Both the Pilgrim and the Puritan colonists believed that the Church of England, the Anglican church, should make more reforms to get rid of all traces of the Roman Catholic Church. But but the Pilgrim was a member of a distinct group of puritans who were not only against the Anglican church but also called for total separation from the church, a dangerous religious belief in England.
Pilgrim and Puritan - Religious Freedom
Both the Pilgrim and the Puritan wanted religious freedom. The Pilgrim Fathers left England for America in 1620 looking for religious freedom. In 1630 another religious group left England in search of religious freedom. This group was called the Puritans. Seeking religious freedom was a strong motivation for colonies in America.
Pilgrim and Puritan - Strictness & Austerity in Religion
The Pilgrim and Puritan practised strictness and austerity in their religion, lifestyle and conduct. A Pilgrim and Puritan was strongly opposed to sensual pleasures and strong advocates of propriety, modesty and and decorum.
Pilgrim and Puritan - Puritanism
Puritanism essentially wanted to replace Anglicanism and its ecclesiastical system with the system proposed by John Calvin. Calvinism (also called the Reformed tradition, the Reformed faith, or Reformed theology) held the belief that all humans were born sinful and only God s grace (not the church) could save a person from hell.
Pilgrim and Puritan - Dissenters
Dissenters were people objected to the accepted doctrine of the established church. The Pilgrim and Puritan men and women who migrated to America were dissenters from the Church of England who wanted to create a new church in the colonies. The Pilgrim and the Puritan were both looking for religious freedom. The opportunity to worship, in the way they wanted, without fear of persecution. The Pilgrim and the Puritan were intolerant any other religions. The Pilgrim and the Puritan were dissenters.
Pilgrim and Puritan - Separatists and Non-Separatists
The Puritans were a Reform movement in the Anglican church. The Reform movement of the Puritans, aimed at purifying the church of corruption, split into separatists and non-separatists:
- Separatists wanted to end ties with the established church
- Non-Separatists sought to reform the Anglican Church from within
