Study Guide Island Christianity
Table of Contents
Call to the Unconverted
Like The Practice of Piety, the Algonquian translation of Richard Baxter’s Call to the Unconverted was an important devotional manual for Wampanoag’s on Martha’s Vineyard and served as a bridge between Island Christianity and mainland Puritan practice. Richard Baxter (1615-91) was a moderate English Puritan who served as a chaplain for the Puritans during the English Civil War (Zakai 250; Elliott 228). Baxter warmed the hearts of New England’s radical fringe when he proposed that only those who had “publicly owned the Baptismal Covenant, personally, deliberately and seriously” should have the right to vote in a true Christian commonwealth (Zakai quotes Baxter 250. Baxter A Holy Commonwealth). Call to the Unconverted provides a model for how all citizens could “own” this covenant and reach God “personally, deliberately, and seriously.”
Call to the Unconverted represents Baxter’s attempt to help those new to the faith to learn how to seek and pray to God effectively. Baxter was influential throughout New England for his emphasis on the role of figurative language in praising and channeling the divine. For Baxter, language was a vehicle rather than a revealed truth; thus, metaphor could play an important part in enhancing meditation and prayer (Elliott 229). Metaphor became a “positive act, even a spiritual duty, …a significant event” (Elliott 228). Language and metaphor became a way to “bridge the human mind and God and perceive…death metaphorically as a glorious moment of union between this world and the next” (Elliott 246). Baxter’s emphasis on language as a bridge to the divine became increasingly important during Mayhew’s lifetime, as Great Awakening preachers relied heavily upon the force of language and metaphor to awaken their listeners. Baxter’s vigor, clarity, and enthusiasm made him an important model for both English and Wampanoag Christian ministers and worshippers. Included in the archive is one of his sample prayers that probably served as a model for the prayers used by families on the island. The structure, content, tone, and style of this appeal should be compared to the prayers included in Mayhew’s Indian Converts.
Items Related to the Call to the Unconverted in the Archive
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