpical Society 1913) For oter vartants, see, eg" ljacques Callot?I Te Maidservant (woman sitting on ijiock olding a candlestick); Daniel Cramer, Embltmata Sarra, 37 (Frankfun: 1624) (seeing eart in unimproved land wit sining lantern above eld by ann from cloud illustrating Psalm 36 v IO "In ddnem liect seen wir das Hect"); Franas Quarles, Embltma 128 (London: 1635) (angel olding a sining lantern at nigt in unimproved land approaced by a woman wit outstretced arms iuustrating Psalm 29, v6, "My soule at desired tee in te nigt-i According to Jon (19) Jesus ad said "let your ligt sine: and In tis spirit, Augustine ad written tat "all men are lamps: wic could be "bot ligted and ej{tinguised"-a common Cristian metapor adapted by many seventeent century anists to depict te ligl, Hfe, grace Inspiration, or talenu witin individuals Augustin, Homilin on tt GOS(NI of Jon Tracule 23 (Jon ) in A Stlm Library of tt Nictnt and Post Nirmt Fatm, 7: 151 S~ also "Uceat Sperare TImentl In Embltmata Moralia tt conomica, 40 (emblem 20) In Jacob Catz O/(ln oftt Minnt-Bttldtn Vtrandtrt in Sinnt-Btrldtn Door (Rotterdam: 1627); Frands Quarles, Hitroglyupikn oftt Lift of Man (London: 1638) Incidentally, in employing te image of Ie ligt In te lantern te great Quaker apologist, Roben Barclay 5«ms to ave alluded to an oral tradition on te subject among QuakeN Barclay All Ap(Jlogy for tt Trot Cristian Divinity: Bting an Explanation and Vindication of tt PrincipIa and D«trinn of tt Ptople (AUtd Quakm 147 (Propositions V & VI, sec 16) (1676; Providence: 1840) For furter variants, see Artur Henkel and Albrect Scone, Embltmata Handbuc rur SinnbUdkunst drs XVI und XVII Jarunderts, (Swltgan: J B Metz1ersce 1967) Te basic motif could, of course be deployed for very diffel'(:nt purposes In te it was used to Ulustrate "Te Royal Flame" on te frontispiece to a volume of cases of conscience by te man wo would soon become caplain to te unfortunate King Carles I Henry Hammond-an Image tat simultaneously depicted te ligt of conscience and te obligation in conscience to te Lord's ilnointed a message made clear by te quotation inscribed on te base of te candlestick from 2 Samuel 2117 "Quenc not te Ugt of Israel: Hammond A aai",/ Cattcilme (1644; 2d ed" 1646) See also Alltgory of Carla I of England and Htnritrta o/franct'" a Van/tas Stili Lift (after 1669), in Binningam Museum of An Atlanta

48 lair Eiglur1t-Ctmury Rtligious Libt'rty ~paratjon, Purity, and Anrjc1~ricalism 49 Tis brigt image of individual illumination ad a somber alternative as became apparent in some early

16 48 lair Eiglur1t-Ctmury Rtligious Libt'rty ~paratjon, Purity, and Anrjc1~ricalism 49 Tis brigt image of individual illumination ad a somber alternative as became apparent in some early seventeent-century pictures in wic te ligt was removed or snuffed out by te clergy According 10 te Book of Revelation ( and 24-5), Jon turned to "see te voice tat spake wit me, And being turned I saw seven golden candl~ticks; And in te midst of te seven candlesticks one like unto te Son of man," wo lold Jon tat te sevcn candlesticks wic tou sawest are te seven curces" Jon was instructed to write to "te angel of te curc- of Epesus: "Neverteless 1 ave somewat against tee because tou ast left ty first love Remember terefore from wence tou art fallen and repent, and do te first works; or else I come unto te~ quickly and \vill remove ty candlestick out of is place ~xct'pt tou repent" Some seventeent century printmakers applied tis Biblical vision to te Curcb of England by portraying te attempts of te clerical ierarcy to ~xtinguis or remove a candlestick tat stood In te wilderness In on~ print a ligted candlestick rested on a Bible, wic lay in unimproved ground witin a landscape Te candle was eld by tree ands-two appar~ntly trying to dislodge it, and a tird, coming OUt of a cloud, keeping it steady, Below, a caption complained to olo autority livlcr tan l~ ~piscopy: Previlllmg Prt'lallels smh~ I() quenc our Ugt, E U:pl your WClt:d I~wer quii teir migl'" irnllarly a wvodcut emblem sowed a burning candlestick 51 d' an 109 III wtldeme -tc c,"ndlc being grasped by tree truncated and ~ of In(' ands b belong~d 10 t~ I op: SI~ Two ands togeter eere wit griping old, And all teir force, doe striue 10 take away Tis buming Lampe, and Candlestick of Gold, Wose ligt sau bume in spite of Hell For tis te Trut so oly and divine Wic soule Ambition at so often vext And swelling pride of Praelates put in doubt Wit covetuousncs tat greedie Monster next, Tat long I reare me since il ad bene out, Did nol ty and (deare Saviour) from above Defend it so, tat it migt never moue'" Only a and '"from above could protect tis "burning Lampe, and Can dlestick of Gold" from te grasping ands of te prelates, wo strove to take it away It was tis candlestick-te ligt of divine trut iiiuminat ing individual consdence in te wilderness of tis world, a ligt te prel ates and now also te Congregationalists treatened to extinguis or remove-tat Williams described as treatened by a breac in te wall separating te garden from te wilderness Unlike te pictures, Williams envisioned te candlestick in te garden of te curc rater tan in te wilderness, and e tereby separated it from te world Williams explained: "Te National! Curc of te Jcwcs were as a silver candlestick, on wic te ligt of te Knowledge of God and tbe Lord Jesus in te type and sadow was set up [and] sined Tat Silver Candlestick it pleased te most oly and only Wise to take away and in stead tereof to set up te Golden Candle- Sttcks of particular Curces (Revel I) by te and of te Son of God tmselfe ' 4 W'II" I lams associated tese golden candlesticks WIt parucu I ar ~parated curces rater tan te wilderness of te world Accordingly, t e ~igt was in peril, for as already seen, wen Cristians "opened a &aptnte e d ge, or wall of separation, between te garden of te cure and te 'Id II WI erness of te world, God at ever broke down te wa \ \ "1!(1lfy i'taca ' ~ srr 1 m Mmtrwl Bmanna, 3 (1612) For variants, see, eg, Damel Cramer E~ Qudle a 37 (Frankfun: 1624) (man wit bleeding nose In unimproved land wn ~ e~tlngulsed by arm (rom doud); ~e also valianls In Henkel and Scone, Emibuk ~~~b~( lur Sinn~ildkun$f, 1364, 1375, 1376 According 10 Calvin, te papi st~ 214 (Jon 5 /I1Pt for extinguising te ligt of God: Oll~in'$ QJmmtnlantf, 17 (pan 2) 35) llotrr Wllliams, ow "",_ I r c''''on s Ltt/tr Limi" Printtd E""ammtd and Answtn'd (London 1(44), '-"'IIPtftW" 'J,_' ntings of Rogtr W;/Iia1fU, I: 356

