The English Reformation

Transcription

1 The English Reformation Took place in 16 th Century England through a series of events Explains how the Church of England broke away from the Roman Catholic Church While the Reformation in Europe was driven by a number of factors including the rise of nationalism, the invention of the printing press, the circulation of the original texts of Scripture, and so forth the Reformation in England was driven by government policy Precursors to the Reformation in England John Wycliffe (14 th century Bible translator) and his followers, the Lollards had influenced England Martin Luther s ideas had spread into England William Tyndale completed a new translation of the English Bible A group of men in Cambridge met at the White Horse tavern in the 1520s following the views of Luther; its members included Hugh Latimer, Robert Barnes, John Frith, and Thomas Bilney, who each died as a heretic Thomas Cranmer was influenced by the ideas of both Luther and Zwingli Thomas Cromwell gained ground for the Protestants by convincing Henry that he needed to maintain good relations with the Protestant German princes, in case Charles V decided to attack (and seek revenge for his aunt, Catherine) G. R. Elton: In the 1530s Lutheranism and even more extreme ideas gained some foot-holds in England, occasionally linking up, among the ordinary people, with remnants of Lollardy; but the leading English Lutheran, William Tyndale, remained in exile in the Netherlands until in 1536 Charles V s persecution burned him, too, at the stake. Henry VIII s minister, Thomas Cromwell, had some sympathy for reformed ideas and especially favoured a political alliance with the Protestant princes; his archbishop, Thomas Cranmer, was on the move towards entirely reformed views.... [T]he younger generation of humanists supported the king s anti-papal policy and cautiously prepared for doctrinal advance. However, these trends were arrested in the crisis of when Cromwell lost his head and the Church of England accepted 1

2 the king s order to be entirely conservative in its religion. Some attempts were made in the reign to reform manners, morals and shortcomings, but practically none to reform worship or dogma, beyond the denial of the pope s authority. England remained a country of the mass until Henry died (1547); the reform which came with a rush thereafter looked to Zurich rather than to Luther. (Reformation Europe, 82) William Tyndale ( ) Born in England; studied at Oxford and Cambridge Tyndale lived during the time of the Reformation, but he is a forerunner to the English Reformation in particular Eventually fled to Germany, due to persecution, and never returned Translated the New Testament into English while living in Germany (1525/26) This work was condemned by Cardinal Wolsley who declared Tyndale a heretic Much of Tyndale s translation work would make its way into the King James Version; has had an enormous impact on the English language. David Daniell: William Tyndale was a most remarkable scholar and linguist, whose eight languages included skill in Greek and Hebrew far above the ordinary for an Englishman of the time indeed, Hebrew was virtually unknown in England. His unsurpassed ability was to work as a translator with the sounds and rhythms as well as the senses of English, to create unforgettable words, phrases, paragraphs and chapters, and to do so in a way that, again unusually for the time, is still, even today, direct and living: newspaper headlines still quote Tyndale, though unknowingly, and he has reached more people than even Shakespeare. At the centre of it all for him was his root in the deepest heart of New Testament theology, a faith of the sort that can and did move mountians. (William Tyndale: A Biography, p. 2) Worked under hostile and adverse conditions: secret agents after him; police raids; betrayal by friends; loss of manuscripts; etc. 2

3 To make things more difficult, in 1530 Tyndale publically criticized King Henry VIII (of England) for his unbiblical divorce which resulted in the king being angry at him and demanding his arrest by German authorities He was arrested in 1535 and imprisoned near Brussels; then strangled and burned at the stake on October 6, 1535 He affirmed the authority of Scripture and justification by faith He opposed baptismal regeneration and Roman Catholic corruption His last words were reportedly, Lord, open the King of England s eyes! * * * * * Fox s Book of Martyrs William Tyndale William Tyndale, being in the town of Antwerp, had been lodged about one whole year in the house of Thomas Pointz, an Englishman, who kept a house of English merchants. Came thither one out of England, whose name was Henry Philips, his father being customer of Poole, a comely fellow, like as he had been a gentleman having a servant with him: but wherefore he came, or for what purpose he was sent thither, no man could tell. Master Tyndale divers times was desired forth to dinner and support amongst merchants; by means whereof this Henry Philips became acquainted with him, so that within short space Master Tyndale had a great confidence in him, and brought him to his lodging, to the house of Thomas Pointz; and had him also once or twice with him to dinner and supper, and further entered such friendship with him, that through his procurement he lay in the same house of the sait Pointz; to whom he showed moreover his books,a nd other secrets of his study, so little did Tyndale then mistrust this traitor. But Pointz, having no great confidence in the fellow, asked Master Tyndale how he came acquainted with this Philips. Master Tyndale answered, that he was an honest man, handsomely learned, and very conformable. Pointz, perceiving that he bare such favor to him, said no more, thinking that he was brought acquainted with him by some friend of his. The said Philips, being in the town three or four days, upon a time desired Pointz to walk with him forth of the town to show him the commodities thereof, and in walking together without the town, had communication of divers things, and some of the king's affairs; by which talk Pointz as yet suspected nothing. But after, when the time was past, Pointz perceived this to be the mind of Philips, to feel whether the said Pointz might, for lucre of money, help him to his purpose, for he perceived before that Philips was monied, and would that Pointz should think no less. For he had desired Pointz before to help him to divers things; and such things as he named, he required might be of the best, "for," said he, "I have money enough." 3

