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Puritans
This category is for questions about the group of people who strove to reform the Church of England in the 16th and 17th century. Lead by John Winthrop, they were one of the first English groups to settle North America and modern day New England.
1,568 Questions
Jamestown was settled to make a profit. Massachusetts was founded to ensure religious freedom for Puritans... and only puritans.
Do puritans view man as good or evil or somewhere in between?
do puritans view man as inherently good evil or somewhere in between ?
Why did the Puritans sign the Mayflower Compact?
The Mayflower Compact stated that the Puritans would follow the rules of the government. They didn't arrive where they originally intended so the rules of England did not apply.
The Compact was created to assure the half of the ship's passengers who were not Puritans that the government of the colony would be elected, not imposed on them.
What were the Puritan's beliefs?
Puritans believed many things.
· They believed in salvation - the fate of individual souls was predetermined by God.
· Salvation was a personal matter between God and the 'Elect'. Elects or Saints were the ones who were saved and the ones who weren't were 'wicked'.
· By reading The Bible the individual also entered a direct relationship with God.
· To become an Elect and have Gods salvation they do a Covenant of Grace, a contract that asks forgiveness of sins and for salvation.
· Elect Puritan has to follow Christ and practically devote their life to him.
· To do this they could go to Voluntary associations in congregations and churches.
Puritan beliefs were filled with paradoxes. The puritans rebelled against others in order to create the perfect World, a utopia that did not allow for rebellion. Their beliefs and goals created a tension filled paradoxical dilemma.
Man was not to sin, but he would sin anyway. Man was required to forgive, but evil was ever present. Man was a seeker of salvation, but was helpless against evil. He was to live in hopes of eternal salvation, but he may not have been predetermined by God for salvation.
John Calvin established their basic beliefs of original sin, predestination and the belief that Jesus Christ died for man's sins. Their belief of original sin is that Eve led Adam to sin, and that sin tainted all of mankind, and their concept predestination is that select individuals have been determined by God for salvation before their birth.
· In the Puritan discipline, dancing was acceptable, but sexual dancing was not.
· Drinking alcohol was also acceptable but becoming a drunkard was not.
· The Puritans believed very strongly in marriage and were opposed to illicit sexual activities.
· Adultery was punishable by death, and fornication was to be punished by whipping.
· They wanted to "purify" the Church of England and put an end to the hierarchy that led to corruption.
They believed that the church should follow the scriptures exactly. There was a dislike of the Pope's practice of selling diligences and the massive ornamentation of the Church.
The puritans were just normal people, they were not supermen. They were not monks; they did not shrink from life. The puritans were also neither prohibitionists, nor sexual prudes. They were very open minded for the time. They had the view that they had to live in the world, but not become worldly.
The Dilemma of Puritan living affected individual puritans differently. Some went about their daily lives living in uncertainty whether God had selected them for eternal salvation or condemned them to eternal damnation. Tensions must have been tough on those who worked hard for success but under the Puritan doctrine never daring to enjoy their wealth and success.
1. Total Depravity - through Adam and Eve's fall, every person is born sinful - concept of Original Sin.
2. Unconditional Election - God "saves" those he wishes - only a few are selected for salvation - concept of predestination.
3. Limited Atonement - Jesus died for the chosen only, not for everyone.
4. Irresistible Grace - God's grace is freely given, it cannot be earned or denied. Grace is defined as the saving and transfiguring power of God.
5. Perseverance of the "saints" - those elected by God have full power to interpret the will of God, and to live uprightly. If anyone rejects grace after feeling its power in his life, he will be going against the will of God - something impossible in Puritanism.
In the relation of churches to civil power, Puritans believed that secular governors are accountable to God to protect and reward virtue, including "true religion", and to punish wrongdoers. They opposed the supremacy of the monarch in the church (Erastainism), and argued that the only head of the Church in heaven or earth is Christ.
The idea of personal Biblical interpretation, while central to Puritan beliefs was shared with Protestants in general. Puritans sought both individual and corporate conformity to the teaching of the Bible, with moral purity pursued both down to the smallest detail as well as ecclesiastical purity to the highest level. They believed that man existed for the glory of God; that his first concern in life was to do God's will and so to receive future happiness.