50 late Eigtttnt-Ctntury RdiSious Libtrty itself, removed te candlestick &c And ' as at tis day ~ made is garden a wilderness BOI in adering 10 convention a ' revealed te radicalism of c 'd od In

17 50 late Eigtttnt-Ctntury RdiSious Libtrty itself, removed te candlestick &c And ' as at tis day ~ made is garden a wilderness BOI in adering 10 convention a ' revealed te radicalism of c 'd od In depanmg from ii Williams IUS I cas In u moved or extinguised cand' W",", smg t e metapor of te ref d ' e I lams pan', d ' o fa leal amiepiscopal i lopale In te traditions " magery Yet by I _ WI demess into te garden ' ransposmg te ligt from te, e suggested ' ' punly of te curc and ' IS Ig expectations for Ie IS very dlllere ness of te State At te same m expeclations for te wilder b time wen e rougt togeler images of' d' 'd e PUlle ligt in I e garden ci 'f' In IVI ual c ' an ymg tal1ere was linle onsclence and of te curc C' room for I I flsllantty Tus te candlesli k ' e c ergy in Williams's purified mo~e famous image, te wall c f Ints a~ te significance or Williams's wic I' 0 separallon d IS separation Was not sim I,an suggests tc ways in PYa malter of religious liberty, Williams's AnticJericaJism In is desire for purity and i well be d ' s SUSPIClon f Untaint~~: t, e ~nsuani ly of most OteroC' e ~ Iergy, Williams stood y c encal corru nstlans H from all institutionalized rett~on, and to tis end e 'se e sougt a rait ratists IgIon, including paratcd imself even t t f' Te lengl 10 w'c a 0 IS fellow Sepal Willi clearly evident in is 0 ' elms carried is antic, Own, voluntary curc~~snlon to any "ireling- I lencasm is most te legitimacy of an r n 1652 Williams, like t c ergy, even in teir spiritual qualificationys onnal and, panicularly a e Quakers questioned were taint db' ny paid I COnStantine, troug is e y Worldly to c ergy, wose te POpe, ad introduced ts~pp~sed donation of t Ings BelieVing tat weter "te Feedinn d e reign of te antioc c weslern empire to :1 an Nouris' ' nsi Will ' cording to te first I Ing MtnlStry of p lams doubled nsruutlon of te asto's and lam," and e opi}osed an m" Lord Jesus, are et Teacers acpointed by Crist Jesus "50 c Y!01Stry oter tan" Y restored and ex- A' Olton Inte I e trlle ~I" postaoe of Anticrist at ",reted Williams /fllsrry apso farre CorruPted all t to mean "tat te at tere ROilerWiJlrms It HlrtlingMlllist Df~ W,I/I4nU 7: 160; also rynoneofclrrutj (London' Can be no i'rrj«wtwn for Wits( t1/ CcIUa quoted by Edward BUll U d' 165 2) in "nit ~ mer DUaas-d XXVii (to d I} ~tiu ~ 7"1_ pltlt Writi noll: Ha, rq' BIOI/A "!IS IlSerd 1(Il0li rs Soc!")" Tt"tnt of e,y l84a) ~paration Purity, and Antjc/~ricalism 5/ recovery out of tat Apostaae, till Crist sall send fon new Apostles to plant Curces anew'"" Wat Williams advocated owever, was te ministry of tose wo were convened and called by Jesus Complainjr)g of "ow greatly some mistake, wic say I declame against all Ministries all Curces, all Ordinances," e explained tat, "since te Apostasie, and te interrupting of tile first ministry and order, God ar graciously and immediately stirred up and smt fort tlte ministrie of is Propets, wo during al/ te raigne of Anticrist ave propesied ill sackclol, and te saints and people of God ave more or less gatered to and assembled wit tem "51 He did not deny te possibility of "a n EXlernali Test and Call, wic was at first and sall be againe in force a t te Resurrection of te Curces" Yet, "in te present State of tings, I cannot but be umbly bold 10 say, tat I know no oter true Sender, bu t te most Holy Spirit And wen e sends, is Messengers will goe, is Propets will propecy, toug All te World sould forbid tem Unlike tese propets, te clergy of existing curces were '" irelings," for '" Iiln teir Wages, weter by Tires or oterwise, tey ave alwayes run in te way of an Hire, and rendred suc Workemen absolute Hirelings between wom and te true Seap eard (1olnl 10) te Lord Jesus PUIS so expresse and sarp a Difference: so tat in a ll umble submission, I am bold to maimaine, tat it is one of (te] grand Dts;gnes of te most Hig to breake downe te Hireling Ministry tat Trade, Faculty Calling and Living, by Preacing '"U Altoug today Roger Williams as come to be celebrated as a propet in te wilderness-a propct of modem separation of curc and state-is understanding of religious liberty needs to be understood as pan of is relentless quest for religious purity54 It was a quest tat led im to separate from Ie Curc of England, from te Congregationalists, and even from oter Separalists He so urgently desired purity tat e forbade te clergy from earning teir living witin teir own, purely VOluntary curces, lest tey defile temselves wit power money, or oter impure tings of tis world For Williams, terefore, any separa- "Jon COtton A Rtply 10 Mr Williams His Examination (1647) in Tt Complm Writings of fiogtr Williams 2: 19; also quoled by Underill, ed Te B/olldy TO/tnt, xxvii 'l Roger Williams A Hirtling Ministry in Tt Complttt Writings of ~r Williams 7: "Ibid 160, 163 For a discussion or tese issues, see Hug Spurgin Raga Williams and Punlan Radicalism ~ Morgan RO n Williams 27; Hall, SqJaratlngCllrclland Stott 24-25, }O; Reinilz, -Symbol Ism and Freedom

