145-773: Magnalia Christi Americana (roughly, The Glorious Works of Christ in America ) is a book published in 1702 by the puritan minister Cotton Mather (1663–1728). Its title is in Latin , but its subtitle is in English: The Ecclesiastical History of New England from Its First Planting in 1620, until the Year of Our Lord 1698 . It was generally written in English and printed in London "for Thomas Parkhurst, at
290-537: A catechism between December 1643 and January 1647 containing fifty-five questions, before it decided to create two catechisms rather than one. The Larger Catechism was intended to assist ministers in teaching the Reformed faith to their congregations. The Shorter Catechism was based on the Larger Catechism but intended for use in teaching the faith to children. Parliament demanded scripture proofs for
435-774: A psalter , translated by Francis Rous for use in worship. A Confession of Faith to replace the Thirty-Nine Articles was begun in August 1646. While there is little record of the actions of the Assembly during the writing of the Confession, it is clear that there were significant debates in the Assembly over almost every doctrine found in it. The Confession was printed and sent to Parliament in December. The House of Commons requested scripture citations be added to
580-509: A "primitive" episcopacy, which would include elements of presbyterianism and a reduced role for bishops. There were also several congregationalists , who favoured autonomy for individual local churches. Their most influential divines were Thomas Goodwin , Philip Nye , Sidrach Simpson , Jeremiah Burroughs , and William Bridge . They were often called the "dissenting brethren" in the Assembly. They have sometimes been labelled "Independents", but they rejected this term. The Assembly members for
725-426: A Christian could never be reduced to simple "intellectual acknowledgment" of the truth of Christianity. Puritans agreed "that the effectual call of each elect saint of God would always come as an individuated personal encounter with God's promises". The process by which the elect are brought from spiritual death to spiritual life ( regeneration ) was described as conversion . Early on, Puritans did not consider
870-403: A break with the rest of the Assembly when they published An Apologeticall Narration , a polemical pamphlet appealing to Parliament. It argued that the congregational system was more amenable to state control of religious matters than that of the presbyterians because they did not desire the church to retain any real power except to withdraw fellowship from aberrant congregations. By 17 January,
1015-413: A church to be a single local congregation, while the majority considered the national church to be a unity and were alarmed at the prospect of a disintegrated English church. Despite these debates, up until the end of 1643 there was hope that a common church government could be framed that would be satisfactory to all parties involved. On 3 or 4 January 1644, the five leading dissenting brethren signalled
1160-464: A congregation of "visible saints" (meaning those who had experienced conversion). Members would be required to abide by a church covenant , in which they "pledged to join in the proper worship of God and to nourish each other in the search for further religious truth". Such churches were regarded as complete within themselves, with full authority to determine their own membership, administer their own discipline and ordain their own ministers. Furthermore,
1305-593: A diverse religious reform movement in Britain committed to the Continental Reformed tradition. While Puritans did not agree on all doctrinal points, most shared similar views on the nature of God , human sinfulness , and the relationship between God and mankind. They believed that all of their beliefs should be based on the Bible , which they considered to be divinely inspired . The concept of covenant
1450-401: A doctrine called particular redemption . A vocal minority of the divines of the Assembly argued for a position known as hypothetical universalism . Edmund Calamy held such a view, and he argued that Christ's death, as well as saving those who had been chosen, offered salvation to all people on condition that they believe. The Assembly's Confession did not teach such a view, and its language
1595-607: A new Form of Church Government , a Confession of Faith or statement of belief, two catechisms or manuals for religious instruction ( Shorter and Larger ), and a liturgical manual, the Directory for Public Worship , for the Churches of England and Scotland. The Confession and catechisms were adopted as doctrinal standards in the Church of Scotland and other Presbyterian churches, where they remain normative. Amended versions of
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#17327648355631740-622: A new English national church. By the late 1630s, Puritans were in alliance with the growing commercial world, with the parliamentary opposition to the royal prerogative , and with the Scottish Presbyterians with whom they had much in common. Consequently, they became a major political force in England and came to power as a result of the First English Civil War (1642–1646). Almost all Puritan clergy left
1885-460: A non-fiction book on U.S. history is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a book related to Christianity is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that
2030-464: A rather mechanical view of biblical inspiration , believing that not only the words and ideas but also the letters and vowel points of the Hebrew text were inspired by God. On the other hand, they acknowledged that the text was written by humans in their own styles. They did not make any distinction between essential and incidental matters with respect to biblical inspiration. Puritans believed that God
2175-636: A reformed episcopacy , presbyterianism , congregationalism , and Erastianism . The membership of the Assembly was strongly weighted towards the Presbyterians, but Oliver Cromwell was a Puritan and an independent Congregationalist Separatist who imposed his doctrines upon them. The Church of England of the Interregnum (1649–60) was run along Presbyterian lines but never became a national Presbyterian church, such as existed in Scotland. England
2320-614: A requirement for children in many Presbyterian churches. The migrations and missionary efforts of each of these groups lead to the widespread significance of the Westminster Assembly throughout the English-speaking world. The Assembly's Confession was particularly influential in American Protestant theology. It was included with congregationalist changes as part of the 1648 Cambridge Platform ,
2465-632: A result, Puritans were among the most literate societies in the world. By the time of the American Revolution there were 40 newspapers in the United States (at a time when there were only two cities—New York and Philadelphia—with as many as 20,000 people in them). The Puritans also set up a college (now Harvard University ) only six years after arriving in Boston. Christianity • Protestantism Puritanism broadly refers to
2610-434: A specific conversion experience normative or necessary, but many gained assurance of salvation from such experiences. Over time, however, Puritan theologians developed a framework for authentic religious experience based on their own experiences as well as those of their parishioners. Eventually, Puritans came to regard a specific conversion experience as an essential mark of one's election. The Puritan conversion experience
2755-399: A statement produced by ministers of colonial Massachusetts and the surrounding region, and again in colonial Connecticut as part of the 1708 Saybrook Platform . The Confession was modified for American Baptists in the 1707 Philadelphia Confession . The Adopting Act of 1729 required American Presbyterians to agree to the theology of the Assembly's Confession, and the Confession remains
2900-491: A uniform reform of the established church was called for to create a godly nation, while others advocated separation from, or the end of, any established state church entirely in favour of autonomous gathered churches , called-out from the world. These Separatist and Independents became more prominent in the 1640s, when the supporters of a presbyterian polity in the Westminster Assembly were unable to forge
