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The Puritans were originally members of a group of English Protestants seeking "purity" — further reforms or even separation from the established church — during the Protestant Reformation. There are to this day people who call themselves Puritans, but much of their original teaching (for instance, their line of reasoning that led to the Salem witch trials) has been left behind.
Terminology
Originally used to describe a third-century sect of rigorist heretics, the word "Puritan" is now applied unevenly to a number of Protestant churches from the late 16th century to the present. Puritans did not originally, by and large, use the term for themselves. It was a term of abuse that first surfaced in the 1560s. Recusants, Precisemen, and Precisions were other early antagonistic terms for Puritans who preferred to call themselves "the godly." The word "Puritan" was thus always a descriptor of a type of religious belief, rather than a particular religious sect. To reflect that the term encompasses a variety of ecclesiastical bodies and theological positions, scholars today increasingly prefer to use the term as a common noun or adjective: "puritan" rather than "Puritan."
The single theological movement most consistently self-described by the term "Puritan" was Reformed or Calvinist and led to the establishment of the Presbyterian, Baptist, and Congregationalist churches. The term was used by the group itself mainly in the sixteenth century, though it seems to have been used often and, in its earliest recorded instances, as a term of abuse. By the middle of the 17th century, the group had become so divided that "Puritan" was most often used by opponents and detractors of the group, rather than by the practitioners themselves. As Patrick Collinson has noted, well before the founding of the New England settlement “Puritanism had no content beyond what was attributed to it by its opponents.” The practitioners knew themselves as members of particular churches or movements, and not by the simple term.
More on [ Puritan ]
A Puritan's Mind - A site with many links to sites about the Puritans, their history and theology.
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CONFORMISTS--PURITANS--SEPARATISTS - A short history, especially of the Puritans and Separatists.
Meta Description: [ Puritan History, American Revolution, Time Line, Government, Colonial wars, histories of original colonies, Civil War, slavery, government ]
Fire and Ice: Puritan and Reformed Writings - Puritan and Reformed sermons and other writings, many in modern language. Authors include Jonathan Edwards, Richard Baxter, Samuel Rutherford, and many others.
Meta Description: [ Puritan and Reformed sermons and other writings, many in modern language. Authors include Jonathan Edwards, Richard Baxter, Samuel Rutherford, and many others. ]
Pilgrims and Puritans: Background - A history of these two movements in America.
Puritanism and Predestination - A two part site on the theology of Puritans.
Meta Description: [ an interactive curriculum enrichment service designed to help teachers of American history bring their students to a greater understanding of the role religion has played in the development of the United States ]
Puritanism in America - An article beginning with a description of the connection with Pilgrims and Presbyterians, as well as a contrast with the Quakers.
Puritanism in New England - A short history of the movement.
Puritanism, Puritans - Several articles on Puritanism. A source of information for deeper understanding of religious subjects.
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Several articles on Puritanism. A source
of information for deeper understanding of religious subjects. ]
Puritans - A history of the Puritans in America.
Puritans - Wikipedia article on the history and beliefs of the Puritans.
The English Puritans - An extensive history of the Puritans in England, including the Separatists, the Presbyterian Puritans and the Congregationalists.
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The Pilgrims Gave Us More Than Thanksgiving - A short history of the influence of the Pilgrims from their coming to America in 1620 until their assimilation into the Puritan community.
The Puritan Tradition - An article on Puritans and Pilgrims with links to more articles.
The Puritans: 1600-1699 - A timeline of the history of the Puritans in England.
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Who Were These People Called Puritans? - An article on Puritans driven to New World by faith.
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