Latr Ei9tunt_C~ntury R~1i9ious Liberty tion of ~urc and state e may ave imagined was but part of a broader separation of te garden from te wilderness of te world_a separation t~a~ tor~ troug te logic

18 Latr Ei9tunt_C~ntury R~1i9ious Liberty tion of ~urc and state e may ave imagined was but part of a broader separation of te garden from te wilderness of te world_a separation t~a~ tor~ troug te logic of estabusmenrs but also troug te uman distinctions and institutions of b" So great was is djscomfon 't w Ie c ' urces in tis world were made_ aba n d one d ' IS Own tiny B WI " any lmpure clerical autority tat e monts after JOtrung,,, it a aptlst ar I, Congregation, in Rode Island only seeke, ' No mere 1 y OPPOsed,pp t ent ij' y wa te Intention of becoming a and privileges W'II' ~ re glous establisments, teir penalties, ' I lams questioned te 'b" " isters or curces" r' very POSSI!Illy of Cristian min- In any 0 teir exle I', Untille -Rtsurrt"'ion ~ 0 r I e Curcf!s _ rna, institutional manifestations Williams's anticlerical stance wa ' century commentator Ba t" d' s not lost On alleast one eigteent- P 1St lssenlers S and Isaac Backus at te e d f ' uc as Jo n Callender in 1739 n 0 I e centu'y d ' WiJliamsasanoPponentofe bl",a notmg but praise for S a IS menls b or convenience, tey said nol' b,ui, W eler from ignorance " I' " mg a OUt is id " Ire 109 mlnlslry or Ie separatio f eas concernmg ener a ' not e curc f wllng to focus on Williams's anti I " rom te world n More CUt " s e5tabsment te great lex' c encasm Was a d e f enderof Connedl- ",' Icograper N Oiled (10 is Americaniled spelling)' _ ' oa Webster, wo recog- ' b'be at Roger W'II" ellis lol I d an inyf!'terate aired' 1 lams and iz ader '- agalnsi te c I and 10 p1nlcular against te clergy 0 ony of Massacusetls, expulsion from te COlony" Wit ' W Ole _ ngid zee 1 OccaSioned teir In Rode Island Iis "prej'udice" of W"II IS OWn leel- Websler added tat I larnsand ' f among teir desendanas, and to tis d ' IS ollowers "continued 'be ' ay I e tn b' II rallly of sentimena and teir freedo f a liants boast of teir m rom te bi W I tey say, enslayes Ie peeple of Mas gotry of clergymen, sacuseus and Connecti_ &paration, Purity, and Antiduiralism cut "~ Webster recognized tat Williams's reputation would suffer if is 'aversion to te clerical order" became known to te many eigteentcentury Americans wose Protestantism did not go to suc extremes of amiclericalism In tis resped, Webster understood te caracter of Williams's unusual opinions far better tan ave many subsequent observers," Later Seventeent and Eigteent Century Advocates of Separation Te separation of curc and stale found Iitlle support during te seventeent and eigteent centuries, except among some Englis and Frenc critics of te clergy like Roger Williams, tese enligtenment writers OPPOsed establisments from a disrindively anticlerical perspective, and terefore tey felt no qualms about te separation Hooker condemned U Of COurse, tey probably did not know Williams's writings and certainly ad more secular beliefs, but tey, like Williams, distrusted institutional Curces and clergy and terefore did not worry tat separation ntigt limit suc institutions more tan a mere djsestablisment Already in te late seventeent century Jon Locke alluded to a son of separation, but only a very limited SOrt, wic e employed to defend toleration In is 1689 Lefler Concerning To/eration, Locke argued for toleration, but e made no direct objection to government support f~r religion, and e insisted tat avo government could deny tolera tlon for opinions tat tended to undermine te safety of government 5) :;:();I Wt:bstn, "MiscelJant'Ous Remark! on Divizions of Pro~ny, Guvemrnent, Educa :PilaRe[igi~n, Agriculture Slavt:ry, Commt:rtt, Clirnau~ and Dlsee-zt:s in te- United States" delpia:] 787), in A Qlll~ction Of Essays and FU9itiv Writings, 336 /Boston: ] 790), Suc a IltUdes abo R " Co' I( Ut ode Island were common among Federalists Se-e Cynt la UISt: -N- B "B " Un' IV~rSlly, : "<wac ]963), ackus's Re-marks on Morse's Geograpy," 10 (maste-r's tesis, rown lbe radical e ' "~reuqane " f araqer " of Williams's vi('ws in is Hlrtlmg MinIStry may per " aps " ex}) am Pkt eo t e e-dllors of te- NarraganS('u edition of is works to publis ( IS pamte ti'tj~e~ ~Uer obse~~ tat "Itle EdilotS were cenalnly awll"(' of i~s e-xis~t:nce Si~ce '-' PIk rs In terr bibliograpy of is wrilings, Te reasons bemd tis OIJWiSlon '''WJn obscure a d V"U" A Itirt/in '9 Itfl1flUry ' in n 'rl no plausible- explanation comes readily 10 mind," Roge-r \ I lams, II Hooktt's Ok:' I n~ Co",pltt~ Writings of Ros~r Willrams, I: 145, _- ~unt of separation was Widely known as may be illustrated by Warbunon 5 -USSlOn of 1I wlti, I' us 1V"t:r of Jo,rp' c, III turn w s quoied by PriesLle-y "'~ ",~o/o:giul lind Mua "to Prrmlry, 16: 4, ed Jon T, RUIlILondon: )