3045-459: Is much more amenable to a particular redemption interpretation, but there is a general agreement among scholars that the Confession's language allows an hypothetical universalist interpretation. Covenant theology is an interpretive framework used by Reformed theologians which was significantly developed during the seventeenth century. Under this scheme, as articulated by the Assembly, God's dealings with men are described in terms of two covenants:
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#17327648355633190-403: Is sovereign over all of history and nature and that none of what were called his decrees would be frustrated. There was significant debate in the Assembly over the relationship of God's decree of predestination to the redemption purchased by Christ's death. Many of the Reformed during this period taught that Christ died with the purpose only to save those who were eternally chosen to be saved,
3335-403: Is that around 2,400 Puritan clergy left the Church in the " Great Ejection " of 1662. At this point, the term " Dissenter " came to include "Puritan", but more accurately described those (clergy or lay) who "dissented" from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer . The Dissenters divided themselves from all other Christians in the Church of England and established their own Separatist congregations in
3480-656: The Book of Common Prayer , traditional clerical vestments , and episcopal polity . Many English Protestants — especially those former Marian exiles returning to England to work as clergy and bishops — considered the settlement merely the first step in reforming England's church. The years of exile during the Marian Restoration had exposed them to the practices of the Continental Reformed churches . The most impatient clergy began introducing reforms within their local parishes. The initial conflict between Puritans and
3625-686: The Book of Common Prayer on the Scots beginning in 1604. The Scots considered this a reversion to Roman Catholicism. Charles furthered English impositions on the Church of Scotland in 1636 and 1637. This led to the First Bishops' War between Charles and the Scots in 1639. Charles called what came to be known as the Short Parliament to raise funds for the war, but he soon dissolved it when it began voicing opposition to his policies. Following
3770-472: The Brownists , would split from the established church and become known as Separatists. Other Separatists embraced more radical positions on separation of church and state and believer's baptism , becoming early Baptists . Based on Biblical portrayals of Adam and Eve , Puritans believed that marriage was rooted in procreation, love, and, most importantly, salvation. Husbands were the spiritual heads of
3915-484: The Reformation of the Church of England but remained within it, advocating for further reform; they disagreed among themselves about how much further reformation was possible or even necessary. Others, who were later termed " Nonconformists ", " Separatists ", or "separating Puritans", thought the Church of England was so corrupt that true Christians should separate from it altogether. In its widest historical sense,
4060-659: The Roman Catholic Church during the English Reformation , was still too heavily influenced by Catholicism. They sought to rid the church and nation of any of these remaining influences. This included the Church's episcopal polity , or rule by a hierarchy of bishops . Puritans, unlike separatists , did not leave the established church. Under Charles, the Puritans' opponents were placed in high positions of authority, most notably William Laud who
4205-579: The Rump Parliament on 20 April 1653. The Assembly was a product of the British Reformed tradition, taking as a major source the Thirty-Nine Articles as well as the theology of James Ussher and his Irish Articles of 1615. The divines also considered themselves to be within the broader European Reformed tradition. They were in frequent correspondence with continental Reformed theologians, and sought their approval. They also drew upon
4350-557: The Second Bishops' War with the Scots in 1640, Charles was forced to call another parliament to raise additional funds. What came to be known as the Long Parliament also began to voice vague grievances against Charles, many of which were religious in nature. Parliament had many Puritans and Puritan-sympathizing members, who generally opposed the existing episcopal system, but there was little agreement over what shape
4495-625: The Star Chamber , courts which had inflicted severe punishments on Puritan dissenters, were also abolished. The idea of a national assembly of theologians to advise Parliament on further church reforms was first presented to the House of Commons in 1641. Such a proposal was also included in the Grand Remonstrance , a list of grievances which Parliament presented to Charles on 1 December that year. Charles responded on 23 December that
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4640-628: The Thirty-Nine Articles , the current doctrinal standard of the Church of England, and "to free and vindicate the Doctrine of them from all Aspersions of false Interpretations". After a day of fasting , the Assembly took a vow, as directed by Parliament, to "not maintain any thing in Matters of Doctrine, but what I think, in my conscience, to be truth". The divines organized themselves into three standing committees, though each committee
4785-463: The evangelical Protestants of the 18th century. While evangelical views on conversion were heavily influenced by Puritan theology, the Puritans believed that assurance of one's salvation was "rare, late and the fruit of struggle in the experience of believers", whereas evangelicals believed that assurance was normative for all the truly converted. While most Puritans were members of the Church of England, they were critical of its worship practices. In
4930-414: The prelatical party) were conservatives who supported retaining bishops if those leaders supported reform and agreed to share power with local churches. They also supported the idea of having a Book of Common Prayer , but they were against demanding strict conformity or having too much ceremony. In addition, these Puritans called for a renewal of preaching, pastoral care and Christian discipline within
5075-431: The revised Book of Common Prayer . The Puritan movement of Jacobean times became distinctive by adaptation and compromise, with the emergence of "semi-separatism", "moderate puritanism", the writings of William Bradshaw (who adopted the term "Puritan" for himself), and the beginnings of Congregationalism . Most Puritans of this period were non-separating and remained within the Church of England; Separatists who left
5220-413: The vestments controversy , church authorities attempted and failed to enforce the use of clerical vestments. While never a mass movement, the Puritans had the support and protection of powerful patrons in the aristocracy. In the 1570s, the primary dispute between Puritans and the authorities was over the appropriate form of church government. Many Puritans believed that the Church of England should follow
5365-520: The 1660s and 1670s. An estimated 1,800 of the ejected clergy continued in some fashion as ministers of religion, according to Richard Baxter . The government initially attempted to suppress these schismatic organisations by using the Clarendon Code . There followed a period in which schemes of "comprehension" were proposed, under which Presbyterians could be brought back into the Church of England, but nothing resulted from them. The Whigs opposed
5510-570: The 17th century, Sunday worship in the established church took the form of the Morning Prayer service in the Book of Common Prayer . This may include a sermon, but Holy Communion or the Lord's Supper was only occasionally observed. Officially, lay people were only required to receive communion three times a year, but most people only received communion once a year at Easter. Puritans were concerned about biblical errors and Catholic remnants within
