Puritanism: A Very Short Introduction
Written by a leading expert on the Puritans, this brief, informative volume offers a wealth of background on this key religious movement. This book traces the shaping, triumph, and decline of the Puritan world, while also examining the role of religion in the shaping of American society and the role of the Puritan legacy in American history. Francis J. Bremer discusses the rise of Puritanism in the English Reformation, the struggle of the reformers to purge what they viewed as the corruptions of Roman Catholicism from the Elizabethan church, and the struggle with the Stuart monarchs that led to a brief Puritan triumph under Oliver Cromwell. It also examines the effort of Puritans who left England to establish a godly kingdom in America. Bremer examines puritan theology, views on family and community, their beliefs about the proper relationship between religion and public life, the limits of toleration, the balance between individual rights and one's obligation to others, and the extent to which public character should be shaped by private religious belief. About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.
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accept American Anne Bradstreet Anne Hutchinson Antinomian authority began Bible bishops Boston called Calvinist Cambridge Catholic challenge Chapter Charles Christ Christian Christopher Church of England civil clergyman clerical colonists colony’s congregation Covenant Cromwell’s culture Dissenters divinity early efforts elect Elizabethan English Civil Wars English puritans Englishmen faith gathered God’s godly kingdom Governor grace H. L. Mencken Increase Mather individual individual’s James John Cotton John Endecott John Winthrop king king’s live Lord’s Supper magistrates man’s Massachusetts Michael moral national church native Nehemiah Wallington Netherlands Oliver Cromwell one’s Oxford parish Parliament perimeter fence political practices Prayer preached Presbyterian Protestant puritan clergy puritan legacy puritans puritans believed reform religious Richard Richard Baxter role Sabbath saints Salem salvation Samuel Scriptures sermon settlement seventeenth century sexual sins society sought spiritual theology toleration traditional understanding University Press views William William Laud witches women worship wrote