History of a protestant group
From 1649 to 1660,
Puritans
in the
Commonwealth of England
were allied to the state power held by the military regime, headed by
Lord Protector
Oliver Cromwell
until he died in 1658. They broke into numerous sects, of which the Presbyterian group comprised most of the clergy, but was deficient in political power since Cromwell's sympathies were with the
Independents
. During this period, the term "Puritan" becomes largely moot, therefore, in British terms, though the situation in
New England
was very different. After the
English Restoration
, the
Savoy Conference
and
Uniformity Act 1662
and
Great Ejection
drove most of the Puritan ministers from the
Church of England
, and the outlines of the Puritan movement changed over a few decades into the collections of Presbyterian and Congregational churches, operating as they could as
Dissenters
under changing regimes.
English Interregnum, 1649?1660
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Failure of the Presbyterian church, 1649?1654
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The
English Interregnum
was a period of religious diversity in England. With the creation of the
Commonwealth of England
in 1649, the government passed to the
English Council of State
, a group dominated by Oliver Cromwell, an advocate of religious liberty. In 1650, at Cromwell's behest, the
Rump Parliament
abolished the
Act of Uniformity 1558
, meaning that while England now had an officially established church with Presbyterian polity, there was no legal requirement that anyone attend services in the established church.
In 1646, the
Long Parliament
had abolished episcopacy in the
Church of England
and replaced it with a
presbyterian
system, and had voted to replace the
Book of Common Prayer
with the
Directory of Public Worship
. The actual implementation of these reforms in the church proceeded slowly for a number of reasons:
- In many localities ? especially those areas which had been Royalist during the Civil Wars and which had low numbers of Puritans, both the bishops and the
Book of Common Prayer
were popular, and ministers, as well as their congregations, simply continued to conduct worship in their ordinary way.
- Independents
opposed the scheme, and started conducting themselves as
gathered churches
.
- Clergymen who favored presbyterianism nevertheless disliked the
Long Parliament
's ordinance because it included an
Erastian
element in the office of "commissioner". Some were thus less than enthusiastic about implementing the Long Parliament's scheme.
- Since the office of bishop had been abolished in the church, with no substitute, there was no one to enforce the new presbyterianism scheme on the church, so the combination of opposition and apathy meant that little was done.
With the abolition of the Act of Uniformity, even the pretense of religious uniformity broke down. Thus, while the Presbyterians were dominant (at least theoretically) within the established church, those who opposed Presbyterianism were in fact free to start conducting themselves in the way they wanted. Separatists, who had previously organized themselves underground, were able to worship openly. For example, as early as 1616, the first English
Baptists
had organized themselves in secret, under the leadership of
Henry Jacob
,
John Lothropp
, and
Henry Jessey
. Now, however, they were less secretive. Other ministers ? who favored the
congregationalist
New England Way ? also began setting up their own congregations outside of the established church.
Many
sects
were also organized during this time. It is not clear that they should be called "Puritan" sects since they placed less emphasis on the
Bible
than is characteristic of Puritans, instead insisting on the role of direct contact with the
Holy Spirit
. These groups included the
Ranters
, the
Fifth Monarchists
, the
Seekers
, the
Muggletonians
, and ? most prominently and most lastingly ? the
Quakers
.
Religious controversies of the Interregnum
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The Puritan movement split over issues of ecclesiology in the course of the Westminster Assembly. In the course of the 1650s, the movement became further split in the course of a number of controversies. With no means to enforce uniformity in the church and with freedom of the press, these disputes were largely played out in pamphlet warfare throughout the decade.
Owen?Baxter Debate over the nature of Justification
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In 1647,
John Owen
, the pastor of
Coggeshall
,
Essex
, a man who was a champion of
congregationalism
, who had preached to the Long Parliament, and who had published a number of works denouncing
Arminianism
, published his work
The Death of Death in the Death of Christ
. In this work, he denounced the
Arminian
doctrine of the
unlimited atonement
and argued in favour of the doctrine of a
limited atonement
. He also denounced the spread of
Amyraldism
in England, a position most associated with
John Davenant
,
Samuel Ward
and their followers.
In 1649,
Richard Baxter
, the minister of
Kidderminster
,
Worcestershire
and who served as
chaplain
to Colonel
Edward Whalley
's regiment, published a reply to Owen, entitled
Aphorisms of Justification
. He argued that the doctrine of
unlimited atonement
was more faithful to the words of
scripture
. He invoked the authority of dozens of the
Reformers
, including
John Calvin
, in support of his position.
In the course of the 1650s, Owen and Baxter engaged in a series of replies and counter-replies on the topic. At the same time, both men gained followers for their positions. John Owen preached to the Long Parliament the day after the execution of Charles I, and then accompanied
Oliver Cromwell
to Ireland. Cromwell charged Owen with reforming
Trinity College, Dublin
. In 1651, after the
Presbyterian
Vice-Chancellor
of the
University of Oxford
,
Edward Reynolds
, refused to take the
Engagement
, Cromwell appointed Owen as vice-chancellor in his stead. From that post, Owen became the most prominent
Independent
churchman of the 1650s.
