:: wikimiki.org ::

City Upon A Hill

City upon a Hill

City upon a hill is the phrase often used to refer to John Winthrop's famous sermon, "A Model of Christian Charity,", of 1630, based on Matthew 5:14 ("You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid."), in which he warned the Puritan colonists of New England who were to found the Massachusetts Bay Colony that their new community would be a "city on a hill," watched by the world: :For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken ... we shall be made a story and a by-word throughout the world. We shall open the mouths of enemies to speak evil of the ways of God ... We shall shame the faces of many of God's worthy servants, and cause their prayers to be turned into curses upon us til we be consumed out of the good land whither we are going. It was long believed that the speech was given aboard ship not long before landing; recent research has shown, however, that it was almost certainly given in England prior to departure. In any case, it inspired the Puritans with a sense of holy duty that would be crucial if they wanted to increase their chances of survival in the New World. Winthrop believed that all nations had a covenant with God, and that because England had violated its religious covenant, the Puritans must leave the country. This was an expression of the Puritan belief that the Anglican Church had fallen from grace by accepting Catholic rituals. Winthrop claimed that the Puritans forge a new, special agreement with God, like that between God and the people of Israel. However, unlike the Separatists (such as the Pilgrims), the Puritans remained nominally a part of the Anglican church in hopes that it could be purified from within. Winthrop believed that by purifying Christianity in the New World, his followers would serve as an example to the Old World for building a model Protestant community. The idea that their community was specially ordained by God had a powerful effect on the Puritan society of New England. Of course, breaking a covenant with God has dire results (as Noah's fellow men learned the hard way). In order to avoid incurring God's wrath by breaking their promise, the Puritans sought to maintain perfect order in their society. Even the smallest sins were punished harshly by the courts; no one was allowed to live alone for fear that they would succumb to the temptation to sin; parents were to instruct their children and servants diligently in the Word of God; church attendance was mandatory; marriage was required. These conventions and institutions molded an extremely stable and well-structured society in New England, a stark contrast with the unstable and loosely-bound society of the early British colonies in the Chesapeake Bay region, such as Jamestown. Full text of Winthrop's sermon Winthrop's speech was famously quoted in the farewell address of U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

External links

- [http://history.hanover.edu/texts/winthmod.html Text of Winthrop's speech] Category:Speeches

John Winthrop

John Winthrop was the name of several prominent figures in colonial New England. See John Winthrop (disambiguation) ---- John Winthrop (disambiguation) John Winthrop (12 January 1587/8–26 March 1649) was elected governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629 and on 8 April 1630 he led a large party from England for the New World. He was born in Edwardstone, Suffolk, England, the son of Adam Winthrop (1548–1623) and his wife, Anne Browne. Winthrop briefly attended Trinity College, Cambridge, then studied law at Gray's Inn, and in the 1620s became an attorney at the Court of Wards in London. Winthrop was extremely religious and subscribed fervently to the Puritan belief that the Anglican Church had to be cleansed of Catholic ritual. Winthrop was convinced that God would punish England for its heresy, and believed that English Puritans needed a shelter away from England where they could remain safe during the time of God's wrath. Other Puritans who believed likewise obtained a royal charter for the Massachusetts Bay Company. Charles I of England was apparently unaware that the colony was to be anything other than a commercial venture to America. However, on March 4, 1629, he signed the Cambridge agreement with his wealthier Puritan friends, essentially pledging that they would embark on the next voyage and found a new Puritan colony in New England. In the Spring of 1630, Winthrop led a fleet of eleven vessels and seven hundred passengers — The Winthrop Fleet of 1630 — to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the New World, the greatest ever assembled to carry Englishmen overseas to a new homeland. Winthrop had been elected governor of the colony prior to departure, in 1629, and was re-elected many times. As governor he was one of the least radical of the puritans trying to keep the number of executions for heresy to a minimum and working to prevent the implementation of such innovations as veiling women, which many Puritans supported. He is most famous for his "City on a Hill" sermon (as it is known popularly), in which he declared that the Puritan colonists emigrating to the New World were members of a special pact with God to create a holy community. This speech is often seen as a forerunner to the concept of American exceptionalism. The speech is also well known for arguing that the wealthy had a holy duty to look after the poor. Recent history has shown, however, that the speech was not given much attention at the time of its delivery. Rather than coin these concepts Winthrop was merely repeating what were widely held Puritan beliefs in his day. The Town of Winthrop, Massachusetts is named after him.

Biographical Information

He married his first wife, Mary Forth, on 16 April 1605 at Great Stambridge, Essex, England. She bore him six children and died in June 1615. He married his second wife, Thomasine Clopton, on 6 December 1615 at Groton, Suffolk, England. She died on 8 December 1616. On 29 April 1618 at Great Maplestead, Essex, England he married his third wife, Margaret Tyndal, daughter of Sir John Tyndal and his wife Anna Egerton. She gave birth to six children in England before they emigrated to New England (The Governor, three of his sons, and eight servants in 1630 on the Arbella, and his wife on the second voyage of the Lyon in 1631, leaving their small manor behind). One of their daughters died on the Lyon voyage. Two children were born to them in New England. Margaret died on 14 June 1647 in Boston, Massachusetts. Winthrop married his fourth wife, Martha Rainsborough, widow of Thomas Coytmore, sometime after 20 December 1647 and before the birth of their only child in 1648. He died in peace.

Sermon

:For other uses, see Sermon (disambiguation) A sermon is an oration by a prophet or member of the clergy. Sermons address a biblical, theological, or religious topic, usually expounding on a type of belief or law.

The delivery of sermons

Sermons are usually, but not always, delivered in a house of worship, most of which have a pulpit or ambo, an elevated architectural feature from which sermons are given. Sermons are occasionally known as homilies, especially in the Roman Catholic Church and similar traditions. The word "sermon" comes from a Middle English word which was derived from an Old French term, which in turn came from the Latin word sermō; ("discourse"). (Actually, it meant "conversation", and early sermons were delivered in the form of question and answer, only later did it come to mean a monologue) In modern language, the word "sermon" can also be used pejoratively in secular terms to describe a a lengthy or tedious speech delivered with great passion to a disinterested audience. A sermonette is a short sermon.

Famous preachers of sermons

pejorative.]] The most famous sermon is probably the Sermon on the Mount by Jesus of Nazareth. This sermon was probably delivered around 30 CE and is accounted by the Gospel of Matthew as being delivered on a mount on the north end of the Sea of Galilee, near Capernaum. Some modern biblical scholars believe that Jesus did not actually give the speech as is traditionally thought, and that the sermon was instead complied later from precepts said by Jesus. The Sermon on the Mount lays out the core principles of Christianity. During the later history of Christianity, several figures became known for their sermons or a particularly significant sermon. Sermonizers of the early church include Saint Stephen, Tertullian, John Chrysostom, Gregory Nazianzus. Sermons in this era were used to spread Christianity across Europe and Asia Minor. During the Middle Ages sermons were used to start new religious orders (Dominic, Francis of Assisi). Pope Urban II began the First Crusade at November 1095 Council of Clermont in France when he exhorted French knights to retake the Holy Land in Palestine.

The sermon takes center stage in Protestantism

Later the Reformation led to Protestant sermons, many of which defended the schism with the Roman Catholic Church and explained new beliefs on scripture and devotion. Since the distinctive doctrines of Protestantism held that salvation was by faith alone, and convincing people to believe the Gospel and place trust in God for their salvation through Jesus Christ was the decisive step in salvation, in Protestantism the sermon and hymn came to replace the Eucharist as the central act of Christian worship. To rouse deeper faith in the churchgoers, rather than have them partake in a ritual, was the goal of Protestant worship conditioned by these beliefs. In the 1700s and 1800s during the Great Awakening, major sermons were made a revivals, which were especially popular in the United States. These sermons were noted for their harsh "fire-and-brimstone" message, typified by Jonathan Edwards's famous "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" speech.

