Quiz1

Why did Puritan leaders in mass bay come to consider Williams a threat? What treatment did he suffer for challenging them?
Williams thought all of the government should be removed because it was almost, what Williams had interpreted, what God was telling the people was right. When Williams believed that the error was not his, in a certain situation, he was convinced he was right and he wouldn't back down from anything. They did not want his views to dread throughout the colony. The Puritans saw all this as a threat, therefore they banished him from the colony. He had six weeks to leave but he became ill and couldn't leave so he was not allowed to speak to the public. If he came back once he left he could have been executed.
How did Williams' experiences before coming to mass bay influence his thinking about the relationship between religion and government?
In 1629, William's witnessed King Charles break is promises. his dissolved Parliament and he suppressed all religious and political dissent. At the time, Williams was working as a trusted messenger fro parliamentary leaders. Seeing this turmoil, he didn't trust the government what-so-ever. This 11 year period drove Williams and Winthrop to Massachusetts bay.
What was the relationship between religion and government that Willaims expressed in his pamphlet "The Bloudy Tenent"? How did his position promote the principle of separating church and state?
In "The Bloudy Tenent", Williams rejected the idea that governments received all their authority from God. He also stated that those who abided by God and obeyed him would be rewarded but those who went against what God said would be punished. His position was firm in the idea that God does not help the Government. That's how the church and state were separated.
Explain how historians have differed on interpreting Williams and his impact on American History. 3 examples. Which position is most convincing? Why?
Some historians believe that Williams didn't achieve anything too great because all of his success happened in isolation, in Rhode Island. Other historians say that Williams' justifications for religious freedom were much too derived from the Scripture itself rather than his own thoughts. Vernon Parrington, however, called Williams "primarily a political philosopher rather than a theologian". Also, Perry Miller, thought of him on the religious side and he admired Williams fro "exploring the dark places". I find Miller's view the most convincing because even though he had very religious views, he still put himself out there to see what the world had to offer and to see what he had to offer the world even if he did start off in isolation.
How is the text and reading similar and different on the treatment of Puritan beliefs, Puritan society and religious dissent?
In the text, the Puritans were not very respected and were seen as hypocritical christians because of the way they dressed and their actions. They were desired as neurotic individuals who could not live without sex or alcohol. In the reading, they were still seen as very religious but not as religious but not as hypocrites. In the essay, the Puritans are portrayed in a more positive way.