Edward Percy Moran
A fair Puritan

The Antinomians held that the only thing which mattered in religion was the inner light of faith, which was a direct gift of God's grace. The more orthodox held that good works and exemplary behaviour were also necessary, and were visible, outward evidence of true faith and godliness.

Whereas most official preachers held that a moral life was sufficient grounds for salvation, Mrs Hutchinson argued that redemption was God's gift to his elect and could not simply be earned by human effort.

Hutchinson doctrine stripped the minister of his power by insisting that election, or indeed self-election, with which he had nothing to do, was the criterion of church membership. Such a system by which divine grace worked its miracles in the individual without any need for clerical intermediary, abolished distinctions of gender. A woman might just as well receive the spirit, and utter God's teachings, as an ordained pastor.