puritans and religion in america
Puritans were a religious group that arose in England late in the sixteenth century to separate themselves from the Church of England in 1630. Puritans who settled in New England came to America to seek religious freedom from the Church of England, who they believed had prevented them from practicing rituals according to God’s will.[1] Although, Puritans came to America to escape religious persecution from the Church of England and gain freedom to practice religion, nevertheless, they still made sure that the American Puritanism would remain more orthodox than their British counterparts.
The Church of England set out to break away from the Catholic Church and introduced some reforms in a new Protestant religion. The Puritans however still believed that the newly founded church still held too many views of the Catholic Churches. As a result, Puritans established their own faith, which was built upon the teachings of the Bible. Eventually the Church of England began to crackdown on those who refused to bow to their authority. So, Puritans decided to break away from the Church of England in pursuit of religious freedom in a new country.[2]
The Puritan movement was a broad trend, with emphasis upon the “purification” of church and society of the Church of England in the late sixteenth century. Puritans hoped to reform the religion by discouraging immoral conduct, corruption and seeking the truth just from the Bible. Puritans did not intend on separating from the Church, rather hoped to reform the religious beliefs. In an effort, to reform the religious practices and make Bible the focal point of the religion, they formed a Bible Commonwealth. The Bible Commonwealth helped them to escape the corruptions of the English society because reading the bible was the central idea of Puritan beliefs. Even though, coming to New England and forming Bible Commonwealth should have promoted religious freedom for all, but the democracy was only for those within the circle of church membership; those outside the boundary occupied a secondary place in the Bible Commonwealth.[3] They set out to consider the Bible as a supreme literary value and believed that the Bible was the ultimate word of God.[4] Puritans did not tolerate criticism towards the church and strongly believed that man is inherently sinful and corrupt, could be only rescued if they followed the holy book religiously. Puritans urged believers to seek the truth by reading the Bible and listening to sermons by educated ministers.2 For Puritans, the Bible was God’s direct communication to humans and must be read daily and followed very closely.
The Basis for the Puritan’s beliefs was an emphasis on the righteousness and sovereignty of God. Morally, the Puritans believed that their role in society was to convert non-believers because they considered themselves god’s chosen people. They firmly believed that God had preselected certain souls that were eligible for his divine grace. Although, Puritans set out to seek religious freedom but their religious laws were extremely rigid in nature and members were expected to follow a strict moral code. They believed that all sins- from sleeping in church or suffering misfortune, such as a failed crop, they saw it as God’s will and did not help. People in town were expected to work hard and repress their emotions or opinions. The Puritan lifestyle was restrained and rigid: People were supposed to adhere to strict rules in the church during sermon. Puritans strongly believed that every individual faced the powers of good and evil, but Satan would select the weakest individuals, the insane- to carry out his work. They firmly believed that everything that happened to a person or their property was an act of God or of Satan and there was a reason for that happening to them. It was the law to go to church and not following the religious norms called for a punishment.
The Puritan’s strict Protestant life and their fear of the devil made their New England society an easy target for the witchcraft hysteria.1 The witchcraft hysteria in colonial New England grew out of the Puritan’s strict religious teachings and fears, as well as the commonwealth’s ministry’s ways of controlling the society. The Puritan’s believed in their faith and the power of God, the ruler and controller of the universe and nature. Ministers instilled fear in the common people about the devil, so that people would follow the Bible closely and adhere to strict moral code. The Puritan ministers used the fear of witchcraft to scare the believers into following the church covenants. For those who deviated from the religious practices, were considered evil and outcasts which included several women. Because of their evil powers, they need to be identified, persecuted and executed before they inflicted harm on others. These harsh Puritan beliefs that caused the witchcraft hysteria set the stage for the Salem witchcraft trials that were responsible for hundreds of so-called witches deaths. Puritans firmly believed that God “spoke” to his chosen through natural signs – storms, deaths, drought, etc. Nonconformists who broke the established church order or undermined the integrity of god’s project; therefore, those were evil.[5] Puritans believed that all the ill things happening to people at the time, was because they deserved to suffer.
