1564-1660: The Era of Puritanism

1564 The word "Puritan" appears for the first time. The Puritans
are Calvinists, legalists, and name-callers. They are very
serious, and oppose most things that are fun for themselves
or others. They want:

 a skilled, educated preaching ministry, based on the

Bible
 as few ceremonies in church as Biblically possible (no
surplice, no signing of the cross)
 abolition of the traditional role of bishop, and
replacement of the episcopate by a presbyterian
system
 one legal government church, controlled by Puritans.
(Contrast the Separatists.)

1569

Thomas Cartwright of Cambridge outlines the Puritan

program.

1575 The "Geneva Bible", an inexpensive edition with Calvinist

notes, is published. (Shakespeare quotes this version.)
1581 Robert Browne's "Treatise of Reformation without Tarrying
for Any". This will be the manifesto of the Puritans who
found the Massachusetts Bay colony.
1581 Richard Hooker ordained priest; his anti-Puritan book "Laws
of Ecclesiastical Polity" reflects natural-law and rationalist
ideas then popular.
1590 William Shakespeare ridicules Puritans in his
characterizations of Falstaff, Malvolio, Flavius, and others.
1593 Puritan assemblies and activities outlawed. A few
Separatists are hanged.
1603 Elizabeth I succeeded by James I.
1604 Book of Common Prayer revised. The only change is an
expanded catechism. The sacraments are "an outward and
visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace". At the
eucharist, "the Body and Blood of Christ are verily and
indeed taken and received by the faithful".
1605 "Gunpowder plot" by Roman Catholic fanatics seeking to
blow up Parliament.
1611 King James Version of the Bible. Most of the language is
Tyndale's.
1618 James I's "Declaration of Sports" is read in all churches to
encourage healthy fun and games on Sundays. This outrages
the Puritans.
1622 John Donne, priest and metaphysical poet, becomes Dean of
St. Paul's cathedral, London.
1625 James I is succeeded by Charles I; his colorful court fills with
refugees, including Roman Catholic counter-reformation
types.
1625 Christopher Wren begins rebuilding St. Paul's Cathedral.
1626 Nicholas Ferrar founds religious community of Little Gidding
in Huntingdonshire, England.
1628 The narrow-minded William Laud is made archbishop of
London. He oversees the persecution of Puritans.
1633 George Herbert's poems published posthumously as "The
Temple".
1637 Scottish Prayer Book published. (This is unpopular in
Scotland, though it does call priests "presbyters". It will be
the basis for the future American Prayer Book.)
1638 The Scots, crying "Popery", excommunicate their bishops.
This results in war.
1640 Charles I calls Parliament to approve funds for the war with
Scotland; Parliament instead raises an army against the
king. In the civil wars that follow, Oliver Cromwell leads the
"New Model Army" rebels and becomes Lord Protector; John
Milton is his Latin Secretary. Puritan morality becomes the
 law. (Today, Cromwell might be considered a Baptist; he
says, sincerely, "I had rather that Mahometanism were
permitted among us that that one of God's children should
be persecuted.")
1643 Westminster Assembly drafts its "Confession", the major
Presbyterian statement of belief.
1645 William Laud is beheaded by the Puritans.
1649 Cromwell and his government behead ("martyr") King
Charles I.
1649 "Diggers" (communists), "Levellers" (egalitarians) and
"Ranters" (atheists, hedonists) cause problems for the
Puritan regime. (The latter are targets of the new
"Blasphemy Act".)

Puritanism was a religious reform movement that arose within the Church
of England in the late sixteenth century. Under siege from church and
crown, it sent an offshoot in the third and fourth decades of the
seventeenth century to the northern English colonies in the New World–a
migration that laid the foundation for the religious, intellectual, and social
order of New England. Puritanism, however, was not only a historically
specific phenomenon coincident with the founding of New England; it was
also a way of being in the world–a style of response to lived experience–
that has reverberated through American life ever since.

