"All Pretend an Holy War": Radical Beliefs and the Rejection of Persecution in the Mind of Roger Williams

Beliefs are potentially dangerous -- and they are also unavoidable. Every reader of this article holds beliefs on important issues like the existence or nonexistence of God, human worth, justice, group-identity, hierarchy, interpersonal-obligation, the use of legitimate force, and what it means to l...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe review of faith & international affairs Vol. 15; no. 2; pp. 66 - 76
Main Author Rowley, Matthew
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Arlington Routledge 03.04.2017
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
17th century
Belief & doubt
Coercion
Faith
God
Hierarchies
Human dignity
Identity
Intellectuals
Justice
Obligations
Oppression
Protestantism
Radicalism
Religious history
Religious persecution
Religious wars
Williams, Roger (1604?-1683)
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Summary:Beliefs are potentially dangerous -- and they are also unavoidable. Every reader of this article holds beliefs on important issues like the existence or nonexistence of God, human worth, justice, group-identity, hierarchy, interpersonal-obligation, the use of legitimate force, and what it means to live the good life. It is likely that someone, somewhere has used beliefs similar to one's own towards disastrous ends. A person who upholds human dignity may share core beliefs with one who denigrates it. This article is about Roger Williams (c.1603-1683) -- a zealous Protestant Christian in the 17th century who held many beliefs that modern scholars might find dangerous. Given his beliefs and the circumstances of his life, he seems a likely candidate for justifying killing and coercion through his faith.
ISSN:1557-0274
1931-7743
DOI:10.1080/15570274.2017.1329428