Course:History 344 Nasty Families/Religion/Puritans

The Puritans were a radical branch of Protestant though which emerged prior to the Stuart Age in England. As their population continued to grow they became a prominent element in English society and began to feature heavily in both Stuart England and early American history.

Origins

What is commonly known as "Puritanism" today largely emerged under the Elizabeth with the emergence of a large number of ministers who began to break from the Church of England; demanding among other things the replacement of episcopacy governance (a hierarchical structure with a chief authority) with the congregational form of church governance (in which the local church is governed independently).(1)

Puritanism quickly spread throughout England (although it was always most heavily concentrated in central England with the country's fringe regions retaining a strong Catholic tradition). By the coronation of James VI & I the Puritans had become a well known establishment entrenched in English society.

Beliefs

The Rejection of Erastianism

By the Stuart Age much of the Western European church systems had been built upon the ideals of "Erastianism", a structural ideology drawn from the works of Swiss physician/theologian Thomas Erastus (1524 - 1583).Defined simply, Erastianism suggested that it should be the duty of the state, and not the Church, to punish individuals for their sins. In order to do this then the state (by which is meant the Monarch) would either have to retain all authority over the church in ecclesiastical matters or the Church and the State would have to be blended into essentially the same body.(2)

With Erastianism well rooted into the governing systems of Europe (including England) Puritan ideology took a radical break from public opinion by stating that the only true head of the church, be it in Heaven or on Earth, was Jesus Christ. This lead Puritans to reject the erastianist structure of the Church of England and favor a congregational style of church governance rather than the prevailing episcopacy of Canterbury, which would have seen the Church re-established as a separate body from the Monarch.(3)

As for the King, Puritans believed that all governments and governors are still responsible to God. In accordance to this, many Puritans both before and after the English Civil War felt no objection to England proclaiming a 'national' Church (especially one that espoused more Protestant values than they felt the Church of England did) but it was still expected that the government would retain no real authority over this national faith. (4)

BN: Erastianism could use definition.

Personal Interpretation of the Scripture

As the promotion of an individual's interpretation of scripture is a key element to many Protestant faiths it should come as no surprise that this was also a prominent element of Puritan faith. Indeed, Puritan culture encouraged the practice of what can be labeled 'amateur preachers' (chiefly, preachers with no professional or formal training). Following services Puritans were prone to discussing and debating the merits of the sermon and should they feel a strongly enough against the views of the preacher they would often seek out new services. Sometimes this would involve them traveling considerable distances from their own townships, in pursuit of a preacher whose sermons were more akin to the individuals interpretation.(5)

The ultimate goal of both these quests and discussions was to better formulate how to achieve complete conformity with the teachings of the Bible. The individuals complete conformity with Biblical teachings along with communal conformity was the ultimate goal of Puritanism however, its emphasis on personal interpretation as mentioned above made its achievement considerably more difficult. This could likely be seen as one of the key reasons why Puritanism was never formally organized as a single denomination but rather existed as more of a movement.

Predestination

Predestination, put simply, is the belief that the courses and trajection of an individuals life and by extension, his actions, were already predetermined by God. This largely emerged in Protestant ideology in contrast to the idea of "free will" prevalent in Catholic dogma, itself stemming from the theory of "original sin". This was a belief that naturally favored "free will", stating that salvation had to be accepted and pursued rather than granted to an individual.

As adherents to Calvinist thought predestination was a central component of the Puritan movement. Following the break in Protestantism with Arminianism, a view advanced by Jacob Arminius which returned the theory of "free will" to Protestantism, Puritans became increasingly outspoken in their support of Calvinism and the idea of predestination. (6)

Anti-Papism / Anti-Catholicism / Anti-Ritualism

Puritans, true to their Protestant rhetoric, were fiercly anti-Catholic and lashed out at anything which they interpreted as being similar to the pope, the Vatican, or Catholicism in general(such as Arminianist-Protestants). As Calvinists they saw the Regulative Principle of Worship as their guidelines to proper practices of Church services. As these biblical regulations do not speak of the traditional practices which developed in the Church over the millennium Puritan services were noticeably simple and lacked any symbolism - which was equated with the Catholic Church.

Because of this Puritans saw the Church of England as Papist in nature, having retained much of its Catholic-inspired symbolism and structure from institutions prior to the reformation.(7) They were opposed to its close-knit relationship with the King and retention and use of Bishops among many other elements which they viewed as basically Catholic in nature.

References

1. Coward, Barry. A Companion to Stuart Britain (Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2003), 254.

2. Hill, Christopher. Society and Puritanism in Pre-Revolutionary England (London: Secker & Warburg, 1964), 495.

3. Coward, Barry. A Companion to Stuart Britain (Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2003), 254 - 255.

4. Braddick, Michael. God's Fury, England's Fire: A New History of the English Civil Wars (New York: Penguin, 2008), 311.

5. Coward, Barry. A Companion to Stuart Britain (Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2003), 254 - 255.

6. Hill, Christopher. Society and Puritanism in Pre-Revolutionary England (London: Secker & Warburg, 1964), 19.

7. Hill, Christopher. Society and Puritanism in Pre-Revolutionary England (London: Secker & Warburg, 1964), 24 - 25.

BN: Needs better sources than the textbook.