Just looked it up - Harvard welcomed Indian students by it's second decade of operation. Colonists could and did receive the death penalty for murdering Indians, and Indian Christians living in the "praying" towns of New England had a great deal of autonomy. John Eliot was indeed a champion of evangelism to the native Americans: the Algonquins had no written language so he first learned the oral language and then developed a written one. Then translated the Bible into that language - I see in that a GREAT love for ALL lost, Indian or otherwise. If Eliot was operating outside of the accepted views of the church council, his efforts would have been stillborn, and likely stopped. At very least he would have been subject to discipline by them, but we hear no mention of it.

Roger Williams believed (and it was a belief shared by most of the Puritans) that Indians were born white. All the sun from outdoor living/lack of clothing and "stains" were what made their sin the color it became to be.

People love to hate the Puritans, especially secular historians.

__________________
Kevin
Far East
Deacon, Int'l Church