The Puritan Movement

884 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: English reformation

Introduction Persecution for your beliefs or the desire for purity within the church is not something that most modern day Christians are familiar with. In a day and age when most people change churches like they change their clothes (for the most flippant of reasons) it’s hard to conceive of the type of dedication, conviction and faith that our early Christian forefathers had when they first came to America. In the pages that follow we will briefly examine some of the causes and conditions which led to the Puritan migration of 1620, while also observing the distinctions which set them apart from their contemporary counterparts. The Conditions It is thought that the Puritan movement first began to organize, into what we would recognize today, sometime in the 1560s under the reign of Queen Elizabeth. However its roots can be traced back all the way to William Tyndale, who is probably best known for his translation of the Bible from its original languages (mainly Hebrew and Greek) to the first English Bibles ever written. This inevitably led into the same sweeping reformation of the church, which was taking place in Germany (however this time for its English counterparts) primarily because of the new found ability of the common man to read and interpret the Bible for themselves. In 1536 the English Parliament officially separated from the Catholic Church in Rome to form the Church of England. The change however was predominantly one of polity as opposed to doctrine, which was the primary reason for the Puritans desire for reformation. According to William Bradford, who was one of the charter members of the original group of Puritans who came over on the Mayflower, the Church had become, “full of bitter contentions and h... ... middle of paper ... ...ling the Puritans to leave their families, homes and jobs in order to establish a community which was free from religious persecution and similar in its beliefs. These beliefs or distinctives included the following: an emphasis on strong moral character, the prominence of the Bible as the ultimate authority in both doctrine and practice and an uncompromising belief in the doctrines of grace. All of which set apart our Puritan forefathers from both the contemporary Christians of their day and the majority of modern Christianity today. Works Cited McMichael, George, James S. Leonard, Shelly Fisher Fishkin, David Bradley, Dana D. Nelson, Joseph Csicsila, Anthology of American Literature: Bradford /Of Plymouth Plantation. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. Ryken, Leland. Worldly Saints: The Puritans as they Really Were. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986.

Show More
Related

  • Chesapeake And New England Colonies

    1815 Words  | 4 Pages

    While residing in England, the Puritans and faithful Catholics faced prosecution, which led to their immigration to the New World. Most left England to avoid further harassment. Many groups and parishes applied for charters to America and, led by faithful ministers, the Pilgrims and Puritans made the long voyage to North America. Their religion became a unique element in the New England colonies by 1700. Before landing, the groups settled on agreements, signing laws and compacts to ensure a community effort towards survival when they came to shore, settling in New England. Their strong sense of community and faith in God led them to develop a hardworking society by year 1700, which Documents A and D express through the explanation of how the Pilgrims and Puritans plan to develop...

    Read More

  • Pilgrims And Puritans Similarities

    676 Words  | 2 Pages

    Between 1620 & 1629 two groups left England to go to the New World for religious freedom. One named the Pilgrims and the another named the Puritans. These groups were treated very harshly by their kings. But they hold on to their beliefs head to the New World to build a place that they can call home. While the Pilgrims and the Puritans seem the same they had many differences. The Puritans was well educated and wealthy but the Pilgrims was common and had the save their money. So this essay talks about the differences and similarities between these groups.

    Read More

  • Puritans In The New World Essay

    1559 Words  | 4 Pages

    Puritans were a section of the Church of England that wanted the church to change completely all aspects that linked them to the Roman Catholic Church. In the early 17th century, King Charles got into a union with France through marriage in preparation for the war with Spain (Heimert & Delbanco, 1985). Puritans feared that the Roman Catholic Church would be restored in England and coupled with the fact that Charles was blocking reforms in the Church of England, they requested the government to allow them to set up their own colony. They established the Massachusetts Bay Colony where they could remain English citizens but still practice their religion how they saw fit (Heimert & Delbanco, 1985). Unlike previous colonies

