The Virginia Colony, supercessionism, and the origins of whiteness

Abstract

In 1609, the Virginia Company published a series of sermons to garner support for the struggling joint-stock company. This essay analyzes two of these, with special attention to the biblical exegesis used. The two preachers examined, Robert Gray and William Symonds, both employ a hermeneutic of supercessionism—the belief that God’s promises to Israel have been transferred to Christians—to interpret the Bible in ways favorable to the goals of the colonizing power. In particular, supercessionist readings of the call of Abraham and the conquest of the land of Israel depicted in Joshua provide these authors justification for the widespread disenfranchisement and displacement of indigenous peoples and even for outright genocide. While claiming to hold out hope for the conversion of indigenous peoples to the Christian faith, the sermons of the Virginia Company contribute to a version of Christianity of and for white people alone.