Notable preachers of sermons

- Lancelot Andrewes
- John Donne
- Jeremy Taylor
- Jacques-Benigne Bossuet
- George Whitefield
- John Wesley
- Charles Spurgeon
- Jonathan Edwards
- Billy Sunday
- Aimee Semple McPherson
- Billy Graham
- John Piper
- John Stott
- Philip Jensen Many sermons have been written down, collected and published. Such sermons include John Wesley's 53 Standard Sermons, John Chrysostom's Homily on the Resurrection (preached every Easter in Orthodox churches) and Gregory Nazianzus' homily "On the Theophany, or Birthday of Christ" (preached every Christmas in Orthodox churches).

Types of sermons

There are a number of different types of preaching, that differ both by their subject matter and by their intended audience. Not all types of preaching are within the gift of every preacher. These types of preaching include:
- Topical preaching - concerned with a particular subject of current concern;
- Exhortatory preaching - concerned with changing or affirming the behaviour of the congregation in a particular way;
- Biographical preaching - tracing the story of a particular biblical character through a number of parts of the bible;
- Evangelistic preaching - seeking to convert the congregation or bring them back to their previous faith;
- Charismatic preaching - seeking to inspire the congregation to an immediate spiritual experience;
- Expository preaching - preaching from a text and seeking to expound the text to the congregation;

Delivery methods

Sermons also differ on the amount of time and effort used to prepare them.
- Scripted preaching - preaching with a previous preparation, it can be with help of notes or a script, or rely on the memory of the preacher.
- Extemporaneous preaching - preaching without notes and sometimes without preparation.
- Impromptu preaching - preaching without previous preparation.

Sermons and sexual psychology

In addition, numerous studies have been done on sermons and their connection to other topics such as psychology, linguistics, and gender. One such example is Frances Lee Smith's "The Pulpit and Woman's Place: Gender and the Framing of the 'Exegetical Self' in Sermon Performances," published in Framing in Discourse.

External links

- [http://www.apostolic-anc.org/cgi-bin/getPageV3.php?id=3d Online sermon archive covering wide range of topics] -- by courtesy of the All Nations' Church
- [http://www.LutheranSermons.org/ LutheranSermons.org] -- a service of the Church of the Lutheran Confession (CLC).
- [http://www.homileticsportal.com/ Homiletics Portal] -- A list of links, sermons, and articles of aid to preachers.
- [http://www.sermoncentral.com/ Sermon Central] -- an online sermon archive.
- [http://www.sermonsonline.com/ Sermons Online] -- tools for publishing sermons on your church web site. Category:Christian liturgy, rites, and worship services Category:Speeches

Puritan

The Puritans were members of a group of English Protestants seeking further reforms or even separation from the established church during the Reformation.

Terminology

The word Puritan is now applied unevenly to a number of Protestant churches from the late 16th century to the early 18th century. Puritans did not, by and large, use the term for themselves. It was a term of abuse that first surfaced in the 1560s. "Recusants", "Precisemen", and "Precisions" were other early antagonistic terms for Puritans who preferred to call themselves "the godly." The word "Puritan" was thus always a descriptor of a type of religious belief, rather than a particular religious sect. That said, the single theological movement most consistently self-described by the term "Puritan" was Reformed or Calvinist and led to the establishment of the Presbyterian Church. The term was used by the group itself mainly in the sixteenth century, though it seems to have been used often and in its earliest recorded instances as a term of abuse. By the middle of the 17th century the group had become so divided that "Puritan" was most often used by opponents and detractors of the group, rather than by the practitioners themselves. The practitioners knew themselves as members of particular churches or movements, and not by the simple term.

History

Puritanism seems to have arisen out of discontent with the Elizabethan Religious Settlement, which was felt by the more radical Protestants to be giving in to "Popery" (i.e., the Catholic Church). While Protestant movements in Europe were being driven by issues of theology and had broken radically with Catholic models of church organization, the English Reformation had brought the church under control of the monarchy while leaving many of its practices intact; in the eyes of the Puritans, this had made doctrine unacceptably subservient to politics. Persecuted under Mary I of England ("Bloody Mary"), Protestants like Thomas Cartwright, Walter Travers and Andrew Melville had gone into exile as Puritans in Europe, where they came into close contact with the radical reformers in Calvinist Geneva and Lutheran Germany. These contacts shaped their position towards Elizabeth's religious via media (middle way). Although all influenced by Calvinism, Puritans were not united on every issue of doctrine. This is an outgrowth of the origins of the movement, which went through several phases. They shared a belief that all existing churches had become corrupted by practice, by contact with pagan civilizations (particularly Rome), by the impositions of kings and popes. They all argued for a restructuring and "purifying" of church practice through biblical supremacy, and they shared, to one degree or another, a belief in the priesthood of all believers. However, in church polity (organization of church power), they differed. At the outset, Puritans were simply the informed, committed, and relatively radical Protestants. As a group, they wanted the Church of England to resemble more closely the Protestant churches of Europe, especially Geneva. The Puritans objected to ornaments and ritual in the churches as idolatrous (vestments, organs, genuflection), which they castigated as "popish pomp and rags." (See Vestments controversy.) They also objected to ecclesiastical courts. They refused to endorse completely all of the ritual directions and formulas of the Book of Common Prayer; the imposition of its liturgical order by legal force and inspection sharpened Puritanism into a definite opposition movement. By the 1570s, Puritans were arguing for a Presbyterian model or a Congregationalist model, but all were outspoken in their criticism of the structure and liturgy that the monarchy required. Attempts by the bishops of the Church of England to enforce uniformity of usage in the Book of Common Prayer turned the episcopal hierarchy into a specific target of their grievances. Tracts such as the Martin Marprelate series lampooned the government and the church hierarchs. The issue of church hierarchy was difficult, and Elizabeth sponsored Richard Hooker to write Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity to counter presbyterian arguments. Hooker writes in direct refutation of the "brothers of the Geneva Church," and he outlines a via media for the English church that, rather than being the absence of doctrine, is a set of specifically ordained rules. His thinking on the matter became the backbone of the Anglican church and would later be put to use by Archbishop William Laud. These radicals were looked down on by the dominant Anglo-Catholic faction in the Church of England and were given the name "Puritan", in mockery of the radicals' apparent obsession with "purifying" the Church. Contemporarily with the English Reformation, the Church of Scotland had been created on a Calvinist Presbyterian model, which many Puritans hoped to extend to England. When James VI of Scotland became James I of England, he appointed several known Puritans to powerful positions within the Church of England, and he checked the rise of William Laud. Nevertheless, he was no Puritan, and he regarded Puritans with great suspicion. Since he believed in royal control of the Church he saw Puritanism as a potentially dangerous movement; he authorized the King James Bible partly to reinforce Anglican orthodoxy against the Geneva Bible, which had become popular among Puritans. Luther had insisted on a vulgar Bible for each language, as well as for vernacular church services. Since all Puritan sects were, essentially, believers in biblical supremacy, the presence of an English language Bible was paramount. The Geneva Bible, however, had peculiarly anti-royalist translations and interpolated revolutionary notes. Each new round of political disappointments during this period faced each individual Puritan and the Puritan congregations with a new crisis. The question was whether they were to continue in outward conformity with a distasteful religious regime, or did they take the separatist and illegal step of withdrawal from the state church? Each fresh controversy led to a new round of schisms, and as such the groundwork was set for the eventual heirs of Puritanism, from the "low-church" Protestant and Evangelical wing of the Church of England, to the various dissenting sects. During the reign of Charles I, a committed High Churchman, relations soured and it is generally held among historians that religious tensions created by the dominance of the Laudian faction during the Personal Rule were a major factor in the outbreak of the English Civil War. Puritans certainly agitated against the king, and reform of the religion was a rallying cry for the Parliamentary forces. However, Puritanism by this point had become not merely a religion, but a cultural entity. By this time, Puritans were more often referred to as Dissenters. English Dissenters were barred from any profession that required official religious conformity, and so Puritans had been instrumental in a number of new industries. First, export/import was dominated by Puritans. Second, Puritans were eager colonials. With the flourishing of the trans-Atlantic trade with America, Puritans in England were growing quite wealthy. Similarly, the artisan classes had become increasingly Puritan, thanks to the Puritan emphasis on preaching and evangelizing. Therefore, the economic issues of the Civil War (tax levies, liberalization of royal charters), the political issues of the Civil War (purchasing of peerages, increasing disconnect between the House of Lords and the people, rebellion over the attempt to introduce a Divine right of kings to Charles I), and the religious tensions were all bound together into a general issue of Church of England Cavaliers and Puritan Roundheads. Puritan factions played a key role in the Parliamentarian victory and became a majority in Parliament, while Puritan military leader Oliver Cromwell became head of the English Commonwealth. In the Commonwealth period, the Church of England was removed from Royal control and reorganized to grant greater authority to local congregations, most of which developed in a Puritan and semi-Calvinist direction. There was never an official Puritan denomination; the Commonwealth government tolerated a somewhat broader debate on doctrinal issues than had previously been possible, and considerable theological and political conflict between Puritan factions continued throughout this period. The label "Puritan" fell out of use when their movement became the status quo; it was replaced by the broader term Nonconformist, which was used after the Restoration to refer to all Protestant denominations outside of the official Church, as well as the continuing use of the pejorative name "Dissenter" (for non-Conforming Protestants, as opposed to Catholics). The influence of the Puritan movement persisted in England as the Evangelical faction of the Church of England, sometimes called "Low Anglican", while in the United States the Puritan settlement of New England was a major influence on American Protestantism. The Puritans were one branch of dissenters who decided that the Church of England was beyond reform. Escaping persecution from church leadership and the King, they came to America. Most of the Puritans settled in the New England area. As they immigrated and formed individual colonies, their numbers rose from 17,800 in 1640 to 106,000 in 1700. [http://www.nd.edu/~rbarger/www7/puritans.html] (See Pilgrim fathers and Mayflower). The largest denominational group to emerge from the Puritan experience is the group of Presbyterian denominations, historically Calvinist, and practising a church policy that rejects episcopacy, though, of course, Presbyterianism had been strong in Scotland from the late sixteenth century (the Church of Scotland was and still is Presbyterian). The various Baptist denominations also grew in strength in England during the Commonwealth. During this period, the Religious Society of Friends (popularly known as "Quakers") was founded and grew remarkably in strength, though the theology of the Society of Friends is radically different from that of Puritanism (for example, they rejected the doctrine of predestination), and can be seen as a reaction against Calvinist belief in a period of religious upheaval. This period of religious upheaval also saw the appearance of more radical sects, such as the Diggers (Christian communists) and the allegedly antinomian Ranters. The modern Congregational Church (which merged with the Evangelical and Reformed Church in 1957 to form the United Church of Christ) is the direct descendant of New England Puritan congregations, although in the early 19th century a few of these old congregations adopted Unitarianism.

