111-521: The Philadelphians , or the Philadelphian Society , were a 17th-century English dissenter group. They were organized around John Pordage (1607–1681), an Anglican priest from Bradfield, Berkshire , who had been ejected from his parish in 1655 because of differing views, but then reinstated in 1660 during the English Restoration . Pordage was attracted to the ideas of Jakob Böhme ,
222-453: A Lutheran theosophist and Christian mystic . A group of followers came to Pordage, including Ann Bathurst and led by Mrs. Jane Leade (1624–1704), who experienced a number of visions and later published them in her book A Fountain of Gardens . The group incorporated as The Philadelphian Society for the Advancement of Piety and Divine Philosophy in 1694 (their name was inspired by
333-469: A "uniformitie throughout this colony both in substance and circumstance to the cannons and constitution of the Church of England." The colonists were typically uninterested during church services according to the ministers, who complained that the people were not paying attention. The lack of towns meant the church had to serve scattered settlements, while the acute shortage of trained ministers meant that piety
444-550: A Grindletonian, and simultaneously in New England John Winthrop thought that Anne Hutchinson was one. The last known Grindletonian died in the 1680s. The Levellers was a political movement during the English Civil War that emphasised popular sovereignty , extended suffrage , equality before the law and religious tolerance . Levellers tended to hold a notion of "natural rights" that had been violated by
555-472: A bishop or a large institutional church of the sort Blair wanted. The stress on personal piety opened the way for the First Great Awakening , which pulled people away from the established church. The Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, and other evangelicals challenged behavior they saw as immoral and created a male leadership role that followed principles they saw as Christian and became dominant in
666-445: A charter from Charles I in 1632 for the territory between Pennsylvania and Virginia. This Maryland charter offered no guidelines on religion, although it was assumed that Catholics would not be persecuted in the new colony. His son Lord Baltimore , was a Catholic who inherited the grant for Maryland from his father and was in charge 1630–1645. In 1634, Lord Baltimore's two ships, the Ark and
777-519: A debt owed by Charles II to his father into a charter for the province of Pennsylvania , many more Quakers were prepared to grasp the opportunity to live in a land where they might worship freely. By 1685, as many as 8,000 Quakers had come to Pennsylvania from England, Wales, and Ireland. Although the Quakers may have resembled the Puritans in some religious beliefs and practices, they differed with them over
888-611: A government independent of England's control (albeit, a temporary government) which could be thought of as a predecessor to the non-temporary Declaration of Independence. Early immigrants to the American colonies were motivated largely by the desire to worship freely in their own fashion, particularly after the English Civil War , but also religious wars and disputes in France and Germany. They included numerous nonconformists such as
999-474: A large portion of those living on reservations. The Navajo, the largest and most isolated tribe, resisted missionary overtures until Pentecostal revivalism attracted their support after 1950. The New England colonies were settled partially by English who faced religious persecution . They were conceived and established "as plantations of religion." Some settlers who arrived in these areas came for secular motives—"to catch fish" as one New Englander put it—but
1110-568: A leader in the movement for a congregational form of organisation for the Church of England and attempted to set up a separate Congregational Church in Norwich , Norfolk, England. He was arrested but released on the advice of William Cecil , his kinsman. Browne and his companions moved to Middelburg in the Netherlands in 1581. He returned to England in 1585 and to the Church of England, being employed as
1221-499: A major role in keeping the early Traskite congregations growing in numbers. Sunday Sabbatarianism became the normative view within the Church of England in one form or another. The Puritans were known to harbour First-day Sabbatarian views , which became well established in their successive Congregationalist Church , in addition to becoming entrenched in the Continental Reformed and Presbyterian churches, all of which belong to
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#17328451728081332-436: A new church established by Christ upon his return could possess his grace and power to change them within. Their anticipation of this event was found in their practices. For example, Seekers held quiet meetings as opposed to more programmed religious services and as such had no clergy or hierarchy. During these gatherings they would wait in silence and speak only when they felt that God had inspired them to do so. Seekers denied
1443-610: A new organisation but for profound theological reform for the existing churches. At the end of his life, he endured a rare Swedish heresy inquiry by the Swedish Lutheran Consistory. He died before it was concluded, and the Consistory shelved the inquiry without reaching a decision. Swedenborg's primary critiques of orthodox theology centred on the tri-personal constructions of the Trinity, the idea of salvation by faith alone , and