4 Philips went from Antwerp to the court of Brussels, which is from thence twenty-four English miles, whence he brought with him to Antwerp, the procurator-general, who is the emperor's attorney, with certain other officers. Within three or four days, Pointz went forth to the town of Barois, being eighteen English miles from Antwerp, where he had business to do for the space of a month or six weeks; and in the time of his absence Henry Philips came again to Antwerp, to the house of Pointz, and coming in, spake with his wife, asking whether Master Tyndale were within. Then went he forth again and set the officers whom he had brought with him from Brussels, in the street, and about the door. About noon he came again, and went to Master Tyndale, and desired him to lend him forty shillings; "for," said he, "I lost my purse this morning, coming over at the passage between this and Mechlin." So Master Tyndale took him forty shillings, which was easy to be had of him, if he had it; for in the wily subtleties of this world he was simple and inexpert. Then said Philips, "Master Tyndale! you shall be my guest here this day." "No," said Master Tyndale, "I go forth this day to dinner, and you shall go with me, and be my guest, where you shall be welcome." So when it was dinner time, Master Tyndale went forth with Philips, and at the going forth of Pointz's house, was a long narrow entry, so that two could not go in front. Master Tyndale would have put Philips before him, but Philips would in no wise, but put Master Tyndale before, for that he pretended to show great humanity. So Master Tyndale, being a man of no great stature, went before, and Philips, a tall, comely person, followed behind him; who had set officers on either side of the door upon two seats, who might see who came in the entry. Philips pointed with his finger over Master Tyndale's head down to him, that the officers might see that it was he whom they should take. The officers afterwards told Pointz, when they had laid him in prison, that they pitied to see his simplicity. They brought him to the emperor's attorney, where he dined. Then came the procurator-general to the house of Pointz, and sent away all that was there of Master Tyndale's, as well his books as other things; and from thence Tyndale was had to the castle of Vilvorde, eighteen English miles from Antwerp. Master Tyndale, remaining in prison, was proffered an advocate and a procurator; the which he refused, saying that he would make answer for himself. He had so preached to them who had him in charge, and such as was there conversant with him in the Castle that they reported of him, that if he were not a good Christian man, they knew not whom they might take to be one. At last, after much reasoning, when no reason would serve, although he deserved no death, he was condemned by virtue of the emperor's decree, made in the assembly at Augsburg. Brought forth to the place of execution, he was tied to the stake, strangled by the hangman, and afterwards consumed with fire, at the town of Vilvorde, A.D. 1536; crying at the stake with a fervent zeal, and a loud voice, "Lord! open the king of England's eyes." Such was the power of his doctrine, and the sincerity of his life, that during the time of his imprisonment (which endured a year and a half), he converted, it is said, his keeper, the keeper's daughter, and others of his household. As touching his translation of the New Testament, because his enemies did so much carp at it, pretending it to be full of heresies, he wrote to John Frith, as followeth, "I call God to record 4

5 against the day we shall appear before our Lord Jesus, that I never altered one syllable of God's Word against my conscience, nor would do this day, if all that is in earth, whether it be honor, pleasure, or riches, might be given me." * * * * * Henry VIII Henry reigned from In 1509, Henry VIII ascended to the English throne at the age of 17 He had just married his brother s widow for political reasons (Catherine of Aragon, the daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain) He was an observant Catholic under the influence of Cardinal Wolsey, but also susceptible to the influence of his younger advisors In 1521, he defended the Catholic Church against Luther and was awarded the title Defender of the Faith by Pope Leo X By the late 1520s, Henry wished to annul his marriage with Catherine because she had not given him a male heir (only a daughter, Mary) Roland H. Bainton: The problem of Henry VIII was not passion but succession. He knew how to satisfy passion without benefit of matrimony and already had an illegitimate son but not one to succeed him born of the queen, and no hope of one after 1525, for although in that year Henry was but thirty-three, his wife Katherine was forty. Five of her children had arrived still-born or had died within a few months. The only survivor was the princess Mary; she was a girl and for that reason was regarded as no solution by an England whose only previous queen had occasioned wars of succession. (The Reformation of the Sixteenth Century, 186) Henry claimed that his marriage to Catherine had never been legitimate, since she was his brother s widow; and so in 1527 he asked Pope Clement VII to annul the marriage The Pope refused because the marriage had been allowed by Pope Julius II and because Catherine s nephew was the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V (whose military might was well-known in Rome; in fact, earlier that year he had attacked Rome and even taken the Pope prisoner for a short while) 5

