American Puritanism

Early in the 17th century some Puritan groups separated from the Church of England. Among these were the Pilgrims, who in 1620 founded Plymouth Colony. Ten years later, under the auspices of the Massachusetts Bay Company, the first major Puritan migration to New England took place. The Puritans brought strong religious impulses to bear in all colonies north of Virginia, but New England was their stronghold, and the Congregationalist churches established there were able to perpetuate their viewpoint about a Christian society for more than 200 years. Richard Mather and John Cotton provided clerical leadership in the dominant Puritan colony planted on Massachusetts Bay. Thomas Hooker was an example of those who settled new areas farther west according to traditional Puritan standards. Even though he broke with the authorities of the Massachusetts colony over questions of religious freedom, Roger Williams was also a true Puritan in his zeal for personal godliness and doctrinal correctness. Most of these men held ideas in the mainstream of Calvinistic thought. In addition to believing in the absolute sovereignty of God, the total depravity of man, and the complete dependence of human beings on divine grace for salvation, they stressed the importance of personal religious experience. These Puritans insisted that they, as God's elect, had the duty to direct national affairs according to God's will as revealed in the Bible. This union of church and state to form a holy commonwealth gave Puritanism direct and exclusive control over most colonial activity until commercial and political changes forced them to relinquish it at the end of the 17th century. Because of its diffuse nature, when Puritanism began to decline in America is difficult to say. Some would hold that it lost its influence in New England by the early 18th century, but Jonathan Edwards and his able disciple Samuel Hopkins revived Puritan thought and kept it alive until 1800. Others would point to the gradual decline in power of Congregationalism, but Presbyterians under the leadership of Jonathan Dickinson and Baptists led by the example of Isaac Backus (1724 - 1806) revitalized Puritan ideals in several denominational forms through the 18th century. During the whole colonial period Puritanism had direct impact on both religious thought and cultural patterns in America. In the 19th century its influence was indirect, but it can still be seen at work stressing the importance of education in religious leadership and demanding that religious motivations be tested by applying them to practical situations. Henry Warner Bowden

Puritanism Advanced Information

Puritanism was a loosely organized reform movement originating during the English Reformation of the sixteenth century. The name came from efforts to "purify" the Church of England by those who felt that the Reformation had not yet been completed. Eventually the Puritans went on to attempt purification of the self and society as well. History The theological roots of Puritanism may be found in continental Reformed theology, in a native dissenting tradition stretching back to John Wycliffe and the Lollards, but especially in the theological labors of first - generation English reformers. From William Tyndale (d. 1536) the Puritans took an intense commitment to Scripture and a theology which emphasized the concept of covenant; from John Knox they absorbed a dedication to thorough reform in church and state; and from John Hooper (d. 1555) they received a determined conviction that Scripture should regulate ecclesiastical structure and personal behavior alike. Puritans achieved a measure of public acceptance in the early years of Queen Elizabeth's reign. They then suffered a series of reverses that lasted through the reigns of her successors James I and Charles I. In the days of James I some Puritans grew discouraged about their reforming efforts and separated entirely from the Church of England. These Separates included the "Pilgrims," who after a sojourn in Holland established in 1620 the Plymouth Colony in what is now southeastern Massachusetts. When Charles I attempted to rule England without Parliament and its many Puritan members, and when he tried systematically to root Puritans out of the English church, a larger, less separatistic body emigrated to Massachusetts Bay (1630), where for the first time Puritans had the opportunity to construct churches and a society reflecting their grasp of the word of God. In England other Puritans continued the struggle for reform. When war with Scotland forced Charles I to recall Parliament in 1640, civil war was the ultimate result. That conflict ended with the execution of the king (1649), the rise of Oliver Cromwell to the protectorate of England, the production of the Westminster Confession and Catechisms, and the erection of a Puritan Commonwealth. Yet Cromwell, for all his abilities, found it impossible to establish a Puritan state. After his death (1658), the people of England asked the son of Charles I to return, a restoration marking the collapse of organized Puritanism in England. Across the Atlantic a vital Puritanism survived only a little longer. By the time of Cotton Mather (d. 1728) Indian warfare, the loss of the original Massachusetts charter, and a growing secularization had brought an end to Puritanism as a way of life in America. Convictions Puritanism generally extended the thought of the English Reformation, with distinctive emphases on four convictions: (1) that personal salvation was entirely from God, (2)

