Who Were the Puritans?

I spent three years in one Presbyterian seminary and four years in another and in all that time I was never taught that before they were called Presbyterians they were called Puritans. This from the excellent iTunesU class (via Reformed Theological Seminary) on History and Theology of the Puritans taught by J.I. Packer. The term "puritan" was a put-down (like the word "Christians" in first century Antioch) so those first English reformers decided to change their brand and took on the name Presbyterian.

Unlike the Anglican church with its feudal hierarchy of bishops, priests, and deacons, the Puritans were more federal in their church administration. Puritans elected boards of elders to govern local churches and authority rested in the presbytery, a convocation of pastors and lay people from a geographic region.

The Puirtans wanted to purify (hence the name) the English Church of any vestige of Roman Catholicism. They abhorred the mass as re-sacrificing Christ over and over again. Without a sacrifice, the notion of priest became unnecessary. They simplified worship to remove anything not aligned with the New Testament. The preaching of the Word took central place in Puritan worship. Their Westminister Confession and Catechism became the standard of Reformed theology.

Dr. Packer observes the Puritans lost every political and ecclesiastical battle they waged. Indeed, many of the negative stereotypes we have of Puritans today come from the organized disparagements mounted by the Church of England. Presbyterianism died out in England although it took strong root in Scotland and by this route came to the Americas.

Many of the great English writers and thinkers were Puritans, including Milton, Bunyan, and Cranmer whose Prayerbook is still the standard of worship for Anglicans around the world.