Anne Hutchison — Proto-Federal Visionist

The recent excitement has really put my blogging schedule behind; I didn’t expect such a rise from the FVists after they made it a point to ignore me because I am not credible. Just consider it one more shift in the FV camp.

Be that as it may, I want to return to a post from Dr. Clark that I highlighted once before. It’s titled “Nicotine Theological Journal 11.4” and it offers a few zingers from church historian Dr. Darryl Hart about the Federal Vision. Here’s another quote that piqued my interest:

All the FV seems to have is Ann Hutchinson’s desire for spiritual counsel and biblical instruction free from ecclesiastical control.

Of course, Anne Hutchinson was a proto-Christian feminist Bible teacher who gathered quite a following as she undermined the Church’s authority. This fact alone makes Dr. Hart’s comparison hilarious. But this is the punch line: Ann Hutchinson denied the Covenant of Works. Now that’s funny.

But life didn’t end well for Anne Hutchinson. In 1637 a civil court declared her guilty of “traducing the ministers” (here’s a link to the definition of “traduce” for you monkey boys; look it up and be thankful the State can’t do that anymore). The state punished her by banishing her from the colony “as being a woman not fit for our society” and in 1638 the church followed suit by excommunicating her. And in 1643 Anne Hutchison died a bloody death at the hands of Mahican Indians in New York, though historians have discovered no evidence to suggest that the Church prayed imprecations for savages to bury hatchets in her skull.

Thank you.