Puritans were set in their ways when it came to practicing their religion. But above examples show that they were extremely rigid about religious practices and did not tolerate any sort of nonconformity from the townspeople. This shows us that even though they came to the New World to practice religion or as they called purify their religion from the Church of England, they still suffered a lot of religious persecution within their own communities.
[1] Bremer, J. Francis. 2009. “ The Puritans and Dissent: The cases of Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson.” The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Accessed February 22, 2014.
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/religion-and-eighteenth-century-revivalism/essays/puritans-and-dissent-cases-roger-wi
[2] The Puritans. “Puritans Beliefs and Reasons for Coming to America.” The Gettysburg. Accessed February 22, 2014.
http://www3.gettysburg.edu/~tshannon/hist106web/site15/BOBS/The%20Purit.an%20Beliefs.htm
[3] Foner, Eric. Give me liberty: An American History (New York: Norton, 2012), 53-56.
[4] Cody, David., Landow, P. George. 2009. “ Abolition is the offspring of Puritanism.” The Victorian Web literature, History, & Culture in the age of Victoria. Accessed Februrary 22, 2014.
http://www.victorianweb.org/religion/puritan4.html
[5] “Notes on Puritans.”. Origins and Ideas about Puritanism. Accessed February 22,2014.http://www.redwoods.edu/Instruct/JJohnston/English8/crucible/puritanismandcruciblenotes.htm
Bibliography:
Bremer, J. Francis. 2009. “ The Puritans and Dissent: The cases of Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson.” The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Accessed February 22, 2014.
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/religion-and-eighteenth-century-revivalism/essays/puritans-and-dissent-cases-roger-wi
Cody, David., Landow, P. George. 2009. “ Abolition is the offspring of Puritanism.” The Victorian Web literature, History, & Culture in the age of Victoria. Accessed Februrary 22, 2014.
http://www.victorianweb.org/religion/puritan4.html
Foner, Eric. Give me liberty: An American History (New York: Norton, 2012), 53-56.
“Notes on Puritans.”. Origins and Ideas about Puritanism. Accessed February 22,2014. http://www.redwoods.edu/Instruct/JJohnston/English8/crucible/puritanismandcruciblenotes.htm
The Puritans. “Puritans Beliefs and Reasons for Coming to America.” The Gettysburg. Accessed February 22, 2014.
http://www3.gettysburg.edu/~tshannon/hist106web/site15/BOBS/The%20Purit.an%20Beliefs.htm
The Church of England set out to break away from the Catholic Church and introduced some reforms in a new Protestant religion. The Puritans however still believed that the newly founded church still held too many views of the Catholic Churches. As a result, Puritans established their own faith, which was built upon the teachings of the Bible. Eventually the Church of England began to crackdown on those who refused to bow to their authority. So, Puritans decided to break away from the Church of England in pursuit of religious freedom in a new country.[2]
The Puritan movement was a broad trend, with emphasis upon the “purification” of church and society of the Church of England in the late sixteenth century. Puritans hoped to reform the religion by discouraging immoral conduct, corruption and seeking the truth just from the Bible. Puritans did not intend on separating from the Church, rather hoped to reform the religious beliefs. In an effort, to reform the religious practices and make Bible the focal point of the religion, they formed a Bible Commonwealth. The Bible Commonwealth helped them to escape the corruptions of the English society because reading the bible was the central idea of Puritan beliefs. Even though, coming to New England and forming Bible Commonwealth should have promoted religious freedom for all, but the democracy was only for those within the circle of church membership; those outside the boundary occupied a secondary place in the Bible Commonwealth.[3] They set out to consider the Bible as a supreme literary value and believed that the Bible was the ultimate word of God.[4] Puritans did not tolerate criticism towards the church and strongly believed that man is inherently sinful and corrupt, could be only rescued if they followed the holy book religiously. Puritans urged believers to seek the truth by reading the Bible and listening to sermons by educated ministers.2 For Puritans, the Bible was God’s direct communication to humans and must be read daily and followed very closely.