Latt Eigtunt-Ctntury Rtligious Libtrty and civil society, including "opinions contrary to uman society, or to tose moral rules wic are necessary to te preservation of civil society ~ Altoug tese

19 Latt Eigtunt-Ctntury Rtligious Libtrty and civil society, including "opinions contrary to uman society, or to tose moral rules wic are necessary to te preservation of civil society ~ Altoug tese arguments would eventually become important in America, only one aspea of Locke's untr-a brief allusion to separation-needs to be considered ere_ In examining ~w at te duty of toleration requires from _ te c1ergy/ Locke wrote: "Tis only I say, tat wencesoever teir autority be sprung, since it is ecclesiastical it ougt to be confined witin te bounds of te curc, nor can it in any manner be extended to civil affairs, because te curc itself is a ting absolutely separate and distinct from te commonwealt Te boundaries on bot sides are fixed and immoveable~ " Altoug Locke wrote of te curc as "absolutely separate and distinct from te commonwealt, ~ and altoug e used tis separation to limit te power of te clergy, it was not clear tat e was arguing more tan tat te curc and te commonwealt were distinct institutions wit different origins, purposes, and powers, As e explained in te following sentence: "He jumbles eaven and eart togeter, te tings most remote and opposite, wo mixes tese two societies, wic are in teir original, end, business, and in everyting perlect1y distina and infinilely different from eac oler~ Locke's empasis upon te distinction and diuercnce between curc and state reinforces te impression tat ttis description of te curc as -absolutely separate and distina from te commonwealt" was merely an expression of is pervasive and ardly original argument about te difference between religious and civil jurisdiction As e concluded in is next sentence: "No man, terefore, wit watsoever ecclesiastical oflice e be dignified, can deprive anoter man tat is not of is curc and fait eiter of liberty or of any part of is worldly goods upon te account of tat difference between tem in religion "60 Tus, altoug, Jon Locke, A ulftr Co '~ I ' mlljan, 1950) In te ri;~;;::;'!i, Otra:lOn S0, 27, ed, Patrick Romanel1 (New York: Mac- P, I1n vers10n te sentence about separation ended "quandoqu Id em I psa eee esla a re pubca reb ' Tb Locke A Ulltr Co '~I usque ClVl I us prorsus SCjuncta est el separala," Jon " and a~ Introdllcrio n«,rn,"'d 0 tra:lon' Ultin and Englis Tests Rtviud and Edited wit VarianI)' n, seems to a e carelull,e, Mano ' Montuori (Te H ague MI an nus NlJoff, " 1963), L k OC e torily over civil mau~~ :t~ou~ la~~~a~e ere 10 condemn claims 01 ecclesiastical aucivil magistrate on civil ~atlers mllclzmg dents wo eld civil olfitt or advised Ie Locke AltlkrConcmring TOltr~rion, 27 ed R ' arguments in earlier writings bo ',0man~lI Locke s account drew upon SimIlar Sir Cartes Wolsrley te "Mol,Is a~denl and quite rettm For example, acrording to Curc " In contrast: :TM Cll": ~;~~1Ca1 powe,r" was quile "mlx~" wit te Jt'\4 Wr e Gospel IS totally 01 anoler nature, perfectly dis- Separation, Purity, and Anticltricalism 55 Locke used te word "separate," e focused on te distinction between religious and dvil jurisdictions In a very dirterent, more teological tradition, some Europeans and Americans condemned te union of curc and state in allusive sexual language developed from te Book of Revelation Yet tey did not quite advocate separation, In 1777, for example, a dissenter in Virginia employed sexual retoric against an advocate of te Anglican establisment Te latter ad relied upon te, by ten, rater antiquated notion tat te "interest of Curc and State sould be so blended togeter as tat of man and wife" Te dissenter responded: Te Curc as been long since betroled to anmer Se is espoused as a casle virgin unto Crist, He is er usband; and se is te bride, te lamb's wife, And if so, was se to be joined to te Slate, it would be committing spirit,ual adultery, te most detestable of all enormitiesl Tis union we know, as often been productive of te most pernicious consequences, Tey ave always corrupted, and often ruined one anoter; as wine and water mingled, lurns to vinegar Te Stale, I say as always corrupled te Curc, Te very establisment corrupts te Curc And suc a Curc will consequently corrupt te State," Like tis dissenter American opponents of establisments vigorously condemned any adulterous union of curc and state, but almost never embraced te oter extreme of a separation between tese institutions Te separation of curc and state tat Hooker condemned and Williams almost espoused seems not to ave been revived and directl advocated until te last alf of te eigteent century, wen fears o~ an,establis,ment merged wit a sarply Protestant and Enligtenment animus agalost te clergy For example, as sown by Daniel Dreisbac ~e Britis Wig James Burg, denounced te Anglican establismen; m terms of separation in 1767,42 Yet Burg took tis position in is Crito, a lwo:volume set of essays in wic e attacked not only te Englis establisment but also all clerical autority and uman' ",, mven IOns In religion Notwitstanding tat e was te son of a Scottis Presbyterian ~in? from te Civil S131e, can well subsisl witoul a relation 10 it and' I' III lts Conttrns wit it ~ wot~ley "L-rlu r "',IS no way nt~nnlxw, DC"J oj Ulnscrtllct upon Irs Trut d Pr G AJYntd and Villdicattd )0 (2d ~d, 1668) an op«rounds 01 "Freeman of Virginia F ' 7-8 ' rttman S Rtmonstranct against an E«fniosrica/ Enablilmtnt, 6, 02 Dreisbac, "Sowing U~ful Truts and Prindptes, ~ ,

56 latt Eigtunt-Ctntury Religious Ubtrty minister, Burg joined Josep Priestley in becoming a Unitarian and, altoug Burg later acquired popular fame e acieved tis for is critique of politics rater tan