6 But Henry was determined. Through a series of political maneuverings, Henry convinced Parliament to side with him over against the Pope; over the next few years (under the leadership of Henry s chief minister, Thomas Cromwell) they passed a series of laws that greatly limited the power of the Catholic clergy and transferred the power to Henry These laws culminated in the Act of Supremacy (in 1534) which made Henry the Supreme Head of the Church of England Meanwhile, in 1533, Henry married Anne Boleyn; the annulment of his first marriage was granted by the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer; Boleyn gave birth to a daughter shortly thereafter, named Elizabeth Eventually, when Boleyn failed to produce a male heir, she was executed; Henry would then marry Jane Seymour, who gave birth to a son in 1537 (Edward VI), but Jane died shortly after childbirth Henry would marry three more times before his death in 1547 Patrick Collinson: If there might have been no Reformation without Luther, we can be rather more certain that the English Reformation, as a national event, would not have happened without Henry VIII.... We can make the event even more contingent: no Reformation if Henry s first wife, Catherine of Aragon, had borne him several healthy sons, or even just one. Henry s need to be released from a marriage that could not provide him with a male heir was the cause, or at least the occasion, of a religious revolution so closely tied up with personal and dynastic interest that the history books call it the Henrician Reformation. (The Reformation, 130) Pendulum Swing The break with Rome led to civil unrest and violence in England; Thomas Cromwell was unable to keep the disorderly news away from Henry VIII When Henry became aware of the unrest, he moved to undo some of the reforms he had previously allowed In 1539 Parliament reaffirmed several Catholic practices such as transubstantiation, the celibacy of priests, and the necessity of confession to a priest In 1540, Cromwell himself was executed; and Henry began to restrict the availability of the Bible; in 1543 the Act for the Advancement of True Religion was passed which was restricted Bible reading to those of noble birth 6

7 Henry died in 1547 and was succeeded by his 9-year-old son, Edward Reforms under Edward VI Stephen Nichols: The state of the Reformation in Britain for the next fifty years depended entirely on Henry s three surviving children: Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth. When Henry died in 1547, his young and sickly son came to the throne. Among his illnesses was syphilis, which he contracted in birth. He took the name Edward VI when he ascended to the throne, though he was popularly called England s Josiah, a reference to the young and godly, not to mention wisely counseled, king in Judah (2 Kings 23). With Edward VI on the throne, Cranmer emerged from the shadows. Now was his, and England s chance for true reform. Cranmer s time of waiting was over. (The Reformation, 88) Edward reigned from Edward had been brought up a Protestant and was under the oversight of his uncle, Edward Seymour, who was also Protestant Major reforms were made, including the dismantling of images and the allowing of clergy to marry In 1549 Cranmer revised the Book of Common Prayer. At the time, some English-speaking Protestants (like John Knox) felt the Book of Common Prayer was still far too Roman Catholic. Some modern scholars disagree: J. A. Babington: Apart from its form, there is nothing in the substance ot the Prayer Book as revised by Cranmer and again under Elizabeth to mark any difference of real importance between the Anglican and the other Reformed Churches. On more than one point its doctrine approximates less closely than the doctrine of the Lutheran Church to the teaching of the Church of Rome. Its Eucharistic doctrine, in particular, follows the type of Calvin and not the type of Luther. Knox, indeed, with the one-sided extravagance which was the most fatal flaw in his noble character, declared that the Prayer Book reproduced the worst errors, and countenanced the worst superstitions, of the Church of Rome, and detected in the petition of the Litany against " lightning, tempest, and sudden death," the cloven hoof of the Beast. But it is certain that there is nothing in the Prayer Book to which Luther and Melanchthon would have objected on the score of its Romanism, even if they might have demurred to more than one passage on the ground of its excessive Protestantism. (The Reformation, 280) 7

