David HallThe Puritans: A Transatlantic History

 

Religion and Revolution: The Puritan Movement (c. 1560-1660) in Britain Reconsidered 

Who were the “Puritans”? The short answer is, a party within the two state churches (Scotland and England) dissatisfied with anything short of a “thorough” or “perfect” Protestantism that eliminated every trace of “idolatry,” curtailed the authority of the monarchy in matters of religion, and set a high standard for being a “sincere” Christian. A hard-fought politics unfolded, but it was the political collapse of Charles I in 1640-41 that enabled Puritans in both countries to come into power—only to discover that they disagreed on matters as fundamental as the nature of the true church. The New England colonists inherited these issues but resolved them in ways that continually surprise us.

About the Author

David D. Hall is professor emeritus of American religious history at Harvard Divinity School. His books include Worlds of Wonder, Days of Judgment: Popular Religious Belief in Early New England, A Reforming People: Puritanism and the Transformation of Public Life in New England, and The Faithful Shepherd: A History of the New England Ministry in the Seventeenth Century. He lives in Arlington, Massachusetts.