Puritan
The Puritans were a group of radical Protestants which developed in England following the Reformation, and played a significant role in the religious turmoil of the 17th century.
Puritanism arose in the 1560s out of the discontent of radical protestants over the Elizabethan Religious Settlement, which the radicals claimed established a Catholic Church under the control of the Monarch, something that the radicals were opposed to (they described Anglicanism as a "Mingle Mangle").
"Puritan" was orginally a degrogetory term, used by Anglo Catholics to mock the radicals' belief that the Church was corrupt and needed to be purified.
However, within a few years radicals used the term "Puritan" as a badge of honour.
Puritans were also known as "Dissenters".
The central tenant of Puritanism was a belief in that by following the teachings of the Bible (in particular that of the New Testament), people live holier lives and stand a better chance of salvation.
Other important beliefs included:
Puritanism was never a coherent, organised movement. Instead, it was a loose coalition of radical churches opposed to the Anglican Church.
The largest of these groups were the Independents, the most influential in Parliament(and a thorn in the side of the Monarchy), were the Presbyterians.
Other groups included the Society of Friends and the Seperatists.
Puritanism was regarded as dangerously revolutionary by the Monarchy, who were particulary disturbed by the Puritans efforts to educate the poor and the Puritans' pamphlets attacking the power of Bishops (especially the Marprelate Tracts).
Puritan members of parliament were taken to the Tower when they disagreed with the official line, known Puritans were spied on by Elizabeth's secret police, and Puritan meetings were broken up by the militia, all of which stiffened the Puritans' morale and made bloody revolution more likely.
Because of this persecution, many Puritans fled to America, where they founded several colonies in New England.
The English Civil War was a religious and political revolution between the Puritans and the Monarchy allied with Church.
It became inevitible, because of the continued persecution of the Puritans, the extreme arrogance of Charles I of England and the reactionary policies of Archbishop William Laud.
The pParliamentary and Puritan forces of Oliver Cromwell defeated and executed Charles I.
Cromwell then established, for the first time in British history, a government that was tolerant of other religions (it allowed Jews to return to England for example), and also one that tried to help and educate the poor.
When Cromwell died, the Restoration of the Monarchy also saw the restoration of persecution.
After the restoration, Puritans became known as Non Conformistsand were persecuted by a hostile Monarchy, although as a result of the Commonwealth, there were now many Puritans inside the Anglican Church. They became known as Low Church Anglicans, but had little influence in the High Church Anglican dominated Church until the twentieth century.
Non Conformist means to "not conform" with the teachings of the Church, and that is how the Puritans are usually referred to today.
Because of the persecution, Puritanism began to decline from about 1680.
In the 17th century, Puritanism began to revive under the teachings of a man who argued that people should live their lives according to the method of the Bible.
That man was John Wesley and Methodism was born.
It soon grew to become the largest of the Puritan denominations, and not only was it persecuted by the religious establishment but it was also subject to propaganda attacks from various cartoonists
Puritanism had a huge influence on the development of Socialism, from the proto-socialist Levellers to the socialist Robert Owen and the founder of the Labour Party, Keir Hardie.
In a U.K context it had more influence on the development of Socialism and of the Welfare State than Marxism did, though this is not the case in many other countries.
Over the years Puritanism has been variously attacked as "intolerant", "bigoted" and "joyless".
Although none of those insults are actually true, it is worth knowing how and why they came about.
The accusations that Puritans were "joyless" comes from both the banning of Theatre and of the celebration of Christmas under the Commonwealth.
People who believe this accusations do not know that William Shakespear was the exception that proved the rule, although his work was brilliant, most other theatre done at the time involved badly written scripts that were percieved as little more than an excuse for orgies in front of a mass audience.
Christmas was not widely celebrated in Britain until the 19th Century, at the time of the Commonwealth it was a German tradition that was not celebrated outside Germany.
All that happend at Christmas in Britain in the 17th century was the villiage idiot getting drunk.
The idea that the Puritans were either intolerant or bigoted is Restoration era propaganda which has somehow managed to suvive for 350 years.
It has become fairly common for journalists to describe Islamic Fundamentalists as "puritan". This is innacurate and most respected journalists do not use the term, however plenty of other journalists do.
This is mainly because it is easier for them to put what to them seems a strange thing indeed(Islamic Fundamentalism), inside a bracket which they do not understand, than actually find out about how the Islamic Faith(or Puritanism for that matter) work.
The following denominations of Christainity are descended from the Puritans:
Beginnings
Beliefs
Denominations of Puritanism
Persecution
Revolution and the Commonwealth
Puritans to Non Conformists
The rise of Methodism
Puritanism and socialism
Misconceptions of Puritanism
Puritanism today
Further Reading