Like some of Reformed churches on the European continent, Puritan reforms were typified by a minimum of ritual and decoration and by an unambiguous emphasis on preaching. Calvinists generally believed that the worship in the church ought to be strictly regulated by what is commanded in the Bible (the regulative principle or worship), and condemned as idolatry many current practices, regardless of antiquity or widespread adoption among Christians, against opponents who defended tradition. Simplicity in worship led to the exclusion of vestments, images, candles, etc. They did not celebrate traditional holidays which they believed to be in violation of the regulative principle.
The devil was behind every misfortune and evil deed. The devil prey on the weak, and that there was such things as witches
True.
No, William Byrd was not a Puritan. He was an English composer, known for his vocal and instrumental works, especially for his sacred music. Byrd was a Catholic, which was in contrast to the Puritans who were a Protestant faction in England at the time.
What were puritans not allowed to do?
they werent allowed to celebrate christmas, dance, read novels, and go to theater shows
What is the puritan principle of exclusion?
The Puritan principle of exclusion refers to their belief in separating themselves from those who did not adhere to their strict religious practices and beliefs. This led to an insular community that valued purity and sought to maintain their separation from outside influences.
English Puritans believed the arrival of God's grace was demonstrated by saintly behavior and?
because puritans believed that the arrival of god's grace was demonstrated by saintly behavior they
Who did the Puritans execute in 1689 because they believed the person was guilty of witchcraft?
Twenty people and two dogs.
I don't know the exact answer but you can find it in http://www.laughtergenealogy.com/bin/histprof/misc/puritan.html, http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/purdef.htm#Covenant, or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puritan. This is really weird, because I have that same exact question word for word on a worksheet that I had to do for my Language Arts class.
Why were the puritans afraid of the wood's?
They feared the woods mostly because they were unknown and they thought the devil inhabited them. Puritans basically feared anything they didn't completely understand. If you have ever read the short story Young Goodman Brown, Nathaniel Hawthorne describes the woods as place where "There may be a devilish Indian behind every tree," and "The devil himself might be at my very elbow!". Though we find the idea of devils and Indians waiting in the woods for an unlucky traveler to blunder out of his village comical, this scenario was very real to them. Puritans really are fascinating, it's amazing to me that they were able to live their life in such a strict, humble, hardworking way. I could never do it!
Moral value system of the puritans?
3 main beliefs
1. The puritans are a chosen people whom God has delivered to a promised land
2. Man is innately depraved and had to overcome this base condition
3. Government exists to facilitate the furthering of God's work on earth
- Honors US 1
Is constitution that some puritan colonists wrote to govern themselves was the?
it guaranteed religious freedom for all protestants not just puritans and granted the vote based on property ownership instead of church membership.
When and why did the puritans come to america?
The first ones went to America in 1620, on the board of the Mayflower. They fled from europe because they were persecuted. The Puritans were the most extreme English Protestants. Although they were basically Calvinists, they opposed the Anglican Church because they wanted the church to be cleaned of all Catholic remains.
They wanted freedom to practise their religion as they saw fit, without restraint or persecution, and they wanted to be able to persecute or restrain others from practising their religion as they saw fit.
Many of them left England because they lost out in the religious controversies of the 1600s, and because they disliked the way the king (James 1st up to 1625 and then his son Charles 1st) were tolerant towards Catholics.
One person who considered emigrating in the 1630s was Oliver Cromwell. Instead, he stayed and became a leader in the English Civil War, which lead to the execution of Charles 1st in 1649 and to Cromwell becoming leader of the English Commonwealth. When this failed in 1660, another wave of Puritans crossed the Atlantic to escape retribution.
What was the covenant theory that puritans drew their ideas of government?
Seperation of church and state
How were women treated during the puritan era?
They were treated as subordiante or second-class citizens.
Why was the puritans lifestyle so strict?
they where very religious and wanted everyone to follow God's teachings. if you did not follow God's teaching then you are not considered pure.