Beliefs

The central tenet of Puritanism was God's supreme authority over human affairs, particularly in the church, and especially as expressed in the Bible. This view led them to seek both individual and corporate conformance to the teaching of the Bible, and it led them to pursue both moral purity down to the smallest detail as well as ecclesiastical purity to the highest level. On the individual level, the Puritans emphasized that each person should be continually reformed by the grace of God to fight against indwelling sin and do what is right before God. A humble and obedient life would arise for every Christian. The Puritans tended to admire the early church fathers and quoted them liberally in their works. In addition to arming the Puritans to fight against later developments of the Roman Catholic tradition, these studies also led to the rediscovery of some ancient scruples. Chrysostom, a favorite of the Puritans, spoke eloquently against drama and other worldly endeavors, and the Puritans adopted his view when decrying what they saw as the decadent culture of England, famous at that time for its plays and bawdy London. The Pilgrims (the separatist, congregationalist Puritans who went to North America) are likewise famous for banning from their New England colonies many secular entertainments, such as games of chance, maypoles, and drama, all of which were perceived as kinds of immorality. At the level of the church body, the Puritans believed that the worship of the church ought to be strictly regulated by what is commanded in the Bible (known as the regulative principle). The Puritans condemned as idolatry many worship practices regardless of the practices' antiquity or widespread adoption among Christians, which their opponents defended with tradition. Like some of Reformed churches on the European continent, Puritan reforms were typified by a minimum of ritual and decoration and by an unambiguous emphasis on preaching. Like the early church fathers they eliminated the use of musical instruments in their worship services, for various theological and practical reasons. Another important distinction was the Puritan approach to church-state relations. They opposed the Anglican idea of the supremacy of the monarch in the church (Erastianism), and following Calvin they argued that the only head of the Church in heaven or earth is Christ (not the Pope or Archbishop of Canterbury). However, they believed that secular governors are accountable to God (not through the church, but alongside it) to protect and reward virtue, including "true religion", and to punish wrongdoers — a policy that is best described as non-interference rather than separation of church and state. The separating Congregationalists, a segment of the Puritan movement more radical than the Anglican Puritans, believed the Divine Right of Kings was heresy, a belief that became more pronounced during the reign of Charles I of England. Other notable beliefs included:
- An emphasis on private study of the Bible
- A desire to see education and enlightenment for the masses (especially so they could read the Bible for themselves)
- The priesthood of all believers
- The Pope was an Antichrist
- Simplicity in worship, the exclusion of vestments, images, candles, etc.
- Some approved of the church hierarchy, but others sought to reform the episcopal churches on the presbyterian model. Some separatist Puritans were presbyterian, but most were congregationalists. In addition to promoting lay education, it was important to the Puritans to have knowledgeable, educated pastors, who could read the Bible in its original Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic, as well as ancient and modern church tradition and scholarly works, which were most commonly written in Latin, and so most of their divines undertook rigorous studies at the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge before seeking ordination. Diversions for the educated included discussing the Bible and its practical applications as well as reading the classics such as Cicero, Virgil, and Ovid. They also encouraged the composition of poetry that was religious nature, though they eschewed religious-erotic poetry except for the Song of Solomon, which they considered magnificent poetry, without error, regulative for their sexual pleasure, and, especially, as an allegory of Christ and the Church. In modern usage, the word puritan is often used as an informal pejorative for someone who has strict views on sexual morality, disapproves of recreation, and wishes to impose these beliefs on others. None of these qualities were unique to Puritanism or universally characteristic of the Puritans themselves, whose moral views and ascetic tendencies were no more extreme than many other Protestant reformers of their time, and who were relatively tolerant of other faiths — at least in England. The popular image is slightly more accurate as a description of Puritans in colonial America, who were among the most radical Puritans and whose social experiment took the form of a Calvinist theocracy.

Controversy

Today, Puritans are subjected to various interpretations and criticisms. One common criticism is that Puritans were close-minded and fundamentalists. Many pundits posit a Puritan spirit in the United States' political culture, especially in its historical tendency to oppose things such as alcohol and sexuality. This view has been criticized by some authors such as Michael Moore, who in Stupid White Men identifies American prohibitionism and fear of sexuality as having roots in slavery rather than in Puritanism. On the contrary, some critics have credited Puritanism as being the very spirit that founded American democracy. This view first appeared in Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America. According to Tocqueville, Puritans were hard-working, egalitarian and studious. There are authors who stake out a middle ground, such as John A. Morone, who in his book Hellfire Nation credits opposing tendencies within Puritanism with being the roots of both American democracy, through the desire to improve society and the world as a whole, and on the other hand with paranoia, hate, racism, sexism, and hatred of sexuality and youth.

Orthography

In the United States, "Puritan" has not always been the only acceptable spelling. Through the twentieth century, "Puritain" was an acceptable alternative spelling in British English. During the seventeenth and eighteenth century in England, the word was spelled both with and without the second i. "Puritain" was more common in the sixteenth century. The word derives from "purity" in English, and the third syllable formation can be justifiably spelled -ain or -an, depending upon which language one derives "dweller"/"practitioner" from.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

The Massachusetts Bay Colony (sometimes called the Massachusetts Bay Company, for the institution that founded it) was an English settlement on the coast of North America in the 1600s, centered around the present-day city of Boston, which is now in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, one of the 50 United States. Caution: Some sources use Julian calendar dates before 1753.