that the Bible provided the indispensable guide to life, (3) that the church should reflect the express teaching of Scripture, and (4) that society was one unified whole. The Puritans believed that humankind was utterly dependent upon God for salvation. With their predecessors in England and with Luther and Calvin they believed that reconciliation with God came as a gift of his grace received by faith. They were Augustinians who regarded humans as sinners, unwilling and unable to meet the demands, or to enjoy the fellowship, of a righteous God apart from God's gracious initiative. But Puritans also made distinctive contributions to the general Reformed idea of salvation. They advocated a "plain style" of preaching, as exemplified in the masterful sermons of John Dod (1555 - 1645) and William Perkins (1558 - 1602), which was consciously designed to point out simply the broad way of destruction and the strait gate to heaven. They also placed a new emphasis on the process of conversion. In the journals and diaries of leaders like Thomas Shepard (1605 - 49) they charted the slow, and often painful, process by which God brought them from rebellion to obedience. They also spoke of salvation in terms of "covenant." In the notes to the Geneva Bible, the translation of proto - Puritans completed during the reign of Mary Tudor, emphasis was on a personal covenant of grace, whereby God both promised life to those who exercised faith in Christ and graciously provided that faith, on the basis of Christ's sacrificial death, to the elect. Later Puritans expanded the idea of covenant to take in the organization of churches, seen most clearly in the rise of Congregationalism (or Independency) and the structuring of all society under God, of which the "Holy Commonwealths" of Massachusetts and Connecticut were the major examples. With the early English Reformers the Puritans believed, second, in the supreme authority of the Bible. The use of Scripture, however, soon came to be a great cause of offense between Puritans and their Anglican opponents and among Puritans themselves. Puritans, Anglicans, and the many in between all believed in the Bible's final authority. But Puritans came to argue that Christians should do only what the Bible commanded. Anglicans contended rather that Christians should not do what the Bible prohibited. The difference was subtle but profound. Among Puritans considerable differences eventually appeared over what Scripture demanded, especially in questions relating to the church. Some (mostly in England) contended for a presbyterian state - church organization, others (in Massachusetts and Connecticut) supported a congregational organization in league with the state, while still others (English Independents and Baptists as well as Roger Williams in New England) believed that the Bible mandated congregational churches separate from the state. In short, Puritans disagreed with Anglicans about the way to interpret the Bible, but they differed among themselves about which biblical interpretations were best. The former disagreement dominated English religious life so long as the king and his episcopalian allies were in control. The latter came to the fore

