Twelve Points on Religious Freedom

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“Twelve Points on Religious Freedom” is an excerpt from a text written by 17th century Protestant Anglo-American theologian, Roger Williams . Williams is remembered as one of the earliest advocates of religious tolerance and the separation of church and state.

Today religious freedom and separation of church and state are widely accepted principles in most western countries. The same was not true in medieval and early modern Europe and its colonies. Adherence to the faith of the ruler or the state religion was often enforced in the kingdoms and principalities of Europe, and in European colonies. People who didn’t adhere to the official religious practice faced persecution, imprisonment, expulsion, or execution. Examples of religious persecution before the Reformation include those of the Lollard followers of English dissident theologian John Wickliffe , and the Hussite followers of Czech reformer Jan Hus . Hus was burned at the stake for heresy.

During the Protestant Reformation, another dissident, Martin Luther , emerged. But, unlike the earlier religious dissidents, Luther was not executed because he was protected by northern German princes who adopted his new form of Christianity. In the years that followed, new forms of Protestant Christianity were developed by other theologians, including the French-Swiss theologian John Calvin and the Swiss clergyman Huldrych Zwingli .

The Reformation sparked religious conflict and persecutions of non-conforming religious groups. It not only pitted Catholics against Protestants, but sometimes Protestants against Protestants with different religious beliefs as well . Religious conflict culminated in the brutal Thirty Years’ War which involved a great deal of upheaval, mainly in Germany, involving many different European powers, including Sweden, France, Denmark, England, Austria, Brandenburg-Prussia, Saxony, the Netherlands , Spain, and Croatia.

In England, the Reformation came with King Henry VIII. A dispute with the Pope led the king to separate the English church from Rome’s jurisdiction. Protestant literature from continental Europe was also allowed to circulate freely in the country, and different forms of Protestantism emerged in the country, leading to conflicts between both Catholics and Protestants and between Protestants with different theological beliefs. Protestantism became firmly established as the state religion by the time of Queen Elizabeth I , but disputes between different groups of Protestants continued.

The establishment of English colonies in what is now the United States in the early 17th century provided a refuge for English religious dissidents. Roger Williams was one of those dissidents. Born in London, England, he fled religious persecution and settled in the colony of Massachusetts in 1630. There he did religious work among Native Americans.

Williams’ belief in separation of church and state soon brought him into conflict with the colonial government of Massachusetts, and he was expelled from the colony in 1636. After leaving Massachusetts, he helped to establish the settlement of Providence in Rhode Island. He returned to England in 1643 to obtain official recognition for the new colony.

While he was in England he wrote a book called “The Bloudy Tenet of Persecution” advocating religious tolerance. This book was burned by order of the English Parliament in 1644. Williams returned to England again from 1652 to 1654, and wrote another text advocating religious tolerance called “The Bloody Tenet Yet More Bloody”.