5655-399: The Assembly and Parliament were already deteriorating in 1644, when Parliament ignored the Assembly's request that "grossly ignorant and notoriously profane" individuals be barred from communion. While members of Parliament agreed that the sacrament should be kept pure, many of them disagreed with the presbyterian majority in the Assembly over who had the final power of excommunication , taking
5800-504: The Assembly and not have expected them to attend because Charles had not approved of the Assembly. Only one, Daniel Featley , participated, and he only until his arrest for treason in October 1643. Debate on church officers began on 19 October. The Assembly began with the issue of ordination, as many of the divines were concerned about the rise of various sectarian movements and the lack of any mechanism for ordination of ministers of
5945-490: The Assembly continued to try to find ways to reconcile the dissenting brethren with the majority throughout 1644, including the establishment of a special committee for that purpose in March. However, on 15 November, the dissenting brethren presented their reasons for disagreement with the rest of the Assembly to Parliament, and on 11 December the majority submitted a draft of a presbyterian form of government. Relations between
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6090-446: The Assembly's vision of a national, compulsory presbyterian church would never come to fruition. In London, where support for presbyterianism was greatest, presbyteries were established in only sixty-four of 108 city parishes, and regional presbyterian classes were only formed in fourteen of England's forty counties. A planned national general assembly never met. Many presbyterians did, however, establish voluntary presbyteries in what
6235-457: The Assembly. Twenty-two appointed members of the Assembly died before 1649, and they along with those who did not attend for other reasons were replaced by another nineteen members. Three non-voting scribes were also added in 1643. The Assembly's first meeting began with a sermon by William Twisse in the nave of Westminster Abbey on 1 July 1643. The nave was so full that the House of Commons had to send members ahead to secure seats. Following
6380-564: The Bible and Three Crowns, Cheapside ." It consists of seven "books" collected into two volumes, and it details the religious development of Massachusetts , and other nearby colonies in New England from 1620 to 1698. Notable parts of the book include Mather's descriptions of the Salem witch trials , in which he criticizes some of the methods of the court and attempts to distance himself from
6525-644: The Book of Common Prayer. The Assembly was strictly under the control of Parliament, and was only to debate topics which Parliament directed. Assembly members were not permitted to state their disagreements with majority opinions or share any information about the proceedings, except in writing to Parliament. Parliament chose William Twisse , an internationally respected theologian, to be the Assembly's prolocutor or chairman . Due to Twisse's ill health, Cornelius Burges , whom Parliament appointed as one of several assessors , served as prolocutor pro tempore for most of
6670-680: The Catholic veneration of virginity (associated with the Virgin Mary), citing Edward Taylor and John Cotton . One Puritan settlement in western Massachusetts banished a husband because he refused to fulfill his sexual duties to his wife. Puritanism had a historical importance over a period of a century, followed by fifty years of development in New England. It changed character and emphasis nearly decade by decade over that time. The Elizabethan Religious Settlement of 1559 established
6815-574: The Church during the tenure of William Laud . Some had been ejected from their churches or cited by ecclesiastical courts for their views. Some had fled to the Continent , and one to the American colonies . Nonetheless, they all considered themselves members of the Church of England and had received episcopal ordination. Most were conformists , meaning they agreed to follow the Act of Uniformity 1558 and
6960-642: The Church of England after the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 and the Act of Uniformity 1662 . Many continued to practise their faith in nonconformist denominations, especially in Congregationalist and Presbyterian churches. The nature of the Puritan movement in England changed radically. In New England, it retained its character for a longer period . Puritanism was never a formally defined religious division within Protestantism, and
7105-402: The Church of England altogether were numerically much fewer. The Puritan movement in England was riven over decades by emigration and inconsistent interpretations of Scripture, as well as some political differences that surfaced at that time. The Fifth Monarchy Men , a radical millenarian wing of Puritanism, aided by strident, popular clergy like Vavasor Powell , agitated from the right wing of
7250-415: The Church of England as a Protestant church and brought the English Reformation to a close. During the reign of Elizabeth I (r. 1558–1603), the Church of England was widely considered a Reformed church, and Calvinists held the best bishoprics and deaneries . Nevertheless, it preserved certain characteristics of medieval Catholicism , such as cathedrals, church choirs , a formal liturgy contained in
7395-436: The Church of England for allowing unrepentant sinners to receive communion. Puritans wanted better spiritual preparation (such as clergy home visits and testing people on their knowledge of the catechism) for communion and better church discipline to ensure that the unworthy were kept from the sacrament. Puritans did not believe confirmation was necessary and thought candidates were poorly prepared since bishops did not have
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#17327648355637540-544: The Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. Puritanism played a significant role in English and early American history, especially in the Protectorate in Great Britain, and the earlier settlement of New England . Puritans were dissatisfied with the limited extent of the English Reformation and with the Church of England's toleration of certain practices associated with
7685-507: The Church of England. Defying the king, between 12 February and 20 April 1642, each county delegation of England in the Commons chose two divines, in addition to two for each county of Wales , four for London , and two for each University ( Oxford and Cambridge ). County delegations often chose divines from their own county, but not always. Commons chose the members in this way to ensure that their local constituencies were represented in
7830-409: The Church of England. Like the episcopalians, the presbyterians agreed that there should be a national church but one structured on the model of the Church of Scotland . They wanted to replace bishops with a system of elective and representative governing bodies of clergy and laity (local sessions , presbyteries , synods , and ultimately a national general assembly ). During the Interregnum ,
7975-744: The Civil War period, such as when an axe was taken to the organ of Worcester Cathedral in 1642. While the Puritans were united in their goal of furthering the English Reformation, they were always divided over issues of ecclesiology and church polity, specifically questions relating to the manner of organizing congregations, how individual congregations should relate with one another and whether established national churches were scriptural. On these questions, Puritans divided between supporters of episcopal polity , presbyterian polity and congregational polity . The episcopalians (known as
8120-645: The Commons, and ten from the House of Lords. The Assembly was almost entirely English; Parliament appointed Englishmen for the counties of Wales, but the French stranger churches (churches of Protestant refugees from Catholic France) sent two ministers in place of any from the Channel Islands . Many of the divines were internationally recognized scholars of the Bible, ancient languages, patristics , and scholastic theology . Many were also famous preachers. Most of these theologians had retained their positions in
