The Puritan Who Brought Scripture to New England’s Tribes
Our American Stories
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 817 Ratings
🗓️ 31 March 2026
⏱️ 8 minutes
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Summary
On this episode of Our American Stories, have you ever heard of a Puritan pastor who learned a new language so he could preach the Bible to Native Americans in their own words?
In the 1600s, John Eliot did exactly that. He became known as the “Apostle to the Indians” for translating Scripture into Algonquian and sharing it across New England, leaving behind the first Bible printed in North America.
Robert J. Morgan, author of 100 Bible Verses That Made America, shares the story of John Eliot’s mission and its place in America’s early history.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.6 | Guaranteed human. |
| 0:14.1 | And we continue with our American stories. |
| 0:18.1 | If you want to know about the history of America, |
| 0:22.4 | it's imperative that you know the role that the Bible played in shaping our country. Our founding fathers, both Christian and non-Christian |
| 0:28.6 | alike, were heavily influenced by the Bible. Here to share another story is Robert Morgan, |
| 0:35.4 | who's the author of 100 Bible verses that made America, |
| 0:39.6 | defining moments that shaped our enduring foundation of faith. |
| 0:44.1 | Let's take a listen. |
| 0:45.7 | I want to introduce you to one of America's early heroes, a man who has left a lasting impression on our history books, |
| 0:54.1 | although many of the newer ones |
| 0:55.5 | neglect his story. John Elliott was born in England in the very early years of the 1600s. |
| 1:03.5 | He was a teenager when he heard about the pilgrims coming to America and about the Puritans |
| 1:08.4 | establishing the city of Boston. John Elliott attended Cambridge University |
| 1:13.6 | in England, and he made a decision to follow Jesus Christ as his Savior under the ministry of a local |
| 1:20.5 | pastor named Thomas Hooker. Because of the pressure on Puritans by the English government, |
| 1:26.8 | John Elliott joined those who |
| 1:28.7 | immigrated to Boston, and shortly after arriving, he was hired to be the pastor of a church |
| 1:35.1 | in nearby Roxbury. That was in the year 1632, and John was in his 20s. He kept that job for 57 years. Imagine serving as the pastor of the same |
| 1:49.6 | church for nearly six decades. But that's not all that Elliot did. When he was 42 years old, |
| 1:57.6 | he grew burdened for the nearby communities of Native Americans, and he began |
| 2:02.5 | studying Algonquin. It was a daunting task, especially because of the length of their words. |
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