after the success of the Puritan Revolution, and it led to the disintegration of Puritanism in England. These disagreements should not hide the Puritans' overriding commitment to the authority of Scripture. They made as serious an attempt as has ever been made in the English - speaking world to establish their lives on the basis of biblical instruction. When Puritan efforts to reform the kingdom of England faltered in the last years of Elizabeth's reign, they turned to the one sphere they could still control, their individual families. It was during this period around 1600 that Puritans began to place new emphasis on the sabbath, to revive family worship, and to encourage personal acts of mercy to the sick and dying. When Puritan prospects brightened in the 164os, this "spiritualization of the household" emerged into the open. Puritans believed, third, that the church should be organized from Scripture. Anglicans contended that episcopacy, since it was tried and tested by time and did not violate any command of Scripture, was a godly and appropriate way of organizing the church. Puritans responded that the defenders of episcopacy missed the point, for they neglected to follow the positive teachings of the Bible. Puritans argued that Scripture laid down specific rules for constructing and governing churches. Furthermore, the Bible taught a system of church order that was not based on bishops. Puritans maintained this conviction even when they failed among themselves to agree on what that biblical system was. But even these disagreements were fruitful, for they grounded the modern polity of Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and Baptists as well. The reason that Puritan beliefs concerning salvation, Scripture, and the church created such upheaval was their fourth basic conviction, that God had sanctioned the solidarity of society. Most Puritans believed that a single, coordinated set of authorities should govern life in society. The result was that Puritans sought nothing less than to make all England Puritan. Only late during the Puritan Commonwealth did ideas of toleration and of what is known today as pluralism arise, but these ideas were combated by most Puritans themselves and firmly set to rest for another generation by the restoration of Charles II. From a modern vantage point the intolerance entailed by a unified view of society has harmed the Puritans' reputation. From a more disinterested perspective it is possible also to see great advantages. The Puritans succeeded in bursting the bonds of mere religiosity in their efforts to serve God. Puritanism was one of the moving forces in the rise of the English Parliament in the early seventeenth century. For good and for ill, it provided a foundation for the first great political revolution in modern times. It gave immigrants to Massachusetts a social vision whose comprehensively Christian character has never been matched in America. And, for such a putatively uncreative movement, it liberated vast energies in literature as well.

Notable Puritans

The Puritans enjoyed a great number of forceful preachers and teachers. The learned Dr. William Ames explained "the doctrine of living of God" in The Marrow of Theology, a book used as a text during the first fifty years of Harvard College. The sermons and tracts of William Perkins outlined with sympathy the steps that a repentant sinner should take to find God. John Preston preached the severity of God's law and the wideness of his mercy fearlessly in the courts of James I and Charles I. John Owen, adviser to Cromwell and vice - chancellor of the University of Oxford, wrote theological treatises on the atonement and on the Holy Spirit which still influence Calvinistic thought in the English speaking world. His contemporary, Richard Baxter, published nearly two hundred works expounding the virtues of theological moderation and the truths of what C S Lewis in the twentieth century would call "mere Christianity." In America, Boston's John Cotton labored to present God's glory in conversion, and Hartford's Thomas Hooker glorified God in the labors of the converted. The Westminster Confession and Catechisms which Puritan divines wrote at the request of Parliament (1643 - 47) remain a guide to Reformed theology, especially in Presbyterian circles, to this day. Together, the works of the Puritans comprise Protestantism's most extensive library of sacred and practical theology. Important as the contributions of ministers were, the greatest contribution of Puritans to Christian history probably resided with its laymen. The English - speaking world has never seen such a cluster of thoroughly Christian political leaders as the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell, the governor of Massachusetts John Winthrop, or the governor of Plymouth William Bradford. These leaders erred, perhaps often, but they yet devoted their lives to public service, self - consciously and whole - heartedly, out of deepest gratitude to the God of their salvation. We also glimpse the genius of Puritanism when we look beyond its politicians to its writers. It is all too easy to forget that John Milton, who in Paradise Lost dared "assert Eternal Providence / And justify the ways of God to men," had earlier defended the execution of Charles I and served as Cromwell's Latin (or corresponding) secretary. John Bunyan served in Cromwell's army and preached as a layman during the Commonwealth before he was jailed in Bedford for his Puritan beliefs, where he redeemed the time by writing The Pilgrim's Progress. In America, Puritanism produced a woman poet of note in Anne Bradstreet (1616 - 72). It also gave us the poems of Edward Taylor (1645 - 1729), a retiring country minister. Taylor's meditations, composed to prepare his own heart for quarterly celebrations of the Lord's Supper, are among the finest poems ever written by an American. Evaluation The Puritans resemble other groups in Christian history who, in forsaking all for God, have won back not only God but much of the world as well. They stand with the early Franciscans, the Protestant Reformers, the Jesuits, the Anabaptists, the early Methodists, and the Reformed Dutch of the late nineteenth century who, in their own separate ways, were transfixed by the glories of redemption and who went far

in redeeming the world around themselves. With these groups the Puritans also verified the truth of the gospel words: they sought first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and much more was added to them besides. Mark A Noll (Elwell Evangelical Dictionary)