8 In 1550, wooden communion tables replaced stone altars, making a visible break with Roman tradition; and Protestant pastors replaced Catholic priests Parliament repealed some of the Catholic legislation that Henry VIII had implemented at the end of his life Not all of these reforms were popular with the people of England When Edward died in July 1553, the backlash helped pave the way for Mary to have herself proclaimed Queen (over against her cousin, the Lady Jane Grey) Return to Catholicism under Mary I Stephen Nichols: Mary had a deep and abiding memory. She was the daughter of Catherine of Aragon, Henry s first wife. She remembered what mockery was made of her mother, and she remembered full well the part that Cranmer played in that. She also was deeply devoted to her Catholicism. It would be her divine errand, so she thought, to rid England of the Protestant heretics, restoring the true church in Rome to its rightful place in England. Cranmer and his followers were unceremoniously taken from their positions of power and deposited in the dark chambers of the Tower of London, where they awaited their martyrdoms on the block or at the stake. (The Reformation, 89) Mary reigned from Mary repealed Edward s reforms and attempted to restore relations with the Catholic Church Thomas Cranmer was tried for heresy, and initially recanted but later withdrew his recantations and was burned at the stake Mary married Philip II of Spain in an effort to produce an heir, but to no avail After 1555, persecution against Protestants began to increase and 283 Protestants were burned at the stake One of the Protestants who fled was John Foxe, who labeled the Queen Bloody Mary, an appellation that stuck Mary died childless in December 1558, and her attempt to reconcile England to Rome died with her 8

9 England under Elizabeth I Elizabeth reigned from In 1559, Elizabeth called Parliament to consider the creation of a new church and to pass the Reformation Bill (which would undo a number of Catholic practices and name Elizabeth as the Supreme Head of the Church of England). Some in the Parliament resisted, and a compromise of sorts was struck with two bills: the Act of Supremacy and the Act of Uniformity. The Act of Supremacy named her the Supreme Governor and brought about sweeping reforms. The Act of Uniformity required everyone to attend the Anglican church on Sundays. Because Elizabeth reigned for over 40 years, she was able to enact lasting changes in England (as opposed to Mary who had only reigned for five years) Stephen Nichols: Elizabeth s theological reforms, however, were not welcomed by everyone. A number of Protestants thought that Elizabeth, like her father, Henry VIII, had not gone far enough in reforming the doctrine and practice of the church. For one thing, she disliked preaching, going as far as to say on one occasion that two or three preachers should be enough for the whole country. She opted for the ritual that the Book of Common Prayer had to offer. She also seemed to fail to grasp the true theological nature of the reforms of Cranmer. Further, she even seemed to placate those who had Romish tendencies. None of this sat well with the Puritans, those people who desired a pure church, deeply and truly reformed. (The Reformation, 92) The Rise of the Puritans The Puritans were those who were Protestant and who, in many ways, sided with Anglican reforms but did not feel that those reforms went far enough The Puritans wanted to abolish the Anglican Prayer Book and also reform church governance (the episcopacy); these concerns, in part, would lead to the English Civil War in the 17 th Century 9

10 The Puritan movement would later become an important part of the history of Christianity in North America We will discuss the Puritans in greater detail in future lectures His Life (c ) John Knox (and the Scottish Reformation) Protestantism ( ) French Galleys ( ) Exile in England ( ) Time in Frankfurt and Geneva ( ) Reform in Scotland ( ) Conflict with Mary ( ) Final years ( ) His Legacy Henry Cowan, John Knox: The influence of Knox upon Scotland has been signal and enduring. His assertion bold in that age of the lawfulness of opposing and even deposing rulers who transgress the laws or oppress the people, fostered among his countrymen that opposition to royal despotism which culminated in rebellion rebellion which history has vindicated and posterity has ratified. To Knox's ministry, also, was largely due the growth of an intelligent and earnest-minded middle class, whom his preaching and writings educated and enlightened; inspiring them with strong religious convictions, and imbuing them with a sense of national responsibility. Under his training the smaller landowners, along with the merchants and upper tradesmen the most loyal and zealous supporters of the Reformation began to occupy a distinct place in the national life and councils. To the educational sagacity of Knox Scotland owes, further, in great measure, that parochial school organization which during subsequent generations, when most other countries lagged behind in this regard, provided for the poorest in the land a sound religious and secular education. We have only now, moreover, begun to realize some of the Reformer's educational ideals. Knox was an ardent disciple of Calvin, and he propagated in Scotland that grand... recognition of the absolute sovereignty of God, which is the chief basis of Calvinism. It was the realization of this great truth which afterwards sustained the Scottish Covenanters, as it had already upheld the Huguenots of France and the burghers of the Netherlands, in protracted struggles against oppression.... Nowhere is the influence of Knox, more fully recognized than in the United States and in the Dominion of Canada. The Scottish Presbyterians whom persecution drove, or colonizing enterprise drew, to North America in the seventeenth century, carried with them the sturdy spirit of civil and religious independence which they had inherited from Knox and his successors; and the Presbyterian churches which 10

