# Puritan Denominations...



## Reed

What denominations "branched" out of the Puritans?

Am I correct in understanding Puritans branch from Church of England/Anglicans -- Were the Westminster Divines technically Anglicans?

So once the Puritans come to America when do they stop being Anglicans and begin to be Episcopals and Congregationalists?

It seems that Puritan Board members are generally from a Presbyterian background. Are there any solid, Reformed Episcopals or Congregationalists out there today?

Waiting in Minneapolis,
Reed

[edited Subject Line to match topic of thread. Please be sure that subject lines are descriptive of the topic. Thanks, Moderator.]

[Edited on 26-10-2004 by Dan....]


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## VirginiaHuguenot

The Westminster Assembly included English Puritans who were members of the Church of England, Scottish Presbyterians, and English Independents (the terms and perspectives vary: Dissenters, Separatists, Congregationalists, etc.). 

The early American Christians who adhered to or were influenced by the Wesminster Confession include the Pilgrims (Separatists), New England Puritans (who governed their churches along different lines than the Church of England without actually seceeding from the same until the revocation of the Massachusetts colonial charter in 1684), Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Reformed Baptists, as well as Calvinstic Methodists and other later variations that followed. 

More could be said, but I hope that helps.


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## Scott

The Reformed Episcopal Church website is here:
http://www.rechurch.org/

They are entirely orthodox but I am not sure I would classify them as Puritans.

I am not aware of any congregationalist Puritans, but there may be some. I suppose some Reformed Baptists might be pretty close, although I don't know if they would consider themselves Puritans either.

English Puritanism differed considerably from American Puritanism. American Puritan theology had revivalistic tendencies and led to strange things like the Half-way Covenant.


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## tfelice

According to my "Handbook of Denominations in the US", there are presently three denominations that can be directly linked back to the Congregationalists:

The National Association of Congregational Christian Churches: http://naccc.org

The Conservative Congregational Christian Conference: http://ccccusa.org

and The United Church of Christ: http://ucc.org

I know that the UCC came about as a series of mergers of the Evangelical Synod, Reformed Church in the USA, Congregational Churches and the Christian Church which was completed in 1961. It is a very liberal denomination.

I think The National Association of Congregational Christian Churches and The Conservative Congregational Christian Conference listed above are the churches that did not participate in the various mergers.


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## C. Matthew McMahon

> What denominations "branched" out of the Puritans?



Puritans could be anyone. If you mean the Westminster Assembly, then the answer is Presbyterian.



> Am I correct in understanding Puritans branch from Church of England/Anglicans -- Were the Westminster Divines technically Anglicans?



Not necessarily. For the most part - no. 

Puritans can be just about anyone who wanted to purify the church of England. The church of England was started by Queen Elizabeth as a menas to subvert the intelligence of the laymen, and to place herself in power over the church. It was a mix of Romanism and her brand of Protestantism.

The divines at the Westminster Assembly were 151 in number. For the most part they were Erastians, Independents, Episcopalians, Anglicans, and Presbyterians.

Puritan came to fianlly equal being Presbyterian.




> So once the Puritans come to America when do they stop being Anglicans and begin to be Episcopals and Congregationalists?



They puritans who left England became separatists - Pilgrims. At that point they became dissenters to the church and began to set up many of thier own churches looking for freedomn of religion away from the persecution and dictates of the Church of England.

Denominations later began setting up their own churches in the New World.




> It seems that Puritan Board members are generally from a Presbyterian background. Are there any solid, Reformed Episcopals or Congregationalists out there today?



Using the word "reformed" in this way is a misnomer. Those following the Solemn League were Reformed, the rest went a different way. We can say that many of these denominations follow the doctrines of grace - many do. But being Reformed meant they follow both the Presbyterian form of government setup by Calvin and Beza, and beleived in the Reformed doctrines in the Institutes of the Christian Religion.


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## Reed

Ah! Thanks for the elucidating responses!

Especially the deliniation between Presbyterian (solemn league and covenant) type reformed and doctrines of grace reformed.

I am beginning to get it now --
Thanks!
Reed


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## AdamM

I think Matthew & everybody else have done a great job of answering your question. It all comes down to how narrowly you define the term "œPuritan". Puritanism in the broad sense seen as a movement had a wide influence that lasts even today in many denominations all over the world, but if you define Puritan in the narrow sense, I think "œPuritanism" can be said to have essentially ended with the Act of Uniformity of 1662.

[Edited on 28-10-2004 by AdamM]


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## C. Matthew McMahon

It is known but little that there were Arminian Puritans. It was a broad term used. You could be anything and be a "puritan" (for the most part). That is why people today distinguish between "the good puritans" and "Puritanism." Or, if there is any schoalrly work done in the arena, scholars say "Puritanism" with an underlying supposition that they mean "the good puritans." There was even a "puritan" who wrote against the "L" of TULIP, among other things! Go figure!


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