Puritans

The label given to those English Protestants who sought to go back to the purity and simplicity of apostolic Christianity, which they felt the English Reformation had not done enough to 'purify.' Like the word 'Christians,' 'Puritans' was a word that was applied on them by others but which they embraced as a badge of honour. Popularly seen as severe in their discipline and austere in their lifestyle, Puritans were theologically Calvinist (though R.T. Kendall, after a detailed analysis of English Calvinism, "makes the startling claim that mainstream Puritanism in fact proclaimed a message that was opposed to Calvin's" (see Helm, Evangel, below), liturgically Nonconformist, and politically anti-monarchical. Historically they are, perhaps, best remembered as the primary opponents of the king in the English Civil War and as the Pilgrim Fathers who set off to found a 'New Jerusalem' in North America.

According to Philip Schaff, "The name Puritans . . . occurs first about 1564 or 1566, and was employed to brand those who were opposed to the use of priestly vestments, as the cap, surplice, and the tippet (but not the gown, which the Puritans and Presbyterians retained, as well as the Continental Protestant ministers). Shakspere [sic] uses the term half a dozen times, and always reproachfully."

Though the Puritans did not become a group that could be socially distinguished until the time of Elizabeth I (she was one of the first to use it, as a term of abuse) their sentiments could already be detected in the hopeful reign of Edward VI. Edward's short-lived reign was followed by Mary I; her ferocious attempt to return England to the fold of Rome led many evangelicals to flee England to Calvinist centers like Geneva and Frankfort. Elizabeth's succession to the throne on Mary's death brought these fervent evangelicals back to England, and they were the starters from which the loaf of puritanism arose. The Elizabethan Settlement, however, squashed any hope of real accomplishments in their generation. James I's apparent readiness to give them an ear by calling the Hampton Court Conference raised their hopes, which were quickly dashed when he practically ignored them entirely. Their only permanent achievement at the conference was James's agreement to a new translation of the Bible into English (the King James Bible). Many Puritans decided that England was beyond redemption and emigrated; Holland was a favourite in Europe, but the New World was the most famous. Those who stayed bid their time. The highpoint of their influence came in the reign of Charles I whose stubborn stand on the divine right of king and the resulting conflict with parliament let to the Civil War and his beheading. Their victory was short-lived. When their leader, Oliver Cromwell died in 1658, the Puritans became deeply divided among themselves. With the restoration of Charles II to the throne and the passing by parliament of the Clarendon Code ensured that Puritans stayed out of power. From then on, they remained a Nonconformist minority.

Though often caricatured as joy-killers and social-misfits, Puritans were, at a personal level, devoted to a life that emphasized personal reflection that led to personal regeneration and sanctification, Bible-reading and sermonizing, prayers, strict observance of the Sabbath, and high moral discipline. The great English historian, A. G. Dickens, had this to say:

the Puritans - with whom I personally have very little in common - were in general the best people, the most humane people, the most unworldly, and the most socially reponsible in the nation. Alistair Cooke, in the his . . . television series on America, freely compared New England Puritans with Nazis and Communists. I am left to think that he is a great reporter . . . but a patchy historian. In England and new world, as . . . elsewhere, Puritanism, however, coercive on the individuals within the congregation, was almost the sword and brest-plate of political liberty." ("The Ambivalent English Reformation," 47.)

Media Resources:

W. Robert Godfrey, A Survey of Church History, Part 4. AD 1600-1800. Lignonier Ministries. This series has 12 lectures, 5 of which are devoted to the Puritans.
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J. I. Packer, The English Puritans. This is a series of 16 audio lectures from Reformed Theological Seminary.
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Geoffrey Cox, "A Purian Vision". Proclamation Trust. Bishopsgate Conference, 1992.
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Print Resources:

C. Sydney Carter, "Puritanism: Its History, Spirit and Influence," The Churchman 41.3 (July 1927): 210-220.
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Brian Cosby, "Toward a Definition of 'Puritan' and 'Puritanism': A Study in Puritan Historiography," Churchman 122.4 (Winter 2008): 297-314.
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Peter Golding, "The Puritan Movement in England," Foundations 37 (Autumn 1996):39-46.
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R. Tudur Jones, "Union with Christ: The Existential Nerve of Puritan Piety," Tyndale Bulletin 41.2 (1990):161-185.
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Thomas Lea, "The Hermeneutics of the Puritans," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 39/2 (1996): 271-284.
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James I. Packer, "Why We Need the Puritans," Themelios 21.2 (January 1996): 9-13.
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☰ "The Purtan Conflict," being Sect.92, Chap.VII of Philip Schaff, Creeds of Christendom. Vol. I: The History of Creeds. html SPanel

Paul Helm, "Calvin and Calvinism. The Anatomy of a Controvery," Evangel 2.1 (1984):7-10.
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A Puritan's Mind. Almost everything you wish to know about the Puritans.
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