ABSTRACT
Anne Hutchinson was indeed the "breeder and nourisher" of the theological division of Puritan Massachusetts which led to the Antinomian Controversy. The author widens interpretation to include the midwifery of Hutchinson, including the theological disputes, as a factor as the conflict emerged. To make the connection between Anne Hutchinson as woman midwife and Anne Hutchinson as theological adversary discloses the intersection of the day-to-day life of the original New England Puritans with the intellectual and rational structure of Puritan theology. John Cotton supported her in her religious doctrine for the three years before the controversy threatened to divide Boston. Anne Hutchinson's midwifery provided a clear link between the day-to-day life of her neighbors and herself within the larger frame of Puritan theology. Consciousness of gender differences abounded during Hutchinson's interrogations. Anne Hutchinson found cultural power in a ritual surrounding the biological work of women, and consequently threatened profoundly the male-dominated ideological structure of that Puritan community.