11 they founded comprising, a population now more than double that of the Presbyterians in the United Kingdom hold the foremost place alike in the past historical development and in the present theological activity of American Christendom. (pp ) Peter Hume Brown, John Knox: As a preacher in England, in Frankfort, and Geneva, it will further appear that more than any other single person he helped to give form and substance to the great religious movement that came to be known as Puritanism. (p. x) Iain Murray, A Scottish Christian Heritage: One thing stands out above all else in the life of John Knox. At many different points in his life we have the comment of individuals who saw him, and the testimony most frequently repeated has to do with one point, namely, the power of his preaching.... The only true explanation of Knox's preaching is in words he applied to others of his fellow countrymen, 'God gave his Holy Spirit to simple men in great abundance.' To read Knox is to be convicted of the smallness of our faith in the power of the Word of God. Marion Harland, John Knox: What afterward became Parliament Square comprised the cemetery [where Knox was buried] within its area. The mortal remains of Scotland's greatest Statesman and Divine lie beneath the stones of the street dividing St. Giles from the Houses of Parliament, now no longer used as such. A worn flat slab let into the pavement is lettered "I. K. That is all. The thunder of traffic goes on above his head all day long, and far into the night. " Lord! give me Scotland, or I die! " That prayer answered, what matter where the deaf dust lies? 11

12 The Puritans Origins Established during the Marian exile (from ), especially through the influence of English Protestants in cities like Geneva. The name derived in the early 1560s (during the beginning of Elizabeth s reign); it was a deratory term aimed at those who sought to further purify the Church of England. They were convinced that the English Reformation was still incomplete, and that certain Catholic practices were tolerated within the Anglican system. Being influenced by Reformers in Europe, they were generally Calvinistic in their theology. They are often regarded, even today, in a negative light. Leland Ryken: No group of people has been more unjustly maligned in the twentieth century than the Puritans. As a result, we approach the Puritans with an enormous baggage of culturally ingrained prejudice (Worldly Saints, p. 2). 12

13 Ryken continues by showing that the Puritans were not opposed to fun, fashion, sports, recreation, the arts, the physical world, or education. Puritanism was a youthful, vigorous movement which began as a specifically church movement in response to the compromise of the Elizabethan Settlement (combining Reformed theology, Catholic liturgy, and Episcopal church government). I. The Rise of the Puritan Movement The Puritans believed that the Anglican form of church governance (an Episcopal form of government) needed to be replaced with a Presbyterian form of church government; and, secondly, that the 1559 Book of Common Prayer needed to be revised or rejected (since it contained too much that smacked of Roman Catholicism) Many English Protestants had fled England during the persecutions of Bloody Mary (Mary I), who reigned from Due to political complications, the refugees were unable to find asylum in Germany, but were welcomed in Calvin s Geneva and in other places throughout Switzerland As a result, they were highly influenced by the teachings of Calvin and other Swiss Reformers (men like John Knox took Calvinism back to Scotland in 1560) When they returned to England, after Elizabeth I took the throne in 1559, they took their Reformed ideals with them; which fueled their Puritan theology The Puritans also called for greater devotion to Jesus Christ and for higher standards of personal holiness Some of the Puritans separated themselves from other Anglicans (and were called Separatists ); but many Puritans remained within Anglicanism and attempted to initiate reforms from within 13

14 Under James I By the early 1600s, they were a distinct group within the Anglican Church; though they regarded themselves as the pure church within the Church of England, most Puritans remained within the Anglican Church; separatist Puritan groups comprised a much smaller number When James VI of Scotland became James I of England (in 1603), the Puritans asked him to enforce the Millenary Petition a document that would have reformed the Anglican Church along Puritan lines; It is referred to by the title millenary because it reportedly contained 1,000 signatures from Puritan pastors and church leaders Adam Nicolson: The Puritan reformists within the Church of England saw the new reign as a chance for a new start. One of their secular leaders, Lewis Pickering, had already buttonholed the king in Edinburgh, and on James s way south a petition had been presented to him, signed it was said by a thousand ministers, asking for a reformation of the English Church, to rid it of the last vestiges of Roman Catholicism and to bring a conclusion to the long rumbling agony of the English Reformation.... Now, perhaps, at last, with a Scottish king, well versed in the ways of Presbyterianism,... there was an opportunity to turn the Church of England into a bona fide Protestant organization, as purified of Roman practices as those on the continent of Europe. (God s Secretaries, p. 34). When King James met with Puritan leaders at the Hampton Court Conference in 1604, he largely sided against them; that same conference saw the beginnings of the King James Version of the Bible Puritans during this time continued to reject anything that seemed, to them, to be reminiscent of Roman Catholicism; The Book of Common Prayer was one such object of their criticism As a result of the Hampton Court Conference, in which James made it clear that he would support the Anglican bishops over and against the Puritans, persecution erupted. Henry Smith Williams: Persecution now began, which, except in the absence of fire and rope, was as fierce as bloody Mary's. Spies wormed their way into conventicles and prayer-meetings; preachers without a license were thrown into prison; three hundred rectors and vicars were turned out of their livings; fines and dungeons were the fate of all who resisted the law (The Historians History of the World, p. 475). 14