20 56 latt Eigtunt-Ctntury Religious Ubtrty minister, Burg joined Josep Priestley in becoming a Unitarian and, altoug Burg later acquired popular fame e acieved tis for is critique of politics rater tan for is religious views Like oter radical Protestants, e ad come to conceive of religion in terms drawn from arguments about religious liberty-an approac tat allowed im to de pia religion as ulteriy unsocial: "I cannot, for my part, elp looking upon religion as a matter, wic lies wolly between God and a man's con Samet, exclusive of all interposition; and as wat from its specific nature, necessarily individuates mankind; wile dvil power necessarijy regards tem as collected into societies" Accordingly, wen e attacked te "alli once between curc and state,~ Burg ad little reason to worry about te broader implications of is suggestion ~Iat te less te curc and te state ad to do wit one anoter, it would be te better for bot 6J Trougout is book Burg condemned Englis Protestants for persecuting Catolics, but e did so largely to suggest tat England's "'prele~ded Protestants'" were equivalent 10 Catolics-for example, in on onng a corrupt clergy and fostering a "persecuting spirit"64 In is second volume Burg became, as e acknowledged, "rater more severe: Wereas e umorously dedicated is first volume to a tree-year-old prince wo ad been made a bisop, e addressed is second volume "To te Good P eop I e I 0 BRITAIN Of'Tlie lwentietii CENTURY and urged "',mly dear little Non-entities to avoid Britain's errors in politics and religion In te eigteent cemury, "we ave been doing our best 10 prove Cristia 't my a mere uman Invention: and ",wle ave beslowed muc onest p"" d " allls III en eavonng to sew tat a sett of sordid Invs migt naturall b ' d Y e expeaed to give Ie world a system of etics an t eology, wose purity and sublimity sould make tose of te politl James Burg Cn'J or Euoys on 1':' IbId 2: 192and I' ~iv' Bu lano us Sub)fcts, I: x-xl (london: ) bot Catolics and ~pre;'"d"'d prare y used te Englis language as ricly as wen abusing rotestants" -te C 1 I" I " Pr01ntams for bdn, imol-, 'H atlo ICS or bemg superstitious and t t ~ an, e wrott tat" on a("(qum of teir wo"'," " OIl we pretend, we do not molest te papists pmgag madeofd Almigty in la/in (it Is w,11 _ oug or for sj}('aklng nonsense to tt noug If we oursel d " Englu nonsense)," Foolisly E r vn 0 not SOmetimes address im JD by "driving a set of nonsensi;al ~g I~M ~testants sougt security from te Catolic treat mus ouse," Ibid I' xii xiii La vt ana mummers from jabbering ieir oly spells in a tl11t "' imendedn~ting ~s ~a~~~e~~=t~plto is second volume, Burg explaintd tat "te 101"Qlmg protc"stan, man of tat diabolical superstition" and argued " WdS m papists tan "te prot"lam _ facta mo rt d angerous enemy to te rtligion of It,-rseul1or, IbId, 2: '91 Separation, Purity and Anticlericalism and learned Greeks comemptible "" tn COl1lrast, e ad iger opes for is twentiet-cemury readers: "Set up none of your blundering umaninvented jargon, solemnly drawn out into articles creeds, or confessions: nor pretend, I carge you, to call your absurdities sacred mysteries, or to palm tem orc upon te ignorant people for divine trut, treatening tem wit damnation for rejecting your clumsy inventions Te eavenly autors knew better tan you, ow to express temselves Do not terefore presume to establis any sununaries, or compends, of teir sublime sense, do not attempt wat is beyond te reac of uman capadty" Rater tan "subscribing to an inconsistent farrago of uman inventions," te "public dispensers of religion" were "to be masters of reason, tat tey may convince te opposers of trut In suc ways, Burg desired -tat tere may not be among you so muc as a sadow of autority in religious matters," and e condemned te doctrines tat distinguised "every puny subdivision of religionists"6-6 Wit tis rarified conception of religion as someting tat "individuates'" mankind, it sould be no surprise tat Burg advocated a sort of separation He assumed Ial "ecclesiastical corruption" was "te mosl odious of au corruption, and terefore, wen e blasted England's "mixedmungrel-spiritual-temporal-secular-ecdesiastical establismem," e was contem to envision an Englis Curc tat "stands wolly unconneaed wit secular concerns, At one point, wen Burg urged te fulure inabitants of Britain 10 abandon te practice of imposing religious tests on military officers, e even adopted an image similar to tat wic Hooker ad attributed to dissenters: Build an impenetrable wall of separation between tings sautd and dvil Do not send a grauless officer reeking from te arms of is trull, to te performance of a oly rile of religion, as a test for is olding te command of a regiment, To pro/ant, in suc a manner, a religion, wic you pretend to rtverenct; is an impiety sufficient to bring down upon your eads, te roof of te sacred building you tus defile Tis was not quite a wall or scparation between curc and state Noneteless, it came dose From a perspcctive Burg understood to be un- " Ibid, 2: 188, Dedication, 105, 106 " Ibid 2: 109-i Illn rejecting legal penaltln upon Catolics, e bluntly wrott tat 'uman autority is tyranny, wen extned in matters of rtliglon" Ibid, 2: 193 "

58 wit EiglUnl-Cmtury Religious Libtrty usual in is own century e urged te Britis of te twentiet century to build a ~wan of separatjon"~7 Te closest American dissenters came to demanding separation

