Anne Hutchinson and the "Lay Rebellion" against the Clergy

Abstract

H ISTORIANS have traditionally regarded few episodes in early New England history as more significant than Antinomian controversy. David D. Hall has described crisis as struggle for control of Massachusetts, while B. R. Burg asserted that dispute carried colony to the verge of armed conflict. In fact, essentially all historical analyses of Antinomian affair suggest that it extended well beyond mere theological disagreement. Those who supported Anne Hutchinson challenged their ministers' roles as interpreters of Word, rejected man's institutions, and, according to Darrett B. Rutman, opened door to a thrusting aside of all distinctions of birth, wealth, education. In response to this uprising, historians have suggested, ministers concluded that Congregational church order granted too much authority to laity, and they proceeded to reapportion responsibilities within their churches to tip balance in favor of clergy. This lay rebellion thus served as critical factor in motivating elders to snuff out nascent democracy within churches and to initiate, in Hall's words, quiet revolution in development of New England Congregationalism.' A reconsideration of available evidence, however, suggests that lay rebellion against clerical authority within indi-