1. History of the Church II: Week Six

2. Protestants head to the New World  Read p. 291  Puritans, a group of people who wanted to “purify” the church of England, have been one of the most misunderstood groups in American history.  After the Victorian Age, most modern writers and free thinkers came to characterize the word Puritan as a person who fears sex and keeps people from having fun.  NY Times writer/editor H.L. Mencken wrote that Puritanism was “the fear that someone, somewhere was having fun”.  Who were these people and why are they important in church history?

3. Protestants head to the New World  The Puritans were modern-day evangelicals who believed followers of Christ had to have a spiritual conversion. Merely going to church or following the ceremonies did not mean you were part of the “elect” (true body of Christ).  The Puritans wanted to reform the church in England and their journey fell into three phases:  Allowed to worship freely during Queen Elizabeth but could not get the queen to change the Church of England from royal control. (1558- 1603)  Persecution during the reign James I and Charles I (1603-1643)  Tried to change the Church of England during Civil War but failed. (1643-1658)

4. Protestants head to the New World  While some Puritans wanted to stay in England and reform the Church, others wanted to worship without having to wait in England.  These Puritans left and went to Holland but after 10 years their children were adopting ways of their new country.  When Charles I appointed a new archbishop, William Laud, who basically forced all church members to worship using Anglican services, 16,000 members left and went to America to freely worship as they saw fit.  Side Note: In 1609, a group of Puritans studying the Bible for themselves found no place in Scripture where infant baptism was used. They formed a new church called “Baptists” and were baptized after confessing their faith in Jesus Christ.

5. Protestants head to the New World  Those that choose to stay in England finally decided that the only way to secure religious freedom was to fight for it.  When Charles called Parliament together to raise an army, half of Parliament went to his aid and half went to war against the Crown.  An assembly of Puritan theologians was called to Westminster to draw up a new form of worship. This became known as the Westminster Confession which is still used in Reformed Churches today.  Their leader, Oliver Cromwell, defeated Charles in two different Civil Wars. However, quarreling between themselves prevented the Puritans from making any significant changes in the Anglican church.

6. Wars over Religion  While the English Civil War was raging, Lutherans and Catholics were fighting the Thirty Years War in Central Europe.  Christianity had not yet came to the realization that different denominations could live together. They didn’t have religious freedom. (Discuss quote from worksheet)  At the Peace of Westphalia, Calvinism was recognized as a Christian faith while Protestantism stayed in northern Europe and Catholicism ruled southern Europe.

7. Denominational Theory  While all this was going on in Europe, in America an idea took hold where all religions could practice their religions freely.  Out of this came the theory that the true church cannot be identified with any single structure.  No denomination can claim to represent the whole church.  The real architects of this theory were the Independents of the 17 th century church in England.  Read p. 307

8. Europe after the Reformation