RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Williams
WILLIAMS, ROGER: Separatist Anglo-American theologian, advocate of liberty of conscience, and founder of Rhode Island; b. probably in London about 1600 (the date is uncertain; Knowles gives 1599; Waters, 1599-1602; Guild, Dec. 21, 1602; Straus, 1607); d. at Providence, R. I., 1684.
Under the patronage of Sir Edward Early Life; Coke, the famous jurist, he was edu- Removal to cated at Sutton’s Hospital and at the America. University of Cambridge (B.A., 1627). He seems to have had a gift for languages, and early acquired familiarity with Latin, Greek, Dutch, and French, and, during his early years in New England, mastered the language of the natives to a remarkable degree. At an earlier date he gave John Milton lessons in Dutch in exchange for lessons in Hebrew. Some time before the end of 1630 he adopted separatist views and reached the conviction that he could not labor in England under Laud’s rigorous administration. He turned aside from offers of preferment in the university and in the Church, and resolved to seek in New England the liberty of conscience denied him at home. Arriving at Boston (Feb., 1631), he was almost immediately invited to supply the place of the pastor, who was returning to England. But he had found that it was “an unseparated church”’ and he “ durst not officiate to”’ it. He was prompted to give utterance to his conviction, formed no doubt before he left England, that the magistrate may not punish any sort of “breach of the first table,” such as idolatry, Sabbath-breaking, false worship, and blasphemy; and that every individual should be free to follow his own convictions in religious matters. The Salem church, which through intercourse with the Plymouth colonists had imbibed separatist sentiments, invited Williams to become its teacher; but his settlement was prevented by a remonstrance addressed to Governor Endicott by six of the Boston leaders. The Plymouth colony received him gladly as teacher or associate pastor. Here he remained about two years, and, according to Governor Bradford, ‘“ his teaching was well approved.” While there he spent much time among the Indians, his “‘ soul’s desire ”’ being “ to do the natives good.” “God was pleased to give me a painful, patient spirit, to lodge with them in their filthy, smoky holes . . . to gain their tongue.’’ Toward the close of his ministry at Plymouth, according to Brewster, he began to “vent. . . divers of his own singular opinions” and to “seek to impose them upon others.”
Meeting with opposition, Williams removed to Salem (summer of 1633) and became unofficial assistant to Pastor Skelton. In Aug., 1634 (Skelton having died), he became acting pastor and entered almost immediately upon controversies with the Massachusetts authorities that in a few months
were to lead to his banishment. He
Life at was formally set apart as pastor of the Salem; church about May, 1635, in the midst Distinctive of the controversies and against the Views. remonstrance of the Massachusetts authorities. An outline of the issues
raised by Williams and uncompromisingly pressed includes the following: (1) He regarded the Church
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of England as apostate, and any kind of fellowship with it as grievous sin. He accordingly renounced communion not only with this church but with all who would not join with him in repudiating it. (2) He denounced the charter of the Massachusetts Company because it falsely represented the king of England as a Christian, and assumed that he had the right to give to his own subjects the land of the native Indians. He disapproved of ‘‘ the unchris. tian oaths swallowed down” by the colonists “ at their coming forth from Old England, especially in the superstitious Laud’s time and domineering.” He drew up a letter addressed to the king expressing his dissatisfaction with the charter and sought to secure for it the endorsement of prominent colonists. In this letter he is said to have charged King James I. with blasphemy for calling Europe ‘ Christendom ” and to have applied to the reigning king some of the most opprobrious epithets in the Apocalypse. (3) Equally disquieting was Williams’ opposition to the “ citizens’ oath,” which magistrates sought to force upon the colonists in order to be assured of their loyalty. Williams maintained that it was Christ’s sole prerogative to have his office established by oath, and that unregenerate men ought not in any case to be invited to perform any religious act. In opposing the oath Williams gained so much popular support that the measure had to beabandoned. (4) In adispute between the Massachusetts Bay court and the Salem colony regarding the possession of a piece of land (Marblehead) claimed by the latter, the court offered to accede te the claims of Salem on condition that the Salem church make amends for its insolent conduct in installing Williams as pastor in defiance of the court and ministers. This demand involved the removal of the pastor. Williams regarded this proposal as an outrageous attempt at bribery and had the Salem church send to the other Massachusetts churches a denunciation of the proceeding and demand that the churches exclude the magistrates from membership. This act was sharply resented by magistrates and churches, and such pressure was brought to bear upon the Salem church as led a majority to consent to the removal of their pastor. He never entered the chapel again, but held religious services in his own house with his faithful adherents.
The decree of banishment (Oct. 19, 1635, carried into effect Jan., 1636) was grounded on his aggressive and uncompromising hostility to the charter
and the theocracy, and was the imme- Banishment; diate result of the controversy about Settlement atthe Marblehead land. His radical Providence. tenets, involving complete separation
of Church and State and absolute voluntaryism in matters of religion, and his refusal to have communion with any who gave countenance or support to the existing order, made his banishment seem necessary to the theocratic leaders of Massachusetts. He had scarcely recovered from a severe illness contracted during his trial, when it was intimated to him that the authorities were arranging to send him back to England to be dealt with by the Laudian government. Accompanied or followed by a few devoted adherents, he plunged into the wilderness and made his way to
Williams