Previous nearby settlements

Given the overlapping land patents that various colonial groups obtained from English kings and companies, and later consolidation of territory into the Thirteen Colonies, several pre-existing groups would later become directly involved in the history of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Virginia Company of Plymouth was granted land from the 38th parallel to the 45th as part of the Virginia Charter in 1606. The only settlement, the Popham Colony (at the mouth of the Kennebec River in present-day Maine) was abandoned 1608. Land south of the 41st parallel (south of about Long Island Sound) was awarded to the sister Virginia Company of London, which had previously held joint claim to this territory. In 1620, the territory of defunct "Plymouth Company" was reorganized under the Plymouth Council for New England. King James I granted a charter for all the lands in America between 40° North and 48° N, "throughout the Maine Land from Sea to Sea." This included everything from the middle of present-day New Jersey in the south to present-day New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in the north. Later in 1620, a group of Puritan separatist settlers now referred to as the Pilgrims (who sailed from England on the Mayflower) independently founded the Plymouth Colony on land owned by the Plymouth Council. The first settlement of the colony is now the site of Plymouth, Massachusetts. The writing of the Mayflower Compact and the founding of the Plymouth Colony are taught in the United States as seminal events in the history of the nation. But it was the Massachusetts Bay Colony and its successors in the Boston area which would come to dominate the New England region in population and economic strength. And it was Massachusetts Bay that would give its name to the Province of Massachusetts when it absorbed Plymouth and other neighboring colonies in 1691-2. The Province of Maine was granted a royal patent in 1622, which included the coast from the Merrimac River (which is slightly south of the current Massachusetts-New Hampshire border) to the Kennebec River (in the middle of the coast of present-day Maine).

Predecessor companies

The 1623 Sheffield Patent allocated Cape Ann to Robert Cushman, Edward Winslow, and their associates. During the winter of 1623-24, John White and the Dorchester Company settled on this land at Stage Point (present-day Gloucester, Massachusetts). In 1625, they invited Roger Conant to run the fishing colony.[http://www.salemwitchmuseum.com/education/conant.shtml] They were joined by some members of the Plymouth Colony. [http://35.1911encyclopedia.org/S/SA/SALEM_MASS_.htm] By 1626, the attempted had failed. Most colonists returned to England, but Courant lead about 20 to Naumkeag[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0813147.html] (which was renamed Salem in 1629[http://35.1911encyclopedia.org/S/SA/SALEM_MASS_.htm]), where they set up a trading post. The bankrupt Dorchester Company (in 1627?) was then superceded by the New England Company (which had overlapping membership).[http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/fknewengl/immigration.htm] The Company received a land patent from the Plymouth Council for New England extending from the Merrimack River to the Charles River plus three miles on either side.[http://35.1911encyclopedia.org/S/SA/SALEM_MASS_.htm] John Endicott led a group of Puritan settlers to Salem, and served as governor from their arrival on September 6, 1628. The Massachusetts Bay Company replaced both of these when the Puritans were able to convert the patents into a royal charter on March 4, 1629, which styled them the "Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England".[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0832127.html]

A Puritan colony

The first 400 settlers under this new charter departed in April 1629. Most, but not all of the members of the Company were Puritans, and events during the spring and summer of 1629 convinced them they could only remain non-conformists in the Church of England by getting out of England. Charles I had dissolved the parliament, and William Laud, the Bishop of London, renewed the pressure on the separatist Puritans to conform with church practices. His harassment was a direct cause of the progressively larger emigration, also called the Winthrop Fleet, over the next few years. Perhaps by oversight, the company's charter made no mention of the location of its headquarters. On August 29, the shareholders who wished to move to America reached an agreement (The Cambridge Agreement) and bought out those who wished to remain in England. So when John Winthrop set out with the next wave of 700 settlers in March of 1630 (The Winthrop Fleet of 1630) they carried their Charter with them, and Winthrop replaced Endicott as governor of the Colony. When they reached their destination, the leadership and headquarters of the Colony and the Company were united in America. Charlestown was the first capital of Massachusetts Bay, but the water there was inadequate, so it was moved across the Charles River to Boston. The idea that this colony was a community with a special covenant with God was laid out in Winthrop's sermon, "A City upon a Hill." The idea that theirs was a holy community shaped life in the colony enormously, making it imperative that colonists legislate morality, enforcing marriage, church attendance, and education in the Word of God as well as relentlessly seeking out and punishing sin and sinners. The colony celebrated its first Thanksgiving Day on July 8, 1630. Massachusetts Bay continued its rapid growth, in spite of serious difficulties. During the first winter (1630-1631), over 200 died. When the next ships came, more chose to return to England. This was, in fact, the only tragic winter faced by the young colony. Since the pressures on the Puritan non-conformists at home continued, so did increasing and rapid immigration, and by the end of 1631 the colony numbered over 2,000. Over the next several years, as Archbishop Laud continued to add rigor to the Church hierarchy, the growth continued. Ministers rejected in England also made the trip with their flocks, so John Cotton, Roger Williams, Thomas Hooker, and others became leaders of Puritan congregations in Massachusetts.

The seeds of democracy

The colony's charter granted to the Massachusetts General Court the authority to elect officers and to make laws. Their first meeting in America was held October of 1630, but was attended by only eight freemen. They voted to grant all legislative, executive, and judicial power to a "Council" of the Governor's assistants (those same eight men). They then set up town boundaries, created taxes, and elected officers. To quell unrest caused by this limited franchise, they added 118 settlers to the court as freemen, but power remained with the council. The first murmers against the system arose when a tax was imposed on the entire colony in 1632, but Winthrop was able to quiet fears. In 1634, the issue of governance arose again, and a group headed by Thomas Dudley demanded to see the charter. They learned of the provisions that the general court should make all laws, and that all freemen should be members. They demanded that it be enforced to the letter, but eventually reached a compromise with governor Winthrop. They agreed to a General Court made up of two delegates elected by each town, the Governor's council of advisors, and the Governor himself. This court was to have authority over "The raising up public stock" (taxes) and "what they shold agree upon should bind all." What Winthrop did not expect was that binding included the election of the governor, and Dudley was elected. The first revolution was complete, and a trading company had become a representative democracy. By 1641, they had added the first code of laws (the Massachusetts Body of Liberties[http://history.hanover.edu/texts/masslib.html]) written by Nathaniel Ward, that specified required behavior and punishments.

Later history

The Province of New Hampshire was part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1641 to 1679, and again from 1688 to 1691. In 1643, Massachusetts Bay joined Plymouth Colony, Connecticut Colony, and New Haven Colony in the Confederation of New England, which fell apart in the 1650s. From 1686 Massachusetts Bay was administratively unified by the English king with the other New England colonies in the Dominion of New England. In 1688, the Province of New York, East Jersey, and West Jersey were added. In 1689, the Dominion was dissolved with the overthrow of the king. In 1691-2, Massachusetts Bay was unified with Plymouth Colony, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, the Province of Maine and what is now Nova Scotia to form the Province of Massachusetts Bay.

Governors of the Massachusetts Bay Colony

(For a list sorted by date, see Governors of the Massachusetts Bay Colony)
- John Winthrop - 1630-33, 1637-39, 1642-43, 1646-48
- Thomas Dudley - 1634, 1640, 1645, 1650
- John Haynes - 1636
- Sir Henry Vane - 1636
- Richard Bellingham - 1641, 1654, 1665-1672
- John Endicott - 1644, 1649, 1651-53, 1655-1664
- John Leverett - 1673-1678
- Simon Bradstreet - 1679-86 Category:Massachusetts history Category:U.S. colonial history

Anglican Church

; in the center is a cross of St. George recalling the communion's origins in the Church of England. The Greek motto, Ἡ ἀλήθεια ἐλευθερώσει ὑμᾶς ("The truth will set you free") is a quotation from John 8:31.]] The Anglican Communion is a world-wide organization of Anglican Churches. There is no single "Anglican Church" since each national or regional church has full autonomy; as the name suggests, rather, the Anglican Communion is an association of these churches in full communion with each other and particularly with the Church of England, which may be regarded as the "mother church" of the worldwide communion. For membership, see the box at the bottom of this page. As a result, all rites conducted in one member church are to be recognized by the others. Some of these churches are known as Anglican, explicity recognizing the link to England; others prefer a less specific name. Each church has its own doctrine and liturgy, based in most cases on that of the Church of England; and each church has its own legislative process and overall episcopal leadership from a local primate. The Archbishop of Canterbury, religious head of the Church of England, has no formal authority outside that country; but is recognized as a symbolic head for the worldwide communion. Among the other primates, he is primus inter pares, or "first among equals." If the Archbishop of Canterbury is compared with other religious leaders such as the Pope, therefore, it is only because of his prominent figurehead role in the media. Some non-Anglican churches have entered into full communion with the Anglican Communion and are treated as members despite having non-Anglican origins and traditions. There are also a number of Anglican bodies which separated from a member church of the Anglican Communion and are no longer in communion with the Church of England. They are usually known as "continuing churches."