PURITANISM AND PROVIDENCE Puritanism started in the sixteenth century as a movement to reform the Church of England. Puritanism accepted the interpretations of John Calvin (1509-64) on the nature of man, free will and predestination, and other basic concepts. Puritanism became, after the restoration of Charles II as king in 1660, nonconformity and split into three major denominationsthe Presbyterian, Congregational, and Baptist sects. The Puritans saw God as the awesome Father-God of the Old Testament and emphasized His majesty, righteousness, and control of the universe to achieve His just ends. God's maintaining and directing everything in the universe is God's Providence. By extension and over time, the word came to have other meanings associated with this one, e.g., God Himself and the lot assigned by God. In his Bible Dictionary (1897), Matthew George Easton describes Providence in this way: Providence literally means foresight, but is generally used to denote God's preserving and governing all things by means of second causes. God's providence extends to the natural world, and the affairs of men, and of individuals. It extends also to the free actions of men, and things sinful, as well as to their good actions. As regards sinful actions of men, they are represented as occurring by God's permission, and as controlled and overruled for good . God does not cause or approve of sin, but only limits, restrains, overrules it for good. The mode of God's providential government is altogether unexplained. We only know that it is a fact that God does govern all his creatures and all their actions; that this government is universal , particular, efficacious, embraces events apparently contingent, is consistent with his own perfection, and to his own glory. God reveals His will in many ways, like the Bible and natural forces and law In the words of William Cowper (1731-1800), "God is his own interpreter, and he will make it plain." Puritans actively sought to learn God's will. To fulfill this duty, they read the Bible; listened to sermons; studied daily events; analyzed nature for signs; paid particular attention to out-of-the-ordinary events like earthquakes and material prosperity, which were called remarkable providences; and reviewed the events of their lives and the state

of their souls, usually by recording them in a diary and looking for patterns and spiritual meanings. .

FREE WILL AND PREDESTINATION The concept of God's Providence is related to free will, predestination, and grace Christians generally accept the position that God predestines or elects the good to salvation; the fate of sinners regarding salvation and damnation is an open issue. The Puritans, however, accepted Calvin's belief in double predestination: By predestination we mean the eternal decree of God, by which he determined with himself whatever he wished to happen with regard to every person. All are not created on equal terms, but some are preordained to eternal life, others to eternal damnation. (Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1599) In other words, God predetermines who is to be damned (also called reprobation) and elects who is to be saved (also called regeneration). Also God is actively and directly involved in the affairs of nations and of individuals. The efforts to explain how man can have free will and be predestined have taxed theologians for thousands of years and there is no general agreement on the matter. Calvin denies that there is a conflict; he bases his interpretation on the concepts of God's grace, the agency of the Holy Spirit (it carries God's grace to the elect), and man's natural depravity. ... the grace of God (as this name is used when regeneration is spoken of) is the rule of the Spirit, in directing and governing the human will. Govern he cannot, without correcting, reforming, renovating, (hence we say that the beginning of regeneration consists in the abolition of what is ours;) in like manner, he cannot govern without moving, impelling, urging, and restraining. Accordingly, all the actions which are afterwards done are truly said to be wholly his. Meanwhile, we deny not the truth of Augustine's doctrine, that the will is not destroyed, but rather repaired, by grace - the two things being perfectly consistent, viz., that the human will may be said to be renewed when its vitiosity and perverseness being corrected, it is conformed to the true standard of righteousness and that, at the same time, the will may be said to be made new, being so vitiated and corrupted that its nature must be entirely changed. There is nothing then to prevent us from saying, that our will does what the Spirit does in us, although the will contributes nothing of itself apart from grace. (Institutes of the Christian Religion)

