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History of the Church of England |
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The reign of King James I of England (1603–1625) saw the continued rise of the Puritan movement in England, that began during reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558–1603), and the continued clash with the authorities of the Church of England. This eventually led to the further alienation of Anglicans and Puritans from one another in the 17th century during the reign of King Charles I (1625–1649), that eventually brought about the English Civil War (1642–1651), the brief rule of the Puritan Lord Protector of England Oliver Cromwell (1653–1658), the English Commonwealth (1649–1660), and as a result the political, religious, and civil liberty that is celebrated today in all English speaking countries.
King James was brought up in Scotland under the influence of strict Scottish Calvinist tutors, like George Buchanan, who sought to instill in him a commitment to the Protestant cause in Scotland. When he became the King of both England and Scotland, James sought to keep the Church of England strictly under his monarchical rule and the power of episcopacy, previously established under Elizabeth. King James held strong convictions on the Divine right of kings, and even wrote a book on the subject. To that end, he continued to suppress many of the important aspects of the Puritan movement, including the many Puritan's Congregationalist and Presbyterian views of Church government. The King knew though that he needed the Puritans to strengthen the Protestant establishment in England, as well as every aspect of the nation's prosperity and success. To that end, King James supported and even advanced many of the Puritan pastors, academics, and gentry, just as Queen Elizabeth did, if and when they were willing to work with the Anglican establishment under the authority of the bishops. For this reason, the Puritan movement continued to grow and expand throughout England in remarkable ways under the reign of King James. To be sure the Puritan movement in England was considerably strengthened on account of the succession of the three Archbishops of Canterbury who served under King James. Archbishop John Whitgift (1583-1604), appointed by Queen Elizabeth sought to suppress the Puritan movement. Archbishop Richard Bancroft (1604–1610) chief overseer of the production of the King James Bible also sought to suppress the Puritan reform movement, but was forced to increasingly rely upon them because of the Catholic threat. Archbishop George Abbot (1611–1633) was actually often supportive of the Puritans and their designs for reform, promoting them to high ecclesiastical and academic appointments. For this reason Abbot was often spoken of at times as "the Puritan Archbishop."
One of the greatest accomplishments of Puritans and Anglicans together during the reign of King James was the translation of the King James Bible (1611); arguably one of the greatest historical, literary, and theological achievements of the western world. It was also during the reign of King James that Puritans and Anglicans worked together at the Synod of Dordt (1618–1619), an international conference of reformed theologians that drew up the Canons of Dordt in defense of the Five Points of Calvinism, refuting the Arminian heresy. It was moreover during the reign of King James that the Pilgrim movement within the reformed churches separated from the Church of England and began their colonizing venture in America known as the Plymouth Colony (1620) under the leadership of William Bradford and William Brewster. These great achievements of the Puritan movement in England under King James shows how widespread the influence of Puritanism was at this time, and how they adapted to the King's authority in different ways. Some of them sought to work within the establishment, like William Perkins, Master of Emmanuel College; while others left the Church of England and ventured elsewhere, like William Ames who spent much of his career in Holland.
The English Puritan movement that began in the reign of Elizabeth, and grew in strength and influence in England during the reign of King James sought to further the work of reforming the church of England, eradicate the influence of Roman Catholicism in the land, as well as promote the national interest of the English crown and the English people under a united Protestant confession that was in strict conformity to the Bible and Reformed theology. This Puritan vision that began in the Elizabethan era would eventually result in the Westminster Assembly, and the Westminster Standards, including Westminster Confession of Faith, the Shorter Catechism, and Larger Catechism, and the Directory for Public Worship.
Under James I of England, the Puritan movement co-existed with the conforming Church of England in what was generally an accepted form of episcopal Protestant religion. This equilibrium was disturbed towards the end of this period by several new developments, doctrinal from the Synod of Dort, political from the discussion of the Spanish Match shortly after the outbreak of the Thirty Years War, and internal to the Church with a partial shift of views away from Calvinism. Separatists who had never accepted King James's settlement of religious affairs began migrating to New England colonies, from the Netherlands as well as England.