Records of Trial from Thomas Shepards Church in Cambridge, 16381649

This book presents a revolutionary new reading of manuscript records left by puritan minister Thomas Shepard in Cambridge, Massachusetts that have been studied for decades as his on-the-spot recording of oral relations of faith delivered by candidates for church membership. This book proves that these records are not relations, but Shepards personal record of sessions of trialmeetings with candidates still working out their spiritual seeking. New transcriptions of the original manuscript records, and corresponding never-before-published writing by Shepard, dispel much of the confusion produced by the published transcriptions. Close-readings of the manuscripts, contrasted with the published transcriptions, set the stage for a new understanding of puritan spiritual preparation in Shepards Cambridge church. The book concludes with a challenge to the negative reading of the womens records that is central to established scholarship, revealing their powerful, confident spiritual identities and voices.