wrote about a sermon<\/a> on the death of children delivered by Cotton Mather the very day of his daughter\u2019s death. Joseph Rowlandson also preached in the middle hour of his grief.<\/p>\nTen days after the raid, at Boston\u2019s Old South church, he took as his text Deuteronomy 7:9: \u201cKnow therefore that the\u00a0Lord\u00a0thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations.<\/p>\n
John Hull, a leading Boston merchant and the colony\u2019s treasurer during the war, took copious notes on sermons, and the Massachusetts Historical Society holds several of his sermon notebooks. Hull recorded notes on hundreds of sermons. Collectively, they provide a wonderful glimpse into what Edmund Morgan called \u201cthe weekly Sunday diet of the average Puritan.\u201d [See Morgan, \u201cLight on the Puritans from John Hull\u2019s Notebooks,\u201d New England Quarterly <\/em>15 (March 1942): 95-101.] As Morgan noted, Hull also recorded several \u201cespousal ceremony\u201d sermons, which bound couples who intended to marry.<\/p>\nAmong the hundreds of sermons is Joseph Rowlandson\u2019s of February 20, 1676. Morgan excerpted some key sentences and phrases from Hull\u2019s notes, and I am adding in some additional detail from the manuscript, leaving Hull\u2019s spellings uncorrected but expanding his abbreviations. Hull\u2019s notebooks are a wonderful source. His writing is easy to read, and even the \u201cskeletal\u201d (Morgan\u2019s adjective) are very extensive. They are New England sermons refracted by Hull, and it is impossible without consulting other sources to gain any sense of how congregants received them. Still, at the very least they provide a very extensive window into the thought of Thomas Thacher (Old South\u2019s minister during most of the years in question) and the many other New England ministers who preached there. I consulted the notebooks to track down a sermon delivered by Plymouth Colony\u2019s John Cotton.<\/p>\n
The context of Deuteronomy 7 is that will be faithful to a people that he has redeemed. When Rowlandson reminds the congregation that \u201cthe Israele of god will find it of great use to know that god is faithfull,\u201d he and they presumed that the orthodox settlers of New England are God\u2019s new Israel. He continued: \u201cfaithfulness in god is a glorious essintiale perfection whereby god is true to himselfe & to all that put their trust in him.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Morgan notes, Rowlandson proceeded by syllogisms and a passel of biblical quotation to prove God\u2019s faithfulness. It probably took him a long time to talk through all of the passages.<\/p>\n
Obviously, the faithfulness of God did not exempt his Israel from earthly trials. Far from it. He would sometimes deal \u201cwith them in a castigatory way.\u201d Nevertheless, God remained bound to his people through covenant. \u201cit is a bitter mercy,\u201d Rowlandson allowed, \u201cbut it is a cove[na]nt mercy.\u201d God is always faithful to his people, both when he brings about trials and when he removes them.<\/p>\n
Therefore, Rowlandson contended, \u201cthose that have god for their god cannot be miserable such are happy that have god for their portion whatever evils you meet with.\u201d God\u2019s people should humble themselves \u201cfor any other thoughts that [they] have had of god.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rowlandson such wavering as sinful. They had not been faithful. They had been \u201cunsteady\u201d and \u201cfickle.\u201d Satan sought to undermine their trust in God\u2019s faithfulness. They needed to repent. They needed to cleave to God and to \u201call his instituted worship.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the end, Rowlandson wanted to comfort rather than chastise. The doctrine of God\u2019s faithfulness should be a consolation. God could not be anything other than faithful. \u201che may hide his face,\u201d Rowlandson preached, \u201cbut he cannot goe away utterly from his [people].\u201d \u201cthe creature fails,\u201d he continued, \u201cbut the creatour fails not this may comfort ag[ain]st satans insultations.\u201d Perhaps they felt that everything was presently too hard. \u201cwait a while,\u201d Rowlandson promised, \u201cthe lord will shoot at them [and the lord is he] who never missed his mark.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rowlandson urged the congregation to pray \u201cthat god will give [you] to experience this truth god is never at a stand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unlike Cotton\u2019s reference to his daughter\u2019s death, as far as Hull\u2019s notes reveal, Rowlandson never mentioned his own afflictions or those of New England more generally. In fact, there is no way to know that he chose his topic and theme after the raid. Rowlandson preached at Old South with some frequency; perhaps his prior sermon had taken Deuteronomy 7:8 as his text. Still, it seems reasonable to conclude that Rowlandson had present afflictions in mind.<\/p>\n
