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Was Roger Williams a Separatist?

A deep-dive article by Michael Alan Prestwood.

First, the key idea of the article:

Roger Williams was a colonial separatist. He advocated for separating from the Church of England.

The core takeaway concept is this:

If you use the modern definition of separatist that includes intolerance of others, then Roger Williams was not a separatist. Furthermore, he supported all people living, and working together in the same community for the common good. Sometimes people forget the context of the time and conflate his desire to separate from the Church of England run by the government with the separatist movement based on races. I think some with a desire to promote white supremacy do this on purpose.

Now, the article.

Was Roger Williams a Separatist?

Was Roger Williams a separatist? The short answer is yes if your definition is the 17th century separatist movement which wanted to separate from the Church of England. “Separatism” in his time primarily referred to religious and church-state separation rather than the broader, sometimes racial or ethnic, connotations it has today.

I think it is fair to say Roger was a Protestant from a young child, he was ordained a Protestant Anglican Minister in 1629 in London, England, and became a separatist by the time he left England for the Massachusetts Bay Colony arriving in February 1631. In 1639 he completely separated from the Protestant religion when he became a seeker. He briefly converted to baptism and founded the first baptist church in America. His role in founding the first Baptist church in America was part of a broader spiritual journey that saw him advocating for religious freedom beyond any single denominatio

That Roger Williams FAQ,

was first published on TST 3 months ago.