Were the Puritans Conservative?

Were the Puritans always afraid "someone, somewhere, was having fun" as is heard today? No. One Puritan pastor, for instance, instructed his followers to enjoy recreations " including sports like hunting, bowling, swimming and archery " "as liberties, with thankfulness to God that allows these liberties to refresh ourselves." Yes the Puritans lived in a different and far more difficult time, in many ways less frivolous than today. But it was always the generally held view that "the Christian gospel was good, merry glad and joyful tidings, that maketh a man's heart glad, and maketh him sing, and dance and leap for joy" as one Puritan noted.

So what about that dour black dress we're all familiar with? Actually, the Puritans dressed according to the fashions of their day. Black was formal wear for Sundays, but weekday wear was colorful and bright. Commentators from the period regularly describe Puritan preachers and community leaders as dressed in colorful, costly, even elaborate clothes.

Nor did the Puritans eschew "the world." One Puritan expressed the common sentiment that "this world and the things thereof are all good, and were all made of God, for the benefit of his creatures."

[rrford]

Now you're gonna go and mess up some folks comparison of the UPCI as being modern day Puritans.

Originally Posted by rrford

Now you're gonna go and mess up some folks comparison of the UPCI as being modern day Puritans.

Who in the world would do that?

AS IF!

Our preaching isn't nearly as literary, Word-based, lengthy, or passionate as theirs was.

Of course you will need to overlook that whole trinitarian thing.

[rrford]

Originally Posted by Cotton Mather

Who in the world would do that?

AS IF!

Our preaching isn't nearly as literary, Word-based, lengthy, or passionate as theirs was.

Of course you will need to overlook that whole trinitarian thing.

Hmmm, now some would say our preaching is very Word based. We may need to clarify that term. As for the "length" I reckon that all depends upon who is doing the preaching. Less passionate? Again, dependant upon the preacher. Same with literary.

Of course, you are most likely speaking on the broad, overall sense. I would probably have to agree with you from that perspective.

[Arphaxad]

Originally Posted by rrford

Now you're gonna go and mess up some folks comparison of the UPCI as being modern day Puritans.

When did the UPCI start hanging witches?

Originally Posted by Arphaxad

When did the UPCI start hanging witches?

I've seen my share of witch hunts....

Originally Posted by Cotton Mather

Were the Puritans always afraid "someone, somewhere, was having fun" as is heard today? No. One Puritan pastor, for instance, instructed his followers to enjoy recreations " including sports like hunting, bowling, swimming and archery " "as liberties, with thankfulness to God that allows these liberties to refresh ourselves." Yes the Puritans lived in a different and far more difficult time, in many ways less frivolous than today. But it was always the generally held view that "the Christian gospel was good, merry glad and joyful tidings, that maketh a man's heart glad, and maketh him sing, and dance and leap for joy" as one Puritan noted.

So what about that dour black dress we're all familiar with? Actually, the Puritans dressed according to the fashions of their day. Black was formal wear for Sundays, but weekday wear was colorful and bright. Commentators from the period regularly describe Puritan preachers and community leaders as dressed in colorful, costly, even elaborate clothes.

Nor did the Puritans eschew "the world." One Puritan expressed the common sentiment that "this world and the things thereof are all good, and were all made of God, for the benefit of his creatures."

The Puritans, at least the ones in Massachusetts Bay Colony, were Calvinists who believed in a doctrine called "theonomy" in which God's law was to be applied to civil government. Essentially, they applied the Law of Moses (at least what is often called the "moral" part of it as opposed to the "ceremonial" part of it) to their colonial government. They are predecessors to today's Christian Reconstructionists.

wikipedia

The term "Theonomy" has been used to describe various views which see the God revealed in the Bible as the sole source of human ethics. Using the word in this sense, Cornelius Van Til argued that there "is no alternative but that of theonomy or autonomy" (Christian Theistic Ethics p. 134). John Calvin and the Continental Reformers, the Westminster Divines and other Puritans, and Christian Reconstructionists, each developed theonomy in this sense.

Since the mid 1970's theonomy has been most often used in Protestant circles to specifically label the ethical perspective of Christian Reconstructionism, a perspective that claims to be a faithful revival of the historic Protestant view of the Old Testament law as espoused by many European Reformers and Puritans.

For those who don't know:

Calvinism

In Protestantism, the theology developed and advanced by John Calvin. It was further developed by his followers and became the foundation of the Reformed church and Presbyterianism. As shaped by Calvin's successor at Geneva, Theodore Beza (1519–1605), Calvinism emphasizes the doctrine of predestination, holding that God extends grace and grants salvation only to the chosen, or elect. It stresses the literal truth of the Bible, and it views the church as a Christian community in which Christ is head and all members are equal under him. It therefore rejects the episcopal form of church government in favor of an organization in which church officers are elected. Calvinism was the basis of theocracies in Geneva and Puritan New England (see Puritanism), and it strongly influenced the Presbyterian church in Scotland.

brittanica

[ReformedDave]

For my first post here let me say that I love this thread!!!!!