alvation. This view weakened the church as an instrument of discipline and minimized the clergy's role in the process. (O. and L. Handlin, Liberty and Power, p. 125.) She once referred to the Puritan clergy saying, "A company of legall [sic] professors lie poring on the law which Christ hath established." (As quoted in B. Adams, The Emancipation of Massachusetts, p. 219.) She was confident in her communication with God, saying, "I feel that nothing important ever happens that is not revealed to me beforehand." (D. Crawford, pps. 32-33.) These ideas of Anne's, as well as the extended list of the principles of Anne Hutchinson found in the Appendix, (not included in this hypertext version) were not loudly proclaimed by her to the community at large. She expressed them in the privacy of her own home or after she was excommunicated from the Puritan church. She was never in open defiance of the Puritan principles and wished to remain a member of the church until her trial. Although in some areas, she did disagree with Puritan doctrine, she was still a devoted member of the church and agreed with the majority of the Puritan principles. Her purpose in expressing her opinions was not to break down the church but rather to make positive change in those areas where the church was in error in her opinion.Anne's unorthodox views did not begin to surface visibly until the voyage to America. Anne met with a group of women to discuss religion and she taught them that every person could ask and receive an answer from God if they would listen. She became a radical in the eyes of those around her, claiming knowledge of the day of their arrival. Amazingly, she predicted that they would land on September eighteenth and that was the exact date that they arrived. (D. Crawford, p. 43.) This is just one example of several of the things that Anne predicted would happen. Anne was obviously a devout and unselfish woman for the simple reason that she did not take a...