What holds the Communion together?

The Anglican Communion has no official legal existence nor any formal governing structure. (There is an "Anglican Communion Office" in London, under the aegis of the Archbishop of Canterbury; but it serves merely a supporting and organizational role.) Some have asked what holds the communion together. The first attempt at an answer was the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1888. Proposed by the American Episcopal Church in 1886 and adopted by the Lambeth Conference of 1888, it set out four principles for future Christian unity. Although wider union has not followed, the quadrilateral has been useful within the communion itself. The quadrilateral, according to the wording adopted in Lambeth ([http://anglicansonline.org/basics/Chicago_Lambeth.html]), consists of: # "The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, as 'containing all things necessary to salvation', and as being the rule and ultimate standard of faith." # "The Apostles' Creed, as the Baptismal Symbol; and the Nicene Creed, as the sufficient statement of the Christian faith." # "The two Sacraments ordained by Christ Himself--Baptism and the Supper of the Lord--ministered with unfailing use of Christ's words of Institution, and of the elements ordained by Him." # "The Historic Episcopate, locally adapted in the methods of its administration to the varying needs of the nations and peoples called of God into the Unity of His Church." This, then, is the theoretical basis for unity. But what holds it together organizationally? In the last few years people have began to refer to four "Instruments of Unity", which are effectively symbols to which all the churches of the communion can feel tied. In order of antiquity, they are:
- The Archbishop of Canterbury (ab origine)
- The Lambeth Conference (first held in 1867)
- The Anglican Consultative Council (first met in 1971)
- The Primates' Meeting (first met in 1979) Since each province is legally independent and free to chart its own course, the stress on these instruments of unity can easily be imagined. In recent years, for example, some Anglicans (particularly in Africa and Asia) have been displeased with the American and Canadian branches, upset by their welcoming attitudes towards homosexuals, and by the confident way the changes have been made — the conservatives condemmed the action as unilateral and called for wider consultation within the communion before such steps were taken. After the North American churches reaffirmed their belief that their actions had been righteous and "prophetic", they were asked to withdraw their delegates from the 2005 meeting of the Anglican Consultive Council. They were permitted at the meeting with voice, but no vote. But they have not been expelled or even suspended from the communion; indeed, no church ever has. It is unclear, moreoever, how such an expulsion could ever be carried out, since the communion is such a theoretical construct.

History

Main article: see History of the Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is a relatively recent concept. Ever since the Church of England (which until the 20th century included the Church in Wales) broke from Rome in the reign of Henry VIII, it has thought of itself not as a new foundation but rather as a reformed continuation of the ancient "English church" and a reassertion of that church's rights. As such it was a distinctly local phenomenon. Thus the only members of the present Anglican Communion existing by the late 18th century were the Church of England, its closely-linked sister church, the Church of Ireland (which also broke from Rome under Henry VIII), and the Scottish Episcopal Church, which for parts of the 17th and 18th centuries was partially underground (it was suspected of Jacobite sympathies). However, the enormous expansion in the 18th and 19th centuries of the British Empire brought the church along with it. At first all these colonial churches were under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of London. After the American Revolution, the parishes in the newly independent country found it necessary to break formally from a church whose earthly head was (and remains) the British monarch. Thus they formed their own dioceses and national church, the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, in a mostly amicable separation. At about the same time, in the colonies which remained linked to the crown, the Church of England began to appoint colonial bishops. In 1787 a bishop of Nova Scotia was appointed with a jurisdiction over all of British North America; in time several more colleagues were appointed to other cities in present-day Canada. In 1814 a bishop of Calcutta was made; in 1824 the first bishop was sent to the West Indies and in 1836 to Australia. By 1840 there were still only ten colonial bishops for the Church of England; but even this small beginning greatly facilitated the growth of Anglicanism around the world. In 1841 a "Colonial Bishoprics Council" was set up and soon many more dioceses were created. In time, it became natural to group these into provinces, and a metropolitan appointed for each province. Although it had at first been somewhat established in many colonies, in 1861 it was ruled that, except where specifically established, the Church of England had just the same legal position as any other church. Thus a colonial bishop and colonial diocese was by nature quite a different thing from their counterparts back home. In time bishops came to be appointed locally rather than from England, and eventually national synods began to pass ecclesiastical legislation independent of England. A crucial step in the development of the modern communion was the idea of the Lambeth Conferences. In 1867, at the suggestion of the Canadian synod, the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Thomas Langley, invited a great conference of bishops to meet with him at Lambeth Palace. By inviting the bishops of the Churches of England and Ireland, those of the semi-autonomous colonial churches, and those of the fully autonomous Episcopal Church in the United States of America, he set a precedent that they all could meet together despite the absence of universal legal ties. Some bishops were initially reluctant to attend, fearing that the meeting would declare itself a council with power to legislate for the church; but it agreed to pass only advisory resolutions. These Lambeth Conferences have been held decennially since 1878 (the second such conference), and remain the most visible coming-together of the whole communion.

Recent controversies

Recent disagreements over homosexuality have strained the unity of the communion as well as its relationships with other Christian denominations; see Anglican views of homosexuality.

Relationship with the Roman Catholic Church

Efforts have been underway at least since 1966 to effect a reconciliation with the Roman Catholic Church, focusing on theological issues [http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/angl-comm-docs/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_19660324_paul-vi-ramsey_en.html] and ways "to further the convergence on authority in the Church. Without agreement in this area we shall not reach the full visible unity to which we are both committed." [http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/angl-comm-docs/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_19961205_jp-ii-carey_en.html]

External links

- [http://www.anglicancommunion.org/ Official website]
- [http://anglican.org/church/NoCentral.html Decentralised nature of worldwide Anglicanism]
- [http://www.gshep.org/information/vocabulary.htm Comprehensive Anglican vocabulary]
- [http://www.anglican.tk/ the conservative Classical Anglican Net News website]
- [http://www.anglicanchurchofindia.org Anglican Church of India]
- [http://www.anglicansonline.org/ Anglicans Online] Category:Anglicanism Category:Christian group structuring ja:アングリカン・コミュニオン

Catholic

Catholic (literally meaning: according to (kata-) the whole (holos) or more generally "universal" in Greek) is a Christian religious term with a number of meanings:
- The term can refer to the notion that all Christians are part of one Church, regardless of denominational divisions. This "universal" interpretation is often used to understand the phrase "one holy catholic and apostolic Church" in the Nicene Creed, the phrase "the catholic faith" in the Athanasian Creed, and the phrase "holy catholic church" in the Apostles' Creed.
- It can refer to the members, beliefs, and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. Though many identify Roman Catholicism exclusively with the Latin Rite, its variety is seen in its more than twenty particular Churches or Rites, all in full communion with the Pope, and also in its liturgical rites, of which the Roman Rite is only one.
- It can be used to refer to those Christian Churches which maintain that their Episcopate can be traced directly back to the Apostles, and that they are therefore part of a broad catholic (or universal) body of believers. Among those who regard themselves as Catholic but not Roman Catholic are members of the various Eastern Orthodox Churches (such as the Greek Orthodox and Russian Orthodox), the Oriental Orthodox, Anglo-Catholics (also known as High Anglicans), the Old, Ancient and Liberal Catholic Churches, and the Lutherans (though the latter prefer the lower-case "c"). The various Churches that regard themselves as part of a broad Catholic Church are distinguished by their use of the Nicene Creed, in which believers acknowledge the "one holy catholic and apostolic Church." The Nicene Creed is of course also used by the Roman Catholic Church.
- It can mean the one Church founded by Christ through Peter the Apostle, according to Matthew 16:18-19: "And I tell you, you are Cephas (which means rock), and on this rock I will build my Church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’" Early Christians, such as Saint Ignatius of Antioch (who was martyred in about 110, used the term to describe the whole Church - the word's literal meaning is universal or whole - as opposed to the local Church, and excluding adherents of sects or heretical groups. Methodists and Presbyterians believe their denominations owe their origins to the Apostles and the early Church, but do not claim descent from ancient Church structures such as the episcopate. Neither of these Churches, however, denies that they are a part of the catholic (meaning universal) Church.

