Were the Puritans sectarians?

[Austin]

Here's an interesting thought I was kicking around:

Was there something in the historical experience of the Puritans that led them to largely (functionally) abandon the Reformers' desire to reform the "one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church"?

In the Magisterial Reformed churches (e.g. in Scotland & the Netherlands) reformed churches maintained a lot of the Reformers' zeal in looking at membership covenantally. In the puritan churches (and their heirs) there has been a lot of emphasis on 'boundary markers' and praxis. The one followed Calvin, who assumed that all those who would hear him were among the elect (if for no other reason than that the only ones "with eyes to see & ears to hear" were elect). The other became more and more of a church formed on the basis of joining, rather than belonging.

Could this have a lot to do with the different experiences of the Reformed folks in Scotland, Holland, etc (where they won the day theologically and became the sole official church), and those in England (where they were always discriminated against by the established Anglican Church?

If so, how does this play out in our day as we see the differences between Reformed Baptists (heirs of the Dissenters) and the Reformed Presbyterians (heirs of the established Presbyterian and Reformed Churches)?

I would appreciate y'all's thoughts?

 

[Willem van Oranje]

Depends what you mean by "Puritans." On the one hand the true puritans were intent on reforming the Church of England, unlike their brothers, the separatists. Among the Congregational and Baptist strains, and over time, there began to be an undue emphasis on regeneration and personal assurance, as well as the idea of regenerate church membership. It seems to have been more of a shift in theological emphasis from the church to the inidvidual than anything else.

 

[Austin]

Wouldn't you say that the Separatists came to dominate the "Puritan" movement? The Puritans obviously fell out of favor after the Restoration, especially after the Glorious Revolution when the new bourgeois settlement discouraged 'enthusiasts' who were out of accord with the prevailing system.

In this environment, it seems that the emphasis on the individual, on regenerate membership, & the consequent decline of (little 'c') catholic ecclesiology grew apace.

I wonder if there is a connection between this and the later declension of Reformed theology in English non-conformists. After all, the English Congregationalists & Baptists (as I understand it) declined into Arminian moralism, and the Presbyterians in England became Unitarians.

Another thought: is the increase in moralism & Arminianism connected with the emphasis on regenerate membership that accompanies sectarianism?

 

[Willem van Oranje]

Wouldn't you say that the Separatists came to dominate the "Puritan" movement? The Puritans obviously fell out of favor after the Restoration, especially after the Glorious Revolution when the new bourgeois settlement discouraged 'enthusiasts' who were out of accord with the prevailing system.

In this environment, it seems that the emphasis on the individual, on regenerate membership, & the consequent decline of (little 'c') catholic ecclesiology grew apace.

I wonder if there is a connection between this and the later declension of Reformed theology in English non-conformists. After all, the English Congregationalists & Baptists (as I understand it) declined into Arminian moralism, and the Presbyterians in England became Unitarians.

Another thought: is the increase in moralism & Arminianism connected with the emphasis on regenerate membership that accompanies sectarianism?

Well, technically speaking, the Separatists were not Puritans.

In a way I think that that moralism and Arminianism were a reaction, a swing of the pendulum away from the introspective Monergism of the Puritans/Separatists. So few people in the churches considered themselves to be converted, there were so many self-professed, "seekers" who were trying to provoke God's saving grace of regeneration through good works and devotion, that the pendulum swung and "new measures" like altar calls were used in an attempt to get people to make a decision for Christ instead of just waiting and waiting for some "conversion experience." When the revivals whipped up by the "new measures" practitioners fizzled out, and many professors become known to be false converts, when the enthusiasm died down, then the moralistic liberalism came in as a result of unbelief. This is largely what happened to the churches here in New England as they went from Calvinist to Arminian to Unitarian (including what happend to my own congregation during that time.) I suspect that England may have gone through a similar process.