Pilgrims and the American Church Part 1
Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation, insomuch as it is an account of the first half century of Pilgrim colonization of the Massachusetts area, is a history of the religious establishment and foundation of organized Christianity within the New World. As a religious history, great care is made to construct a history of the Pilgrim movement as the true Kingdom of God. Bradford applies the traditional Christian history of the early church: martyrdoms, fight against heresy, persecution, war, perseverance of the Saints, etc. specifically to the Pilgrim movement that began in England during the Reformation. The overlaying of traditional Christian history onto this sect of Christianity reframed the themes of Christian history. The Pilgrim history changes the Christian narrative from being a struggle against the world to being a struggle within and against Christianity for the “true kingdom.”
This change in historical perspective is evident in the interpretation of specific events and the attention to detail some instances in the history receive. The activity of the Anglican Church within the colonies is interpreted as a divisive action between the Anglican Church and the Pilgrim movement, with the Archbishop of Canterbury attempting to thwart the growth of the churches in the colonies.
The theme of infighting is also noted in the dismissal of many of the ministers to what seem tedious and arbitrary standards. The serious tone that relays such pastoral troubles (and there were many) can be seen in the off-and-on treatment of ministers throughout the history. The dismissal of ministers by the vote of the local congregation without any supervision is a reversal of hierarchy in Christian leadership and a democratization of the congregation. This reversal gives the Pilgrims themselves the responsibility to police their communities for orthodoxy, reinforcing the Pilgrim’s interpretation Bradford chronicles from the first chapter, which sees separation and removal as the best means of preserving the "true kingdom" and to see the sect persevere in an evil world full of spiritual warfare brought on by the “heretical” church and Satan.
The removal of power from the top of the local church leadership and its enforcement by the "mob" of the congregation is a microcosm for the way the Pilgrim’s separatism has infected the American church with the pattern, dare I say sin, of disunity, slander, gossip, hatred, and disdain for the traditions of the faith.
