Puritan is the person who practices Puritanism, a religious reform movement in the late 16th and 17th centuries that sought to "purify" the Church of England of the remnants of the Catholic "papacy" that the Puritans claimed to have been retained after the establishment religious reached early in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The Puritans were noted in the 17th century for a spirit of moral and religious seriousness that informed their way of life, and which sought through the reform of the church to make their way of life the pattern for the entire nation. His efforts to transform the nation contributed so much to the civil war in England and the founding of colonies in America as working models of the Puritan way of life.
Puritanism can be defined primarily by the intensity of the religious experience it fostered. The Puritans believed that it was necessary to be in a covenant relationship with God to redeem one from one's sinful condition, that God had chosen to reveal salvation through preaching and that the Holy Spirit was the energizing instrument of salvation. The Calvinist theologyand politics proved to be the main influences in the formation of the Puritan teachings. This naturally led to the rejection of much that was characteristic of Anglican ritual at the time, these being viewed as "Popish idolatry." Instead the Puritans emphasized the preaching that he drew on images from writing and everyday experience. However, because of the importance of preaching, the Puritans put a premium on a scholarly ministry. The moral and religious fervor that was characteristic of the Puritans combined with the doctrine of predestination inherited from Calvinism to produce a "covenant theology," a sense of themselves as spirits chosen by God to live godly lives both as individuals. as a community.
The English Puritans, who are the most familiar, believed that the English Reformation had not gone far enough and that the Church of England still tolerated too many practices associated with the Church of Rome (such as hierarchical leadership, and the various rituals of the church). Many Puritans advocated separation from all other Christian groups, but most were "non-separators" and wanted to bring cleanliness and change to the church from within. The Puritans believed that each individual, as well as each congregation, was directly accountable to God, rather than answering through a mediator such as a priest, bishop, etc.