8265-543: The Confession were also adopted in Congregational and Baptist churches in England and New England in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Confession became influential throughout the English-speaking world, but especially in American Protestant theology. The Assembly was called by the Long Parliament before and during the beginning of the First English Civil War . The Long Parliament
8410-484: The Confession, which were provided in April 1648. Parliament approved the Confession with revisions to the chapters on church censures, synods and councils, and marriage on 20 June 1648. The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland had already adopted the Confession without revision in 1647. The restoration of Charles II in 1660 effectively made this legislation a nullity. The Assembly had already done significant work on
8555-524: The East end of churches were also reinstated. To the Puritans, these seemed to be a step in the direction of Catholicism. There were also conflicts between the king and the Scots , whose church was ruled by a system known as presbyterianism , which features elected assemblies. James , Charles's predecessor as King of Scotland , made it clear that he intended to impose elements of episcopal church government and
8700-487: The English Parliament. Eleven of these, four theologians and seven members of Parliament, were also invited to the Assembly. The commissioners were given the opportunity to become full voting members of the Assembly but declined, preferring to maintain their independence as commissioners of their own nation and church. Samuel Rutherford , George Gillespie , and Alexander Henderson were the most outspoken of
8845-632: The Erastian view that it was the state. Also, by 1646, Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army had won the war on behalf of Parliament. Cromwell, along with a majority of the army, was strongly in favour of religious toleration for all sorts of Christians even if the national church was to be presbyterian. His rise to power as a result of his military victories made the idea of a strictly presbyterian settlement without freedom of worship for others very unlikely. Parliament at least wanted to know which sins in particular were grave enough to trigger excommunication by
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#17327648355638990-425: The Erastian view, John Lightfoot and Thomas Coleman , but the presence of members of Parliament, especially John Selden , as well as the fact of parliamentary oversight of the Assembly, gave Erastian views disproportional influence. Several episcopalians, supporters of the existing system of bishops, were also included in the summoning ordinance, but Parliament may have nominated them to lend greater legitimacy to
9135-692: The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland was reestablished in 1690 following the Glorious Revolution , it ratified the Westminster Confession, but not any other document produced at Westminster. The Confession remains, according to the 1929 Declaratory Articles , the Church of Scotland's "principal subordinate standard ", subordinate to the Bible. Memorization of the Shorter Catechism has been made
9280-523: The New England colonies (around 700,000 by 1790) was almost entirely due to the high birth rate and lower death rate per year. They had formed families more rapidly than did the southern colonies. Puritan hegemony lasted for at least a century. That century can be broken down into three parts: the generation of John Cotton and Richard Mather , 1630–62 from the founding to the Restoration, years of virtual independence and nearly autonomous development;
9425-439: The Puritans "liberated men from the treadmill of indulgences and penances , but cast them on the iron couch of introspection". It was expected that conversion would be followed by sanctification —"the progressive growth in the saint's ability to better perceive and seek God's will, and thus to lead a holy life". Some Puritans attempted to find assurance of their faith by keeping detailed records of their behavior and looking for
9570-457: The Puritans stressed "that Christ comes down to us in the sacrament by His Word and Spirit, offering Himself as our spiritual food and drink". They criticised the prayer book service for being too similar to the Catholic mass. For example, the requirement that people kneel to receive communion implied adoration of the Eucharist , a practice linked to transubstantiation. Puritans also criticised
9715-456: The Reformed doctrine. The divines had a strong view of the inspiration of the Bible , and believed that God revealed himself in the propositions found in Scripture. While the issue of biblical inerrancy , the belief that there are no errors in the Bible, did not arise until the eighteenth century, the divines clearly did not believe the Bible to contain any errors. Many of the divines held
9860-512: The Roman Catholic Church. They formed and identified with various religious groups advocating greater purity of worship and doctrine , as well as personal and corporate piety . Puritans adopted a covenant theology , and in that sense they were Calvinists (as were many of their earlier opponents). In church polity, Puritans were divided between supporters of episcopal , presbyterian , and congregational polities. Some believed
10005-402: The Scots that Parliament was serious about reforming the church and induce the Scots to come to their aid. On the other hand, the war added strain to the already busy Parliament. Parliament finally passed an ordinance to hold the assembly on its own authority without Charles's assent on 12 June 1643. It named as many as 121 ministers and thirty non-voting parliamentary observers: twenty from
10150-599: The Thirty-Nine articles would need to be proven from the Bible. Assembly members were prone to long speeches and they made slow progress, frustrating the leadership. The eighth of the Thirty-Nine Articles recommended the Apostles' Creed , Nicene Creed , and Athanasian Creed , considered to be basic statements of orthodoxy , to be received and believed. The Assembly was unable to resolve conflicts between those who would not be bound by creeds and those who wished to retain
10295-505: The United States was not descended from all of the original colonists, since many returned to England shortly after arriving on the continent, but it produced more than 16 million descendants. This so-called "Great Migration" is not so named because of sheer numbers, which were much less than the number of English citizens who immigrated to Virginia and the Caribbean during this time, many as indentured servants. The rapid growth of
10440-460: The Westminster Assembly during a time of increasing hostility between Charles I , monarch of England and Scotland, and the Puritans . Puritans could be distinguished by their insistence that worship practices be supported implicitly or explicitly by the Bible, while their opponents gave greater authority to traditional customs. They believed the Church of England , which had separated itself from
10585-595: The Westminster Assembly was repudiated by the Church of England during the Restoration in 1660. The Act of Uniformity 1662 , a law requiring even greater adherence to the Book of Common Prayer and support for episcopalianism than had previously been required, forced Puritan ministers to leave the Church . Though some presbyterians continued to desire to be readmitted to the established church, restrictions on worship for non-conformists led to presbyterians putting aside differences with congregationalists and adopting congregational church orders. The Civil War brought with it
10730-428: The army supported congregationalism. A third group of divines were known as Erastians , a term for those who believed that the state should have significant power over the church. The entire Assembly was Erastian in the sense that the body had been called by Parliament and was completely under state control. Those labelled "Erastian" at the Assembly believed the civil authority, rather than church officers, should hold
