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Religious history during King James' time
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King James 1 and the Church
King James IV, of Scotland, seized the English throne in 1603 after the death of Elizabeth I and became James I of England. He was the son of Mary Queen of Scots and had been King of Scotland since 1567. During his reign, James increased the power of the monarchy making his rule absolute. James I was involved with every area of government. Under his rule Scotland and England were united, the King James Version of the Bible was published, William Shakespeare and various other writers prospered, education thrived, and the American colonies were founded.[1] However, James faced many problems with unifying the government. One of the main problems was the religious conflict existing within the Church of England. Anglicans and Puritans wanted the church organized in separate ways, but King James felt a unified state church would create a more powerful government God had given James the right to rule and therefore non-conformity to religious policies was a sin against God. Although he wanted one state church, James believed compromise and toleration would naturally drive citizens to become members, conforming to the policies of the Church of England. Throughout his reign James attempted to decrease religious tensions, as people hoped to increase their influence and role they played in the decisions of the church.
There was a distinct split within the Church of England between the Puritans and the Anglicans. The Puritans were members of the Church of England, wanting reformation. They wished to eliminate of some ceremonies and dogmas closely resembling those of the Catholic Church. Puritans were more devout Christians then regular members. They believed the Sabbath should be strictly observe...
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... wasn’t completely unified, James did make changes that improved conditions. Since he wasn’t completely intolerable of other viewpoints he created a strong central government for one of the first times in English histories.
Notes
1. Stephen A. Coston, “ King James I of England Interesting Facts”<www.jesus-is-
lord.com/kingjames.> (10/20/00) A.V. Publications Corp.
2. S. J, Houstan, James I, 1st ed.. (Great Britain:Lowe and Brydone, 1973), 16.
3. Houstan, 57.
4. Antonia Fraser, King James I of England, 1st ed. (New York:Alfred A. Knopf,
1975), 104.
5. Fraser, 105.
6. G.B. Harrison, A Jacobean Journal, 1st ed. (London: George Routledge and Sons,
1941), 105
7. Harrison, 106.
8. Fraser, 117.
9. Harrison, 152.
10. Houstan, 61.
11. Fraser, 182.
12. Houstan, 63.
13. Fraser, 182.
There was a short time where all was calm right after the civil war. king charles the second and his father were both dead so Charles brother took over. this is king James the secondf and he was a Catholic sao he appointed many high positions in the government. Most of his sibjects were protestant and did not like the idea of Catholicism being the religion theyd have to abide by. like his father and brother king james the second ignored the peoples wishes and ruled without Parliament and relied on royal power. an English Protestant leader wanted to take the power away from james and give it to his daughter Mary and Her husband William from the Netherlands. William saled out to the south of england with his troops but sent them away soon after they landed
8.Puritans— ‘Followers' of Puritanism, a movement for reform in the Church of England that had a profound influence on the social, political, ethical, and theological ideas in England and America. In America the early New England settlements were Puritan in origin and theocratic in nature. The spirit of Puritanism long persisted there, and the idea of congregational democratic government was carried into the political life of the state as one source of modern democracy.
The puritans had many religious beliefs. The religious beliefs they held were strong and they were extremely devoted to serving their Lord. Puritans believed that people of God had a teetotal lifestyle, worked hard and were responsible. They also believed that anything and everything that happens on earth is already predestined by God. People would not earn salvation with works of righteousness but through God’s grace. The congregation would make all of the decisions in the church and they would not acknowledge any other religions. When Puritans worshipped, it was very simple and only focused on God. There was no music, stained glass windows or art.
The Puritans were "Christians," in that they believed in Jesus Christ yet some may argue that they did not lead "Christian" lives. These fanatics seemed to obssess over a major tenet of their religion, that being "Pre Destination." That is, God Himself chose those destined for eternal salvation in the beginning of time, long before our conception and birth. This pre-ordained number is considerably miniscule, which, at times, the Puritans seemed to ignore.
In England, the Puritans were a group of Protestants, who during the 1600 wanted to continue to purify the Church of England of the practices that were not found in scripture . They wanted to leave from being persecuted for not being protestants. The Separatists were people who advocated complete separation from the Church of England and make their own churches. Both the Puritans and the Separatists wanted to and did leave Europe in hope to be able to have religious freedom in North America. While they were in North America the Puritans were in charge. They kept a very controlled and disciplined lifestyle. They slept in tents and dug out then later learned how to make huts from the Swedish.
