John Eliot (missionary)

Lore & Background

John Eliot was born in Widford, Hertfordshire, England, and attended Jesus College, Cambridge. After serving as an assistant to Thomas Hooker, he emigrated to Boston in 1631 as chaplain on the ship Lyon. He became minister and teaching elder at the First Church in Roxbury, where he served for sixty years. In 1637–1638, he participated in the trials of Anne Hutchinson, disapproving of her views and representing Roxbury in the proceedings that led to her excommunication and exile.

Eliot studied the Massachusett language with the help of a young Native American named Cockenoe, who had been captured in the Pequot War. With Cockenoe's assistance, Eliot translated the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, and other scriptures. In 1660, he completed the translation of the entire Bible into Massachusett, and by 1663, printers Marmaduke Johnson and Samuel Green had produced 1,180 copies of the Old and New Testaments. This was the first complete Bible printed in the Western hemisphere.

Eliot also wrote 'The Christian Commonwealth,' considered the first book on politics written by an American, which was banned by the Massachusetts General Court in 1661 after the accession of Charles II. He died in 1690 at age 85, his last words being 'welcome joy!'

Reader's Guide

John Eliot's significance lies in his pioneering efforts to translate Christian scripture into a Native American language, creating the first complete Bible printed in the Western hemisphere. His work introduced written language to the Massachusett people, who previously relied on spoken and pictorial communication. Eliot established 'Praying Towns' for converted Native Americans, the best documented being at Natick, Massachusetts, and at one point there were fourteen such towns. These communities suffered disruption during King Philip's War in 1675 and largely lost their special status over the following centuries. Eliot also founded the Roxbury Latin School in 1645 and helped edit the Bay Psalm Book, the first book published in the British North American colonies. His political work, 'The Christian Commonwealth,' proposed a theocratic model of government based on biblical principles, but was banned and ordered destroyed after the Restoration. Eliot's legacy includes his role in early American education, translation, and cross-cultural religious encounter, though the Praying Towns ultimately declined.

Did You Know?

• Eliot relied on a young Native American named Cockenoe, captured in the Pequot War, to help him learn the Massachusett language.
• The Eliot Indian Bible was the first complete Bible printed in the Western hemisphere.
• Eliot's book 'The Christian Commonwealth' was the first book to be banned by a North American governmental unit.
• Eliot founded the Roxbury Latin School in 1645.