10875-491: The authorities included instances of nonconformity, such as omitting parts of the liturgy to allow more time for the sermon and singing of metrical psalms . Some Puritans refused to bow on hearing the name of Jesus, or to make the sign of the cross in baptism, or to use wedding rings or the organ. Yet, the main complaint Puritans had was the requirement that clergy wear the white surplice and clerical cap . Puritan clergymen preferred to wear black academic attire . During
11020-715: The beginning of the First Civil War, the Long Parliament recognized that they would need assistance from the Scots. In return for a military alliance, the Scottish Parliament required the English to sign the Solemn League and Covenant in 1643, which stipulated that the English would bring their church into greater conformity with the Church of Scotland. The Scottish Parliament sent commissioners to London to represent Scotland's interests to
11165-579: The book was published in London in 1702. A second edition - the first published in the United States - was printed in 1820 in Hartford, Connecticut by Silas Andrus and Son, who also produced a third edition in 1855. Robbins reprinted an edition in 1852 and 1967, which is the only complete reprinting of the first edition. A 1977 reprint of small selections, with extensive footnotes, was produced for Belknap Press by Kenneth Ballard Murdock. This article about
11310-575: The catechisms as well. The Scots General Assembly approved both catechisms in 1648. The Assembly understood its mandate under the Solemn League and Covenant to have been fulfilled on 14 April 1648 when it delivered the scripture citations to Parliament, and the Scottish Commissioners had already left by the end of 1647. The Assembly continued to meet primarily for the purpose of examination of ministers for ordination. Most of
11455-727: The church government to be God's agency in social life. The Puritans in the Colonies wanted their children to be able to read and interpret the Bible themselves, rather than have to rely on the clergy for interpretation. In 1635, they established the Boston Latin School to educate their sons, the first and oldest formal education institution in the English-speaking New World. They also set up what were called dame schools for their daughters, and in other cases taught their daughters at home how to read. As
11600-419: The church required no reforms. Undeterred, Parliament passed three bills in 1642 appointing an assembly and stipulating that its members would be chosen by Parliament. Charles, whose royal assent was required for the bills to become law, was only willing to consider such an assembly if the members were chosen by the clergy. This was the practice for selection of members of Convocation , the assembly of clergy of
11745-646: The church should take. Later in 1640, the Root and Branch petition was presented to the House of Commons , the lower house of Parliament. It was signed by about 15,000 Londoners and called for total elimination of the episcopal system. Committees were organized in the House of Commons to enact religious reforms, leading to the imprisonment of Archbishop Laud and his supporters in the Tower of London as retaliation for their repression of Puritans. The Court of High Commission and
11890-410: The church; the Assembly was reticent to provide such information, as the majority considered the power of the church in this area to be absolute. In May 1645, Parliament passed an ordinance allowing excommunicants to appeal the church's sentences to Parliament. Another ordinance on 20 October contained a list of sins to which the church would be limited in its power to excommunicate. To the majority of
12035-506: The civil war, the divines saw these two groups as the greatest threat to the church. With the rise of radical sectarian movements during the war, the divines became much more concerned with these groups than polemics against Catholicism. The divines were particularly concerned with those they labeled antinomians . This was a loose term for those who saw the moral law as no longer relevant for Christians. The divines saw these groups as more immediately threatening than Catholicism. The work of
12180-581: The commissioners. On 12 October 1643, Parliament ordered the Assembly to cease work on the Thirty-Nine Articles and to begin to frame a common form of church government for the two nations. The Assembly would spend a quarter of its full sessions on the subject of church government. The majority of the Assembly members supported presbyterian polity, or church government by elected assemblies of lay and clerical representatives, though many were not dogmatically committed to it. Several members of this group, numbering about twenty and including William Twisse, favoured
12325-527: The court religious policies and argued that the Dissenters should be allowed to worship separately from the established Church. This position ultimately prevailed when the Toleration Act was passed in the wake of the Glorious Revolution in 1689. This permitted the licensing of Dissenting ministers and the building of chapels. The term " Nonconformist " generally replaced the term "Dissenter" from
12470-452: The covenant of works and covenant of grace. The Westminster Confession was the first major Reformed symbol to explicitly mention the covenant of works (sometimes called the covenant of life), in which God offered Adam eternal life on condition of perfect obedience. In the fall of man , Adam broke the covenant of works by eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil . To remedy this, God offered salvation apart from human initiative in what
12615-466: The cross made possible the covenant of grace, by which those selected by God could be saved. Puritans believed in unconditional election and irresistible grace —God's grace was given freely without condition to the elect and could not be refused. Covenant theology made individual salvation deeply personal. It held that God's predestination was not "impersonal and mechanical" but was a "covenant of grace" that one entered into by faith . Therefore, being
12760-504: The decision. The House of Lords , Parliament's upper house, added another fourteen names on 14 May, to which the Commons agreed. Meanwhile, relations continued to deteriorate between the king and Parliament. Charles raised the royal standard at Nottingham on 22 August, marking the beginning of the First English Civil War . The start of the war lent support to the cause of the Assembly in Parliament, because holding it would convince
12905-589: The divine right ( jure divino ) of church government. While the presbyterian divines were capable of defending their vision for church government as established by divine right in the Bible, they were unwilling to answer the queries because doing so would further expose the disunity of the Assembly and weaken their case in Parliament. In July 1647, the New Model Army invaded London and conservative members of Parliament were forced out. Parliament passed an ordinance establishing religious tolerance and ensuring that
13050-507: The divines were unhappy with the republican Commonwealth that emerged after Colonel Pride's Purge of the Long Parliament in 1648. As a result, a majority stopped attending rather than agree to the oath of Engagement to the Commonwealth that was imposed in 1649. Newspapers continued to report on the meetings of the Assembly as late as March 1653. The Assembly must have stopped meeting sometime between then and Cromwell's dissolution of
13195-429: The divines' dismay, an even more Erastian ordinance was proposed in March 1646. The Assembly published a protest, provoking the Commons to charge it with breach of privilege and to submit nine questions to the divines on the matter. Votes were to be included with the answers, an attempt to force the divines associated with the protest petition to reveal themselves. The Nine Queries, as they came to be called, focused on