Baxter also gained a following in the 1650s, publishing prolifically after his return to Kidderminster. Two of his books ?
The Saints' Everlasting Rest
(1650) and
The Reformed Pastor
(1656) ? have been regarded by subsequent generations as Puritan classics. Many clergymen came to see Baxter as the leader of the Presbyterians, the largest party of Puritans, in the course of the 1650s.
Socinian controversy
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Socinianism
, an
anti-trinitarian
position, had made a few in-roads into England in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Adherents of this position had been brutally oppressed, with a number of high-profile executions, including that of
Francis Kett
in 1589, and
Bartholomew Legate
and
Edward Wightman
in 1612, after they in 1609 published a Latin version of the
Racovian Catechism
.
The most prominent Socinian of the 1650s was
John Biddle
, often known as the "Father of English
Unitarianism
." Biddle was imprisoned in 1645 and 1646 for publicizing his denials of the
Trinity
. After being defended in the
Long Parliament
by
Henry Vane the Younger
, Biddle was released in 1648. In 1652, he was arrested again after he published an anti-trinitarian catechism. ohn Owen produced several pieces denouncing Biddle's views. However, Cromwell, true to his principle of religious liberty, intervened to ensure that Biddle was not executed, but instead sent to exile on the
Isles of Scilly
in 1652.
Growth of the sectaries
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From 1660 to present day
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Puritans and the Restoration, 1660
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The largest Puritan faction ? the Presbyterians ? had been deeply dissatisfied with the state of the church under Cromwell. They wanted to restore religious uniformity throughout England and they believed that only a restoration of the English monarchy could achieve this and suppress the sectaries. Most Presbyterians were therefore supportive of the
Restoration
of
Charles II
. Charles II's most loyal followers ? those who had followed him into exile on the continent, like
Sir Edward Hyde
? had fought the English Civil War largely in defense of episcopacy and insisted that episcopacy be restored in the Church of England. Nevertheless, in the
Declaration of Breda
, issued in April 1660, a month before Charles II's return to England, Charles II proclaimed that while he intended to restore the Church of England, he would also pursue a policy of
religious toleration
for non-adherents of the Church of England. Charles II named the only living pre-Civil War bishop
William Juxon
as
Archbishop of Canterbury
in 1660, but it was widely understood that because of Juxon's age, he would likely die soon and be replaced by
Gilbert Sheldon
, who, for the time being, became
Bishop of London
. In a show of goodwill, one of the chief Presbyterians,
Edward Reynolds
, was named
Bishop of Norwich
and chaplain to the king.
Shortly after Charles II's return to England, in early 1661,
Fifth Monarchists
Vavasor Powell
and
Thomas Venner
attempted a coup against Charles II. Thus, elections were held for the
Cavalier Parliament
in a heated atmosphere of anxiety about a further Puritan uprising.
Nevertheless, Charles II had hoped that the
Book of Common Prayer
could be reformed in a way that was acceptable to the majority of the Presbyterians, so that when religious uniformity was restored by law, the largest number of Puritans possible could be incorporated inside the Church of England. At the April 1661
Savoy Conference
, held at
Gilbert Sheldon
's chambers at
Savoy Hospital
, twelve bishops and twelve representatives of the Presbyterian party (
Edward Reynolds
,
Anthony Tuckney
,
John Conant
,
William Spurstowe
,
John Wallis
,
Thomas Manton
,
Edmund Calamy
,
Richard Baxter
,
Arthur Jackson
,
Thomas Case
,
Samuel Clarke
, and
Matthew Newcomen
) met to discuss Presbyterian proposals for reforming the Book of Common Prayer drawn up by Richard Baxter. Baxter's proposed liturgy was largely rejected at the Conference.
When the Cavalier Parliament met in May 1661, its first action, largely a reaction to the Fifth Monarchist uprising, was to pass the
Corporation Act 1661
, which barred anyone who had not received communion in the Church of England in the past twelve months from holding office in a city or corporation. It also required officeholders to swear the
Oath of Allegiance
and
Oath of Supremacy
, to swear belief in the Doctrine of
Passive Obedience
, and to renounce the
Covenant
.
The Great Ejection, 1662
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In 1662, the Cavalier Parliament passed the
Act of Uniformity of 1662
, restoring the
Book of Common Prayer
as the official liturgy under the
1662 prayer book
. The Act of Uniformity prescribed that any minister who refused to conform to the Book of Common Prayer by
St. Bartholomew's Day
1662 would be ejected from the Church of England. This date became known as
Black Bartholomew's Day
, among dissenters, a reference to the fact that it occurred on the same day as the
St. Bartholomew's Day massacre
of 1572.
