04 - John Eaton (1574/75–1630/31)

John Eaton (1574/75–1630/31) was born in Kent. In 1604, he became the vicar of Wickham Market, Suffolk, where he preached the fullness of God's free grace and the uselessness of the law in man's salvation; that is, by Christ's redemption, God can see no sin in those who have been justified; true believers are clothed with ‘the wedding garment of Christ's perfect righteousness', and God no longer sees their iniquities. And it is this, not the law, that stirs the believer's sanctification, which sanctification is essential in those who are justified. Being dismissed as an antinomian, Eaton quickly found himself in conflict with fellow ministers and the ecclesiastical authorities, and he was deprived and imprisoned for his views. Undeterred, by 1621 Eaton was in London, where he disseminated his ideas from the pulpit, in conference, and through a series of unpublished manuscripts, which circulated widely during the 1620s and 1630s. Through these efforts, he won a considerable following, and became the leader of an increasingly vocal ‘antinomianism' in the capital, soon attracting other dissident ministers who shared his dissatisfaction with the ‘legalistic' doctrine and preaching of the Puritans. Heated conflicts rapidly ensued, these controversies quickly spilling over into the Church courts, resulting in the prosecution of several well-known antinomians before the High Commission. Eaton was spared this fate only by his death, some time between August 1630 and July 1631. Eaton's death did not, however, signal the end of his influence. His admirers in London wanted to publish his manuscripts, though they had been adjudged heretical by the Church authorities.