The Approach of Grace and the Challenges of Conversion

On September 28, the class will look at Thomas Shepard's autobiography and journal, his transcriptions of his parishioners "evidence" of conversion, and John Bunyan's Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners (1666).  The conversion experience was a key spiritual moment for Puritans and the examination process a significant point of contention between English and New English Puritans.

Like Hooker (and John Cotton) before him, Shepard was driven from the pulpit by Archbishop Laud and his pursuit of religious conformity.  (Laud is pictured in Sir Anthony Van Dyck's 1635 portrait.)  After travelling to the New World, he succeeded Thomas Hooker as minister in Cambridge after Hooker took his congregation west to Connecticut.  Shepard played a key role in the suppression of Anne Hutchinson during the Antinomian Crisis in Massachusetts and was considered a rising star among the ministry at his untimely death at the age of 43.  Several of his sons followed their father into the ministry, including Thomas Shepard, Jr., whose "Eye-Salve" is considered a major late 17th century New England sermon.

As you read, consider how Bunyan's life experiences and eventual conversion compare with Shepard's.  Additionally, how do their spiritual experiences compare to Shepard's less educated congregants?