The majority of ministers who had served in Cromwell's state church conformed to the Book of Common Prayer. Members of Cromwell's state church who chose to conform in 1662 were often labeled
Latitudinarians
by contemporaries - this group includes
John Tillotson
,
Simon Patrick
,
Thomas Tenison
,
William Lloyd
,
Joseph Glanvill
, and
Edward Fowler
. The Latitudinarians formed the basis of what would later become the
Low church
wing of the Church of England. The Puritan movement had become particularly fractured in the course of the 1640s and 1650s, and with the decision of the Latitudinarians to conform in 1662, it became even further fractured.
Around two thousand Puritan ministers resigned from their positions as Church of England clergy as a consequence. This group included
Richard Baxter
,
Edmund Calamy the Elder
,
Simeon Ashe
,
Thomas Case
,
William Jenkyn
,
Thomas Manton
,
William Sclater
, and
Thomas Watson
. After 1662, the term "Puritan" was generally supplanted by
"Nonconformist"
or
"Dissenter"
to describe those Puritans who had refused to conform in 1662.
Persecution of Dissenters, 1662?1672
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Though expelled from their pulpits in 1662, many of the non-conforming ministers continued to preach to their followers in public homes and other locations. These private meetings were known as
conventicles
. The congregations that they formed around the non-conforming ministers at this time form the nucleus for the later English
Presbyterian
,
Congregationalist
, and
Baptist
denominations
. The
Cavalier Parliament
responded hostilely to the continued influence of the non-conforming ministers. In 1664, it passed the
Conventicle Act
banning religious assemblies of more than five people outside of the Church of England. In 1665, it passed the
Five Mile Act
, forbidding ejected ministers from living within five miles of a parish from which they had been banned, unless they swore an oath never to resist the king, or attempt to alter the government of Church or State. Under the
penal laws
forbidding religious dissent (generally known to history as the
Clarendon Code
), many ministers were imprisoned in the latter half of the 1660s. One of the most notable victims of the penal laws during this period (though he was not himself an ejected minister) was
John Bunyan
, a Baptist, who was imprisoned from 1660 to 1672.
At the same time that the Cavalier Parliament was ratcheting up the legal penalties against religious dissent, there were various attempts from the side of government and bishops, to establish a basis for "comprehension", a set of circumstances under which some dissenting ministers could return to the Church of England. These schemes for comprehension would have driven a wedge between Presbyterians and the group of Independents; but the discussions that took place between
Latitudinarian
figures in the Church and leaders such as Baxter and Manton never bridged the gap between Dissenters and the "
high church
" party in the Church of England, and comprehension ultimately proved impossible to achieve.
The Road to Religious Toleration for the Dissenters, 1672?1689
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In 1670, Charles II had signed the
Secret Treaty of Dover
with
Louis XIV of France
. In this treaty he committed to securing religious toleration for the Roman Catholic recusants in England. In March 1672, Charles issued his
Royal Declaration of Indulgence
, which suspended the
penal laws
against the dissenters and eased restrictions on the private practice of Catholicism. Many imprisoned dissenters (including John Bunyan) were released from prison in response to the Royal Declaration of Indulgence.
The
Cavalier Parliament
reacted hostilely to the Royal Declaration of Indulgence. Supporters of the high church party in the Church of England resented the easing of the penal laws, while many across the political nation suspected that Charles II was plotting to restore Catholicism to England. The Cavalier Parliament's hostility forced Charles to withdraw the declaration of indulgence, and the penal laws were again enforceable. In 1673, Parliament passed the first
Test Act
, requiring all officeholders in England to abjure the doctrine of
transubstantiation
(thus ensuring that no Catholics could hold office in England).
Later trends
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Puritan experience underlay the later
Latitudinarian
and
Evangelical
trends in the
Church of England
. Divisions between Presbyterian and Congregationalist groups in London became clear in the 1690s, and with the Congregationalists following the trend of the older Independents, a split became perpetuated. The
Salters' Hall conference
of 1719 was a landmark, after which many of the congregations went their own way in theology. In Europe, in the 17th and 18th centuries, a movement within Lutheranism parallel to puritan ideology (which was mostly of a Calvinist orientation) became a strong religious force known as
pietism
. In the United States, the Puritan settlement of
New England
was a major influence on American Protestantism.
With the start of the
English Civil War
in 1642, fewer settlers to
New England
were Puritans. The period of 1642 to 1659 represented a period of peaceful dominance in English life by the formerly discriminated Puritan population. Consequently, most felt no need to settle in the American colonies. Very few immigrants to the
Colony of Virginia
and other early colonies, in any case, were Puritans. Virginia was a repository for more
middle class
and "royalist" oriented settlers, who were leaving England following their loss of power during the
English Commonwealth
. Many migrants to New England who had looked for greater religious freedom found the Puritan
theocracy
to be repressive, examples being
Roger Williams
,
Stephen Bachiler
,
Anne Hutchinson
, and
Mary Dyer
. Puritan populations in New England, continued to grow, with many large and prosperous Puritan families. (See Estimated Population 1620?1780:
Immigration to the United States
.)
References
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