Category: Colonial Christianity

The first heroes of the Protestant Reformation understood themselves as devout Catholics. Like the English puritans who followed them, they wanted to restore Christian worship in the Church. For many Christians these reformations were not enough and complete separation from any state church became a matter of religious obligation.  What is less known and often overlooked, is the impact of Jewish converts at this time. Conversos (Catholic Jews) from Spain and Portugal brought the study of Hebrew to the Christian world. They inspired English Hebraists who would leave England to reappear in Amsterdam and nearby Leiden. It was here that an 18-year-old William Bradford, future governor of Plymouth Colony, and radical Christian, would have first come into contact with Spanish Jews. Leiden possessed the first Hebrew printing press in the region and it was Bradford who brought the study of Hebrew to the colonies.

Throughout Western Europe and in the New England Colonies, Christians were learning to articulate complex doctrines, like the Trinity, in kabbalistic terms. The study of Hebrew and kabbalistic literature was common among New England Saints. The practice continued well into the colonial period and helped to ensure the inclusion of Jews and other Americans of diverse religious persuasion within the government.

The study of both original languages and original doctrines is fundamental to an authentic American Christianity. Far from “whitewashed,” colonial Christians were educated, literate and open to rabbinic insight. New England Saints learned both the legal and philosophical aspects of Jewish thought, but kabbalah, which we might imagine as a kind of theological science (certainly not witchcraft), may have been more influential upon Christian’s of all stripes. Catholics, Moravians, Lutherans, Baptists, Quakers and Congregationalists learned these subjects with great enthusiasm.

In our own generation we have witnessed a renewed interest in Hebrew language and the study of Jewish texts, but few are aware that Christians possess a kabbalistic tradition which is at least 500 years old. At Colonial Christianity we welcome all people to explore the depths of the American Christian tradition, and with God’s help, find what you’ve been looking for.