# Blind Spots of the Puritan Age



## doulosChristou (Apr 29, 2005)

I recently finished Os Guinness' _Prophetic Untimeliness: A Challenge to the Idol of Relevance_ [Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2003. 119 pp. $16.99], and one of the things he stresses is the necessity of reading and meditating on the riches passed down to us by previous ages. He then writes:



> Every age has its strengths and weaknesses, its own outlook and blind spots, and therefore its own talent for seeing certain truths and not others. It is essential that we rise above the limitations of being children of our own age. (105)



We spend a good deal on the board looking at the strengths of the Puritan age. What do you think were their weaknesses and blind spots? What are some of the truths they did not see?


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## LawrenceU (Apr 29, 2005)

Great topic! I'll have to chew on this today.


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Apr 29, 2005)

The most common objections to the Puritans that I hear (in the world and on this board) are against their views on worship, particularly in favor of exclusive psalmody, and against the celebration of Roman Catholic holidays, and their views on Church-State relations. I happen to agree with the Puritan views in those areas. There is little that I personally object to in Puritan theology, broadly speaking. 

(Puritan, of course, is a term that encompasses a range of Anglican and non-Anglican, Reformed viewpoints from Baptist John Bunyan to Independent/Congregationalists John Owen and Cotton Mather to Presbyterian Andrew Melville.)

I do see blind spots in the Puritans which I think developed in the particular context of living in an Erastian environment. In Scotland, the Puritan movement was blessed by the fact that a national Presbyterian church existed since 1560 and with men like John Knox, Andrew Melville, Alexander Henderson and others (and women like Jenny Geddes) leading the way, they resisted the encroachments of the Crown into the church. In England, Puritans either tried to remain in the church and reform within, but never quite achieving their goal, or else became separatists (like the Pilgrims) or independents/congregationalists (like Owen and the New England branch of Puritanism). Those that stayed earnestly desired to avoid schism which is greatly to be commended, and those that would not conform or compromise are also to be commended. But in both camps I see the historical path laid towards defection from true Biblical principles. There were few good options in that context besides leaving England. 

In the course of the English Civil War and its aftermath, the Independents and Presbyterians became divided over issues like religious standards for the Roundhead Army and how to punish the king for his crimes and whether to crown his son. Such divisions like that between the Resolutioners and the Protesters brought immeasurable harm to the Puritan movement and weakened it considerably in the face of the royalist prelatic opposition. It is the great blind spot not only of the Puritans but of all Protestantism that we tend to divide and weaken ourselves rather than unite as much as possible. There are valuable historical lessons to learn from the Puritan experience of the 1640's - 1660's in how they dealt with the king and with each other. That time period brought us the Westminster Confession which ought to be the basis of union amongst Reformed Christians everywhere and it witnessed terrible divisions as well. The Puritans were among the best of Christian movements, but they were human as well.


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## Plimoth Thom (Apr 29, 2005)

"The Puritans may have been wrong on particular questions involving the intellect. For example, I think they were altogether too confident that their specific interpretations of the Bible could be equated with the message of Scripture itself. They were just as blameworthy when they resorted to coercion to force these particular interpretations upon Quakers, Catholics, Baptists, and Native Americans who questioned their wisdom." -Mark A. Noll, _The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind_


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## Puritan Sailor (Apr 29, 2005)

I think the biggest blind spot for the Puritans was their integration of church and state, imposing church reforms through the power of the state. They eventually came around in the end, but it was too late.


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