21 58 wit EiglUnl-Cmtury Religious Libtrty usual in is own century e urged te Britis of te twentiet century to build a ~wan of separatjon"~7 Te closest American dissenters came to demanding separation or curc and state may ave been in a Virginia memorial of 1783 [rom te General Assodation of Separate Baptists Assembling at Dupuy's Meeting House in Powatan County, te Association petitioned te House of Delegates for grealer equality under te laws regulating vestries and marriages Tese Baptists sougt revisions to Mte vestry law" because, under te existing statute, Episcopalian vestries set paris poor rates, and terdore Baptists were -liable to be taxed, witout representation Te Baptists also wanted amendments to "some parts of te marriage act/ wic, in 1780, ad given legal recognition to marriages conducted by dissenting ministers but ad not gone so far as to put tese dergymen "on an equal footing" wit teir Episcopalian counterparts Altoug tese Baptists sougt laws recognizing Baptist religious ceremonies and altering Episcopal vestries tey concluded by praying '"for redress of auf grievances, & tat no law may pass, to connect te " Ib'd 1 2: In is closing paragraps Burg acknowledged te unconven tlonal caracter of is views, observing tat "(mlost minds are too wtak to disengage temselves from te prejudi«:s of tdueolion and fasio,," and tat "[mjost people ate te trouble of groping to te bottom of Ie well" Ibid, 2: Cenainly it is difficult 10 ' lld oter allli~tabllsrnent writers wo advocaled separation One wo' came close was I e ' Rev Jon Hlidrop_a di, " ",,,", " A', ng can-w 0 compared curc and state 10 parallellmes Hlldrop argued tat sacred and dvil power sould be "independent - and in te course of makin, tis relaf I' ' d Ive y convenllonal argument, e responded to te objection ~:~r:~:n eindc"~t curc would amount to an "Imperium in Imperio" He wrote: "A _ bso utely mdependem of Ie State, in Tings evtl as well as sacred would indeed """ St'l1mg up one Powrr and G ' ttrferlng; wic wlto t do b ovemment WItm anoter, perpetually dasing and insamd and dvil Pow u u I, ~ould produce noting but confusion But wilst te n Unes tat nev" ":~m "'," ",' 'rl teir proper Cannels tey will be like two parallel, ee or me ere bular rf I oter" Hildrop suggested tat c ' e pc ecty cons15tent and assistant to eac,,y sould be """r"',l' 'ro urc and state sould never "meet" but even e tougt - nslstent - and "assista t - T _ ;n ti Ufltr 10 a Friend (10 'd' 11' e,h/tmplofteclerfiyco1lsidtrtd Graam,usedlanguagesugg t" ; on 1:)9) Similarly, a Scottis minister, William sion Curc attacked te in,oes,:e o sepafratl~~ In 1792 tis minister in te United Seces """rallon 0 reglous societ" potation would necessarily conv S 'al ic"s on I e assumpllon tai incor- "l1le ADVANTAGES wic wo"'d" ""', f pnvlleges In making tis argument, e wrote:, resu t rom a total d' are gr(al ulliwrsa/ and laslin,' y, lsengagemem of Curc and State, e e seems to 1ve bee f ' of ea:lesiastlcal auain from ', ro n re ernng to a total subtraction nsijiuiions of dvil SOd I between curc and state Graam A Revi el es rater tan a separallon 209 (Windam, Conn: 1808) ' rw of Ecc/wast/cal Btab'ismenu in Europt 198 Separation, Purity, and Anticlrricalism 59 curc, & State in te future" 611 In ligt of teir specific requests it may be doubted weter tey considered te potential implications of a disconnection Tey probably were merely responding to conventional fears of an illicit connection or union-te sort of connection tat amounted to an establisment Noneteless, tis Baptist petition reveals ow already in te eigteent century Americans could begin to conceive of disestablisment as a rejection of all connection between curc and state Altoug few Englismen or Americans appear to ave demanded separation of curc and state during te late eigteem cemury, an eminent Frenc intellectual, te Marquis de Condorcet briefly adopted a version of te idea In 1785, in is editorial notes on Voltaire Condorcet wrote a little essay on religious liberty in wic e observed: '"Te interest of te princes was not to seek to regulate religion, but to Mt;morial of Ministers of tt; Ministers, & Messengt;r5 of tt; St;veral Baptist Curces in Virginia (Nov ), Virginia Slate Ubrary Ricmond, microfilm, Misc Ms 425 T~ Baptisls met at a time wt;n tey assumed tey ad obtained teir freedom from te most severe injustices of an establismem and ad only a few minor Issut;s to address On suc assumptions in 1782, tey ad voted to disband teir Gent;ral Association after teir next annual meeting and tereafter to entrust teir work for religious Iibeny to a committee or standing sentinel for political purposes Roben B Semple, A Hislory of f~ Riu and ProgrtsS of Ie Baptis/ in Virginia 67 (Ricmond: 1810) Altoug I~ and oter Virginia BaptiSts continued to work for religious freedom, none of tem apparently in te eigteent century again demanded Iat curc and Siale be disconnected Inddentally, tere Is reason to believe tat te fonner members olte General Association soon realized tat teir fau178) memorial net:ded some correction In te 1783 document tey ad generalized tat laws sould not conneo curc and slate At Ie same tfmt;, Iey ad indicated a desire to sare te same privileges-te same representation in vestries and te same legal autorization to conduct marriages-as enjoyed by Episcopalians Tis openness to saring legislated privileges wit Episcopalians was likely to seem quite incompatible wit any conception of disconnecting curc and state It even was at odds wit te Baptlsl5' usual requests for a full equality of rigts, let alone teir more severe demands for no laws taking cognizan«: of religion Terefore, t~ Baptists ad reason to worry tat bot te generalities and te delails of teir rail 1783 memorial con Iradicted tdr usual antiestablisment demands Suc a reevaluallon became evidt;nt In May 1784, wen members of te former General Baptist Assoctation reassembled and petitioned on«: again against te vestry and marriage laws 10 telr new document tey dropped bot teir condemnation of laws connecting curc and state and teir demand for sared privileges In panlcular after referring 10 te earlier pelitiolls of Baptists, tt;y told te legislature tat on account of te inequality of te vestry law tt;y wanted It rept;aled, and tat as marriage -is In our esteem, but a evil contract" tey desired to ave it entrusted to local justices Memorial of Baptist Assoctation Mel at Noel's Meeting House, May (May 26t, 1784), Virginia State Ubrary microfilm, Misc Ms 425

60 Late Eigrtmt Ctntury Religious Libtny separate religion from te State, to leave to te priests te freedom of sacraments, censures, ecclesiastical functions; but not to give any evil effect to any

