Why did Henry Dunster Reject Infant Baptism?: Circumcision and the Covenant of Grace in the Seventeenth-Century Transatlantic Reformed Community

In 1653 Henry Dunster, Harvard's first President, refused to baptise his fourth child, initiating a controversy that would end in his resignation from the Harvard presidency in October 1654. This article offers an explanation for Dunster's rejection of infant baptism by re-examining the ca...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Macfarlane, Kirsten 1991- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Cambridge Univ. Press 2021
In: The journal of ecclesiastical history
Year: 2021, Volume: 72, Issue: 2, Pages: 323-351
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Dunster, Henry 1609-1659 / Holyoke, Edward 1586-1660 / Tombes, John 1603-1676 / England / New England / Infant baptism / Reformed theology / Divine covenant
IxTheo Classification:KAH Church history 1648-1913; modern history
KBF British Isles
KBQ North America
KDD Protestant Church
NBP Sacramentology; sacraments
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:In 1653 Henry Dunster, Harvard's first President, refused to baptise his fourth child, initiating a controversy that would end in his resignation from the Harvard presidency in October 1654. This article offers an explanation for Dunster's rejection of infant baptism by re-examining the causes behind the spread of antipaedobaptism across 1640s England and New England, attributing special significance to the Anglophone reception of continental European covenant theology. Supporting this account, it presents an annotated edition of a previously unknown item in Dunster's correspondence, a letter sent to him by a concerned onlooker just months after his heterodoxy became public.
ISSN:1469-7637
Contains:Enthalten in: The journal of ecclesiastical history
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1017/S0022046920002572