STE:Puritan Separatism  by Randall Hillebrand

   Puritanism was initially a movement starting within the Church of
England under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The objective of
Puritanism was to completely regenerate the English Church with
Calvinistic reform.

   The duration of Puritan history in England was from 1559 to 1660,
with 1620 being the year that Puritans left England for America. From
1559 to 1593, the governing class of England became protestant. The
House of Commons then raised up a Protestant National Church which
Elizabeth decided would keep the Catholic distinctive of ruling
bishops. This upset many that had already felt that the Church of
England had preserved too many of the relics of the Catholic Church.
Total reform and absolution from the Catholic Church was called for by
this group who wanted the Word of God to be the standard by which the
church would be run. This radical group became known as the Puritans --
ones who wanted to purify the church of all ceremonies, vestments and
customs that were inherited from the medieval church.

   Within the Puritan camp were many different views on how the church
should be purified. Out of these many views there were two main
divisions, the Separatists and the Nonseparatists. The Separatists, a
very small group of Puritans from around the latter part of Elizabeth's
reign, were Christians that wanted a thorough reform in the church.
When this group finally came to the conclusion that the Church of
England was beyond purification, they separated themselves from the
church and formed a number of small churches. They then elected pastors
and elders which would govern these newly-formed assemblies. The
Separatists were a threat to the established church, though small in
number, because they started to consistently draw new converts. Because
of this the Church of England started to persecute them which was one
of the reasons they left for America.

   The other division within the Puritan camp, the Nonseparatists, had
a different philosophy by which to purify the established church. This
group was more patient while waiting for reform. During this time of
persecution of the Separatists under Elizabeth and James I, the
Nonseparatists found freedom to carry out reform within the church.
This was due to the fact that they did it in an agreed upon and
organizational type format, which was accepted by both Elizabeth and
James.

   When pressure was applied to them, they would use the common-law
courts to defend their rights. They also did not condemn the
established church as a false church, although they did acknowledge its
many problems and corruptions. This view was expressed well by a
Nonseparatist named Francis Higginson who is reported to have said on
board a ship leaving the shores of England for America:

   "We will not say as the Separatists are wont to say at their leaving
England, 'Farewell Babylon, Farewell Rome'; but we will say, 'Farewell
dear England, Farewell the Church of God in England and all the
Christian friends there.' We do not go to New England as Separatists
from the Church of England, though we cannot but separate from the
corruption in it."

   (From Religion in America by Winthrop S. Hudson.)

   This article originated on The Salvation Online Network