1554-464: A person was a formal member of the denomination. Blank means that there is no data available for a given year. All of the percentages here are rounded to the nearest percent , so 0% could mean any percentage less than 0.5%. This decline in Protestant immigration has corresponded to the relaxation of immigration restrictions pertaining to mostly non-Protestant countries. The percentage of Catholics in
1665-641: A personal God, and in many ways they resemble the Brethren of the Free Spirit in the 14th century. The Ranters revived the Brethren of the Free Spirit's beliefs of amoralism and followed the Brethren's ideals which "stressed the desire to surpass the human condition and become godlike". Further drawing from the Brethren of the Free Spirit, the Ranters embraced antinomianism and believed that Christians are freed by grace from
1776-449: A schoolmaster and parish priest. The Diggers were an English group of Protestant agrarian communists , begun by Gerrard Winstanley as True Levellers in 1649, who became known as Diggers due to their activities. Their original name came from their belief in economic equality based upon a specific passage in the Book of Acts . The Diggers tried (by "levelling" real property ) to reform
1887-425: A state of divine grace into a state of sin and suffering, that the forces of evil included fallen angels who had rebelled against God, and subsequently that God's goal was to restore the world to a state of grace. However, in some ways, Behmenist belief deviated significantly from traditional Lutheran belief. For example, Böhme rejected the concepts of sola fide and sola gratia . By 1580, Robert Browne had become
1998-529: A wide-reaching Protestant Reformation of the established Church of England, and they flourished briefly during the Protectorate under Oliver Cromwell . King James I had said "no bishop, no king", emphasising the role of the clergy in justifying royal legitimacy. Cromwell capitalised on that phrase, abolishing both upon founding the Commonwealth of England . After the restoration of the monarchy in 1660,
2109-417: Is to bring the world to an end. Muggletonians avoided all forms of worship or preaching and, in the past, met only for discussion and socialising amongst members. The movement was egalitarian, apolitical, and pacifist, and resolutely avoided evangelism . Members attained a degree of public notoriety by cursing those who reviled their faith. The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in
2220-638: The American Revolution . Many of the Founding Fathers were active in a local Protestant church; some of them had deist sentiments, such as Thomas Jefferson , Benjamin Franklin , and George Washington . Some researchers and authors have referred to the United States as a " Protestant nation" or "founded on Protestant principles," specifically emphasizing its Calvinist heritage. Others stress
2331-697: The Bible at home, which effectively decentralized the means of informing the public on religious manners and was akin to the individualistic trends present in Europe during the Reformation . The fundamental premise of evangelicalism is the conversion of individuals from a state of sin to a " new birth " through preaching of the Bible leading to faith . The First Great Awakening led to changes in American colonial society. In New England,
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#17328451728082442-701: The Cathari of France, and according to Thomas Fuller in his Church History, dated back to 1564. Archbishop Matthew Parker used "puritan" and "precisian" with the sense of stickler . T. D. Bozeman therefore uses instead the term precisianist in regard to the historical groups of England and New England . The Philadelphians, or the Philadelphian Society , were a Protestant 17th-century religious group in England. They were organised around John Pordage , an Anglican priest from Bradfield , Berkshire, who had been ejected from his parish in 1655 because of differing views, but
2553-507: The Dove , sailed with the first 200 settlers to Maryland. They included two Catholic priests. Lord Baltimore assumed that religion was a private matter. He rejected the need for an established church, guaranteed liberty of conscience to all Christians, and embraced pluralism. Catholic fortunes fluctuated in Maryland during the rest of the 17th century, as they became an increasingly smaller minority of
2664-598: The Lenape prophets, Scattamek and Neolin , who predicted a coming apocalypse that would destroy the European-American settlers. Tenskwatawa urged the tribes to reject the ways of the Americans: to give up firearms, liquor, and American-style clothing, to pay traders only half the value of their debts, and to refrain from ceding any more lands to the United States. The revival led to warfare led by his brother Tecumseh against
2775-523: The Lord's Day (Sunday), the Seventh-day Sabbatarians challenged the church's day of rest being on Sunday rather than Saturday . Some Dutch Anabaptists embraced Sabbatarianism and may have helped to introduce these practices into England. In England, Seventh-day Sabbatarianism is generally associated with John Traske (1585–1636), Theophilus Brabourne , and Dorothy Traske (c. 1585–1645), who also played
