Puritans (Clayton Wilcox)
Who
were the Puritans? The Puritans were a group of English Protestants around the
16th and 17th centuries, who laid the foundation of the English Reformation.
They believed that the Church of England, under the rule of Queen Elizabeth,
felt as if it was “incomplete.” Therefore, the Puritans sought to simplify and
regulates forms of worship. Puritanism was the movement that the Puritans began
in order to spread intellectual, religious, and social order into the New
England Colonies.
The Puritanism movement sought to completely transform the
English nation into a new a way of worship and lifestyle. As a civil war broke
out in England, between the Puritans and the Church of England, the Puritans
(Pilgrims) migrated to what would be the
New England Colonies in America to begin and spread their new way of worship
and life.
The goal of Puritanism was to form a
close, covenant relationship with God. This relationship with God would redeem
a person from sin and put them closer to salvation. Salvation would be gained
from preachers who would reveal the words and teachings of God.
Puritanism became more powerful
under the rule of Edward the VI after King Henry the VIII separated the Church
of England and the Roman Catholic Church, but then began to fall under the rule
of Queen Mary who brought back the Roman Catholic Church; forcing many Puritans
into exile to Geneva.
The
overall goal of the Puritan reformation was the not separate itself from the
Church of England, but rather to “purify” it to its original state; before the
introduction of Catholicism.
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