22 60 Late Eigrtmt Ctntury Religious Libtny separate religion from te State, to leave to te priests te freedom of sacraments, censures, ecclesiastical functions; but not to give any evil effect to any of teir deasions, not to give tem any influence over marriages or over birt or deat certificates; not to allow tem to intervene in any civil or political act; and to judge te lawsuits wic would arise, between tem and te citizens, for te temporal rigts relating to teir functions, as one would decide te similar lawsuits tat would arise between te members of a free assoaation, or between tis association and private individuals" u Condorcet's teory of separation seems to ave made little impression upon is countrymen during te remaining years of te eigteent century, wen France was convulsed by its Revolution, but e introduced to Frenc intellectuals a concept wit wic tey would eventually provoke a papal response-a reaction tat would be felt as far away as America 7CI More immediately, an American in Paris, Tomas Paine, came close to advocating separation of curc and state wen e condemned ~[t)e adulterous connection of curc and state Paine borrowed te concept from Cristian teology, but e gave it a more radical context and a more radical meaning In 1794 in is Age of Reason, Paine took aim at establisments and, more broadly, te clergy, teir power, and te impurity of teir creeds, wic e blasted in radical Protestant and enligt- " t~ Frenc, ~ wrot:: "l'inu'rct drs princes a done nt non d~ c~rcer 110 rtgl~r la religion mats de ~pare r Ia regi~n de l'etat, de laisser aux pretr~s la Iibre disposition drs sacremens, des censures, des ionctlons «c!c!siastiques; mais de ne donner aurun elfect evil a aurune de leurs decisions, de ne I~ur donner aurun~ innu~nce sur Irs mariages sur Irs aaes qui COl15t~tmt loll mon ou \a naissancr; de ne point souffrir qu'ils imervien:nem dans aucun act~ CIvil ou politique & ur ' ' de, 0" r, es proces qui ", s d veralem entre eux & 1es dtoyens, po d~ ~r?iis lempords relaufs ii leurs fonctions, comme on di'dderailles proc semb[a' bles qui s cleveralent entre [es m~mbres d'un~ as 'o o ' b "_ des nkur " Ot n 1 re, ou entre cene a»v'-",non pa en IIlm Compietn dr VO/laiTt, 18: 476 (Paris: 1784) In te ninet~enl cen,'""',!ls n~t~ was republised under te title 'Sur ['interet des princes a serurer la reli,lo, e 'Etat," m Otuvrn dt Co de 5,- vie K I n rctl, (Pans: 1847) For a discussion of Condoreet',,"'d '''' d,ar Rot enbucer, Oil Trtnnung von Staal und Kircl, 72 (Munk: 1908), n 1 ute orm, ~ version of some Writin about b ' sue r ~tonc reaced America already In te 179OS tat is,grelig!oussu ~::r:n~~~~~ct to wic o~inions could not be bas~d on te sensesy argued tat III order to live in peace and armony wt must consent not to pronounce upo b ' must draw a line of d n sue $U jtcls, or to annex to t~m imponance; we emaranon dween suc as ca be 'fi d d separat~ by an invlolabl b n ven e and suc as cannot, an tat is to say ali dvll,"~ arrier ~e world of fantastic beings from te wor[d of realities:, ~~ must UI;C taken away from t,, ' C F Voln~y, Te Rulru' OT a Su ~ Qglca and religious OpiOlons 1822) rvty ofim vcluoru of Em-pITn, (1791 ; Albany: Separation, Purity, and Anticlericalism 6' enment fasion as uman inventions He rejected all distinct religions, including Cristianity, on bealf of a universal deistical fait in uman reason, wic, e believed, would lead to a secular millennium-te so-called ~ag e of reason," For Paine, te connection of curc and stale was te means by wic curces (weter te "Jewis curc," te "Roman curc," or te "Greek curc") ad enlisted te power of government to suppress doubts about te trut of teir doarines Terefore, a revolution in government was necessary to end te "adulterous connection ~ of curc and state and bring about a revolution in religion: Soon after I ad publised te pampler Common Sense, in America, I saw te exceeding probability tat a revolution in te system of government would be followed by a revolution in te system of religion Te adullerous connection of curc and state, werever it ad taken place weter Jewis, Cristian, or Turkis, ad so effectually proibited, by pains and penalties, every discussion upon establised creeds and upon first principles of religion, tat until te system of government sould be canged tose subjects could not be brougt fairly and openly before te world; but wenever tis sould be done a revolution in te system of religion would follow Human inventions and priestcraft would be detected, and man would return to te pure, unmixed, and unadulterated belief of one God, and no more Like religious dissenters, Paine assumed tat te American Revolution would destroy "rtje adulterous connection of curc and state" Yet, unlike te dissenters, e also oped tat Americans would ten cal lenge all clergies and creeds and would tereby so completely alter te caracter of religion as to bring conventional Cristianity to an end In condemning "[tle adulterous connection: Paine clearly demanded disestablisment, but e is unlikely to ave felt qualms about te possibility tat is language would be interpreted more broadly Certainly, is individualism and is deism left im indifferent to all sons of connections between curc and state and even ostile to wat ordinarily were considered curces Paine declared: "My own mind is my own curc," for "it is necessary to te appiness of man, tat e be mentally faitful to imself Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving; it consists in professing to believe wat e does not believe 71 Earlier, in teir struggle for religious liberty, dissenters ad al-, Tomas Paine, Te Agr of Reason, 2-3 (1794; Exton, Pa: Wei Water Publications, 1992)

