Bill Frazier, age 13, of Eureka, Calif., for his question:
WHO WERE THE PURITANS?
Puritan is a name that was applied to any person who was numbered among a great body of Protestants in England. Puritan religious beliefs were first expressed in England in the late 1500s. The name Puritan was first used about 1566.
Although Puritans differed greatly among themselves, they all had one common idea: they held to a simple religious belief, a simple manner of worship and a simple method of church organization.
Differences among Puritans were differences of degree. Most of the Puritans wanted to purify churches of priestly vestments and elaborate ceremonies. Some wanted to do away with statues and colored windows in churches and some with religious music.
Some of the Puritans followed many of the religious principles of the French religious leader and reformer, John Calvin. They said their views on church organization and government came from the Bible itself and from the practices of the early Christians.
Most of the Puritans believed firmly that all clergymen should be of equal rank.
Puritans were equally firm in their belief that no bishop or other high church official should have any control over pastors of lower rank. Some Puritans said that each congregation should be independent of all others and should be free to choose its own pastor.
Beginning in the late 1500s, all Puritans were opposed by officials of the Church of England and also by the English government which had supervision of religious affairs.
Puritans were among the Pilgrims who traveled across the Atlantic in 1620 and settled Plymouth Colony in New England. Other Puritans, less radical in their religious views, later established settlements elsewhere along the shore of Massachusetts Bay.
For a time in the early 1600s, the Puritans played an important part in English politics. Their influence lasted during the struggle between Charles I and his Parliament.
The Puritan influence during the struggle between Charles I and his Parliament was over the question of the divine right of kings. Parliament executed Charles I in 1649 and the Commonwealth was established under the devoted Puritan Oliver Cromwell.
The Puritans at this time were called Roundheads because they cut their hair short.
The political power of the Puritans came to an end in 1660 with the return of the Stuart dynasty in England. But the influence of the Puritans in strengthening Protestanism, and in increasing political freedom in England, has lasted until the present day.
The Pilgrims who came to the Plymouth Colony considered themselves Puritans because they wished to purify the Church of England. They had decided before 1600 that they could not reform the Church from within.
The Pilgrims separated from the Church of England and set up congregations of their own. These persons who separated from the Church became known as Separatists.