Present-day usage

While the term is usually associated with the Roman Catholic Church, whose over one billion adherents are about half of the estimated 2.1 billion Christians, other Christian denominations also lay claim to the term "catholic", including the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Protestant Churches possessing an episcopate (bishops). In countries that have been traditionally Protestant, Catholic will often be included in the official name of a particular parish church, school, hospice or other institution belonging to the Roman Catholic Church, to distinguish it from those of other denominations. For example, the name "St. Mark's Catholic Church" makes it clear that it is not an Episcopal or Lutheran church. This usage of the term "Catholic" has a long history. A millennium before the Protestant Reformation, Saint Augustine wrote: :"In the Catholic Church, there are many other things which most justly keep me in her bosom. The consent of peoples and nations keeps me in the Church; so does her authority, inaugurated by miracles, nourished by hope, enlarged by love, established by age. The succession of priests keeps me, beginning from the very seat of the Apostle Peter, to whom the Lord, after His resurrection, gave it in charge to feed His sheep (Jn 21:15-19), down to the present episcopate. :"And so, lastly, does the very name of Catholic, which, not without reason, amid so many heresies, the Church has thus retained; so that, though all heretics wish to be called Catholics, yet when a stranger asks where the Catholic Church meets, no heretic will venture to point to his own chapel or house. :"Such then in number and importance are the precious ties belonging to the Christian name which keep a believer in the Catholic Church, as it is right they should ... With you, where there is none of these things to attract or keep me... No one shall move me from the faith which binds my mind with ties so many and so strong to the Christian religion... For my part, I should not believe the gospel except as moved by the authority of the Catholic Church." : — St. Augustine (AD 354–430): Against the Epistle of Manichaeus called Fundamental, chapter 4: Proofs of the Catholic Faith[http://www.ccel.org/pager.cgi?&file=fathers/NPNF1-04/augustine/bk_fundamental/bk1.html&from=CHAP4&up=] Earlier still, St Cyril of Jerusalem (circa 315-386) urged those he was instructing in the Christian faith: "If ever thou art sojourning in cities, inquire not simply where the Lord's House is (for the other sects of the profane also attempt to call their own dens houses of the Lord), nor merely where the Church is, but where is the Catholic Church. For this is the peculiar name of this Holy Church, the mother of us all, which is the spouse of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten Son of God" (Catechetical Lectures, XVIII, 26).[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/310118.htm] Those who apply the term "Catholic Church" to all Christians indiscriminately find it objectionable that a term that they see as designating the whole Church as an invisible entity should be used to refer to one communion only. However, the Roman Catholic Church, which normally refers to itself simply as the Catholic Church, publishing in 1992 a "Catechism of the Catholic Church", can basically be traced historically to the original Catholic or universal Church, from which various groups broke away over the centuries. It holds that there can be no such thing as the Church as an "invisible entity" only. Since the Reformation in the sixteenth century, Protestants (those who protest) have sought to restore a more primitive expression of the Church, with goals and beliefs that they believe to be more consonant with the early Church, based primarily on Scriptural texts. However, there was a more than a millennium between the "early Church" and the "Reformation", during which both Scripture and Christian teaching were maintained. As well as the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Churches and the Oriental Orthodox Churches all see themselves as the "one holy catholic and apostolic Church" of the Nicene Creed. Others too who do not recognize the primacy of the Bishop of Rome and rank him only as an equal among Patriarchs, such as the Patriarchs of Constantinople, Alexandria, and Antioch, use the term Catholic to distinguish their own position from a Calvinist or Puritan form of Protestantism. They include "High Church" Anglicans, known also as "Anglo-Catholics". Although the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches in general do not view the Anglican Churches as truly "Catholic", Anglicans themselves claim to have all the qualifications needed to be Catholic.

Catholic Epistles

"Catholic Epistles" is another term for the General Epistles of the Christian New Testament in the Bible, which were addressed not to a particular city but to all in general. It is thus, strictly speaking, not an ecclesiastical term, being employed in the original broad sense of the Greek word from which "catholic" is derived. The epistles in question are [http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/index.htm#james James]; [http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/index.htm#1peter First] and [http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/index.htm#2peter Second Peter]; [http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/index.htm#1john First], [http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/2john/2john.htm Second], and [http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/3john/3john.htm Third John]and [http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/jude/jude.htm Jude].

Capitalization

Capitalization is no sure guide to denominational affiliation. It may indicate formal affiliation with the Roman Catholic Church or it may not. Capitalization may merely indicate a wish to stress the holy and solemn nature of the spiritual body of believers and a desire for all Christians to be one. It would be anachronistic to attribute significance to capitalization or lack of capitalization in printings of texts dating from before the last few centuries or in translations of those texts, since the originals were written in unmixed majuscule or minuscule letters. Translations even of modern texts into English often follow the usage of the original language. For instance, since French normally capitalizes only the first word of the title of an entity, the adjective "catholique", following the noun "Église", has a lower-case initial. Texts in Latin generally follow this usage, not the English practice.

Avoidance of usage

Some Protestant Christian Churches avoid using the term completely. The Orthodox Churches share some of the concerns about Roman Catholic claims, but disagree with Protestants about the nature of the Church as one body. For some, to use the word "Catholic" at all is to appear to give credence to papal claims.

External links

- [http://www.vatican.va The Holy See] the official Vatican web site
- [http://www.catholicfiles.com/ Catholic Files] free Catholic downloads
- [http://www.catholic.com Catholic Answers] Catholics Answers
- [http://www.thecatholicguide.com TheCatholic Guide] The Catholic Guide
- [http://www.catholicity.com CatholiCity] free catholic CDs and books
- [http://catholicapologeticsofamerica.blogspot.com Catholic Apologetics of America]
- [http://www.catholicexchange.com/ Catholic Exchange] non-profit charity
- [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/ Catholic Encyclopedia]
- [http://www.newadvent.org/summa/ Summa Theologica]
- [http://www.fisheaters.com Fish Eaters: The Whys and Hows of Traditional Catholicism]
- [http://www.malach.org Polish Catholic service Malach - service of Głogów city]
- [http://www.scripturecatholic.com/ Scripture Catholic; Defending Roman Catholicism with its Sacred Scriptures]
- [http://www.mycatholic.com myCatholic.com] — A customizable Catholic web portal.
- [http://www.americancatholic.org/UpdateYourFaith/default.asp Catholic Church FAQs from American Catholic]
- [http://www.stblogsparish.com/bloglist.html Catholic Blogs & Resources] Category:Roman Catholic Church Category:Christianity Category:Anglicanism ko:카톨릭 ja:カトリック教会

Pilgrims

:This article is about the colonists of North America. For religious travelers in general, see Pilgrim. For the football teams of this nickname, see Plymouth Argyle F.C. and Boston United F.C.. Boston United F.C. The Pilgrims were a group of English religious separatists who sailed from Europe to North America in the early 17th century, in search of a home where they could freely practice their style of religion.

