Saturday, January 08, 2005
Did Puritanism Turn Into Americanism?
A very fascinating article. Sadly, very few people have a good understanding of Puritanism, so much of this article may be lost on the average reader. Sadly, many have a caricature in their minds of who Puritans are. And many more have not been exposed to much theology, which would make this article of greater interest.
In the interest of a little education for this article here is what you need to know: they were Calvinists; they had beliefs about the covenant people of God (Israel in the past) which began to be applied to America.
I am a Calvinist, but, depending on how far you take it, I have disagreements with their views of a temporal covenant people in the secular realm. Actually, it's pretty complicated. But I definitely have a problem with that view being transferred to America. I do believe the church universal is the covenant people of God. And I do believe that America has been blessed by God under His providence.
A very fascinating article. Sadly, very few people have a good understanding of Puritanism, so much of this article may be lost on the average reader. Sadly, many have a caricature in their minds of who Puritans are. And many more have not been exposed to much theology, which would make this article of greater interest.
In the interest of a little education for this article here is what you need to know: they were Calvinists; they had beliefs about the covenant people of God (Israel in the past) which began to be applied to America.
I am a Calvinist, but, depending on how far you take it, I have disagreements with their views of a temporal covenant people in the secular realm. Actually, it's pretty complicated. But I definitely have a problem with that view being transferred to America. I do believe the church universal is the covenant people of God. And I do believe that America has been blessed by God under His providence.
