Introduction

Summary

Puritans kept records of disciplinary practices, recording the censures, sins, admonitions, and confessions of members who strayed. By analyzing types of sins, punishments, and the language of confessions, this book reveals how Puritans altered the expression and practice of their faith, creating a “gendered Puritanism.” Examining more than fifteen congregations for the first three generations, this book shows how ordinary laymen shaped the gender conventions of Puritanism, challenging the ideas of ministers and reifying more traditional ideas of masculinity and femininity. Through the gendering of Puritanism, laymen contributed to the modern ideology of separate spheres, reifying public spaces for men and relegating women to the private space of personal piety. Chapter 1 explains the founding of the Dorchester congregation and the establishment of their covenants and disciplinary practices. Chapter 2 explores how laity charged men and women with different types of sins. Chapter 3 analyzes the language of confessions and the varied expectations for men and women. Chapters 4 and 5 explore the censures of John Underhill and Anne Hibbens, to illustrate the gendering of Puritanism.