Plain, But Not Simple

1. Plain, But Not Simple The Puritan Sect and Its Influence in Early America

2. Historic Perspective • Henry VIII begins the move toward defying Catholicism by 1525 and breaks with the Church by 1535. • Catholicism is restored by Queen Mary (Henry’s eldest daughter) in 1554. • Elizabeth I is crowned Queen in 1558 and establishes the Anglican Church (Church of England) as the official religion of the Empire. • Charles I is executed in 1649 and Oliver Cromwell becomes the Puritan Lord Protector. • Cromwell’s son is overthrown and Charles II is crowned king. • Many Puritans separated from the Anglican Church and relocated to Holland in 1608 • In 1620 102 Puritans, known to us as the Pilgrims, boarded the Mayflower, and sailed first to England, then to America • The Mayflower Compact was drawn up and signed in 1620. • The Plymouth Colony was established in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1620.

3. Basic Principles of Puritanism • A strong belief in Predestination, that we are all just “agents of Providence” • A feeling that the are, somewhat, specially chosen by God, that they have a “special providence” with God • God tests us—as seen in the tribulations of the first winter—but, the Pilgrims survived and their harvest was triumphant. Thus, Thanksgiving. • The Anglican Church does not go far enough to separate itself from Catholicism, maintaining much of the same hierarchy and building its own cathedrals. It is far from plain. • Simplicity or “plainness” is the goal of worship and of life.

4. Elizabethan Fashions Women’s “Fashion” Men’s “Fashion”

5. Plainness in Dress Men’s “Fashion” Women’s “Fashion”

6. Cathedrals Exteriors Interiors

7. Puritan Churches Exterior Interior

8. Basic Principles II Religious authority must be grounded in Scripture alone—not in church hierarchy nor in any other way. Thus, all of religion must be based on interpretation of the Bible. In order for people to participate in their religion, they must understand it. The Bible must be translated into the language of the people of the religion and they must be taught to read and understand it. The Bible must be widely disseminated and discussed and must be the basis for all church and secular law. As in all other European-based colonies, the secular hierarchy and the church hierarchy are intertwined. But, in the Plymouth colony—later in all of Massachusetts, as well as other Puritan settlements—religious law is the law. Sin is crime. If God is said to work miracles, then Satan must work actively against salvation. The Devil is a corporeal (real) being, walking the world. The fear of what “went on in the forest” takes fear of “savages” and combines it with fear of the “dark man.” The Puritans strongly believed that witches existed—as did most other Christian religions in the 17th and 18th centuries. They also believed that children were completely innocent unless and until corrupted by the devil.

9. Importance of Literacy Vulgate (latin) Bible King James Bible

10. Basic Principles III Combining the last two items, the Salem Witch trials become almost inevitable by the 1690’s. In addition, Puritans believe in the concept of “open confession.” How, then, can a truly “Pure” person confess to witchcraft in order to save her life? Won’t she be condemned to hell for lying rather than allowed to confess and save both her life and her soul? The Puritans lost power following the witch trials and began to fade. By the American Revolution, their religious authority had virtually disappeared.

11. Images of the Witch Trials Arrest Warrant Hanging