    Read More

  • Religion in Colonial America

    1514 Words  | 4 Pages

    Religion was the foundation of the early Colonial American Puritan writings. Many of the early settlements were comprised of men and women who fled Europe in the face of persecution to come to a new land and worship according to their own will. Their beliefs were stalwartly rooted in the fact that God should be involved with all facets of their lives and constantly worshiped. These Puritans writings focused on their religious foundations related to their exodus from Europe and religions role in their life on the new continent. Their literature helped to proselytize the message of God and focused on hard work and strict adherence to religious principles, thus avoiding eternal damnation. These main themes are evident in the writings of Jonathan Edwards, Cotton Mathers, and John Winthrop. This paper will explore the writings of these three men and how their religious views shaped their literary works, styles, and their historical and political views.

    Read More

  • Women And The Salem Witch Trials

    1678 Words  | 4 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • A Model of Christian Charity

    1596 Words  | 4 Pages

    In 1630, the Massachusetts Bay Company set sail to the New World in hope of reforming the Church of England. While crossing the Atlantic, John Winthrop, the puritan leader of the great migration, delivered perhaps the most famous sermon aboard the Arbella, entitled “A Model of Christian Charity.” Winthrop’s sermon gave hope to puritan immigrants to reform the Church of England and set an example for future immigrants. The Puritan’s was a goal to get rid of the offensive features that Catholicism left behind when the Protestant Reformation took place. Under Puritanism, there was a constant strain to devote your life to God and your neighbors. Unlike the old England, they wanted to prove that New England was a community of love and individual worship to God. Therefore, they created a covenant with God and would live their lives according to the covenant. Because of the covenant, Puritans tried to abide by God’s law and got rid of anything that opposed their way of life. Between 1630 and the 18th century, the Puritans tried to create a new society in New England by creating a covenant with God and living your life according to God’s rule, but in the end failed to reform the Church of England. By the mid 1630’s, threats to the Puritans such as Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson, and Thomas Hooker were being banned from the Puritan community for their divergent beliefs. 20 years later, another problem arose with the children of church members and if they were to be granted full membership to the church. Because of these children, a Halfway Covenant was developed to make them “halfway” church members. And even more of a threat to the Puritan society was their notion that they were failing God, because of the belief that witches existed in 1692.

    Read More

  • Religious Concerns during Colonial Period

    728 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the religious upheavals of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, one group of radical Protestants was known as Puritans because they wanted to “purify” the established Church of England. Essentially, their program called for a more complete protestantization of the national church, particularly insofar as church responsibility for individual conduct was concerned. Their reformist ideas threatened to divide the people and to undermine royal authorit...

    Read More

  • Puritan

    427 Words  | 1 Pages

    During the seventeenth century, the Puritans landed in New England to form the Massachusetts Bay colony. John Winthrop, the first Governor of the colony, saw the place as a political and religious refuge. He described it as “a city upon a hill.” In England, the Puritans were not free to practice their faith and were persecuted by the Anglican Church. The Puritans wanted to create an ideal society where they could practice religion at will. These people risked everything just so they could freely practice their faith. Their sole purpose in settling in America was to sustain and practice their religion.

    Read More

  • How Did William Bradford Influence Society

    785 Words  | 2 Pages

    Described in his narrative, Bradford showed the struggle to survive on the Mayflower in his groups sixty-six day journey, in which he never doubted his religious beliefs even with the struggles. During a the time of hardship on the Mayflower Bradford writes, “So they committed themselves to the will of God and resolved to proceed,” this shows that the group collectively decided to continue with the voyage under the will of their God. This continued their journey to the New World until they hit land. “Being thus arrived in a good harbor, and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven who had brought them over the fast and furious ocean,” this quote showed that the group was successful in escaping religious persecution and in term rewarded by God with a new life in the New World - the hardships were worth the end result. Reading this, the audience of his narrative feel inspired to promote the sheer value of personal freedom and responsibility that the men and women on the Mayflower in 1620 felt

    Read More

  • The Evolution of the Word Freedom

    1308 Words  | 3 Pages

    As time continued many Englishmen believed that there were going to have to be many additional reforms if the church was going to be purified successfully. Among the more radical of these Puritan groups were the Separatists, who formed congregations completely apart from the Church of England. Due ...

