United States History 17A





Puritans and Calvinists


    In order to understand just who the Puritans were, what they believed in and their influence on the development of American institutions, it is necessary to understand something about the history of Christianity in Europe before the year 1500.
   Before the sixteenth century (1500 - 1600) in western Europe, there was only one established church: the Roman Catholic Church. The members of the Church were known as Catholics. The Catholic Church and all of its officials (priests, bishops) were supported by almost everyone in the form of tithes -- one tenth of peoples' yearly incomes given to it. In return for this support, the Catholic Church promised salvation -- eternal life in heaven -- to all of its members as long as they participated in the services, or 'sacraments', of the Church. These sacraments could only be administered by an official of the Church. There were seven sacraments: baptism, confirmation, communion, pennance, marriage, holy orders and last rites.
   Perhaps the three most important sacraments were baptism, communion and pennance. It was believed that baptism cleansed the infant of Adam's original sin of disobeying God. Communion was the eating and drinking of bread and wine that had been transformed miraculously by a priest into the body and blood of Christ. To be denied the sacrament of communion was to be 'excommunicated'. Pennance was an act of contrition for sins confesssed to a priest. If one did not participate in the sacraments as they were administered by a priest, one did not gain salvation. Thus the Catholic Church had an enormous amount of power over the lives and afterlives of its members.
  Unfortunately, by the sixteenth century, there were those within the Catholic Church who used these powers in a corrupt way. Priests were known to sell forgiveness for sin. Called an 'indulgence', this forgiveness was more easily obtained by someone with wealth than someone without it. 'Simony' was also practiced at this time. It was the corrupt practice of buying and selling priesthoods to the highest bidder.
   In the sixteenth century, a movement began in protest against these corrupt practices of the Catholic Church. Those who were involved in the protests wanted Church officials to abandon these corrupt practices and to minister to all of its followers equally, regardless of their wealth or station in life. They did not want to be denied access into heaven because of their lack of wealth or power. Those people who protested against the Church in an effort to reform it became known as Protestants. Their movement was known as the Protestant Reformation. Although both Catholics and Protestants were considered to be Christians, they differed in the fundamental way of how to achieve salvation.
   One of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation was John Calvin. He believed that people did not have to participate in the sacraments of the Catholic Church in order to achieve salvation. He believed that God had identified all people who would achieve salvation before they were born. This ideas was called 'predestination'. No one could ever know if she/he would go to heaven, (or be one of the 'elect'), because it was impossible for people to understand God. However, Calvin believed that if one worked hard at any honest labor, was a moral person, and then succeeded in this world, it was probably a sign that God had singled her/him out for salvation. One could never know for sure, of course, because one could never understand God, but it seemed reasonable that God would not create a decent, hard-working, successful individuals, and then send them to hell. Surely the reward for these kinds of people would be salvation and eternal life. For Calvinists, however, since they could never be sure of this outcome, they would have to work hard continuously thoughout their lives to make sure that they were among the 'elect' that would go to heaven.
   The Calvinists in England eventually became known as Puritans, and migrated to Plymouth Colony in 1620, but not without the involvement of King Henry VIII, (1509 - 1547).
   When Henry wanted to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn, the Pope would not agree to it, so Henry confiscated the lands and wealth of the Catholic Church in England and declared that it would now be known as the Church of England, or the Anglican Church, with himself, the king, as its head. Henry then appointed an official that would grant his annulment. The Anglican Church was a Protestant Church, but in its structure and rituals it remained very much like the Catholic Church it had replaced. The Calvinists in England wanted to purify it -- that is, they wanted to make it reflect the beliefs of John Calvin. They had some success under Henry's daughter, Queen Elizabeth I, (1558 - 1603), but her successor, James I, (1603 - 1625) wanted to restore the Anglican Church to its Catholic origins. Some Calvinists could not tolerate this and left the country, first going to Holland and then to Plymouth in Massachusetts.
    Therefore, the Puritans who came to Plymouth in 1620, and who later spread out all over New England, were Calvinists who wanted to purify the Anglican Church. (The first batch of Puritans on the Mayflower were the famous Thanksgiving 'Pilgrims'.)
   After all of this, what is important about these Puritans is that they brought with them their 'work ethic', sometimes called the 'Protestant Ethic', that is so much a part of the way Americans think and act. Although they did not believe in democracy, these Calvinist Puritans brought with them beliefs that would influence the growth of democracy in America. For example, they believed that each congregation was independent of every other, and that its members could choose their own minister and determine the kind of services that would be conducted in their own churches. They believed that any honest labor was good enough for God and for salvation. And they believed that, ultimately, the relationship that existed between people and God, was an individual one, and not dependent upon the actions of church officials. Because of this, it was important that all children be taught to read and write so that they could read the Bible and thus communicate with God directly without the need for any official intermediary.
   The Calvinists were only one group of Protestants who came to America in the sixteenth century. These Protestant groups ranged from very conservative in their approach to salvation -- like the Anglicans, who settled mostly in the south -- to very liberal, like the Quakers who settled mostly in Pennsylvania. Quakers believed that a person did not need a church, a minister or even a Bible to achieve salvation since each individual possessed an inner light bestowed by God that could lead the way there.

Answer the following questions
5. What were tithes? What was salvation? What were the seven sacraments and why were they important?
6. What was an 'indulgence' and what was 'simony'? What movement rose up in protest against them?
7 What was predestination? Who were the 'elect'? How could people find out if they were among the elect?
8. How did Catholics and Protestants differ in the most fundamental way?
9. How was the Anglican Church created? What did Calvinists want to do with it?
10. In what three (3) ways did Calvinism influence the growth of democracy in America?

 
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Revised February 2, 2004
by Tom Gallup, e-mail address: tom_gallup@westvalley.edu
West Valley College
http://www.westvalley.edu/wvc/ss/gallup/gallup.html