This book examines the life and work of the Reverend John Callender (1706-1748) within the
context of the emergence of religious toleration in New England in the later seventeenth and
early eighteenth centuries a relatively recent endeavor in light of the well-worn theme of
persecution in colonial American religious history. New England Puritanism was the culmination
of different shades of transatlantic puritan piety and it was the Puritan's pious adherence to
the Covenant model that compelled them to punish dissenters such as Quakers and Baptists.
Eventually a number of factors contributed to the decline of persecution and the subsequent
emergence of toleration. For the Baptists toleration was first realized in 1718 when Elisha
Callender was ordained pastor of the First Baptist Church of Boston by Congregationalist Cotton
Mather. John Callender Elisha Callender's nephew benefited from Puritan and Baptist
influences and his life and work serves as one example of the nascent religious understanding
between Baptists and Congregationalists during this specific period. Callender's efforts are
demonstrated through his pastoral ministry in Rhode Island and other parts of New England
through his relationships with notable Congregationalists and through his writings.
Callender's publications contributed to the history of the colony of Rhode Island and provided
source material for the work of notable Baptist historian Isaac Backus in his own struggle
for religious liberty a generation later.
