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Church & State, Apr 2003 by Boston, Rob

Long Before Madison And Jefferson Gave Us Church-State Separation, Roger Williams Fought For 'Soul Liberty'

In 1635, Roger Williams was appointed to pastoral duties at the local church in Salem, Mass. Williams, a Puritan preacher who had fled religious persecution in England, was already unpopular in Boston for rebuking civil authorities who seized lands owned by Native Americans, but he promptly waded into another controversy.

Massachusetts' General Court, the governing authority at the time, required all males over the age of 16 to swear an oath of allegiance to the king of England, ending with "so help me, God."

Most people didn't see a problem with that. Williams did. To him, the state's use of God's name in a civil oath was far from innocuous. What about the atheists, he argued? Would they be forced to take the oath as well?

"A magistrate ought not to tender an oath to an unregenerate man," insisted Williams. Doing so, he contended, would force the non-believer "to take the name of God in vain."

Williams' stand irked civil authorities. That was bad enough, but he didn't stop there. He announced that civil officials should have no authority in religious matters. Williams asserted that government officials should stick to enforcing the "second tablet" of the Ten Commandments, which deals mainly with non-religious offenses such as murder, lying and stealing, and leave enforcement of the "first tablet," which lists religious decrees, to the clergy.

Such views were more than just unusual in mid-17th century America - they were heretical. On July 8, 1635, Williams was summoned before the General Court, warned that his views were "erroneous and very dangerous" and basically told to shut up.

Williams did the opposite. In a series of letters to church officials in Boston, he protested his treatment at the hands of the General Court and continued to spread his "erroneous" opinions, daring to assert that his views on religion should be of no importance to the state. On Oct. 9, he was called before the General Court again. There were to be no more warnings.

Declared the Court, "Whereas Mr. Roger Williams, one of the elders of the church at Salem, hath broached & divulged diverse new & dangerous opinions.... It is therefore ordered, that the said Mr. Williams shall depart out of this jurisdiction within six weeks."

The problem was, other than "this jurisdiction," there were no other settlements in colonial America where Williams could easily relocate. The six weeks came and went, with Williams still in town. Government officials made plans to ship him back to England, by force if necessary.

Williams had other ideas. One January evening he left his wife and two young children behind and fled into the wilderness. Williams, who had spent time among Indians and spoke several of their languages, wintered with some natives until spring. At the headwaters of the Narragansett River, he purchased a plot of land from the Indians. Sending for his wife and children, Williams proclaimed a new settlement. He called it "Providence."

Although no one is really certain when Williams was born, most scholars believe it was sometime in 1603, making this year the 400th anniversary of Williams' birth. In Rhode Island, the state Williams founded, celebrations and observances are under way. It's a good time to consider anew the legacy of Roger Williams.

When most Americans think of the great historical figures who pioneered the separation of church and state, men like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison quickly come to mind. Williams was in many ways their spiritual grandfather - and he was much more radical, especially considering the times in which he lived.

"I think it's beyond dispute that he did contribute a great deal to the tradition of religious liberty in this country," said Edwin S. Gaustad, professor emeritus of history at the University of California, Riverside, and author of several books about Williams. "One historian said that the major contribution of Williams is that he stands at the beginning of our history. So the stream grows steadily from the 17th century to the present."

Williams was definitely ahead of his time. The idea of separating religion and government was unthinkable in the 17th century. Although the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay Colony wanted to separate themselves from the Church of England, which they considered corrupt, they had no intention of dividing religion and government.

Puritan Massachusetts was in fact a theocracy. The General Court taxed everyone to fund the Puritan Church. Only church members could vote or hold public office. Blasphemy was a capital offense. Ministers were answerable to government authorities. Residents could be fined, imprisoned or whipped for breaking various religiously inspired laws.

Williams would have none of that in Rhode Island, the state he founded. Gaustad, in his book, Roger Williams: Prophet of Liberty (Oxford University Press, 2001), writes that by 1640 nearly 40 families were living in Providence, and they boldly declared that religious freedom and separation of church and state would be among their guiding principles.