He held his tongue, but he could not silence his thoughts: His temper mounted as he lay on his back and fought the temptation to curse God. He lurched out for the oar, nearly capsizing the boat before catching his thighs on the gunwale and falling back inside as the oar slipped into the darkness.
#Jeremy robinson hells angel free
It connected with the water at an odd angle and broke free from his grasp. In a burst of frustration, Wheelwright drove the oar down hard. They had become vagabonds in a single day, their future uncertain, and he, a man of God, humiliated. There was nothing he could do but pack up his belongings and leave with his second wife, Mary, their five children, and Mary’s mother in tow. Yet having no acquaintances in the New World outside of Massachusetts, he was forced to England.
It had become his dream, but it had been taken from him. He had pictured himself making a permanent home there. He looked back to the shore and saw a few lamps burning. After boarding the sixty-odd exiles in Boston, the ship was to head north along the coast, picking up wares and other passengers before returning to England. Wheelwright’s muscles burned as he put the oars of the small rowboat to the water, pushing through the placid seas toward the waiting galleon anchored in the bay. Every friend, business associate, and, of course, the brother-in-law pastor who, without directly supporting the cause, supported the free speech that made the argument possible, were to take their leave via ocean voyage before the sun set. The conservative leadership acted swiftly and, while nonviolent, were savage in their efficiency.Įveryone associated with Vane or Hutchinson was banished from all of Massachusetts. Vane returned to England, leaving Hutchinson, and by familial association, Wheelwright, to handle the fallout. The debate raged, and when Governor Vane lost his bid for reelection, he also lost support for his cause. To prove the other camp wrong was to condemn them to hell. Those who believed that works mattered, the conservatives, felt just the opposite-good deeds earned salvation.
Those in the grace camp, along with Vane, believed it was through God’s grace and mercy that we are saved from sin and no number of good deeds can help. Wheelwright’s sister-in-law, Anne Hutchinson, and the colony’s governor, Harry Vane, clashed with local conservatives on the topic of grace versus works. The congregation blossomed, but along with his success came controversy. He was happy for a time, leading his new flock, revealing a path to God in which free speech and opinions were welcome. He’d come to the New World a year previous and was well received, quickly becoming pastor of the Eaxe Chapel at Mount Wollaston in Boston. This was the pain the Reverend John Wheelwright felt, or a close approximation of it, when he heard the news of his banishment from the state of Massachusetts.
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