The Puritan Dilemma
Imagine living in a world where someone’s own personal and religious life was being affected by that of the country that they lived in. In most cases that was not a life they wanted to live, and some people looked for a way out. In the case of the Puritans of England, they willingly sailed across three thousand mile Atlantic Ocean, for a chance to set up a settlement where they could live and worship the way they believed was the right way without the pressures of the crown.
Puritanism was the belief that the Church of England should be purged of its hierarchy and of the traditions and ceremonies inherited from Rome. Putting this aside it demanded more of the individual than it did of the church. A puritan had to dedicate …show more content…
Once Elizabeth took the throne, Puritans were somewhere at a standstill. While her government did not satisfy them, did not purify the church of its ceremonies and vestments, did not get rid of the bishops and archbishops, but she did defy the pope and made England the mainstay for Protestantism against the catholic church of Spain. With her also accepting Puritans among her advisors, Puritans believed things were moving the way they were supposed to (p. 16). Although they thought things were coming along James I kind of crushed those spirits. James I disliked Puritans and allowed no further reformation of the church (p. 17). Parliament became the bright hope for puritans as they thought its efforts would save them from God’s wrath (p. 22). The when Charles I took the throne things started to plummet both religiously and in the government. Charles, being married to a catholic princess, and a supporter of Arminianism alarmed the Puritans greatly. As evils in church and state multiplied, Puritans looked more and more to Parliament for relief (page 24). Then on March 10, 1629, Charles got rid of Parliament. With that being done there was no hope left for England (page …show more content…
They knew they had to punish every sin committed in Massachusetts. This was not taken lightly as the whole community agreed to this because a sin unpunished might expose them all to the wrath of God (p. 64). Families became places of virtue where the mother and father had to discipline not only their children but also their servants and any boarders they had taken in. It became forbidden for anyone to live alone, unmarried men and women were required to place themselves in some sort of family. Parents were obliged teach all their children and apprentices to read so that everyone would be able to see for themselves in the bible the opportunities of salvation God offered to man and what sins he forbade. The churches were filled every Sunday with willing and unwilling worshippers considering everyone was required to attend (p.64). In Massachusetts, the most important requirement of the colony was the establishment of churches organized as God commanded. The problem was they had to come to some sort of an agreement on what it was that God wanted, while they all knew there must be an end to bishops and archbishops, an end to the idolatrous ritual and trappings that dignified the clergy instead of God in the divine service, they disagreed on two different things which caused them to split into two groups. One group the Presbyterians insisted that the
Imagine living in a world where someone’s own personal and religious life was being affected by that of the country that they lived in. In most cases that was not a life they wanted to live, and some people looked for a way out. In the case of the Puritans of England, they willingly sailed across three thousand mile Atlantic Ocean, for a chance to set up a settlement where they could live and worship the way they believed was the right way without the pressures of the crown.
Puritanism was the belief that the Church of England should be purged of its hierarchy and of the traditions and ceremonies inherited from Rome. Putting this aside it demanded more of the individual than it did of the church. A puritan had to dedicate …show more content…
Once Elizabeth took the throne, Puritans were somewhere at a standstill. While her government did not satisfy them, did not purify the church of its ceremonies and vestments, did not get rid of the bishops and archbishops, but she did defy the pope and made England the mainstay for Protestantism against the catholic church of Spain. With her also accepting Puritans among her advisors, Puritans believed things were moving the way they were supposed to (p. 16). Although they thought things were coming along James I kind of crushed those spirits. James I disliked Puritans and allowed no further reformation of the church (p. 17). Parliament became the bright hope for puritans as they thought its efforts would save them from God’s wrath (p. 22). The when Charles I took the throne things started to plummet both religiously and in the government. Charles, being married to a catholic princess, and a supporter of Arminianism alarmed the Puritans greatly. As evils in church and state multiplied, Puritans looked more and more to Parliament for relief (page 24). Then on March 10, 1629, Charles got rid of Parliament. With that being done there was no hope left for England (page …show more content…
They knew they had to punish every sin committed in Massachusetts. This was not taken lightly as the whole community agreed to this because a sin unpunished might expose them all to the wrath of God (p. 64). Families became places of virtue where the mother and father had to discipline not only their children but also their servants and any boarders they had taken in. It became forbidden for anyone to live alone, unmarried men and women were required to place themselves in some sort of family. Parents were obliged teach all their children and apprentices to read so that everyone would be able to see for themselves in the bible the opportunities of salvation God offered to man and what sins he forbade. The churches were filled every Sunday with willing and unwilling worshippers considering everyone was required to attend (p.64). In Massachusetts, the most important requirement of the colony was the establishment of churches organized as God commanded. The problem was they had to come to some sort of an agreement on what it was that God wanted, while they all knew there must be an end to bishops and archbishops, an end to the idolatrous ritual and trappings that dignified the clergy instead of God in the divine service, they disagreed on two different things which caused them to split into two groups. One group the Presbyterians insisted that the