This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: • This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. • A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. • This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. • The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. • When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. ‘By prophesying to the wind, the wind came and the dry bones lived’: John Eliot’s Puritan Ministry to New England Indians By Do Hoon Kim (Th.B., M.Div., S.T.M.) A Thesis Submitted to New College, the School of Divinity of the University of Edinburgh, for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2012 0 Table of Contents Table of Contents ………………………………………………………………... i Declaration ……………………………………………………………………..... iv Abstract …………………………………………………...................................... v Acknowledgement ………………………………………………………............. vii Abbreviations ………………………………………………………..................... ix Part One. Re-Locating John Eliot Chapter One. Historiographical Introduction and a Proposition for a New Perspective …………………........................................................ 2 1.1. Previous Research on John Eliot ……………………………………………. 4 1.2. John Eliot and Puritan ‘Mission’: An Argument for a New Perspective …… 16 1.2.1. Traditional Understanding of ‘Mission’ in relation to Seventeenth- Century Puritans …….......................................................................... 16 1.2.2. ‘Mission’: Historical and Theological Interpretations ……………….. 21 1.3. Methodology, Structure, and Resources ……………………….................... 25 Chapter Two. Puritan Migration, Millenarianism, and Indian Conversion: Re-envisioning the Motives for John Eliot’s Indian 33 Ministry ……………………………………………………………………….. 2.1. The Great Migration and Indian Conversion ……………………………….. 34 2.2. Millenarianism, Indian Origins, and Indian Conversion ……………………. 46 2.2.1. John Eliot and the Millennium ……………………………………….. 48 2.2.2. Indian Origins and Indian Conversion ……………………………….. 56 2.3. Conclusion …………………………………………………………………... 68 Chapter Three. The Historical and Theological Background of Seventeenth-Century Puritan Ministry in Old and New 71 England in relation to the Motives for Indian Ministry ………...... 3.1. A Ministry Oriented towards Conversion and Reformation ………………. 79 3.1.1. Puritan Understanding of Conversion and Soteriology ……………... 80 3.1.2. Conversion, Ministry, and Reformation .……………………………. 91 i 3.2. Puritan Ministry and Pastoral Teaching and Care …………………………. 95 3.2.1. Puritan Pastoral Teaching and the Word of God ……………………. 95 3.2.2. Puritan Pastoral Care: Counselling and Spiritual Direction ………… 106 3.2.3. Pastoral Training for Pastors ………………………………………... 108 3.3. Puritan Ministry and the Reformed Practice of Piety ……………………… 110 3.4. Conversion, Reformation, and the Motives for Indian Ministry …………... 121 3.5. Conclusion …………………………………………………………………. 127 Part Two. John Eliot and the Indians Chapter Four. Praying Towns and Indian Churches ……………... 131 4.1. Praying Towns ……………………………………………………………... 133 4.1.1. ‘Civility’ and ‘Religion’: the Purpose of the Towns ………………. 135 4.1.2. Biblicism and Millenarianism: the Ideological Foundations of the Towns ……………………………………………………………….. 141 4.2. Indian Churches …………………………………………………................. 148 4.2.1. John Eliot’s Congregational Ecclesiology …………………………... 150 4.2.2. The Establishment of the Congregational Indian Churches ………… 156 4.3. Conclusion …………………………………………………………………. 165 Chapter Five. John Eliot’s Practice of Indian Ministry ………….. 167 5.1. Pastoral Teaching and Care ……………………………………………….. 168 5.1.1. Pastoral Teaching and the Word of God …………………………….. 168 5.1.2. Puritan Pastoral Care: Counselling and Spiritual Direction ………… 183 5.1.3. Pastoral Education for Indian Pastoral Leaders……………………... 186 5.2. Praying Indians’ ‘Praying to God’: Indian Practice of Piety ………………. 189 5.3. Conclusion …………………………………………………………………. 199 Chapter Six. Conversion Narratives and Indian Expression of Christianity ………………………………………………………………… 201 6.1. Puritans on Conversion in Conversion Narratives ………………………... 207 6.2. Praying Indians on Conversion in Conversion Narratives ……………….. 221 ii 6.3. Conclusion ………………………………………………………………... 