Investigation Title: “Using these four passages and your own knowledge, asses the view that Puritans were a serious challenge to the unity of the Elizabethan Church”. There was undoubtedly an increase in extreme Protestant views throughout Elizabeth’s reign, an area of particular concern was the Puritan beliefs of some of her senior advisors such as the Earl of Leicester. There were also some of those from within the Elizabethan Church and within Elizabeth’s government whose opposition to the Religious Settlement was influential to an extent, particularly during the 1570s, but all of whom received a severe punishment, and consequently never gained enough support to become a substantial threat to the Monarchy. This view has been illustrated …show more content…
Sources C and D however contrast the traditionalist view and assert that Puritans never presented a serious threat and that any attempts to reform the Church or disobey the Queen’s authority was dealt with effectively. Source D highlights that by the late 1580s the leading Puritan nobles such as Leicester, Mildmay and Walsingham had died and so there was no one of influence to protect Puritan clergy from persecution and so their position within the realm had been weakened along with the sphere of influence they once had. Additionally Source D is helpful in assessing the view that the Puritans were ‘not’ a serious challenge, as Acheson sums up “a great deal of radical religious activity stemmed from nothing more than a predilection of a minority”. This is an accurate statement describing Puritanism, that although yes a political and theological movement, it did not have enough power and organisation to become anything more than a “quietly disintegrating political …show more content…
The appointment of Whitgift as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1583 resulted in the decline of Puritanism. Having been brought up with the teachings and views of the Religious Settlement of 1559 his religious understandings matched those of the Queen and he therefore acknowledged Puritanism as a threat. He enforced Elizabeth's policy of religious uniformity and tackled Classical Presbyterianism by enforcing his Three Articles which specifically attacked Puritans and either forced them to conform or deprived them of their living. Between 300 and 400 clergy were removed from their office and eventually his policies meant that Puritanism became an underground movement. Likewise, Graves agrees with Acheson that attempts made by Presbyterians never presented a serious threat. Source C provides an accurate representation of how actions made by Puritans were either put down by authorities or never ran there course, and thereafter the Presbyterian cause in both Parliament and Church gradually “fizzled
In the 1700’s the Puritans left England for the fear of being persecuted. They moved to America for religious freedom. The Puritans lived from God’s laws. They did not depend as much on material things, and they had a simpler and conservative life. More than a hundred years later, the Puritan’s belief toward their church started to fade away. Some Puritans were not able to recognize their religion any longer, they felt that their congregations had grown too self-satisfied. They left their congregations, and their devotion to God gradually faded away. To rekindle the fervor that the early Puritans had, Jonathan Edwards and other Puritan ministers led a religious revival through New England. Edwards preached intense sermons that awakened his congregation to an awareness of their sins. With Edwards’ sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” he persuades the Puritans to convert back to Puritanism, by utilizing rhetorical strategies such as, imagery, loaded diction, and a threatening and fearful tone.
The Arguments For and Against the Claim that the Puritans Presented a Challenge in the Elizabethan House of Commons
Coffey, J., Lim, P.C.H., (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Puritanism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
C] This file reflects the points of view of most Puritans who may call upon God for everything. They even commended God after an attack on an Indian town. [Doc. D] By looking at a town map of Puritan New England, it can be seen that the entire town revolves around the church. [Doc. B] There is a broad emphasis set on communitarianism instead of individuality. There was a meetinghouse set up with the ultimate objective of facilitated exertion and "democratic" fundamental administration. In a Puritan town, Political parts must be held by the people who had open changes and advanced toward winding up plainly "sacred individuals." Although there were town social affairs, they were by no means whatsoever, dominant part control; power was held by male property holders who were church people. This thought about a Puritan religious government over the long haul incited discontent. In John Cotton's "Control of Government" written in 1655 [Doc. H] he underlines that the vitality of government must be compelled. Close by a call for political adaptability, Roger William's "A Plea for Religious
As law is in most communities today, there is no doubt that religion was put on one of the highest pedestals of the Puritan community. Due to the fact that religion was followed so avidly, those who went and ...
The church and Christian beliefs had a very large impact on the Puritan religion and lifestyle. According to discovery education, “Church was the cornerstone of the mainly Puritan society of the 17th century.”( Douglas 4). Puritan laws were intensively rigid and people in society were expected to follow a moral strict code. And because of Puritans and their strict moral codes, any act that was considered to go against this code was considered a sin and deserved to be punished. In Puritan theology, God h...
In 1534, King Henry VIII formally instigated the English Reformation. He therefore passed the Act of Supremacy, which outlawed the Catholic Church and made him “the only supreme head on earth of the Church of England” (Roark, 68). Puritans were looking for a more Protestant church and received what they wanted. Along with it, came the King’s total control over the Church. This is what the Puritans didn’t want. Puritans believed that ordinary Christians, not a church hierarchy, should control religious life. They wanted a distinct line between government and the Church of England. Puritans also wanted to eliminate the customs of Catholic worship and instead focus on an individual’s relationship with God developed through Bible study, prayer, and introspection (Roark, 68).
The Puritans were, in their view, an “elite” subgroup of the Protestants, thus their goal in England was to halt Roman Catholic worship.
In 16TH AND 17TH century, Puritans were a group of people “dissidents”. The English Reformed Protestants were in verge to “purify”, the Church of England from
The religious intolerance of 17th century England instigated the Puritans to create a society of their own in the New World. The origins of Puritanism date back to the late 1500s, when King Henry VIII of England decided that he would depart from the conventional practices of the Roman Catholic Church, thus igniting severe tensions over religion (Kessler 779). It is reasonable to say that his decision would alter the course of history from that point on, as disgruntled bands of English people would steadily contradict the king’s strict religious policies. Essentially, Henry VIII’s idealism contributed to the eventual idealism of the Puritans, who would tactfully use their status in English society at the time to v...
To begin, typical Puritan society during the 17th century was “painfully stern and somber; it was founded on the strictest, unmollified Calvinism,” (Puritan…). In other words, their society was very restricted and confined to religion. Civil law also played a role in the citizens’ business and social relations. Law impacted how they dressed, their religious affairs, and even their family relations. In terms of education, Puritans prospered. In fact, in Massachusetts, they required every township of fifty families to employ a teacher to educate the children. Their government was also structured upon religion because religion served as their only method of life. In terms of gender roles, the men were responsible for earning bread for...
Puritanism was the foundation of seventeenth century New England society. Religion played a key role in all aspects of settler’s lives and was the main factor in law-making. Puritan New England was ruled by theocracy where most of the power was held by full male church members. The settlers were expected to follow an austere Puritan lifestyle and live by its strict moral code. It was a hierarchical society wherein the most successful, well-know people received special privileges and held the most power.
Noll, Mark. “The English Reformation and the Puritans” A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada. 1992. 30-53 Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1992.
The Puritans came to this New World roughly forty to fifty years before this conflict began, but the guarantee of this conflict arrived in the same boats as they did. Something often misunderstood is that the Puritans themselves were not separatists, in fact they left England with the firm desire of staying English, maintaining their cultural identity, and remaining faithful and true to the majesty of the homeland. They had left England with the desire of religious freedom, and with hope of having somewhere to practice freely and safely within the boundaries of English oriented society, but free of the sinful and heretical p...
14. Lake, Peter. Anglicans and Puritans?: Presbyterianism and English conformist thought from Whitgift to Hooker. London: Unwin Hyman, 1988.