Interesting things about the passengers of the Mayflower

[ambitious_wench]

How many of you can name the things that the Separatists differed in belief from the Anglican church?

This is important because it was due to persecution that the Mayflower immigrants were receiving that spurred them to come to the shores of North America.

The biggest difference between the two factions of Christianity was that the dissidents believed on only two sacraments--baptism and the Lord's Supper, sometimes called Communion.

Oddly, they felt that baptism should be done as early as possible, advocating for infant baptism.

Religiously, these notions were radical. The insistence of the Anglican church on the 7 sacraments (Confession, Penance, Confirmation, Ordination, Marriage, Confession, Last Rites) had been preserved through the rift between Rome and England.

While the Anglican Separatists (now called Pilgrims or Puritans) held that marriage was instituted by God between a man and a woman, they felt it was a civil matter.

Read that again: Marriage is a civil matter

Civil, as in secular, not something the church has control over.

Think about that. Who issues marriage license today? An ostensibly secular authority, the US Government. And if it's issued by a secular authority, Religion should have no say in denying it to non-related adults who don't fit their religious requirments of color and gender.

For more on what the early settlers of Plymouth believed, take a look at this partial copy of one of the works of it's religious leader, John Robinson:

http://www.pilgrimhall.org/robinson.htm

Comments

[sirchristian.livejournal.com]

Dear, I'll tip my hat to you. I very much enjoy reading the articles and writings you put in your journal. Thank you for promoting thought. Take care.