Sometimes it seems as though life is an endless series of traditions. Every nation, culture, tribe and family engages in a wide variety of traditional and ritualistic behavior. These traditions are passed from generation to generation. Often the original meaning of the tradition is lost and the ritual may change over time, but there is something about repeating a familiar act that is comforting to each of us.
Europe in general and England in particular had largely eliminated religious diversity within Christianity. Each part of Europe had its specific Christian identity, be it Catholic, Lutheran, or Reformed, and England was almost entirely Anglican. These monopolies on religion had developed as Christianity became more and more tied to state functions. By eliminating rivalries both the church leaders and the state leaders could maintain their power.
Minority Christian groups viewed the Colonies as providing ample room for them to take their religion and worship as they chose. Over time English Puritans moved to the Massachusetts area in hope of creating a New England, that is, a society where church and state functioned in harmony to fulfill what God required of the people. Catholics settled in Maryland which was founded by a prominent Catholic. Pennsylvania was established by William Penn and became the home to many Quakers. Anglicans were especially abundant in Virginia. A large group of Lutherans from Austria were forced to leave their homeland about the time that the colony of Georgia was established, so Georgia had a substantial Lutheran population.
With this wide array of denominational beliefs came a wide range of opinions of how the other denominations should be treated. There were those, such as the Puritans in Massachusetts, who felt that they were recreating society in the way God would want it to be and therefore removed those individuals who did not share their religions beliefs. There were others, such as the Quakers of Pennsylvania or the colonies of New Jersey and Rhode Island, who felt that there was a strong need for religious liberty. There were still others, such as the Anglicans of Virginia, who attempted to import wholesale the denominational structure of their mother country.
William Penn wrote that there was liberty of conscience for each person to decide his or her religious obligations, and “worship toward God, must not be denied, even by those that are most scandalized at the ill use some seem to have made of such pretense.” About the same time Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, felt outrage when Massachusetts hanged four Quakers and Williams sent a strong letter to the Massachusetts governor when three Baptists were arrested resulting in one being publicly whipped. Williams wrote, “Sir, I must be humbly bold to say that ‘tis impossible for any man or men to maintain their Christ by their sword”.
The Puritan vision of a state structured by religion was in constant conflict with the vision of religious tolerance and freedom (at least within the boundaries of Christianity) that was held by colonies to the south of Massachusetts. The Puritans felt that Christianity overall had become corrupted; this corruption had affected European schools, the Catholic Church, and even the Church of England. The puritans felt that in order to recreate the true church Christ had planted, they needed to cut themselves off from these corrosive influences and from the untrue Christians who would try to infiltrate their society.
At the same time, the very diversity the Quakers of Pennsylvania and other Colonial Christians chose to embrace caused tension within their communities. Pastor Muhlenberg, a Lutheran minister in Pennsylvania, tells the story of a woman who had been baptized a Lutheran at the age of 9 who wished to be baptized into the Baptist church. The Baptist minister had told her that she would not be a Baptist congregant if she was not baptized into the Baptist church. The woman’s husband objected to the minister’s reasoning, and so the couple called Pastor Muhlenberg in to confer with him. He stated that the woman should absolutely not be baptized again, but that he had no objection to the Baptist minister receiving her as a communicant. This is one example of the tension caused by the liberty of conscience again, wrong word.
Pennsylvania’s neighbor to the south, Virginia, never developed the same kind of conflict between differing Christian groups that developed in New England. Virginia, like Massachusetts, was founded with the idea of having an exclusive church-state relationship; the church of Virginia would be the Church of England. Virginia did not welcome in a plurality of beliefs as did Pennsylvania. In fact, in 1641 enacted a statute forbidding Catholics from holding any kind of political position. However, Virginia avoided the kinds of religious conflicts encountered in Massachusetts because of its size. The Anglican Communion imported a parish model hierarchy; in a place as large and spread out as Virginia the parishes became so large that it was difficult for one priest to care for his parish. This inability to organize seemed to keep much conflict from erupting.
Ultimately, much of the tension between those who promoted and those who denigrated the idea of liberty of conscience was due to the traditions the different groups had brought with them from Europe. The Quakers had a tradition which allowed for God to speak to each individual; therefore, individuals could coexist even if there was disagreement over the details of Christianity. The Puritans of New England brought a tradition that combined a strict faith with a need to yoke together church and state; this tradition put them in conflict with many of their colonial neighbors. The Anglicans of Virginia had difficulties because of the parish organizational tradition they brought with them. Virginia was too big a land and the people were too spread out for there to be an effective parish network. Each of these groups had found their “Elbow Room” but their need to maintain their traditions was causing conflict.
Over time these traditions would change and some of these traditions would be cast aside; but as the colonists were entering a frightening new world to explore and settle there was something about repeating a familiar act, a tradition, that comforted them and helped them to rely on God.
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