The roots of Puritanism are to be found in the beginnings of the English

Reformation. The name “Puritans” (they were sometimes called
“precisionists”) was a term of contempt assigned to the movement by its
enemies. Although the epithet first emerged in the 1560s, the process
through which Puritanism developed had been initiated in the 1530s,
when King Henry VIII repudiated papal authority and transformed the
Church of Rome into a state Church of England. But the Church of
England retained much of the liturgy and ritual of Roman Catholicism
and seemed, to many dissenters, to be insufficiently reformed.

The Puritan Age

The period between 1625 and 1675 is known as the "Puritan Age (or John
Milton's Age)", because during the period, Puritan standards prevailed in
England, and also because the greatest literary figure John Milton (1608-
1674) was a Puritan. The Puritans struggled for righteousness and liberty.

Puritanism became a great national movement which included English

Churchman as well as extreme Separatists. While the Catholic Church had
always held true to the ideal of the united church, the possibility of the
ideal of a purely national Protestantism grew.

The political upheaval of the period is summed up in the struggle between

the King and the Parliament, the blasphemy of a man's divine right to rule
his fellowmen was ended. Thus the age marked the beginning of the
reformation.

In literature also, the age created a sort of confusion due to breaking up of

old ideas. Some of the literary men had the tendencies to look backward
for the old golden age, and some wanted to look forward for a better
world with the throbs of hope and fresh vitality and youth. And in John
Milton, the indomitable Puritan spirit finds its noblest expression. There
was Samuel Daniel, John Donne, George Herbert, Thomas Carew, Robert
Herick, Sir John Suckling, Sir Richard Lovelace, John Bunyan, Robert
Burton, Sir Thomas Browne, Thomas Fuller, Jeremy Taylor, Richard Baxter,
Izaak Walton among other important writers of the age.

Milton's "Paradise Lost" and "Paradise Regained" , his sonnets and other
works; Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress", and "Faerie Queene", Burton's
"Anatomy of Melancholy", Browne's "Religio Medici", Taylor's "Holy Living
and Dying", and Walton's "Complete Angler" are known as remarkable
works of the age.

The Puritan AgeBack

The Restoration Period

During 1660-1700, there were tremendous social reactions from the

restraint of parliament. A wild delight in the pleasures and varieties of the
world like performances of dramas and theaters, the revival of bull and
bear baiting, sports, music, dancing etc. replaced the absorption in other
"other-worldliness",. The writers turned from Italian influence of
imagination to French objective repression of emotions.

The greatest literary figure of the Restoration period is John Dryden (1631-
1700) whose book provides an excellent reflection of both good and evil
tendencies of age. He is best known for his narrative poem "Annus
Mirabilis", "All for love", "Religio Laici", "A'eneid", "Fables" etc.

Samuel Butler, Thomas Hobbes, and John Locke were among others
prominent writers of the age. Butler's "Hudibras", Hobbe's "Leviathan",
Locke's "Essay Concerning Human Understanding" etc. add glory to the
literature of the age.

Characteristics of Puritan Writing

Genres
Early literature written by Puritans in America often appeared as first
person narratives in the form of journals and diaries. Early American
colonists wrote their accounts of immigration, settling in America, and day-
to-day life in journals to pass their stories down. Many Puritans also wrote
letters to send back to Europe to family and friends they left behind. Very
little fiction appeared during this period; Puritans valued realistic writing
with an emphasis on religious themes.
Three important Puritan genres included:

 Sermons
 Historical narrative
 Poetry

Influence

Puritans held deep religious beliefs based on their own perspective of

Christianity. The Bible played an important role in the daily lives of the
Puritans. Families attended church regularly and read the Bible in their
homes. Due to this influence, most Puritan writing is based on the styles of
the Bible. Puritans compared their own lives to biblical narratives and
events and compared themselves to biblical characters to illustrate points.
Plain Style
Puritans lived a simple life based on the concepts of humility and
simplicity. This influence comes from their religious beliefs and the Bible.
Wearing elaborate clothing or having conceited thoughts offended
Puritans. Puritan writing mimics these cultural values in its plain writing
style. Puritans wrote directly to the point, and avoided much of the
eleborate writing style that became popular in Europe. Simple sentences
with common language allowed Puritans to communicate information
without feeling like they were drawing attention to themselves.