The Puritans believed in punishing sin. When someone was caught in sin they were publicly punished. Puritans believed strongly in humiliation. They locked the guilty people in the stocks or the pillory (a frame with holes for head and hands) with a sign on them describing the sin--where everyone could see it. This was a big event. Schools were let out and people came from all around to see such sights. They would also dunk a person who was a gossip (or guilty of other such sins) from the end of a long log into a pond or lake.
Puritans believed in strict religious dedications, by trying to follow the holy commandment. “The discipline of the family, in those days, was of a far more rigid kind than now.”(Hawthorne 9). They wanted to be considered the holiest of all people because they try to reflect a world of perfection in the sight of God. While they where trying to portray a holy life; however, they where also living a sinful life because they have been judgmental, slandering, uncompassionate, resentment, and forbearing, which are all sinful acts of the bible.
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).
English Catholicism had significantly changed by the time of James’s accession to the throne. Under Henry VIII, England broke away from the Catholic Church in Rome. The King was now the head of the Church of England. By the time Elizabeth came into power a substantial number of the population were still Catholic. Principled dissent to the Elizabethan Settlement came from two directions: Catholic and radical Protestant. Of the two the Roman Catholic menace seemed the more important and the government and the Church spent more time combating it. In this essay I will examine whether efforts to destroy English Catholicism during the Elizabethan era were successful. Traditionally, historians argued that Catholicism was hopelessly fractured but heroic efforts by Catholic missionaries had saved the Catholic English community. The Act of Uniformity in 1558 meant that everybody had to go to Church once a week or be fined. This included the Catholic community. Many conformed to avoid punishment but still believed in the Catholic doctrines. Ordinary clergy helped maintain the Catholic doctrines in English society. By the time of James’s accession to the throne it was clear that the Catholic community were an important issue because a part of English society was still Catholic. Furthermore, it was soon clear that King James would be more tolerant to the Catholic community in comparison to Elizabeth.
The Puritans were Englishmen who chose to separate from the Church of England. Puritans believed that the Anglican Church or Church of England resembled the Roman Catholic Church too closely and was in dire need of reform. Furthermore, they were not free to follow their own religious beliefs without punishment. In the sixteenth century the Puritans settled in the New England area with the idea of regaining their principles of the Christi...
Through the English Bill, the Parliament of England wished to replace the evil James the Second
He had a history of “repeated injuries and usurpations, all having, in direct object, the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States” (Independence). The King was very renowned about all of these mistakes that he made, that other people were able to look at these mistakes and learn from them, like the United States. The Declaration of Independence lays out all of the mistakes that the King made and described what needs to be different within them to not make the same mistakes. The States were once ran by the British crown, and the writers of the Declaration went forth to make the States in better hands than they were before by totally cutting off the connection of political systems between the British and the United States. Finally, they state, “As free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do”
Charles I was the second born son to King James I, who had also reigned under a constitutional monarchy, but large disagreement between Parliament and James I led to an essentially absolutist approach to governance. Likewise, Charles I disagreed with the Parliament on many factors. Charles was far from the contemporary model of a figurehead monarchy we see in today’s world, and his political reach extended throughout the English empire, even to the New World. Infact, I claim, he practiced a more absolutist form of monarchy than did the Czars of Russia; he dissolved Parliament three times. This unprecedented power led to (other than corruption) a strict contradiction of the principles of republicanism which most constitutional monarchies agreed on. And while many were in favor of an overlooking Parliament, his unopposed voice led the voyage to the New World as well as the charter for the Massachussets Bay Colony, and he fostered many internal improvements throughout England, which further benifetted the economy. Unfortunately, Charles began to push his limits as a monarch, and many became upset (including New Worlders from Massachussets) to the point of abdicating him and executing him for treason. Nevertheless, his positive effects on society and political rennovations persist in today’s
Some books have been known to change the way people view the universe, even how they act. One book was very influential to the world when it was published, the King James Bible. The King James Version of the Bible has helped shape the way many people thing and write. Its history and importance is just as relevant today as it was back when it was first written.
The extent to which the judiciary and the legislature are able to regulate the exercise of prerogative powers by the executive has increased. However, there are still some who are concerned by the lack of control that can be exerted by the other constitutional bodies. The challenges to the power of the Monarch was by the reign of James I (1603-25) the monarch was faced with an increasingly effective Parliament, culminating in the temporary abolition of the monarchy in (1625). Consequently, the monarchy’s powers were eroded by both revolution and by legal challenges, which included the case of Proclamations (1611), the monarchy could not change the law by proclamation. The law of the land, which required that the law be made by Parliament, limited the prerogative.