Puritan History; Past, Present, and Future

[Joe McCarthy]

A beautifully written piece by an Australian expat in the US on the seminal role of Puritanism in the shaping of the modern world.

http://endtimepilgrim.org/puritans.htm

[Joe McCarthy]

Extract:


The Puritans, (then as now), were men and women out on a mission. They were the sort of people who got things done. During the time of the English Civil War England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland were all forged into one United Kingdom. Great Britain would go on to become the foremost maritime nation. They took over from the Dutch and defeated the French at Waterloo and Trafalgar to become the new maritime superpower. Great Britain would later go on to colonize one quarter of the world and become the British Empire. People from geographic locations all around the would become part of the British Commonwealth.

So what can we learn about the Puritans here? These Anglo-American dreamers were politically engaged. They were not just religious mystics or passive pietists. They were nation builders. These people of the Book went right into the halls of government. Then, as now, they were intent on setting things right. Biblical Christians have a Gospel mandate which takes them across oceans and draws them into a global destiny. For the Puritans this took on a decidedly political character and one of dominionism.

As we saw with Oliver Cromwell the Puritans were prepared to forge treaties with people beyond their own national borders. At a deep spiritual level their drive was fashioned after the Great Commission. But their own personal energies, ambitions, and charisma added to this. Their internationalism was not based upon military conquest as we saw when France became the superpower under Napoleon or when Germany attempted to become the superpower under Adolf Hitler. But like the Dutch the English speaking powers sought to advance peaceful trade. As an island nation the survival of Great Britain depended upon taking dominion of the sea lanes and the exercise of sea power. The British superpower of the 19th century and the current American superpower has also pursued a policy of 'possessing the gates of their enemies'. See this video. The Puritan ethic and its energy would later infuse Victorian England and give rise to the British Empire. The same Purital zeal crossed the Atlantic to express itself in the American Revolution preserving it from the empty spiritually bankrupt humanistic illuminist rhetoric and the godless bloody mayhem known as the Reign of Terror that would doom the French Revolution a few short years later. The 19th Century would see an expansive globalist American foreign policy set forth as the principle of 'manifest destiny'. After the dropping of two atom bombs ended World War 2 the Bretton Woods Agreement the U.S. has assumed leadership in world trade and in international affairs. The present American dominion in multinational business, the U.N. and the WTO is something we might call the Pax Americana. American world dominion, like that seen in the British Empire, was based upon peaceful trade and a global policing oversight. The British had achieved this with sea power. The Americans have done it with air power and an arsenal of nuclear submarine based ICBM's. This is the dominion and the global reach of the American eagle.

So the dreams of the Puritans have been unprecedented and historic. An early example of this world vision was the remarkable trans Atlantic actions of the U.S. Navy and Marines against the Islamic Barbary Pirates in the Med. This took place during the early 19th Century off the North African coast of Tripoli. The Puritan vision went far beyond tradition and race and took them beyond the 'dreams of their fathers'. England under Oliver Cromwell entered into political alliances and sovereignty sharing with the adjoining nations Scotland and Northern Ireland. This fact of history is extremely important as we view the global actions of the current Pax Americana.

As we shall discover as we go forward in this study, the history of the Anglo-American Puritans has been sorely neglected. It has not been given the academic attention that it deserves. This is a crucial history relevant for us today. It is not just "water under the bridge". For students of American history the story of the Puritans is the "river" that "runs through it". Puritan history is like tracing the path of an underground river. It disappears for a space only to re-appear further down the watershed.

The history of the Puritans spans 500 years. And the saga continues. Puritan Christian political activism is still with us today. So is the heraldry of the Puritans. 'In God we trust' is a phrase inscribed on American coinage in recent times. But, in fact, this is actually a 17th Century Puritan battlefield standard. Similarly the yellow ribbons we see today are not a new phenomenon. As we can see in the painting above, and the image to the left yellow sashes and ribbons were worn by soldiers in the Puritan Army back in the 17th Century.

?This image is from the video "Cromwell".
Note the the cavalry officers in the Puritan Army wearing yellow sashes.

The Puritan standard is being raised again in America. And the country is now embroiled in a deepening ideological war. The Puritan ethic has been up front and center in a crusade against "secular humanism". There is is a powerful wide reaching socio-political groundswell at work here. It is occurring right now and in our time. With a proper understanding of Puritan history and what these people did in times past we can begin to see what is happening today and why it is happening. To the consternation of our French style secularist elites America's modern day Puritans are already becoming established in the places of power. In fact we have good reason to expect that this Puritan history will go on. We can look for them to play a prominent role on the world scene as we come to the climax of the age.

[Odoacer]

Joe, this guy has some weird stuff on his site ... :eek:

One thing I noticed, he has a peculiar usage of "Puritans" & "Pilgrims," philosophical abstractions based upon what he takes to be the defining characteristics of each. This leads him to some odd observations & dubious conclusions.

Interesting reading nonetheless.

[rhiannon]

LOL. I'm so confused because thanks to this website you posted, now I don't know if my father's ancestors were Puritans OR Pilgrims...LOL!

[Odoacer]

LOL. I'm so confused because thanks to this website you posted, now I don't know if my father's ancestors were Puritans OR Pilgrims...LOL!

In essence, the Pilgrims & other Separatists were Puritans, but they differed over whether the Church of England should be reformed from within, or whether faithful Christians should instead establish churches outside of the structure of the national church. If your father's ancestors came over on the Mayflower & helped settle Plymouth Colony, then they were probably Pilgrims. However, the Pilgrims & their descendants in America assimilated into the larger Puritan society, so probably your father has Puritan ancestors as well.

[rhiannon]

In essence, the Pilgrims & other Separatists were Puritans, but they differed over whether the Church of England should be reformed from within, or whether faithful Christians should instead establish churches outside of the structure of the national church. If your father's ancestors came over on the Mayflower & helped settle Plymouth Colony, then they were probably Pilgrims. However, the Pilgrims & their descendants in America assimilated into the larger Puritan society, so probably your father has Puritan ancestors as well.

The first ancestor arrived in 1659 from England. That's as far back as I know of.

[Odoacer]

The first ancestor arrived in 1659 from England. That's as far back as I know of.

Probably not Pilgrims, then; but still potentially Separatist. Part of the general Puritan milieu in any case. ;)

[Occident]

Call me a nit picker if you will, but we formed the Kingdom of Great Britain (1707) in the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution (1688), not the Civil War (1642-51). Certainly the Puritons and their political ethic were instrumental in all these events. Anyway, interesting read, thanks for posting Joe.