Purpose
Puritans wrote with specific purposes in mind. Even the letters they wrote
to friends and family in Europe performed more of a purpose than simply
communicating about their lives and keeping in touch. Puritans' religious
beliefs affected their lives on all levels, and their writing illustrated their
religion's values, such as the importance of the church and the influence of
God in their lives. Writing often became instructive, teaching Christian
values. The Puritans did not believe that literature was for entertainment;
therefore, they frowned upon "entertainment" genres such as drama
(plays) and fiction novels.

What is a Puritan?

First we must define what we mean by "puritan." You must quickly lose the
idea that Puritan means morose, sour, legalists who were always trying to
prevent people from doing things. This view comes from later American
history and people such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, who were glad to be
living under liberal Unitarianism in New England and regarded the old
Puritanism of their forefathers as a repressive, false religion. So, Puritanism
is usually a term of contempt. Even today we hear people speaking of, for
instance, anti-smoking advocates as the "new Puritans." This is totally
inaccurate and unfair to the original Puritans.

Furthermore, the term was a term of abuse even when it was invented in
England. The term was invented to describe those who, generally speaking,
believed that the Reformation in England had not gone far enough, and
needed to be continued until a new, biblically-based church could be
achieved. So, in very broad terms, Puritans were the English equivalent of
the continental Reformers such as Calvin. We shall see that the history of
this is very complicated, and that the term is useful up to a point and then
in the 1600's becomes less and less useful to describe any particular group
of people.

C. S. Lewis said, "We must picture these Puritans as the very opposite of
those who bear that name today: as young, fierce, progressive intellectuals,
very fashionable and up-to-date. They were not teetotallers; bishops, not
beer, were their special aversion. . . ." For many generations, these Puritans
were the "young bucks" who wanted to go all the way with God and the
Bible. They were excited about Biblical truth and couldn't imagine why
anybody would want to hide it under Romish superstition and human
traditions.

Types of Puritans

First, we may note the Separatists. These are usually not lumped in so much
with the Puritans, although their doctrine was often similar, but this group
had no truck with state churches and believed that believers should
covenant together apart from the unholy mess known as the Church of
England. The first Separatist congregation was formed around 1567 by
Richard Fitz, according to Cairns. Since this group was not really calling for
the reform of the Church of England, but rather its dissolution, they are not
usually mentioned in the company of the next three groups of Puritans.
The next three groups believed in a State Church, but only disagreed over
what form it should take.

Anglican Puritans, in the beginning, were the first Puritans. They were
content to work within the system, and leave bishops in place, but purge
the church of "Popery" which had been left over by the political
compromises of Elizabeth.

Presbyterian Puritans wanted to get rid of the bishops and institute a

Presbyterian system as known in Scotland already. Their first forceful
representative was Thomas Cartwright, who in 1570 lectured at Cambridge
on the Book of Acts from a Presbyterian standpoint. He was driven from
his position.
Independent Puritans, later called Congregationalists, wanted each church
to govern itself and be independent. Although there was communication
between them and the Separatists, they were essentially separate groups
until the end of the 17th century. One of the first Independent churches was
established by Henry Jacob in 1616.

Puritans and Separatists[edit]