Experiences and Politics in Europe

The various members of the group had broken away from the Church of England, feeling that the Church had not completed the task begun by the Reformation. Under the guidance of the Reverends William Brewster, Richard Clifton and John Robinson, a portion of the group left their homes in and around Scrooby, England and sailed to Amsterdam in Holland to escape what they saw as religious persecution at the hands of the religious and civil authorities of their countrymen. Although not actively persecuted, the group was subjected to ecclesiastical investigation and to the mockery, criticism, and disfavor of their neighbors ([http://www.bartleby.com/65/pi/Pilgrims.html Columbia Encyclopaedia]). They left, not for religious freedom, but because there was too much freedom of religion in England and they wanted it to be more strict. These separatist "Pilgrims" settled in Leiden for 12 years, but by 1617 a poor economy, and concern about the Dutch influence upon their community convinced many of them to move on, this time to the New World. Concerned with the morals of the time in the Netherlands, and with their children being brought up in a Dutch environment, they decided to move to a place better-suited to them; and in 1620, they set sail on the ship Mayflower from Plymouth Harbour, bound for the Americas. These people became known as the Pilgrim Fathers. Another way of explaining the atmosphere in the Netherlands is that some of the exiles, such as Brewster, were publishing what the English government saw as "seditious" books, and were sending them into England (see John Lilburne). The English authorities put diplomatic pressure on the Dutch government to stop it; the Dutch government began to comply, and the exiles decided that it was time to leave. With hindsight, it is natural to regard the Spanish threat to England as dealt with by the defeat of the Armada of 1588, but this was not the only, nor last threat from that quarter (there were other "armadas" in other years; the Gunpowder Plot occurred in 1605), and suspicion of Spanish intentions continued into the reign of James I of England, if only in the minds of the English, as a conditioned response to the hard-line policy of the by-then, dead king Philip II of Spain. The English government was thus trying to plot a political-religious course between the position of the Roman Catholic, Philip III of Spain and the "Puritan" Congregationalism advocated by Brewster and others. At the time, fewer than half of the Congregation's members chose to leave the Netherlands aboard the Speedwell and sail to Southampton, England, where they joined a larger group of religious separatists aboard the Mayflower. After stopping at Plymouth, England, they departed on September 6, 1620, with 102 people aboard. Their intended destination was a section of land in the area called Northern Virginia, granted by one of the Brewster family friends in the London Company. This grant would have placed them near the Hudson River.

Arrival in America

Forced off-course by harsh North Atlantic weather, the Mayflower arrived at Cape Cod after 65 days at sea, and anchored off present-day Truro on November 21, 1620. Realizing that it would require a significant additional voyage to reach their goal, the Pilgrims chose to abandon their original plans, and to form a community where they were. Having no legal authority to colonize the area, they met to sign their own charter, known as the Mayflower Compact, in which they agreed to form a "self-governing, Christian community". It was not long before the Pilgrims determined that the sandy land of the outer cape was insufficient to support them, so a group of them sailed across Cape Cod Bay and landed at Plymouth on December 21. The bulk of the settlers followed six days later. The first settlement of the colony was "New Plymouth", later Plymouth, Massachusetts. By the end of that winter, almost half of the settlers were dead (probably from starvation and disease), including their leader John Carver. Thus began one of the best-intended, historically renowned, and yet strangely ill-fated colonial ventures in America (after the Roanoke Island Settlement and Jamestown). When the Massachusetts Bay Colony got its new charter in 1691, Plymouth ended its history as a separate colony. William Bradford (1590-1657) became governor in 1621 upon the death of Carver, served for eleven consecutive years, and was elected to various other terms until his death in 1657. The patent of Plymouth Colony was surrendered by Bradford to The Freemen in 1640, minus a small reserve of three tracts of land. On March 22, 1621, the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony signed a peace treaty with Massasoit of the Wampanoags. The colony contained roughly what is now Bristol County, Plymouth County, and Barnstable County, Massachusetts. Plymouth was the second permanent English settlement in the Americas, the first being Jamestown, Virginia. Early, abandoned settlements include the Popham Colony (present-day Maine), the "Lost Colony" of Roanoke Island (present-day North Carolina), and Cuper's Cove and Bristol's Hope in present-day Newfoundland. Many people (including school teachers) confuse Pilgrims and Puritans. Pilgrims wanted to separate from the Church of England. Puritans wanted to purify, but not separate, from the Church of England.

External links

- Category:U.S. colonial history Category:Massachusetts history ja:ピルグリム・ファーザーズ

Noah

:This article is about the biblical Noah. For the Book of Mormon king, see King Noah. Noah or Nóach ("Rest," Standard Hebrew נוֹחַ Nóaḥ, Tiberian Hebrew נֹחַ Nōªḥ; Arabic نوح Nūḥ), is a Biblical figure who, according to Genesis, built an ark to save his family and each species of the world's animals from the Deluge (an example of Divine retribution). The story of his life is told in the Book of Genesis and the Qur'an.

Life of Noah

Qur'an According to the account in Genesis, Noah was the son of Lamech and the grandson of Methuselah. He and his wife had three sons: Japheth, Sem or Shem, and Ham. The order can be deduced from the Genesis record: Noah was 500 when the first son, Japheth, was born (Genesis 5:32) and 600 when the Flood came. Shem had his son, Arphaxad, 2 years after the Flood, when he was 100 years old (Genesis 11:10), making him 2 years younger than Japheth. Ham is stated to be the youngest (Genesis 9:24). (See Sons of Noah for further discussion). Noah's wife is not named in the western canon of the Bible. Later Midrashic writings give her name as Naamah, also employed by the Book of Jasher. According to the Book of Jubilees (canonical in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church) her name was Emzara. According to Genesis, Noah was a "just man and perfect in his generation", and "walked with God" (cf. Ezekiel 14:14,20). The "sons of god" (Hebrew elohim) and "the daughters of men" began to intermarry, and from them sprang up a race of giants. Men became more and more corrupt, and God determined to rid the Earth of its wicked population (Gen. 6:7). But God entered into a covenant with Noah, with a promise of deliverance from the threatened Deluge (Gen. 6:18). He was accordingly commanded to build an ark (6:14-16) to save himself and his family. According to Rashi, the Jewish medieval commentator, as well as Christian interpretations of Genesis preserved in the First Epistle of Peter 3:18–20 and the Second Epistle of Peter 2:5, an interval of 120 years elapsed while the ark was being built (6:3), during which Noah tried to convince the people to repent so they could avoid the wrath of God. When the ark of "gopher-wood" (a Biblical hapax legomenon) was finally completed, the living creatures that were to be preserved entered into it. Noah was commanded to save two of each non-kosher bird, animal and creeping thing (a male and a female) and seven of each kosher bird or animal (the additional creatures were meant to be brought as sacrifices after the Deluge). Noah also stocked up on enough food to feed all the humans and animals in the Ark for a year, plus seeds to replant trees, vegetables and the like after the Deluge. After the animals were in place, Noah, his wife, his three sons, and his three daughters-in-law entered it, and then the "Lord shut him in" (Gen. 7:16). The judgment of God then fell on the guilty world:
- Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. And the Lord said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them" (Gen 6:5-7).
- Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. Then God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth. (Gen 6:11-13) The waters rained down from above and burst out of terrestrial fissures below, flooding the earth for 150 days. All life was blotted out from the earth (the fish, though, survived in the water) and when the waters diminished, the ark came to rest on Mount Ararat (in modern-day Turkey) (Gen. 8:3,4). To test whether the waters had indeed receded, Noah first sent out a raven and then a dove to see if these birds would find something to eat. The dove returned to him the second time with an olive leaf; the third time she did not return at all, as she found a place to build her nest. After a year of occupancy in the ark (Gen. 6:13), Noah was given permission to leave it (Gen. 6:16-17). His first act on dry land was to erect an altar (the first altar mentioned in the Bible) and offer sacrifices of thanks and praise to God. God entered into a covenant with Noah—the first covenant between God and man—granting him possession of the earth by a new and special charter, which remains in force to the present time (Gen. 8:21-9:17). As a sign and witness of this covenant, the rainbow was adopted and set apart by God as a sure pledge that the earth would never again be destroyed by a flood. Genesis 9:20-27 relates that Noah planted a grapevine and, in the first mention of alcohol in the Bible, we are told that Noah drank of the wine, became drunk and uncovered himself inside his tent (Gen. 9:21). Ham "saw his father's nakedness" (opinions differ on just what this means) and told his brothers about it. Ham's older brothers, Japheth and Shem, covered Noah's body with a garment, respectfully walking backwards and turning their faces (Gen. 9:23). When he awoke, Noah cursed Canaan, the young son of Ham, and all his descendants. Logically, in this account, Noah followed Adam as the ancestor of all human beings. The New Testament's gospels trace Jesus's ancestry, though they are not fully consistent with each other or with the Old Testament; Luke follows the geneology back to Noah (Luke 3:36: "... the [son] of Arphaxad, the [son] of Shem, the [son] of Noah, the [son] of Lamech").