PURITANISM: OTHER KEY CONCEPTS Covenants, in theology, are the promises which God makes to human beings and which are recorded in the Bible. The Puritans emphasized the covenant of works, which was in the control of human beings, and the covenant of grace, which was in God's power to bestow. There are many other covenants, such as the covenant of redemption, the agreement between God the Father and the Son concerning the salvation of man. The covenants or God's promises not only make clear to men and women what their duties are

but also force them to face their inferiority--because of their corrupted natures, they are incapable of fulfilling their duties to God. The covenants did not affect just the Puritans' religious life: "This emphasis on contractual relationships became a controlling metaphor for Puritans in their social as well as their religious thought" (Francis J. Bremer, Encyclopedia of Religion). The covenant of grace is God's promise to send his Spirit to the elect so that they believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. The basis of this covenant is the frequently repeated statement in the Bible, " I will be your God, and ye shall be my people." This covenant restores man to a normal relation with God. Left to themselves, men and women would continue to reject or rebel against God; their refusing salvation means that Christ died in vain. But since the covenant of redemption promises that Christ's suffering would redeem humanity, God sends the Holy Spirit to the elect to enable them to repent, to have faith, and and to be eligible for eternal life. The Puritans saw grace as a gift from a kind and loving God; human beings were unworthy to receive salvation because of their depraved natures. As Augustine comments, "You are nothing in yourself, sin is yours, merit God's. Punishment is your due; and when the reward shall come, God shall crown his own gifts, not your merits." The covenant of works is God's promise to Adam. In return for perfect obedience, he would merit God's reward. The reward in this covenant does not result from grace; rather, it is a debt owed to Adam for keeping his part of the covenant. Unfortunately, Adam failed to keep the covenant and "after the fall, the free gifts on which salvation depends were withdrawn, and natural gifts corrupted and defiled" (Calvin). Glorification unites the soul with God after death; also, the elect will form a community of saints. Grace. See the covenant of grace. Justification is conversion or being born again. Justification, which is the mark of election, rehabilitates depraved human nature; however, conversion does not overcome it, so that the individual may relapse into unregenerate behavior. The abililty to persevere in righteousness is bestowed by God and is given as He pleases. Natural depravity refers to human nature; that is, every human being is by nature corrupt and perverted as a result of Adam and Eve's fall. Calvin is unsparing in his description of natural depravity, the mind of man is so entirely alienated from the righteousness of God that he cannot conceive, desire, or design any thing but what is wicked, distorted, foul, impure, and iniquitous; that his heart is so thoroughly envenomed by sin that it can breathe out nothing but corruption and rottenness; that if some men occasionally make a show of goodness, their mind is ever interwoven with hypocrisy and deceit, their soul inwardly bound with the fetters of wickedness.

It is because of natural depravity that human beings are, in Calvin's words, "the authors of their own destruction." Regenerate or regenreated describes the converted individual; regeneration is, .a sovereign gift of God, graciously bestowed. Only God can determine who should be saved In their fallen state, men and women may mistakenly think that they can reform at will and return to God; this delusion counteracts God's plan and denies God's omnipotence. As Dr. Warfield says, ''Sinful man stands in need, not of inducements or assistance to save himself, but precisely of saving; and Jesus Christ has come not to advise, or urge, or woo, or help him to save himself, but to save him." The individual is passive during this transforming process. The glory is all God's. Sanctification is leading the life of a saint out of gratitude for God's grace. The term unregenerate describes the individual who has not experienced God's assisting grace and conversion and so continues to be alienated from God. Vocation is God's call to social, economic, civil, and religious roles or behavior. Individuals must use their talents, which come from God, wholeheartedly in fulfilling a call; however, they must not carry their behavior to extremes. Richard Baxter (16151691) explains the danger of excessive behavior, "Overdoing is the most ordinary way of undoing."