13340-532: The doctrines of the Church of England , mother Church of the Anglican Communion . In the 17th century, the word Puritan was a term applied not to just one group but to many. Historians still debate a precise definition of Puritanism. Originally, Puritan was a pejorative term characterizing certain Protestant groups as extremist. Thomas Fuller , in his Church History , dates the first use of
13485-558: The documents of the Assembly were repudiated and episcopal church government was reinstated in England. The Assembly worked in the Reformed Protestant theological tradition, also known as Calvinism. It took the Bible as the authoritative word of God , from which all theological reflection must be based. The divines were committed to the Reformed doctrine of predestination — that God chooses certain men to be saved and enjoy eternal life rather than eternal punishment. There
13630-410: The effect of baptism was disputed. Puritans objected to the prayer book's assertion of baptismal regeneration . In Puritan theology, infant baptism was understood in terms of covenant theology—baptism replaced circumcision as a sign of the covenant and marked a child's admission into the visible church . It could not be assumed that baptism produces regeneration. The Westminster Confession states that
13775-429: The end of the consensus among English Protestants that there should be a single church imposed by the state, though there was still not complete freedom of religion. The ideals of the dissenting brethren of the Assembly were significant in the rise of denominationalism , the doctrine that the church is found in several institutions rather than a single one in a given location. Though Protestants already commonly recognized
13920-445: The established church. While some members did not seem to think ordination necessary for preachers (though they should not administer the sacraments without it), a majority of the divines thought any regular preaching without ordination unacceptable and wished to erect a provisional presbytery for purposes of ordination. There was also debate at this early stage over the nature of the visible church . The congregationalists considered
14065-432: The event; his account of the escape of Hannah Duston , one of the best known captivity narratives ; his account of the captivity and ransom of Hannah Swarton ; his complete "catalogus" of all the students who graduated from Harvard College , the story of the founding of Harvard College itself; and his assertions that Puritan slaveholders should do more to convert their slaves to Christianity . Mather's first edition of
14210-809: The evidence of salvation in their lives. Puritan clergy wrote many spiritual guides to help their parishioners pursue personal piety and sanctification. These included Arthur Dent's The Plain Man's Pathway to Heaven (1601), Richard Rogers's Seven Treatises (1603), Henry Scudder's Christian's Daily Walk (1627) and Richard Sibbes's The Bruised Reed and Smoking Flax (1630). Too much emphasis on one's good works could be criticized for being too close to Arminianism , and too much emphasis on subjective religious experience could be criticized as Antinomianism . Many Puritans relied on both personal religious experience and self-examination to assess their spiritual condition. Puritanism's experiential piety would be inherited by
14355-578: The example of Reformed churches in other parts of Europe and adopt presbyterian polity , under which government by bishops would be replaced with government by elders . But all attempts to enact further reforms through Parliament were blocked by the Queen. Despite such setbacks, Puritan leaders such as John Field and Thomas Cartwright continued to promote presbyterianism through the formation of unofficial clerical conferences that allowed Puritan clergymen to organise and network. This covert Puritan network
14500-409: The existing language that the creeds be "thoroughly received and believed". The "excepters", who took the former position, argued that the articles only require the "matter" of the creeds be believed. On 25 August the article was put off until the rest of the articles could be dealt with. This early disagreement on fundamental issues revealed deep rifts between different factions of the assembly. From
14645-630: The generation of Increase Mather , 1662–89 from the Restoration and the Halfway Covenant to the Glorious Revolution, years of struggle with the British crown; and the generation of Cotton Mather , 1689–1728 from the overthrow of Edmund Andros (in which Cotton Mather played a part) and the new charter, mediated by Increase Mather, to the death of Cotton Mather. Puritan leaders were political thinkers and writers who considered
14790-559: The grace of baptism is only effective for those who are among the elect, and its effects lie dormant until one experiences conversion later in life. Puritans wanted to do away with godparents , who made baptismal vows on behalf of infants, and give that responsibility to the child's father. Puritans also objected to priests making the sign of the cross in baptism. Private baptisms were opposed because Puritans believed that preaching should always accompany sacraments. Some Puritan clergy even refused to baptise dying infants because that implied
14935-408: The groups were. Philip Nye, one of the dissenting brethren, asserted in a speech that a presbytery set over local congregations would become as powerful as the state and was dangerous to the commonwealth, provoking vigorous opposition from presbyterians. The next day, the Assembly finally began to establish a prescription for presbyterian government. Owing to a strong belief in the unity of the church,
15080-473: The household, while women were to demonstrate religious piety and obedience under male authority. Furthermore, marriage represented not only the relationship between husband and wife, but also the relationship between spouses and God. Puritan husbands commanded authority through family direction and prayer. The female relationship to her husband and to God was marked by submissiveness and humility. Westminster Assembly The Westminster Assembly of Divines
15225-405: The liturgy to allow more time for preaching. Puritan churchgoers attended two sermons on Sundays and as many weekday sermons and lectures they could find, often traveling for miles. Puritans were distinct for their adherence to Sabbatarianism . Puritans taught that there were two sacraments : baptism and the Lord's Supper. Puritans agreed with the church's practice of infant baptism . However,
15370-483: The majority of the Assembly had become convinced that the best way forward was a presbyterian system similar to that of the Scots, but the dissenting brethren were allowed to continue to state their case in hope that they could eventually be reconciled. It was hoped that by avoiding asserting that presbyterianism was established by divine right, the congregationalists could be accommodated. Despite these efforts, on 21 February it became clear just how fundamentally opposed
15515-619: The middle of the 18th century. Some Puritans left for New England , particularly from 1629 to 1640 (the Eleven Years' Tyranny under King Charles I ), supporting the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and other settlements among the northern colonies. The large-scale Puritan migration to New England ceased by 1641, with around 21,000 persons having moved across the Atlantic. This English-speaking population in
15660-405: The most part reserved the label "Independent" for separatists who left the established church. The congregationalist divines cannot be equated with separatists and Brownists , as they had accepted episcopal ordination and remained in the Church of England. Their influence was assisted by the success of Oliver Cromwell and his New Model Army in the ongoing civil war. Cromwell and many others in
15805-557: The movement, even as sectarian groups like the Ranters , Levellers , and Quakers pulled from the left. The fragmentation created a collapse of the centre and, ultimately, sealed a political failure, while depositing an enduring spiritual legacy that would remain and grow in English-speaking Christianity. The Westminster Assembly was called in 1643, assembling clergy of the Church of England. The Assembly
