The Puritan Revolution OLLI Fall 2018 The History

The Puritan Revolution OLLI, Fall, 2018 The History of the Christian Church from the Reformation to Today

H. L. Mencken • Defined Puritanism as “the haunting fear that someone somewhere might be having a good time. ” • Were the Puritans all that Puritan? How did they come into being?

Rise of Puritanism • Puritanism arose in England as a reaction to the Church of England (Anglican) continuing embrace of traditional practices and liturgies of Catholicism. • The gap between Anglicans and Puritans became especially pronounced after James I came to the throne in 1603. • Instead of simple Christian virtues, arguments erupted over the use of

Rise of Puritanism, 2 vestments, color, music, the liturgy all seemed to Puritans to be leading back to Catholicism at the expense of biblical morality. Attacks centered on the episcopacy. “Either we must have a right ministerie of God & a right government of his church, according to Scripture set up (both whiche we lacke)

Rise of Puritanism, 3 • or else there can be no right religion, nor yet for contempt thereof can Gods plagues be from us any while deferred. ”

Puritanism and Civil War • Summary: “In England the Puritan Revolution led to civil war, to the execution of Charles the First, and to still more wars, until finally settling in a situation very similar to that which existed prior to the revolution, although with more tolerance for religious dissenters than before. ” The seventeenth century in England in a nutshell!

James I and Charles I • Increasing dissatisfaction by Puritans with both James I and his son Charles I