The Difference Between Separatist and the Puritans
Why did the Separatist and Puritans leave Europe?
The separatists and the puritans left England and went to North America because both groups wanted to practice their own religion freely.
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Separatist
- A separatist is also called Independent, any of the English Christians in the 16th and 17th centuries who wished to separate from the Church of England and form independent local churches.
- They were eventually called Congregationalists.
- Separatists were most influential politically in England during the time of the Commonwealth (1649–60) under Oliver Cromwell, the lord protector, who was himself a Separatist.
- They survived repression and gradually became an important religious minority in England.
Puritans
- The Puritans were a group of people who were not happy with the Church of England.
- They worked towards reforming religion and morality.
- There goal was to form a purely religious society after concluding that the Church of England was beyond reform.
- The Puritans believed that the Bible was God's true law, and that it provided a plan for living.
- They believed in knowing the bible and being able to read it.
- To the Puritans learning how to write was not a priority.
- Puritans stripped away the traditional trappings and formalities of Christianity which had been slowly building throughout the previous 1500 years.
Differences Between Separatist and Puritans
- Puritans maintained the faith of the Church of England and the Separatists separated from the church entirely.
- However, in the New World the Puritans settled in Massachusetts and the Separatists settled in Plymouth Rock.
- Puritans and Separatists eventually created the Unitarian, Baptist, and Presbyterian churches which are still widely practiced by many in the United States today.
- Puritans also felt that a monarch, or king, should not be the leader of the Church.
- Religion should be governed by the head of the church.
How Puritans and Separatist are Alike
- Puritans and Separatists stemmed from the Church of England.
- Both groups were unhappy with the Catholic influence within the church.
- Both Puritans and Separatists believed that life was to be devoted to God and that a king was not a proper religious figure to follow.
- Both groups fled England to save themselves from religious persecution under the king.
- Puritans and Separatists eventually created the Unitarian, Baptist, and Presbyterian churches which are still widely practiced by many in the United States today.
- They both believed that politics and religion should be kept separate.