15950-412: The original. This caused significant debate between Reformed polemicists and Roman Catholics. Catholics argued that such a discovery demonstrated the need for an authoritative magisterium to interpret the Bible as opposed to the Protestant doctrine of perspicuity , that the essential teachings of the Bible could be interpreted by anyone. English Reformed writers in particular took up the work of defending
16095-420: The power of church discipline . This included the power to withhold communion from unrepentant sinners. They did not see any particular form of church government as divinely mandated, and because of this the dissenting brethren allied with them when it became clear that a presbyterian establishment would be much less tolerant of congregationalism than Parliament. There were only two divines at the Assembly who held
16240-420: The prayer book. Puritans objected to bowing at the name of Jesus, the requirement that priests wear the surplice , and the use of written, set prayers in place of improvised prayers. The sermon was central to Puritan piety. It was not only a means of religious education; Puritans believed it was the most common way that God prepared a sinner's heart for conversion. On Sundays, Puritan ministers often shortened
16385-525: The pre-Reformation British theological tradition, which emphasized biblical knowledge and was influenced by the Augustinian theological tradition exemplified by Anselm , Thomas Bradwardine , and John Wycliffe . The recorded debates of the Assembly are full of citations of church fathers and medieval scholastic theologians. The Confession starts with the doctrine of revelation , or how people can know about God. The divines believed knowledge of God
16530-416: The presbyterians had limited success at reorganizing the Church of England. The Westminster Assembly proposed the creation of a presbyterian system, but the Long Parliament left implementation to local authorities. As a result, the Church of England never developed a complete presbyterian hierarchy. Congregationalists or Independents believed in the autonomy of the local church, which ideally would be
16675-422: The sacrament contributed to salvation. Puritans rejected both Roman Catholic ( transubstantiation ) and Lutheran ( sacramental union ) teachings that Christ is physically present in the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper. Instead, Puritans embraced the Reformed doctrine of real spiritual presence , believing that in the Lord's Supper the faithful receive Christ spiritually. In agreement with Thomas Cranmer ,
16820-471: The sacraments would only be administered to those in the church covenant. Most congregational Puritans remained within the Church of England, hoping to reform it according to their own views. The New England Congregationalists were also adamant that they were not separating from the Church of England. However, some Puritans equated the Church of England with the Roman Catholic Church, and therefore considered it no Christian church at all. These groups, such as
16965-509: The same time they announced their desire to formally unite the two churches. Following the rise of Cromwell and the secret Engagement of some Scots with Charles this hope was abandoned, and the documents were never formally adopted. The General Assembly ceased to function under Cromwell and the kings who succeeded him from 1649 to 1690. During and after the debates over church government, the Assembly framed other documents which did not cause open rifts. The Directory for Public Worship , which
17110-472: The sermon, the divines processed to the Henry VII Chapel , which would be their place of meeting until 2 October when they moved to the warmer and more private Jerusalem Chamber . After their initial meeting they adjourned for about a week, as Parliament had not yet given specific instructions. On 6 July, they received a set of rules from Parliament and were ordered to examine the first ten of
17255-427: The teachings of four prominent Puritan leaders, including Laurence Chaderton , but largely sided with his bishops. He was well informed on theological matters by his education and Scottish upbringing, and he dealt shortly with the peevish legacy of Elizabethan Puritanism, pursuing an eirenic religious policy, in which he was arbiter. Many of James's episcopal appointments were Calvinists, notably James Montague , who
17400-569: The term Puritan includes both groups. Puritans should not be confused with other radical Protestant groups of the 16th and 17th centuries, such as Quakers , Seekers , and Familists , who believed that individuals could be directly guided by the Holy Spirit . The latter denominations give precedence to direct revelation over the Bible . In current English, puritan often means "against pleasure". In such usage, hedonism and puritanism are antonyms . William Shakespeare described
17545-644: The term Puritan itself was rarely used after the turn of the 18th century. The Congregationalist Churches , widely considered to be a part of the Reformed tradition of Christianity, are descended from the Puritans. Moreover, Puritan beliefs are enshrined in the Savoy Declaration , the confession of faith held by the Congregationalist churches. Some Puritan ideals, including the formal rejection of Roman Catholicism, were incorporated into
17690-477: The time to examine them properly. The marriage service was criticised for using a wedding ring (which implied that marriage was a sacrament) and having the groom vow to his bride "with my body I thee worship", which Puritans considered blasphemous . In the funeral service, the priest committed the body to the ground "in sure and certain hope of resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ." Puritans objected to this phrase because they did not believe it
17835-519: The vain, pompous killjoy Malvolio in Twelfth Night as "a kind of Puritan". H. L. Mencken defined Puritanism as "the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy." Puritans embraced sexuality but placed it in the context of marriage. Peter Gay writes that the Puritans' standard reputation for "dour prudery" was a "misreading that went unquestioned in the nineteenth century". He said they were in favour of married sexuality, and opposed
17980-429: The validity of churches in different territories, the outcome of the Assembly's debates marks the wider acceptance of the idea that several true churches may be found in the same territory. The Confession produced by the Assembly was adopted with amendments by Congregationalists in England in the form of the 1658 Savoy Declaration , as well as by Particular Baptists in the form of the 1689 Baptist Confession . When
18125-509: The word to 1564. Archbishop Matthew Parker of that time used it and precisian with a sense similar to the modern stickler . Puritans, then, were distinguished for being "more intensely protestant than their protestant neighbors or even the Church of England". As a term of abuse, Puritan was not used by Puritans themselves. Those referred to as Puritan called themselves terms such as "the godly", "saints", "professors", or "God's children". "Non-separating Puritans" were dissatisfied with
18270-472: Was a council of divines (theologians) and members of the English Parliament appointed from 1643 to 1653 to restructure the Church of England . Several Scots also attended, and the Assembly's work was adopted by the Church of Scotland . As many as 121 ministers were called to the Assembly, with nineteen others added later to replace those who did not attend or could no longer attend. It produced
18415-543: Was a de facto free church situation until the Restoration in 1660, when a compulsory episcopal system was reinstated. The new Form of Government was much more acceptable to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland . They passed it on 10 February 1645, contingent on some particularities of presbyterian government which were expected to be worked out in a forthcoming Directory for Church Government. At