The Basis for the Puritan’s beliefs was an emphasis on the righteousness and sovereignty of God. Morally, the Puritans believed that their role in society was to convert non-believers because they considered themselves god’s chosen people. They firmly believed that God had preselected certain souls that were eligible for his divine grace. Although, Puritans set out to seek religious freedom but their religious laws were extremely rigid in nature and members were expected to follow a strict moral code. They believed that all sins- from sleeping in church or suffering misfortune, such as a failed crop, they saw it as God’s will and did not help. People in town were expected to work hard and repress their emotions or opinions. The Puritan lifestyle was restrained and rigid: People were supposed to adhere to strict rules in the church during sermon. Puritans strongly believed that every individual faced the powers of good and evil, but Satan would select the weakest individuals, the insane- to carry out his work. They firmly believed that everything that happened to a person or their property was an act of God or of Satan and there was a reason for that happening to them. It was the law to go to church and not following the religious norms called for a punishment.
The Puritan’s strict Protestant life and their fear of the devil made their New England society an easy target for the witchcraft hysteria.1 The witchcraft hysteria in colonial New England grew out of the Puritan’s strict religious teachings and fears, as well as the commonwealth’s ministry’s ways of controlling the society. The Puritan’s believed in their faith and the power of God, the ruler and controller of the universe and nature. Ministers instilled fear in the common people about the devil, so that people would follow the Bible closely and adhere to strict moral code. The Puritan ministers used the fear of witchcraft to scare the believers into following the church covenants. For those who deviated from the religious practices, were considered evil and outcasts which included several women. Because of their evil powers, they need to be identified, persecuted and executed before they inflicted harm on others. These harsh Puritan beliefs that caused the witchcraft hysteria set the stage for the Salem witchcraft trials that were responsible for hundreds of so-called witches deaths. Puritans firmly believed that God “spoke” to his chosen through natural signs – storms, deaths, drought, etc. Nonconformists who broke the established church order or undermined the integrity of god’s project; therefore, those were evil.[5] Puritans believed that all the ill things happening to people at the time, was because they deserved to suffer.
Puritans were set in their ways when it came to practicing their religion. But above examples show that they were extremely rigid about religious practices and did not tolerate any sort of nonconformity from the townspeople. This shows us that even though they came to the New World to practice religion or as they called purify their religion from the Church of England, they still suffered a lot of religious persecution within their own communities.
[1] Bremer, J. Francis. 2009. “ The Puritans and Dissent: The cases of Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson.” The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Accessed February 22, 2014.
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/religion-and-eighteenth-century-revivalism/essays/puritans-and-dissent-cases-roger-wi
[2] The Puritans. “Puritans Beliefs and Reasons for Coming to America.” The Gettysburg. Accessed February 22, 2014.
http://www3.gettysburg.edu/~tshannon/hist106web/site15/BOBS/The%20Purit.an%20Beliefs.htm
[3] Foner, Eric. Give me liberty: An American History (New York: Norton, 2012), 53-56.
[4] Cody, David., Landow, P. George. 2009. “ Abolition is the offspring of Puritanism.” The Victorian Web literature, History, & Culture in the age of Victoria. Accessed Februrary 22, 2014.
http://www.victorianweb.org/religion/puritan4.html
[5] “Notes on Puritans.”. Origins and Ideas about Puritanism. Accessed February 22,2014.http://www.redwoods.edu/Instruct/JJohnston/English8/crucible/puritanismandcruciblenotes.htm
Bibliography:
Bremer, J. Francis. 2009. “ The Puritans and Dissent: The cases of Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson.” The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Accessed February 22, 2014.
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/religion-and-eighteenth-century-revivalism/essays/puritans-and-dissent-cases-roger-wi
Cody, David., Landow, P. George. 2009. “ Abolition is the offspring of Puritanism.” The Victorian Web literature, History, & Culture in the age of Victoria. Accessed Februrary 22, 2014.
http://www.victorianweb.org/religion/puritan4.html
Foner, Eric. Give me liberty: An American History (New York: Norton, 2012), 53-56.
“Notes on Puritans.”. Origins and Ideas about Puritanism. Accessed February 22,2014. http://www.redwoods.edu/Instruct/JJohnston/English8/crucible/puritanismandcruciblenotes.htm
The Puritans. “Puritans Beliefs and Reasons for Coming to America.” The Gettysburg. Accessed February 22, 2014.
http://www3.gettysburg.edu/~tshannon/hist106web/site15/BOBS/The%20Purit.an%20Beliefs.htm