23 62 LA/t Eigtlt!nt-Cmtury Rtfigious Libtrty ready argued tat eac individual ad a rigt and even a duty to (OnrOnn to is own belief-te duty bem& to te Almigty and by extension, to te individual and is future appiness On tis basis dissenters claimed tat if an individual deferred to te coerdon or emoluments of any dvil government e failed to adere to is own beliefs Some radically anticlerical Protestants took tis argument furter olding tat even if an individual merely deferred to te uman creed of a curc e gave up is individual liberty of belief and reduced is fait to a ypocritical confonnity Drawing upon tis eritage (and reveajing ow conceptions of religious Iibeny were saping notions of religion), Paine and growing numbers of Protestants concluded tat religion not only required but largely consisted of being "mentally faitful'" to oneself Wit suc views Paine felt tat not only civil government but also curces, clergy, and teir uman creeds treatened religion and individual freedom, and e terefore welcomed, in addition to disestablisment, te diminution of clerical opinion and influence Yet weter e went so far wen e condemned "(tje adulterous connection of curc and state "" or weter e merely rejected establisments remains unclear Undoubtedly, is prase al1uded to establisments, but it did not necessarily refer to all types of curc-state connections Troug its context and lone, owever, Paine's Frenc encomium of reason could easily be read wit some breadt, and, at least in tis way, it came muc nearer to a demand for separation tan most oter American critiques of religious establisments A~ter te publication of Paine's Age of Reason, some petitioncrs in Vtrglflla ecoed te bold tone of Paine's anticlerical retoric and even is condemnation of te ""adulterous connection"" In te mid-1790s te Epi~copal Curc in Virginia was no longer establised, but it owned vanous glebe lands, wic ad been given to it by te colonjal govern ~ent and to a lesser extent, by individual donors Baptists and Presbytena~ s resentcd tat te Episcopalians continued to enjoy tis benefit of telf earer establisment d f an t efe are tese former dissenters petilioned te House of Delegates to autorize te sale of te glebe lands and t~e use of te proceeds for public purposes, suc as te reduction of pans poor rates 7 ) Teir petitions tended to adopt Paine's audadous 11 Tomas E Budr:ley, "Evangelicals Trlum, Glees, " Wil/ia M P am Te Bapllsts Assault on te Virginia, m aryquart"ly, 45: 33 (1988) Separation, Pun'ty, and Antidrricalism 63 style of writing, and one 1795 petition-from te parisioners of King William Paris in te coumies of Powatan and Cesterfield-deplored te adulterous connection Complaining about te Episcopal Curc's acquisition of its glebes, tis petition regretted tat in colonial times, "troug te adulterous connection between Curc and State, te impositions of king craft and priest crafl ceris'd and supported eac otec7) Like Paine tese petitioners did not clearly condemn all connections between curc and state Yet, in ligt of te 1783 Baptist petition, wic more certainl y condemned au connections, tis 1795 petition from King William Paris may peraps suggest some continuity in seeking a freedom at least close to a separation between curc and state Tus James Burg, te Marquis de Condorcet and (on at least one occasion) te General Assodation of Separate Baptists in Virginia advocated versions of separation, but tey apparemly failed to persuade many of teir contemporaries to adopt any suc idea American religious dissenters were not sy about demanding teir freedom Vigorous insislent, and well organized, tey wrote incessantly about teir religious liberty and created a igly successful popular movement to acieve tis end Accordingly, if te separation of curc and state ad been one of teir demands, onc would expect to find tis prindple discussed repeatedly in teir writings Yet amid undreds upon undreds of dissenting petitions, sermons, pamplets, newspaper essays, letters, and memoranda, te idea of separation remains quite elusive Even in Virginia, were Baplists in 1783 urged te legislature not to connect curc and state, tey did not again make suc a demand in teir petitions, even during te great antiestablisment struggle of 1784 and 1785 Accordingly, wat is st riking is not tat some Europeans and Americans occa Sionally supported a separation between curc and state or someting like it, but rater tat dissemers, including American dissenters, clearly did not make separation one of teir demands From a twenty-first-century perspective te difficulty of locating advocates of separation may seem puzzling It may seem particularly odd tat one cannot identify American religious dissenters wo made suc n Pctilioll of a numixo:r of te parisioners of King William Paris in Ie Counties of Powalan and Ctslemcld (Nov 24, 1795), Virgini:l Slate Ubrary, mlcrofitm, Misc Ms 425

64 tall Eigttent-Ctntury Rdigious Libtrty demands Yet tis sould ardly be a surprise American religious dissenters distrusted dvil establisments of religion, but tey were unlikely to embrace a

24 64 tall Eigttent-Ctntury Rdigious Libtrty demands Yet tis sould ardly be a surprise American religious dissenters distrusted dvil establisments of religion, but tey were unlikely to embrace a position tat also seemed to evince ostility toward curces and teir clergy_ Accordingly notwitstanding te entusiasm of a few intellectuals in Europe and te brief suppon of onc group of Baptists in Virginia in 1783, it is difficult to find dissenting denominations or even many individuals in America prior to 1800 wo clearly advocated te separation of curc and state 2 Accusations of Separation SEPARATION first appeared in popular American debates about religious liberty not as a demand but as an accusation As already seen, a few somewat anticlerical intellcduals ad sougt versions of separation of curc and state Accordingly it may be tougt tat in te late eigteent century wen evangelical dissenters were engaged in teir dramatic struggle against te establisment of religion in some American states, tey may ave demanded a separation of curc and state Yet tey typically did not do so On te contrary, in te late eigteentcentury controversies over religious libeny it was te advocates of establisments wo alluded to a sort of separation-te separation of religion and government-and fo llowing te example of Ricard Hooker, tey treated separation as an accusation In te contest over religious establisments disputants on bot sides gave in to teir worst fea rs and attributed extreme positions to teir opponents-separation being only one of tese slu rs From te dissenting side came te accusation tat te establisment curces ~u nit ed" or "blended" curc and state-an allegation powerfully suggestive of papal oppression It was an accusation deeply resented by establisment ministers wo pointed o ut tat teir tolerant establisments were merely alliances between distind civil and religious bodiescurc and state being closely affiliated but different institutions L In, In latr eigteentcentury England and America, establisments were ever less fre quently defended as a combination or blend of curc and Slate for, by te early eigteent century, William warbunon and OIers ad developed te alternative teory of an alliance Warbunon's rounterimuitive defense of establisment privileges rejectcrltr

9.0 VICTORY THROUGH THE WORD The What, Why, and How of Scripture

56 9.0 VICTORY THROUGH THE WORD Te Wat, Wy, and How of Scripture imprint memorize All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teacing, for reproof, for correction, for training in rigteousness;