Dedication to Anne Hatchinson - Essay Example

She started organizing secret meetings with Bible reading. At first, she invited her female neighbors but later her house sheltered males too. These meetings were even called dissident meetings aimed to criticize and maybe even overthrow the current religion. According to the prosecutor, whose speech is represented in the article, Anne was guilty of the most insolent crime of that time. She dared to doubt the church's interpretation of the Bible which gave her an understanding of it.

A very interesting fact is that Anne considered John Cotton, a local priest, to be her teacher. She valued his sermons and his understanding of religion greatly. He was the true teacher who lit the light of true God’s words to her. However, while she was waiting for support from him since she followed his way of teaching and spreading faith, he turned out to be just a coward and nothing else. She was accused of spreading information that only a few priests truly understood God’s words, and among those was the name of Father Cotton.

After the first session of the trial, Anne was put into prison to think over her decision and actions. In a month she stood before the court again. This time the committee was headed by Father Cotton. He claimed that she was a sinner since she dared to doubt the truthfulness of the Puritan church.

The main idea of the article is to demonstrate that pioneers in any sphere are usually punished and misunderstood. She was the first woman who initiated the feminism school in religion. In those times a woman was considered to be unworthy of teaching Holly Bible, and what is even worse she was teaching men. A woman was demanded only to visit the church and behave as a true Puritan.

Trying to defend herself, Anne explained that there are some obvious mistakes in the Bible. For example, she says that Puritanism gives wrong instructions for salvation. A person can behave not always right, but he will then get to Heaven. Vice versa, being a good Puritan does not guarantee being with God after death. She also maintained that she never spread the idea of criticizing existing religion; she was for the freedom of choice. According to her, a person could interpret Bible as he saw it. Her task was only to teach other people to see the true sense of the words.

The author’s thesis is that there is no right or wrong understanding of the Bible. There are individual approaches and no society can force its opinion to others. “Her meetings were condemned as disorderly “where sixty or more did meet every week, and one woman (… by resolving questions of doctrine, and expounding scripture) took upon her the whole exercise” (Wellington Newcomb, 1974).

In my opinion, Anne Hatchinson was a very energetic and brave woman. She took the risk of opposing the Puritan rules and dared to express her point of view. She was a well-educated and intelligent woman which enabled her to think deeper about the plot of the Bible. She was not a rebel; she was a woman who got to know the falsity of Puritan laws. It does not matter what you wear, what your makeup is and what is your profession. The main thing in life is to have an all-forgiving heart and have only kind motives for any action. The present church allows any interpretation of the Bible as long as it does not undermine the main principles of the church.