John Cotton T-Shirt | PURITAN Collection

ABOUT

John Cotton was born in Derby, England in 1595. After being educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, he became vicar of St. Botolph's Church in Boston, Lincolnshire in 1612. Over the next 21 years Cotton became increasingly critical of the Anglican Church and began to express Puritan views.

In 1630 Cotton gave a sermon to John Winthrop, Thomas Dudley, William Pynchon, Simon Bradstreet, Anne Bradstreet and others about to sail from Southampton to North America. In his sermon Cotton emphasized the parallel between the Puritans and the God's chosen people, claiming it was God's will that they should inhabit all the world. This sermon was later published as The Divine Right to Occupy the Land.

When legal action was taken against Cotton in 1632 he decided to emigrate to North America. He settled in the Massachusetts Colony and he became the pastor of the First Church of Boston.

John Cotton influenced the churches of New England, and pioneered what would come to be known as “The Congregational Way,” which would later be adopted by other Puritan ministers such as Thomas Goodwin and John Owen. Beyond his ecclesiological influence, Cotton was a formidable scholar, competent catechist, and dynamic expository preacher. In a day when many towns were struggling to sustain themselves spiritually, the Boston church was experiencing intense revival as hundreds of residents were coming to faith in Jesus Christ through Cotton’s labors.

A biography of John Cotton by A.W. McClure, edited by Nate Pickowicz, is now available.

DETAILS
• Printed on Bella + Canvas tees
• 100% combed and ring-spun cotton (heather colors contain polyester)
• Fabric weight: 4.2 oz (142 g/m2)
• Shoulder-to-shoulder taping
• Side-seamed

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