235 Chapter Seven. Conclusion ……………………………………………… 237 Bibliography ………………………………………………………………… 245 iii Declaration I hereby declare that I have composed this Ph.D. thesis by my own personal and independent study, and that it has not been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification. Do Hoon Kim 2012 iv Abstract John Eliot (1604-1690) has been called ‘the apostle to the Indians’. This thesis looks at Eliot not from the perspective of modern Protestant ‘mission’ studies (the approach mainly adopted by previous research) but in the historical and theological context of 17th century puritanism. Drawing on recent research on migration to New England, the thesis argues that Eliot, like many other migrants, went to New England primarily in search of a safe haven to practise pure reformed Christianity, not to convert Indians. Eliot’s Indian ministry started from a fundamental concern for the conversion of the unconverted, which he derived from his experience of the puritan movement in England. Consequently, for Eliot, the notion of New England Indian ‘mission’ was essentially conversion-oriented, Word- centred, and pastorally focussed, and (in common with the broader aims of New England churches) pursued a pure reformed Christianity. Eliot hoped to achieve this through the establishment of Praying Towns organised on a biblical model – where preaching, pastoral care and the practice of piety could lead to conversion – leading to the formation of Indian churches composed of ‘sincere converts’. The thesis starts with a critical historiographical reflection on how missiologists deploy the term ‘mission’, and proposes a perspectival shift for a better understanding of Eliot (Chapter 1). The groundwork for this new perspective is laid by looking at key themes in recent scholarship on puritanism, focusing on motives for the Great Migration, millenarian beliefs, and the desire for Indian conversion (Chapter 2). This chapter concludes that Indian conversion and millenarianism were not the main motives for Eliot’s migration to the New World, nor were his thoughts on the millennium an initial or lasting motive for Indian ministry. Next, the thesis investigates Eliot’s historical and theological context as a minister, through the ideas of puritan contemporaries in Old and New England, and presents a new perspective on Eliot by suggesting that conversion theology and pastoral theology were the most fundamental and lasting motives for his Indian ministry (Chapter 3). After the first three chapters, which relocate Eliot in his historical context, the last three chapters consider Eliot’s pastoral activities with the Indians. These have usually been understood as ‘mission’, without sufficient understanding of Eliot’s historical and v theological context in the puritan movement and how he applied its ideas to Indian ministry. The thesis examines Eliot’s views on ‘Praying Towns’ as settlements for promoting civility and religion, and ‘Indian churches’ as congregations of true believers formed by covenant (Chapter 4). It investigates Eliot’s activities in the Indian communities, to apply puritan theology and ministerial practice to the Indians as his new parishioners (Chapter 5). Finally, the thesis offers a comparison of puritan and Indian conversion narratives, to try to recover Praying Indians’ own voices about conversion and faith (Chapter 6). This analysis finds both similarities and differences. The extent of the similarities does not necessarily mean (as some have alleged) that puritanism was unilaterally imposed on the Indians. The evidence equally well suggests a nuanced picture of Eliot’s engagement with the Indians from the perspective of 17th century puritanism and its conversion-oriented parish ministry. vi Acknowledgement I would like to confess that my thesis is absolutely from the abundant grace of God and acknowledge my deep thanks for the varieties of unforgettable help from many individuals, schools, and churches. First of all, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Dr. Susan Hardman Moore, my supervisor, with the deepest respect. I appreciate her splendid academic knowledge, insight, guidance, and care, not only as an excellent puritan scholar, but also as a mentor and teacher with a warm caring heart for her students. Without her help and support, I could not have finished my dissertation. I also thank Professor David Fergusson, my second supervisor, who has provided me significant scholarly insights and advice, as well as an example as a fine scholar. Also, I would like to thank my external and internal examiners for my thesis, Professor Crawford Gribben and Professor Jane Dawson. It was a great honour for me to meet these excellent scholars as my examiners. My thanks should also go to the scholars and teachers that I have met during my nine years of