Puritanism, a religious reform movement in the late 16th and 17th centuries that attempted to “purify” the Church of England, influenced its followers’ day-to-day lifestyles and played key roles in the civil war in England and in the formation of the American colonies (which served as working models for the Puritan lifestyle). Calvinist theology and polity played significant parts, with regards to shaping Puritan teachings: the moral and religious qualities that were representative of Puritans along with a doctrine of predestination, which was inherited from Calvinism, created a “covenant theology,” a perception of themselves as designated spirits selected by God to live holy lives both individually and communally. With the reinstatement of
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After Oliver Cromwell’s death in 1658, Conservative Puritans backed King Charles II and a revised episcopal policy; however, because the Puritans were outsmarted by those who backed Laud’s strict policy, they entered a period known as the Great Persecution before they made their last failed attempt to acquire their ideal for a comprehensive church during the Glorious Revolution, which eventually led to the Toleration Act; established in 1689, the Toleration Act stated that the church will continue to be episcopal, but that it will also allow for varying groups. The Puritan ideal of attaining the Holy Commonwealth by the creation of a covenanted community was achieved in the American colonies of Virginia, Massachusetts (or more specifically, the Massachusetts Bay colony), and New England; moreover, in 1648, four New England Puritan colonies jointly adopted the Cambridge Platform, and established a
After Oliver Cromwell’s death in 1658, Conservative Puritans backed King Charles II and a revised episcopal policy; however, because the Puritans were outsmarted by those who backed Laud’s strict policy, they entered a period known as the Great Persecution before they made their last failed attempt to acquire their ideal for a comprehensive church during the Glorious Revolution, which eventually led to the Toleration Act; established in 1689, the Toleration Act stated that the church will continue to be episcopal, but that it will also allow for varying groups. The Puritan ideal of attaining the Holy Commonwealth by the creation of a covenanted community was achieved in the American colonies of Virginia, Massachusetts (or more specifically, the Massachusetts Bay colony), and New England; moreover, in 1648, four New England Puritan colonies jointly adopted the Cambridge Platform, and established a