For more details on this topic, see English Dissenters.
Some Puritans are known as "non-separating Puritans," those who were
not satisfied with the Reformation of the Church of England but who
remained within it, advocating further reforms. This group disagreed
among themselves about how much further reformation was possible or
even necessary. Others thought that the Church of England was so corrupt
that true Christians should separate from it altogether; they are known as
"separating Puritans" or simply "Separatists". The term "Puritan" in the
wider sense includes both groups.[8][9] Separatists had no particular Church
title.
The Mayflower Pilgrims[10] were referred to only as Separatists.[11] Plymouth
Colony leaders John Robinson and William Brewster were
separatists.[12][13] In contrast, John Winthrop and the other main leaders
of Puritan emigration to New England in 1629 were non-separating
Puritans.[14] There is no current consensus among modern historians
whether Separatists can properly be counted as Puritans,[15] but separatists
and non-separatists alike have traditionally been viewed as two branches
of the Puritan view.
Separating Puritans were called "Dissenters," especially after the English
Restoration of 1660. The 1662 Uniformity Actcaused almost all Puritan
clergy to leave the Church of England, the so-called Great Ejection or Black
Bartholomew's Day (see below). Some of these 2,000 "ejected" clergymen
became nonconformist ministers (later Congregationalists, Baptists,
Unitarians, Presbyterians, etc.). The movement in England changed
radically at this time, though this change was not as immediate across the
Atlantic (see History of the Puritans in North America).
 The basis for the Puritan’s beliefs was an emphasis on the

righteousness and sovereignty of God. God, they said directed all things by

exercise of his will and directed all things to an intelligent end. This

differed from the Catholic point of view that priests were holier than the

rest of the congregation. The Puritans also were more partial to the

teachings of the Old Testament.

Puritan Religious Life

The Puritans believed that God had formed a unique covenant, or
agreement, with them. They believed that God expected them to live
according to the Scriptures, to reform the Anglican Church, and to set a
good example that would cause those who had remained in England to
change their sinful ways. Most early migrants to the Massachusetts Bay
Colony were full-fledged members of the Puritan faith.
Church attendance in Puritan communities was mandatory. However, not
all church attendees were considered to be full members of the church. In
order to become a full member of the church, Puritans had to prove they
had a conversion experience and that they were part of thepredestined
elect, a group who was guaranteed admission to Heaven. For the Puritans,
religious and political life were completely intertwined. Each Puritan town
had town meetings to determine how the town would be run, and only
male church members were allowed to vote on issues affecting the town.
http://www.history.com/topics/puritanism

http://study.com/academy/lesson/puritans-in-america-beliefs-religion-
history.html

Attitudes and Way of Life

 Puritanism as a body of theological doctrine and church polity is
distinct from “Puritanism” as a set of attitudes and a way of life deriving
from that theology. They held the following assumptions. (1) The
imperfection of human nature and all its creations resulted in a flawed
society. (2) The world was blemished, but man could make it better. (3) To
be Puritan demanded self-discipline, self-trial, and self-denial. (4)
Puritanism was individualistic. Salvation depended on the individual’s
relationship to God, not that of the church or that of his family. (5) The
experience of conversion and salvation gave special privileges but
demanded special obligations. (6) Puritanism gave an ethical bias that
rigid obedience to moral standards was important, because the individual
was personally accountable for the consequences of his actions.

Contributions of Puritanism to America

Many worthy American values are an inherence from Puritan tenets:

values such as strong family ties, free public education, and hard work.
An inflexibility in interpreting beliefs, however, led to bigotry and
intolerance, the characteristics most often associated with Puritanism by
those who have not studied their work as a whole and focus instead on the
Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692, one of the darkest events in our history.
Nathaniel Hawthorne, great-grandson of Judge Hathorne, one of the
judges ruling in the Salem trials, wrote in his short story “The Snow Image,”
“Such a life was sinister to the intellect and sinister to the heart; especially
when one generation had bequeathed its religious gloom and the
counterfeit of its religious ardor, to the next; for these characteristics, by
being inherited from the example and precept of other human beings, and
not from an original and spiritual source, assumed the form both of
hypocrisy and exaggeration.”

Strengths of the Faith

1. Right to govern itself

2. Open meetings of stockholders and free men.

3. Democratic organization of the church (Congregationalism); Mayflower

Compact set in place rule by the governed for the "civic body politic."

Theocracy --state and church governed hand in hand

4. Purifying became rigid way of life

5. Valued education (allotted land for school; emphasized literacy to read

the Scriptures, for example the "Old Deluder Satan Act")

6. Worked "unto the Lord" valuing all professions and calling for working
hard and purposeful "for His glory" (Puritan Work Ethic)

7. Created the concept of the American dream