Decoding Roger Williams

Brilliantly transcribed from Roger Williams' shorthand notes, this previously undecoded manuscript demands reconsideration of New England's encounter with Baptist ideas and also of the colonial effort to Christianize native Americans.

~Francis J. Bremer, Professor Emeritus, Millersville University of Pennsylvania

Decoding Roger Williams provides significant insights into the life of Roger Williams, particularly by examining what is likely his latest extant theological writings and by discussing two subjects rarely touched on in his other texts. It will provide much fodder for future scholars, not only in decoding what remains in the gaps of the document, but also in the implications of a fuller picture of Williams’s religious beliefs.

~Alyssa N. Gerhardt, The Journal of Southern Religion

Decoding Roger Williams is a must-read book for any student of Roger Williams and early Colonial America.

~Erik J. Chaput, American History Professor, The Lawrenceville School

Decoding Roger Williams revels in the ingenuity of American historical scholarship and renews Williams' fame as early New England's most intriguing and challenging figure.

~Jon Butler, Yale University

A gem of a book and feat of careful scholarship, Decoding Roger Williams illuminates an important aspect of Williams' thinking. It's a very welcome addition to what we know about him.

~David D. Hall, Bartlett Research Professor of New England Church History, Harvard Divinity School

Students of Baptist history and of colonial New England will appreciate this addition to the Roger Williams corpus

~Andrew C. Smith, American Baptist Quarterly