In the 1700's what was the dominate religion of Boston?

Answer 1

The dominant religion of Boston in the 1700s was/is known as Congregationalism. Congregationalist congregations use to be the Puritans and Pilgrims you so often hear about in early American history courses. Puritans and Pilgrims not their identities from whether they wanted to reform the Church of England or if they wanted to actually separate from the Church of England. However, after a century in the New World these old distinctions became things of the past and the two groups along with other immigrants created a new denominational structure where each individual church INDEPENDENTLY governed itself in all affairs, hence the name Congregationalists because the congregants of each church were their own rulers. Hence Congregationalists became known for their "free churches and free pulpits". Most of these congregations started out as reformed Anglicans but gradually embraced Calvinistic theological positions. However, because each pulpit in the congregation was free from being governed by any larger denominational leaders, some Congregationalist churches became very liberal starting about 1750, especially around the greater Boston/Cambridge area. Slowly a split developed between the more orthodox congregations and the more liberal churches. Eventually, the more liberal churches evolved to the point they adopted a unitarian theological position and denied the divinity of Christ. By 1825, the split became complete when the liberal churches left the Congregationalist denomination and formed a new Unitarian denomination. From probably about 1770 onward, most Boston congregations were unitarian in theology although still considered Congregationalist denominationally. (I'm only a semi-expert on this topic, but that is a much better answer than the previous one. Any improvements are welcome.)

Answer 2

During the 1700s, the dominant religion in Boston was Puritanism, which had evolved into Congregationalism. Puritan ideals strongly influenced the culture and governance of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, including Boston. By the 1700s, other Protestant denominations such as Anglicanism and Quakerism were also present in the city.