18560-688: Was able to agree to the Westminster Confession of Faith doctrinally, a consistent Reformed theological position. The Directory of Public Worship was made official in 1645, and the larger framework (now called the Westminster Standards ) was adopted by the Church of Scotland . In England, the Standards were contested by Independents up to 1660. The Westminster Divines , on the other hand, were divided over questions of church polity and split into factions supporting
18705-614: Was an influential courtier. Puritans still opposed much of the Roman Catholic summation in the Church of England, notably the Book of Common Prayer , but also the use of non-secular vestments (cap and gown) during services, the sign of the Cross in baptism, and kneeling to receive Holy Communion. Some of the bishops under both Elizabeth and James tried to suppress Puritanism, though other bishops were more tolerant. In many places, individual ministers were able to omit disliked portions of
18850-488: Was available to people through nature as well as the Bible, but they also believed that the Bible, or Scripture, is the only way in which people attain saving knowledge of God. The doctrine of Scripture was also a particularly important area of debate at the time. Scholars had begun to argue that the Hebrew vowel points , marks added to the text to aid in pronunciation, of the Old Testament were probably not part of
18995-478: Was called the covenant of grace. This covenant allowed man to enjoy eternal life despite his inability to obey God's law perfectly. The idea of the covenant of grace was a much more common feature of orthodox Reformed theology. The Westminster divines set these two covenants against each other as the two major ways in which God deals with people. The divines associated William Laud and his followers with Catholicism, which they were even more strongly opposed to. Before
19140-426: Was commonly described as occurring in discrete phases. It began with a preparatory phase designed to produce contrition for sin through introspection, Bible study and listening to preaching . This was followed by humiliation, when the sinner realized that he or she was helpless to break free from sin and that their good works could never earn forgiveness. It was after reaching this point—the realization that salvation
19285-641: Was discovered and dismantled during the Marprelate controversy of the 1580s. For the remainder of Elizabeth's reign, Puritans ceased to agitate for further reform. The accession of James I to the English throne brought the Millenary Petition , a Puritan manifesto of 1603 for reform of the English church, but James wanted a religious settlement along different lines. He called the Hampton Court Conference in 1604, and heard
19430-533: Was extremely important to Puritans, and covenant theology was central to their beliefs. With roots in the writings of Reformed theologians John Calvin and Heinrich Bullinger , covenant theology was further developed by Puritan theologians Dudley Fenner , William Perkins , John Preston , Richard Sibbes , William Ames and, most fully by Ames's Dutch student, Johannes Cocceius . Covenant theology asserts that when God created Adam and Eve he promised them eternal life in return for perfect obedience; this promise
19575-423: Was governed by a system of elected assemblies of elders called presbyterianism , rather than rule by bishops , called episcopalianism , which was used in the English church. Scottish commissioners attended and advised the Assembly as part of the agreement. Disagreements over church government caused open division in the Assembly, despite attempts to maintain unity. The party of divines who favoured presbyterianism
19720-416: Was in the majority, but the congregationalist party, which held greater influence in the military, favoured autonomy for individual congregations rather than the subjection of congregations to regional and national assemblies entailed in presbyterianism. Parliament eventually adopted a presbyterian form of government but lacked the power to implement it. During the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, all of
19865-475: Was influenced by Puritanism , a religious movement which sought further reform of the church. They were opposed to the religious policies of King Charles I and William Laud , Archbishop of Canterbury . As part of a military alliance with Scotland , Parliament agreed that the outcome of the Assembly would bring the English Church into closer conformity with the Church of Scotland. The Scottish Church
20010-425: Was made Archbishop of Canterbury in 1633, even though these " high churchmen " were in the minority. Puritans were forced to keep their views private or face fines and imprisonment. Laud promoted advocates of Arminianism , a theological perspective opposed to the Reformed theology of the Puritans. Worship practices such as kneeling at communion, bowing at the name of Christ, and the placement of communion tables at
20155-642: Was not the theocratic state which leading Puritans had called for as "godly rule". At the time of the English Restoration in 1660, the Savoy Conference was called to determine a new religious settlement for England and Wales. Under the Act of Uniformity 1662 , the Church of England was restored to its pre- Civil War constitution with only minor changes, and the Puritans found themselves sidelined. A traditional estimate of historian Calamy
20300-408: Was open to any member of the Assembly. The committees would be assigned topics and prepare propositions for debate in the full Assembly following each morning of committee meetings. In addition, over 200 ad hoc committees were appointed for tasks such as examination of candidate preachers, college fellows , and suspected heretics. The Assembly resolved, after some debate, that all the doctrines of
20445-442: Was possible only because of divine mercy —that the person would experience justification , when the righteousness of Christ is imputed to the elect and their minds and hearts are regenerated. For some Puritans, this was a dramatic experience and they referred to it as being born again . Confirming that such a conversion had actually happened often required prolonged and continual introspection. Historian Perry Miller wrote that
20590-503: Was some disagreement at the Assembly over the doctrine of particular redemption — that Christ died only for those chosen for salvation. The Assembly also held to Reformed covenant theology , a framework for interpreting the Bible. The Assembly's Confession is the first of the Reformed confessions to teach a doctrine called the covenant of works , which teaches that before the fall of man , God promised eternal life to Adam on condition that he perfectly obeyed God. Parliament called
20735-653: Was termed the covenant of works . After the fall of man , human nature was corrupted by original sin and unable to fulfill the covenant of works, since each person inevitably violated God's law as expressed in the Ten Commandments . As sinners, every person deserved damnation . Puritans shared with other Calvinists a belief in double predestination , that some people (the elect ) were destined by God to receive grace and salvation while others were destined for Hell . No one, however, could merit salvation. According to covenant theology, Christ's sacrifice on
20880-461: Was to replace the Book of Common Prayer , was swiftly written in 1644 and passed by Parliament on 3 January 1645. The Directory , accepted by the Scots as well, took a middle course between the presbyterians and congregationalists. The presbyterians for the most part preferred a fixed liturgy while congregationalists favoured extemporaneous prayer. The Directory consisted of an order for services with sample prayers. The Assembly also recommended
21025-504: Was true for everyone. They suggested it be rewritten as "we commit his body [etc.] believing a resurrection of the just and unjust, some to joy, and some to punishment." Puritans eliminated choral music and musical instruments in their religious services because these were associated with Roman Catholicism; however, singing the Psalms was considered appropriate (see Exclusive psalmody ). Church organs were commonly damaged or destroyed in
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