Interpretive Differences

Christian

Noah is pointed to as someone who has absolute faith in God. Jesus referred to Noah as a real person and the Deluge as a historical event. He considered the Biblical account as a forerunner of the salvation of man.
- "For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah" (Matt 24:37 NASB)
- "For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark" (Matt 24:38 NASB)
- "And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it shall be also in the days of the Son of Man" (Luke 17:26 NASB)
- "they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all" (Luke 17:27 NASB) (Noah and the Deluge are also mentioned in 1 Peter 3:20) Following New Testament Scripture, Hebrews and the Second Epistle of Peter, most Christians accept the account of Noah as a righteous man, in the same category as Abraham and Jacob.
- Hebrew 11:7—By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
- 2 Peter 2:5—and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly

Jewish

The Jewish tradition, however, gives Noah less credit as to his righteousness. At the start of the story, Noah is described as being "perfect in his generation" (Genesis 6:9), implying to some Jewish scholars that his perfection was only relative. In his generation of wicked people, he could be considered righteous, but in the generation of a tzaddik like Abraham, he would not be considered so righteous. The proof is that God gave him the task of building a huge ark, which took 120 years to construct. With such a massive building project going on for so long, there was plenty of time for other people to travel to Noah, ask him what he was doing, get the answer that a great flood was coming to wipe out the world because of their sins, and be motivated to repent. Noah answered all their questions but, unlike Abraham, he did not go one step further and actively pray to God on their behalf. In contrast, when Abraham heard about the impending destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, a wicked part of town that he had nothing to do with, he nevertheless argued with God on their behalf and got God's promise that He would not destroy the cities if even 10 righteous people could be found there, Noah did not argue at all. He just went about his business and then entered the ark with his family and the animals when God told him to. This led later Jewish commentators to offer the metaphor of a man who is cold: A fully righteous person would light a fire to warm his entire environment, but a partly righteous person would only put on a coat and be warm while others stayed cold. Abraham lit a fire of God-consciousness in his part of the world, teaching others about God and trying to save them from sin. Noah was the "man in a fur coat," who ensured his and his family's safety while everyone else died. According to medieval Jewish traditions, the pre-Mosaic Noahide Laws established by God after the Deluge are binding on non-Jews, and serve to distinguish righteous gentile faiths from corrupted religious practices.

Islamic

نوح Nūḥ (the Arabic form of Noah) is a prophet in the Qur'an. Because the Qur'an is more poem than prose, references to Noah are scattered throughout the Qur'an, but no historical account of the entire Deluge is given. Generally speaking, the references in the Qur'an are consistent with Genesis and Islamic tradition generally accepts the Genesis account as historical. However, the degree of detail varies between the two accounts. Generally, the Qur'anic account emphasizes Noah's preaching of the monotheism of God, and the ridicule heaped on him by idolators. Particularly: :We sent Nuh to his people: He said, “O my people! worship Allah! Ye have no other god but Him. Will ye not fear (Him)?” :The chiefs of the Unbelievers among his people said: “He is no more than a man like yourselves: his wish is to assert his superiority over you: if Allah had wished (to send messengers), He could have sent down angels; never did we hear such a thing (as he says), among our ancestors of old.” :(And some said): “He is only a man possessed: wait (and have patience) with him for a time.” :(Nuh) said: “O my Lord! help me: for that they accuse me of falsehood!” God later instructed Nuh to build the ark: :But construct an Ark under Our eyes and Our inspiration, and address Me no (further) on behalf of those who are in sin: for they are about to be overwhelmed (in the Flood). (Surah Hud: 37) (Surat al-Mumenoon: 23-26) The Qur'anic account contains a detail not included in the Biblical account: a reference to another son who chose not to enter the ark: :So the Ark floated with them on the waves (towering) like mountains, and Nuh called out to his son, who had separated himself (from the rest): “O my son! embark with us, and be not with the unbelievers!” The son replied: “I will betake myself to some mountain: it will save me from the water.” Nuh said: “This day nothing can save, from the command of Allah, any but those on whom He hath mercy!” And the waves came between them, and the son was among those overwhelmed in the Flood. (Surah Hud: 42-43) Also, the Qur'anic account lacks several details of the Genesis account, including the crime of disrespect by Noah's son Ham in mocking, rather than covering his father's nakedness (Genesis 9:22), and the resultant cursing of his grandson Canaan. Some Muslims assert that the flood during Noah's time was a local event, in contrast to the Biblical account which asserts that it was global. They infer this from several Qur'anic verses. Other Muslims, however, hold that the flood was indeed global. The Qur'an is not explicit on the point, allowing for some variety of interpretation. See also Similarities between the Bible and the Qur'an.

Mormon

Joseph Smith taught that Noah is the same person as the angel Gabriel: "The Priesthood was first given to Adam; ... He is Michael the Archangel, spoken of in the Scriptures. Then to Noah, who is Gabriel: he stands next in authority to Adam in the Priesthood" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 157). Noah is also the name of a king in the Book of Mormon; see King Noah.

Gnostic

The Apocryphon of John reports that the chief archon caused the flood because he desired to destroy the world he had made, but the First Thought informed Noah of the chief archon's plans, and Noah informed the remainder of humanity. Unlike the account of Genesis, not only are Noah's family saved, but many others also heed Noah's call. It explicitly disagrees with the account in Genesis that there was an ark; rather, it reports that Noah and the others hid in a "lumninous cloud" (Wisse translation).

Popular culture

- William Shakespeare's play Henry IV, Part II contains a wry comment about people who claim to be related to royal families. Prince Hal notes of such people, :...they will be kin to us, or they will fetch it from Japhet. (II.ii 117-18) Genesis 10:5 was often interpreted to mean that the peoples of Europe were descended from Japheth. Clearly, then, any two Englishmen must have at least this one ancestor in common, and thus any individual could claim kinship with the king.
- In 1998 a made-for-tv movie entitled Noah depicted a carpenter who is visited by an angel and told to build another ark so he may survive another world flood.
- A professional wrestling circuit in Japan is called Pro Wrestling NOAH. The name evokes the biblical story with the fact that most of its wrestlers left a more established promotion at the time, All Japan Pro Wrestling.

External links and references

- [http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/noah-ark Noah's Ark on the Web], comprehensive guide to Noah and the Deluge in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, art and culture
- [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=318&letter=N Jewish Encyclopedia: Noah] from the 1901-1906 Jewish Encyclopedia
- Manly Palmer Hall: [http://ageless-wisdom.tripod.com/mph_noah1.htm Noah and His Wonderful Ark] ---- Noah (Standard Hebrew נוֹעָה Noʿa, Tiberian Hebrew נֹעָה Nōʿāh) was the name of one of Zelophehad's daughters.

City upon a Hill

External links

John Winthrop

Biographical Information

See also

Sermon

The delivery of sermons

Famous preachers of sermons

The sermon takes center stage in Protestantism

Notable preachers of sermons

Types of sermons

Delivery methods

Sermons and sexual psychology

See also

External links

Puritan

Terminology

History

Beliefs

Controversy

Orthography

Further reading

External links

Massachusetts Bay Colony

Previous nearby settlements

Predecessor companies

A Puritan colony

The seeds of democracy

Later history

Governors of the Massachusetts Bay Colony

Anglican Church

What holds the Communion together?

History

Recent controversies

Relationship with the Roman Catholic Church

Related topics

External links

Catholic

Present-day usage

Catholic Epistles

Capitalization

Avoidance of usage

See also

External links

Pilgrims

Experiences and Politics in Europe

Arrival in America

See also

External links

Noah

Life of Noah

Interpretive Differences

Christian

Jewish

Islamic

Mormon

Gnostic

Popular culture

See also

External links and references