What is Puritanism? What are its teachings?

Puritanism, which originated in England, was practiced and developed in the North American colonies. Its core concepts of justification by faith, the idea of vocation, and the city on the hill, while constituting elements of religious behavioral norms, have to a large extent played a role in dissolving the mainstream church traditions that confined people's thoughts and behaviors, promoted the process of social secularization, and in the early days of the U.S. promoted the liberation of individuality, contributed to the establishment of a modern view of labor, occupation, and wealth, and sketched out the goal of the country's future pursuits in terms of religious ideals. They laid the foundation of today's dominant American cultural (wasp) values and forged the American national identity.

Puritanism, one of the Protestant sects of Christianity, appeared in England in the 16th century. It called for the reform of the Church of England on the basis of Calvin's doctrine, recognizing the Bible as the sole authority and opposing the tyranny of kings and bishops. It advocated the removal of the old Catholic system retained by the Church of England, the simplification of rituals, and the promotion of a frugal and clean life, hence its name. It was later divided into Presbyterians and Independents. During the period of persecution at home had fled to North America in large numbers to establish colonies, most of the Puritans fled to the United States, so when people talk about the Puritans, generally refers to the United States of America's Puritans. The Puritans

The Puritans were not a sect in the strict sense of the word, but rather an attitude, a tendency, a value, which is a collective term for a group of believers. The Puritans were the most devout and holy of Protestants, believing that "all men are priests and all men are called". They believed that each individual could communicate directly with God and opposed the arbitrariness, corruption, red tape and formalism of the priesthood. They advocated a life of simplicity, truthfulness, and equality of all believers before God

Founder

--John Knox What are the grounds on which we can say that John Knox was the "founder of Puritanism"? Firstly, on the basis of his independent and innovative ideas. As the name implies, a Puritan was an independent thinker, and could never be a "representative of the established system"; not only was he not a member of the "State Church" in his religious beliefs, but he was not a member of the "State Church" in any other way, and he was not a member of the "State Church" in any other way. not only in religious beliefs, but also in other matters. This is a very important point. There are people who are born as "representatives of the established system" and who, no matter what, will always be on the side of those in power and will always belong to some fixed group. They are committed only to the preservation of the old order. But the Puritan, by his very nature and spirit, could never be a "representative of the established system," because of his independence and creativity, and because he studied the Scriptures and longed to know the truth, regardless of what others might say.

Secondly, John Knox qualifies as the "founder of Puritanism" because he was able to put into practice clearly the guiding principles of the Puritan faith. These principles were, first and foremost, the supreme authority of the Bible, the Word of God. This was the principle to which Knox adhered, and which he would never do, nor would he permit his brethren to do, if it was not grounded in Scripture. The second principle, which came from Knox, was the assertion that the church's "reformation extends to the root and branch". In other words, the Puritans were not satisfied with mere doctrinal reform. (Knox, and the rest of his fellow Puritans, disagreed with the rest of the leading men in England for this very reason.) Many advocated doctrinal reform, all Calvinists. The difference, however, lay in the thoroughness of the Puritan demand for reform, not only in terms of doctrine, but also in terms of carrying the reform into practice, including the whole view of the nature of the church. For the Puritan, reform was not merely a modification, or a little improvement, but a "new building" of the church - not merely a modification of what already existed, but a building in accordance with the teachings of the New Testament. He wanted to restore the church to the New Testament pattern. For this reason, he believed that the rituals of the church must be reformed, that is, the handling of church services and the administration of all the sacraments. He put it this way, "The worship to God, and especially the administration of the sacraments, must be as the Scriptures indicate, without addition or subtraction." And again, "The Church has no authority to invent religious ceremonies of her own, and to add important meanings to them of her own." He was charged for saying such things. He pleaded, "Man may not found or invent a religion that pleases God; he may only hold and observe the faith that is from God, and may not abridge or modify it." Such were the principles he exalted. But more importantly, he applies the principles. There is no such thing as a theoretical or academic Puritan. It is true that there are those who are interested in Puritan ideas, but unless they can practice them, they are traitors to Puritanism, for it is the practice that characterizes the true Puritan. There is one other thing that is important. It was the custom at that time to kneel during communion, which was an Anglican practice. John Knox was the first to teach believers to sit down to receive. Not only did he teach this, but he practiced it himself; it was a manifestation of the spirit of Puritanism applied to it. As to baptism, he refused to baptize the children of excommunicated persons, and he rejected the tradition that laymen could baptize in private, and he refused to mark the cross with his hand during baptism. One thing is worth noting. Knox had been invited to go to Frankfurt to pastor a church of English believers who had fled there. There, with William Whittingham, the principal translator of the celebrated Geneva Bible, he drew up a liturgy for the worship of the church in place of the Book of Common Prayer, which they had rejected, and publicly uttered his opinion of the Book of Common Prayer, which resulted in his excommunication. He then went to Geneva, and the liturgy became the system adopted by the Church at Geneva, which was called the "Geneva Book," and which is the canon of ecclesiastical liturgy formally adopted by the Church of Scotland to the present day. The Church of the English believers at Geneva, therefore, may be regarded as the first Church of the true Puritan faith. This fact is the strongest evidence that John Knox was the founder of English Puritanism. His influence on the Puritans in England continued long after his death. His History of the Reformation, written in Scotland, was not printed in Scotland, but was printed and published by English Puritans in England in 1578. Not only that, but John Field, a Puritan leader, when printing an article by John Knox, praised him in the preface as "an honorable and respectable vessel of God" and described the article as "a testimony to his godly and faithful labors, and a manifestation of his fearlessness in going forward. and demonstrates his courageous and intrepid spirit". The influence of John Knox was still evident in the following century. Milton, in his defense of the execution of Charles I, cited John Knox's insights many times in support. This is why I have always emphasized that John Knox had a uniquely keen vision and insight into Scripture, especially in confronting those in power, even to the point of putting him to death, if necessary. Milton understood this, and John Knox can be called the founder of Puritanism. 1683, Charles II began to openly admit that he was a Roman Catholic, and ordered that all of John Knox's published writings be burned in public at Oxford, and the people were forbidden to read his works. It was 1683, and John Knox had already died in 1572. His influence was so great that he was really the founder of Puritanism in England as well as in Scotland. The early Puritans who emigrated to America saw government and authority in exactly the same way as John Knox did, and, as Thomas Carlyle has said, he can equally be considered the founder of American Puritanism. It might even be argued that his ideas were the driving force behind the successful American War of Independence of 1776; he was a trailblazer in this fight for independence.