15 James himself was anything but a model of personal holiness; he had at least two extramarital affairs as well as several suspected homosexual relationships. Under Charles I In 1625, Charles I came to the throne of England; a year earlier, he had married Henrietta-Marie de Bourbon of France; she was Roman Catholic and disliked Puritans. In 1629, Charles came into conflict with Parliament and subsequently dissolved it; he would not summon Parliament again for the next eleven years It soon became clear that Charles wished to move the church in a more sacramental direction, away from its Calvinistic influences. This push was directly supervised by the William Laud, who was appointed as the Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles in William Laud became the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1633; he too disliked the Puritans because he viewed them as causing division within the Anglican Church. William H. Hutton: Within a week of James's death Charles singled out [William] Laud for special favor by bidding him preach at the opening of Parliament. Four days later he drew up for Buckingham to give to the King a list of prominent ecclesiastics marked with the letters O and P. It was clear that the new King intended to be orthodox, and to show no favor to the Puritan party. From the first there was a party against him: he was already named to the King as " popishly affected." Puritan fears might seem to receive some countenance when for the first time since the days of Mary an English sovereign was united in marriage to a Romanist. (William Laud, 26) Laud persecuted Puritan pastors who deviated from what was prescribed in the Book of Common Prayer or who preached on predestination (a topic that was banned at that time in Anglican churches). As a result, a Great Migration of Puritans took place as many left England to find religious freedom in the New World of North America; from 1630 to 1640, approximately 20,000 Puritans migrated from England to America 15

16 When Charles tried to enforce similar restrictions in Scotland, the Scots rebelled and Charles was forced to make a truce with the Scots granting them some level of ecclesiastical freedom Charles s conflict with the Scots also forced him to summon Parliament again, which he did in 1640 (first in April and again in October). Over the next year, tensions mounted between Charles and Parliament to the point that, on January 4, 1642, Charles entered the House of Commons with an armed force in order to arrest several members of Parliament. But the men he wanted to arrest had already escaped. The result was a great embarrassment for the monarchy. Charles left London, no longer feeling safe there, and began to assemble an army to bring against Parliament. The English Civil War These conflicts would eventually lead to the English Civil War (from ), during with the Puritan supporters of Parliament fought against the Royalist supporters of Charles I Both sides (Charles and Parliament) raised armies and fighting began in October, 1642 and lasted until 1646; after which Charles was a prisoner William Laud was executed in 1645 During this time, the largely Puritan Parliament appointed the Westminster Assembly to restructure the Church of England. The Assembly met from and produced the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Westminster Larger Catechism, the Westminster Shorter Catechism, and the Directory of Public Worship (known collectively as The Westminster Standards). The changes made by the Westminster Assembly to the Church of England were eventually revoked in 1660, but were embraced by the Church of Scotland and form the foundation of the Presbyterian Church. While in confinement in 1648, Charles made arrangements with the Scots to attack England and thus incited a second civil war; but Parliament again emerged victorious In January 1649, Charles was brought to trial by Parliament; he was beheaded on January 29 16

17 After Charles death, Parliament ruled England under the primary oversight of Oliver Cromwell (who put down all resistance from and then ruled as Lord Protector from ) Peter Gaunt: From his conversion experience at some point in the 1630s until his death, Cromwell possessed a deep and overriding belief in an active and all-powerful God, who was guiding the nation and its people along His chosen path and who had summoned Cromwell to be one of His servants and instruments in that work. Here, most historians now agree, was the driving force which pushed Cromwell forward and which shaped most of his subsequent thoughts and actions.... Repeatedly during the 1640s and 1650s, he justified the key developments which he initiated or in which he was involved the civil war itself, Pride s Purge, regicide, the Irish and Scottish campaigns, the ejection of the Rump, the rejection of the crown and so on in terms of God s will (Oliver Cromwell, p. 233). Cromwell himself was a Puritan and a commander in the New Model Army (which had defeated the Royalists in the English Civil War) Cromwell was descended from Catherine Cromwell an older sister of Thomas Cromwell, who had been the chief minister to Henry VIII Cromwell fought against the Irish Catholics from ; his troops massacred thousands of Catholics; Cromwell fought against Scottish resisters from but was much less brutal to them, since he considered them fellow believers In 1658, Cromwell died and was succeeded for a short time under his son, Richard, who was forced to resign in 1659 The Restoration In 1660, Charles II (the son of Charles I who had been living in exile) returned to England and the monarchy was restored In 1661, Cromwell s body was exhumed and posthumously executed 17

