First, she espoused a “covenant of grace,” meaning that individuals had direct access to God and all responsibility for salvation came through Christ, and not the “covenant of works” that many Christian leaders of the day preached. The “covenant of works” taught that one looked outward to a person’s behavior as a sign of election. Secondly, Hutchinson was female and just as women did not vote or hold church or government office, they were not supposed to preach to congregants. Hutchinson was a woman in a patriarchal society. The central belief of Puritanism was that people should live their lives according to God's laws, particularly as stated in the Old Testament. Society in the Old Testament is wholly patriarchal - women attempting to do things 'out of their place' in a Puritan society would be viewed as a threat to the whole society by its male patriarchal
First, she espoused a “covenant of grace,” meaning that individuals had direct access to God and all responsibility for salvation came through Christ, and not the “covenant of works” that many Christian leaders of the day preached. The “covenant of works” taught that one looked outward to a person’s behavior as a sign of election. Secondly, Hutchinson was female and just as women did not vote or hold church or government office, they were not supposed to preach to congregants. Hutchinson was a woman in a patriarchal society. The central belief of Puritanism was that people should live their lives according to God's laws, particularly as stated in the Old Testament. Society in the Old Testament is wholly patriarchal - women attempting to do things 'out of their place' in a Puritan society would be viewed as a threat to the whole society by its male patriarchal