When upbraiding those who were unsteady or fickle in their trust, did he have himself in mind? New England ministers were not all rock-solid paragons of faith. Boston\u2019s Increase Mather, for instance, confided to his diary that he endured \u201cHeavy temptations to Atheisme.\u201d It is reasonable to presume that like many ministers, Rowlandson preached to himself.<\/p>\n
He needed comfort. God would not fail. God would punish the wicked. God had hid his face for a time but would not leave his people.<\/p>\n
Rowlandson did not mean that God would make everything work out for those who put their trust in him. He did not know if his wife and children would return to him. (One child died). Rather, God\u2019s promise of protection was not \u201ctemporally\u201d but rather \u201cspiritually & eternally.\u201d A hard truth, and not just in 1676. Still, God\u2019s faithfulness would provide comfort and consolation. God was both sovereign and good.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The most famous chain of events during what Americans came to call King Philip\u2019s War began on February 10, 1676, when Nipmucs, Narragansetts, and Wampanoags attacked the Massachusetts town of Lancaster. About fifty settlers were either killed or taken captive. Of the latter, Mary Rowlandson earned lasting renown with her autobiographical The Sovereignty and Goodness […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1008,"featured_media":36609,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[500,8,128],"tags":[4656,4653,4659],"class_list":["post-36597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-religious-history","category-john-turner","category-puritans","tag-joseph-rowlandson","tag-mary-rowlandson","tag-sovereignty-and-goodness-of-god"],"yoast_head":"\n
The Sovereignty and Goodness of God<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The most famous chain of events during what Americans came to call King Philip's War began on February 10, 1676, when Nipmucs, Narragansetts, and\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2018\/09\/the-sovereignty-and-goodness-of-god\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Sovereignty and Goodness of God\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The most famous chain of events during what Americans came to call King Philip's War began on February 10, 1676, when Nipmucs, Narragansetts, and\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2018\/09\/the-sovereignty-and-goodness-of-god\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Anxious Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-09-13T02:37:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-09-13T14:26:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/168\/2018\/09\/44yw46hjzm-jez-timms.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"314\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"johnturner\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"johnturner\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2018\/09\/the-sovereignty-and-goodness-of-god\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2018\/09\/the-sovereignty-and-goodness-of-god\/\",\"name\":\"The Sovereignty and Goodness of God\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-09-13T02:37:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-09-13T14:26:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/#\/schema\/person\/976685779e3256328b03af5f2c9d69ca\"},\"description\":\"The most famous chain of events during what Americans came to call King Philip's War began on February 10, 1676, when Nipmucs, Narragansetts, and\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2018\/09\/the-sovereignty-and-goodness-of-god\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2018\/09\/the-sovereignty-and-goodness-of-god\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/2018\/09\/the-sovereignty-and-goodness-of-god\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Sovereignty and Goodness of God\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/\",\"name\":\"Anxious Bench\",\"description\":\"The Relevance of Religious History for Today\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/#\/schema\/person\/976685779e3256328b03af5f2c9d69ca\",\"name\":\"johnturner\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/anxiousbench\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f393838d8f979f64dbee7fd63fd8bfdc?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f393838d8f979f64dbee7fd63fd8bfdc?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"johnturner\"},\"description\":\"In the fall of 2012, I will become Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at George Mason University. 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Joseph Rowlandson, Lancaster\u2019s minister, was in Boston at the time of the raid. When he returned, he found his town in ruins and his wife and three children missing. Rowlandson returned to Boston.<\/p>\n