18 The Parliament under Charles II issued anti-puritan legislation which revoked the work of the Westminster Assembly and reinstated the Church of England as it had been under Charles I After 1662, Puritans in England were known as Dissenters (those who dissented against the revised Book of Common Prayer) When the monarchy was restored in England, under Charles II, the Church of England was returned to its pre-civil War status; as a result as many as 2,400 Puritan pastors left the church in 1662 (in what is known as the Great Ejection ); these Puritans became known as dissenters and later as nonconformists The dissenters formed their own separate congregations, and faced legal consequences as a result; such nonconformity would not be tolerated until the Toleration Act was passed after the Glorious Revolution of Transition to the New World It was through the English Puritan movement that Christians settlers came to live in New England The first Pilgrims began as a group of Separatist Puritans, who left England due to religious persecution; they first went to Amsterdam, but were fearful that their way of life would be lost to the surrounding culture; as a result they came to New England, on the Mayflower, and settled there (first in 1620) After Charles II came to the throne, many Puritans left England convinced that the persecussion in England would only grow worse, and that it was best to leave and start afresh in New England; the Great Migration of the 1630s saw approximately 20,000 settlers (mostly Puritans) come to the New World from England The Puritans are responsible for bringing the Reformation to North America. Due to persecution in England, they brought Calvinistic, evangelical theology and established it on American soil. Perry Miller and Thomas Johnson: Puritanism may perhaps best be described as that point of view, that philosophy of life, that code of values, which was carried to New England by the first settlers in the early seventeenth century. Beginning thus, it has become one of the continuous factors in American life and American thought (The Puritans, p. 1). 18

19 The Plymouth Colony The pilgrims of the Mayflower established a settlement at Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620 Roughly half of the pilgrims were Puritan separatists under the leadership of John Robinson, William Brewster, and William Bradford Such separatists had been declared unwelcome by King James at the Hampton Court Conference in 1604, and they came under governmental persecution As a result, they moved to the Netherlands for a short time before finally relocating to Massachusetts They arrived in Massachusetts in December 1620 and found themselves immediately subject to the harsh New England winter such that 45 of the original 102 emigrants died By the following November, there were only 53 people still alive to celebrate the first Thanksgiving (which would have been a harvest celebration of some sort) Thanks to additional ships bringing immigrants, it is estimated that there were roughly 300 people living at Plymouth by 1630 The Massachusetts Bay Colony From 1630 to 1640, eleven ships (known as the Winthrop Fleet) would carry over several hundred more Puritan; the surge in emigration from England being due to Charles I s marriage to Henrietta Maria and his persecution of Puritans under William Laud Reverend John White of Dorchester, England, obtained a charter for the colony in 1629; and the first 400 settlers left England for Massachusetts in April of that year Many more Puritans would come join them, due to the restrictive policies against Puritans that were being enacted in England Men like John Cotton, Roger Williams, Thomas Hooker and others would become spiritual and political leaders among the colonists 19

20 The city of Boston would be founded in September, The first church of Boston was founded in 1630 by John Winthrop (today the church is a Unitarian Universalist church); from 1633 to 1652 John Mather was the teaching elder at the church Second Church of Boston broke off from First Church in 1649 and was home to Increase Mather, Cotton Mather, and Samuel Mather from 1664 to John Winthrop preached a sermon in 1630 entitled, A Model of Christian Charity, in which he explained to his fellow settlers that their colony would be watched by the world. Now the only way to avoid this shipwreck, and to provide for our posterity, is to follow the counsel of Micah, to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with our God. For this end, we must be knit together, in this work, as one man.... The Lord will be our God, and delight to dwell among us, as His own people, and will command a blessing upon us in all our ways, so that we shall see much more of His wisdom, power, goodness and truth, than formerly we have been acquainted with. We shall find that the God of Israel is among us, when ten of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies; when He shall make us a praise and glory that men shall say of succeeding plantations, "may the Lord make it like that of New England." For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world.... Therefore let us choose life, that we and our seed may live, by obeying His voice and cleaving to Him, for He is our life and our prosperity. The Covenant of the First Church in Boston, 1630: In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in obedience to His holy will, and divine ordinance: We whose names are hereunder written, being by his most wise and good providence brought together into this part of America in the Bay of Massachusetts, and desirous to unite ourselves, into one congregation or church, under the Lord Jesus Christ our head, in such sort as becomes all those whom He hath redeemed, and Sanctified to Himself, do hereby, solemnly, and religiously (as in His most holy Presence) promise, and bind ourselves to walk in all our ways according to the rule of the Gospel, and in all sincere conformity to His holy ordinances, and in mutual love, and respect each to other so near as God shall give us grace. 20

