17th Century Puritans

Unit One Essay

In the 1600’s, the Puritan bay colonists believed that they had a covenant with God, an agreement to build a pure or holy society that would be a model for humankind. Though they were successful in their attempt to establish this society, It was not strong enough to stand up to the problems it was faced with. Both their efforts to liberalize membership requirements and their strict theological doctrines paid a heavy toll on the early Congregational church. This set the stage for the Great Awakening, which may have been the most influential part of Puritan society.

The “freemen”, adult males who belonged to the Puritan congregations, formed the collective Congregational church. Church membership was given only to “visible saints” and those who claimed to be converted. But, church membership seemed to be declining, so the Half-Way Covenant was introduced in a desperate move to maintain the Puritan church. The Covenant offered partial membership r...