    Read More

  • A Critique Of Winthrop's Poem Bradford

    911 Words  | 2 Pages

    There is ample evidence to suggest that the puritans believed their actions justified on the basis of fear of the unknown, and fearing loss of purity both in the community and in the church. Regardless of the reason for their actions, this analysis confirms that the Puritans allowed their morality to be compromised in the face of adversity, and their grace to be corrupted out of fear. Ultimately, they inflicted the same persecution and intolerance unto outsiders of their community that was shown to them in

    Read More

  • Puritans In The 17th Century

    719 Words  | 2 Pages

    Areesh Areesh 23) Puritans: A group of Protestants, of the late 16th and 17th century, who wanted to purify the church. The Protestant Reformation was initiated by Martin Luther, who challenged the teachings and adulterated practices of the Roman Catholic Church. The Puritans didn’t agree with the reformations of the Church of England under Elizabeth and demanded the simplification of doctrine and worship, and greater strictness in religious discipline. They believed education to be of the utmost importance as it meant being able to read the bible and receive salvation, as did the Protestant Reformers. Beginning in 1630, Puritan leaders were threatened with “extirpation from the earth" if they did not conform to religious practices, by leaders

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Puritan Dilemma

    1315 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Puritan Dilemma is the story of John Winthrop growing up in the Puritan colonization of America. This book tells the reader of the events that Puritans had to go through during that time period. The book also talks about the attempts, both by John Winthrop and the Puritans, to establish a new type of society in the New World, something they couldn’t do in England. This story is told by the theology of the Puritan ideas, and focuses a lot on how their beliefs intervene in their daily lives, churches, and political ideologies. Puritanism was the belief that the Church of England should remove traditions that inherited from the Catholic Church, and make the Church of England more pure in Christ.

    Read More

  • Pilgrims Vs Puritans

    546 Words  | 2 Pages

    But, the Puritans, who were Protestant, left England and headed straight for the New World where they could plant their religious seed and build a society that believed as they believed. Unlike the Pilgrims, who looked a little more freely on religion, the Puritans seemed to develop a strict guide line of how daily life should be lead that was strictly by the Bible. Although the Puritans wanted to cleanse the Catholic Church, they became a lot like the churches in England. They migrated mostly families to keep their hold tight on the community and its beliefs. They typically had well educated, wealthy, vibrant speakers for their sermons. This lead to others of a higher, more educated class to take a liking to the Puritans or Protestant ways and churches. It was good for the Puritans, but could seem bad for some of the followers in their community. Puritans could have been called snobs if one will. They did, unlike the Pilgrims, turn their noses up at those who they believed failed to prove themselves as real Christians. Although the Pilgrims lived strongly by their faiths, they did not shun or judge members of their church like the Puritans did. It may have had something to do with the Puritans wealthy community which justified all the ridicule and judgment, but who is to say why they were so strict in having the members of their church prove themselves as

    Read More

  • Puritans and the Amish: Are they similar, or not?

    808 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Puritans first originated in England during the 1500’s, and faced numerous conflicts throughout their time. These began with their efforts to change the Church of England. This turned out to be one of their greatest challenges as they faced a substantial amount of opposition. The term they were known for, "Puritan”, came from their goal of purifying the church and restoring it to how it is described in the Bible (“Puritans” World Book). During this time of reform, there were Puritans with more radical views such as removing bishops and replacing the Episcopal with a new Presbyterian system. At the same time, there was also a group of independents with even stronger radical views. These independents later broke off from the Puritans and became known as the Baptists. A man named John White led the main sending of Puritans to Massachusetts and the main expansion of the Puritans religion (Melton 52; 58). Due to this push for the religion, the Puritans had a strong influence on the social, political, and religious aspects in both America and England. Today, the term Puritans has come to mean strictness in moral or religious matters (“Puritans” World Book).

    Read More

More about The Puritan Movement

Open Document