21 ADDENDUM: The Westminster Confession (of 1646) Chapters 1 18 CHAPTER I. Of the holy Scripture. I. Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence, do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of his will, which is necessary unto salvation; therefore it pleased the Lord, at sundry times, and in divers manners, to reveal himself, and to declare that his will unto his Church; and afterwards for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the Church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which maketh the holy Scripture to be most necessary; those former ways of God's revealing his will unto his people being now ceased.... IV. The authority of the holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or Church, but wholly upon God (who is truth itself), the Author thereof; and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God. V. We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the Church to an high and reverent esteem of the holy Scripture; and the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole (which is to give all glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man's salvation, the many other incomparable excellencies, and the entire perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God; yet, notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit, bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts. VI. The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men. Nevertheless we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the Word; and that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and the government of the Church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed. VII. All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all; yet those things which are necessary to be known, believed, and observed, for salvation, are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the 21

22 unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary means, may attain unto a sufficient understanding of them. VIII. The Old Testament in Hebrew (which was the native language of the people of God of old), and the New Testament in Greek (which at the time of the writing of it was most generally known to the nations), being immediately inspired by God, and by his singular care and providence kept pure in all ages, are therefore authentical; so as in all controversies of religion the Church is finally to appeal unto them. But because these original tongues are not known to all the people of God who have right unto, and interest in, the Scriptures, and are commanded, in the fear of God, to read and search them, therefore they are to be translated into the vulgar language of every nation unto which they come, that the Word of God dwelling plentifully in all, they may worship him in an acceptable manner, and, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, may have hope. IX. The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture, is the Scripture itself; and therefore, when there is a question about the true and full sense of any scripture (which is not manifold, but one), it may be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly. X. The Supreme Judge, by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture. CHAPTER II. Of God, and of the Holy Trinity. I. There is but one only living and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most holy, most free, most absolute, working all things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will, for his own glory, most loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; the rewarder of them that diligently seek him; and withal most just and terrible in his judgments; hating all sin; and who will by no means clear the guilty. II. God hath all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of himself; and is alone in and unto himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which he hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting his own glory in, by, unto, and upon them; he is the alone foundation of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom, are all things; and hath most sovereign dominion over them, to do by them, for them, or upon them, whatsoever himself pleaseth. In his sight all things are open and manifest; his knowledge is infinite, infallible, and independent upon the creature; so as nothing is to him contingent or uncertain. He is most holy in all his counsels, in all his works, and in all his commands. To him is due from angels and men, and every other creature, whatsoever worship, service, or obedience he is pleased to require of them. 22

23 III. In the unity of the Godhead there be three Persons of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. The Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son. CHAPTER III. Of God's Eternal Decree. I. God from all eternity did by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet so as thereby neither is God the author of sin; nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established. II. Although God knows whatsoever may or can come to pass, upon all supposed conditions; yet hath he not decreed any thing because he foresaw it as future, as that which would come to pass, upon such conditions. III. By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others foreordained to everlasting death. IV. These angels and men, thus predestinated and foreordained, are particularly and unchangeably designed; and their number is so certain and definite that it can not be either increased or diminished. V. Those of mankind that are predestinated unto life, God, before the foundation of the world was laid, according to his eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of his will, hath chosen in Christ, unto everlasting glory, out of his free grace and love alone, without any foresight of faith or good works, or perseverance in either of them, or any other thing in the creature, as conditions, or causes moving him thereunto; and all to the praise of his glorious grace. VI. As God hath appointed the elect unto glory, so hath he, by the eternal and most free purpose of his will, foreordained all the means thereunto. Wherefore they who are elected being fallen in Adam are redeemed by Christ, are effectually called unto faith in Christ by his Spirit working in due season; are justified, adopted, sanctified, and kept by his power through faith unto salvation. Neither are any other redeemed by Christ, effectually called, justified, adopted, sanctified, and saved, but the elect only. VII. The rest of mankind, God was pleased, according to the unsearchable counsel of his own will, whereby he extendeth or withholdeth mercy as he pleaseth, for the glory of his sovereign power over his creatures, to pass by, and to ordain them to dishonor and wrath for their sin, to the praise of his glorious justice. VIII. The doctrine of this high mystery of predestination is to be handled with special prudence and care, that men attending to the will of God revealed in his Word, and yielding obedience 23