Allie on Puritans

Puritans (Allie Bennett)

SLIDE ONE

·         Puritan Beliefs- Puritans considered the Bible as the true law of God that provided guidelines for church and government. They wished to shape the Church of England to meet their ideals. They also called for less priestly churches that emphasized preaching. They also believed that all Christian churches should be organized through councils called presbyteries or church courts rather than bishops, like the Church of England. Puritans also believed that the congregation was a complete church its self and should have control over the churches affairs. They emphasized Bible reading, prayer, and preaching in worship services. Puritans in both Britain and British North America also sought to cleanse the culture of what they regarded as corrupt, sinful practices. They believed that the civil government should strictly enforce public morality by prohibiting vices like drunkenness, gambling, ostentatious dress, swearing, and Sabbath-breaking.

·         John Wycliffe- Puritan beliefs developed from Wycliffe. He was considered Oxford University’s leading philosopher and theologian. Wycliffe challenged indulgences, repudiated confessions and reiterated the biblical teaching on faith. He also believed that every Christian should have access to scripture, so he started translating the Bible into English. The church opposed his translating the Bible.

·         John Calvin- Calvin's ideas where humans cannot be saved by our deeds, but only by the grace of God. This was totally opposite to what the Church wanted, as they insisted that it was necessary to partake in chores such as confession, indulgences, etc. to gain eternal life. Calvin also placed an important emphasis on the importance of the Bible, and that scripture was the ultimate authority. A controversial Idea that Calvin promoted was that of Predestination, in which the future of one’s life and salvation has already been determined by God as he is omniscient. Predestination was an important concept in Puritan belief. 

·         Why are they called Puritans? - They got the name puritan because they wanted to “purify”, or simplify the Church of England. Some Puritans, called Separatists formed their own churches because they believed they wouldn’t be able to ever change the Church of England.

SLIDE TWO

·         Closed theaters- The major banning of the theatre was put into place by Oliver Cromwell, at the start of the English Civil War, on September 6^th, 1642 by an act of Parliament. This meant specifically the great play houses in London; many that which survived the Elizabethan age. There reasoning for closing the theatre was because it seemed “unseemly” during turbulent times; but of course, the real reason was because they had become the meeting places of Royalists. Their puritan rivals, who controlled parliament, simply couldn’t have that going on so they banned the theatres. They remained illegal until the end of the Interregnum in 1660, when the Puritans lost power and the monarchy was restored.

·         Other rules forced by Cromwell- One of the main beliefs of the Puritans that if you worked hard, you would be able to go the Heaven, pointless enjoyment was frowned upon. Cromwell shut many inns and theaters down; he also banned most sports and if boys where caught playing football on Sunday, they were whipped for punishment. Swearing was also punished by fine, and if you kept the vulgar language up, you would be sent to prison. Cromwell also believed that that women should dress how they Bible told them to, so he had Puritan leaders and soldiers would roam the streets and scrub off any make-up and too colorful dresses were banned.