Abraham in Arms: War and Gender in Colonial New England

In 1678, the Puritan minister Samuel Nowell preached a sermon he called "Abraham in Arms," in which he urged his listeners to remember that "Hence it is no wayes unbecoming a Christian to learn to be a Souldier." The title of Nowell's sermon was well chosen. Abraham of the Old Testament resonated deeply with New England men, as he embodied the ideal of the householder—patriarch, at once obedient to God and the unquestioned leader of his family and his people in war and peace. Yet enemies ch...