Beginning
Welcome to Rhode Island, said the sign. It was already one o’clock in the afternoon and we still had to cross the entire state to get to Providence by nightfall. No matter, we were able to cover the distance in 40 minutes flat since the speed limit on Interstate 95 had just been raised to 65. The entire distance was only 44 miles. So, at about twenty minutes till two, we pulled up to The First Baptist Church in America with its 185-foot steeple towering above the city of Providence. We were there to see the old church which had its beginning in 1638 in the living room of Roger Williams
Originally, Roger Williams was a Massachusetts Puritan minister. The Puritans had come to New England to purify the Church of England and find religious liberty. Of course, it wasn’t long before Roger Williams discovered that the liberty the Puritans had in mind would apply only to them and no one else. Williams especially protested against the Puritans for expropriating Native American land without negotiations and for having civil magistrates attempt to enforce the first four of the ten commandments.
Eventually, Williams was tried by the General Court in October 1635 and found guilty of “new and dangerous opinions,” according to Gov. John Winthrop’s account. After being banished from the Massachusetts Colony, Williams was aided in his “sorrowful winter’s flight” by members of the Wampanoag tribe and spent the rest of the winter in the wigwams of Massasoit at present-day Warren, Rhode Island. In 1636, land was given to Williams by his good friends, the Narragansett Indians to establish the town of Providence, Rhode Island. Williams wrote, “I desire it to be for a shelter for persons distressed of conscience,” and “no man should be molested for his conscience.”
In Rhode Island, religious liberty went to women as well as men. To keep her from attending church, Joshua Verin beat his wife Jane so badly that the neighbors heard her screams. Williams wrote that “she went in danger of her life,” and called a town meeting which stripped Joshua of his right to vote until he agreed to permit Jane to worship freely.
Williams welcomed Jews, Quakers, Congregationalists, Anglicans, and the followers of Anne Hutchinson to settle in Rhode Island. To the loathing of some, First Baptist itself welcomed Native Americans to worship with them. It was not that this menagerie of folk did not debate one another, for they did --Williams included. At one time, Roger Williams engaged three Quakers in a tumultuous public debate for four days. Rhode Island was about the right to debate. Indeed, Rhode Island was viewed by many as disrespectable, disreputable --a mess, but free.
William’s conjecture that “forced worship stinks in the nostrils of God” has become the modus operandi of the American church. Rhode Island and The First Baptist Church in America were the experiment that became America. William’s vision of “soul liberty,” individual religious freedom, and separation of church and state were not only to become the basis for what would become the United States Constitution, it also influenced the views of all denominations in America. It all goes back to Christ who invited folk to come to him on the basis of their own free will. If religious faith is not voluntary, it is nothing.
Standing on the balcony of The First Baptist Church in America, I said to Gloria (Mrs. Marple), “You know, I think a lot like this Roger Williams fellow.” She replied, “Well, it’s easy for you; there are a lot of people who agree with you, and you’re not likely to spend the winter out in a snowbank.” Welcome to Rhode Island --welcome; yes, everybody, welcome! By the way, I did take the pulpit for a few minutes; too bad no one was there to listen. Though, perhaps it’s all for the best --I do have some “dangerous opinions.”