2886-599: The New Netherlands had also established the Dutch Reformed Church and outlawed all other worship, although enforcement by the Dutch West India Company in the last years of the colony was sparse. Part of the reason for establishment was financial: the established Church was responsible for poor relief , and dissenting churches would therefore have a significant advantage. There were also opponents to
2997-459: The Philadelphians mentioned in the Book of Revelation ). They rejected the idea of being a church, preferring the term society, and none of the members ceased their memberships in existing churches. Together, the group held views that were somewhat similar to Panentheism , regarding the belief in the presence of God in all things, and with a Nondualist component, in that they also believed
3108-650: The Puritans and the Pilgrims , as well as Catholics (in Baltimore ). Despite a common background, the groups' views on broader religious toleration were mixed. While some notable examples such as Roger Williams of Rhode Island and William Penn ensured the protection of religious minorities within their colonies, others such as the Plymouth Colony and Massachusetts Bay Colony had established churches. The Dutch colony of
3219-677: The Reformed tradition of Christianity . Additionally, the Moravian, Methodist, and Quaker denominations teach Sunday Sabbatarian views. The Seekers were not a distinct religion or sect but instead formed a loose religious society. Like other Protestant dissenting groups, they believed the Roman Catholic Church to be corrupt, which subsequently applied to the Church of England as well through its common heritage. Seekers considered all churches and denominations to be in error and believed that only
3330-604: The episcopacy was reinstalled, and the rights of the Dissenters were limited: the Act of Uniformity 1662 required Anglican ordination for all clergy, and many instead withdrew from the state church. These ministers and their followers came to be known as Nonconformists , though originally this term referred to refusal to use certain vestments and ceremonies of the Church of England, rather than separation from it. Certain denominations of Dissenter Christians gained prominence throughout
3441-519: The established church as too Catholic , but did not agree on what should be done about it. Some separatists emigrated to the New World , especially to the Thirteen Colonies and Canada . Brownists founded the Plymouth Colony . English dissenters played a pivotal role in the spiritual development of the United States and greatly diversified the religious landscape. They originally agitated for
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3552-528: The new birth . The Great Awakening, which had spent its force in New England by the mid-1740s, split the Congregational and Presbyterian churches into supporters—called " New Lights " and " New Side "—and opponents—the "Old Lights" and "Old Side." Many New England New Lights became Separate Baptists . Largely through the efforts of a charismatic preacher from New England named Shubal Stearns and paralleled by
3663-401: The vicarious atonement . He revived an allegorical tradition of reading scripture, which he believed was composed in correspondences. He believed in a theory of symbolic values in the literal text, which could produce an inner sense wherein the individual could ascertain the new theology. [REDACTED] Media related to English Dissenters at Wikimedia Commons History of religion in
3774-436: The 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Queen Elizabeth I in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England. The designation "Puritan" is often used incorrectly, based on the assumption that hedonism and puritanism are antonyms: historically, the word was used to characterise the Protestant group as extremists similar to
3885-657: The 19th century. Baptists, German Lutherans and Presbyterians funded their own ministers, and favored disestablishment of the Anglican church. The dissenters grew much faster than the established church, making religious division a factor in Virginia politics into the Revolution. The Patriots, led by Thomas Jefferson, disestablished the Anglican Church in 1786. Against a prevailing view that 18th-century Americans had not perpetuated
3996-651: The Archdiocese of Baltimore in Catholic circles. However, at the time of the American Revolution , Catholics formed less than one percent of the white population of the thirteen states. Religiously, the Catholics were characterized by personalism, discipline, and a prayer life that was essentially personal, demanding only a small role for priests and none for bishops. Ritualism was important, and focused on daily prayers, Sunday Mass, and observance of two dozen holy days. Virginia
4107-594: The Baptist bodies. Baptist historian Bruce Gourley outlines four main views of Baptist origins: Henry Barrowe maintained the right and duty of the church to carry out necessary reforms without awaiting the permission of the civil power; and advocated congregational independence. He regarded the whole established church order as polluted by the relics of Roman Catholicism and insisted on separation as essential to pure worship and discipline. The Behmenists religious movement began on continental Europe and took its ideas from
4218-502: The Church of England was corrupt. However, Separatists believed that nothing more could be done to purify England itself. Separatists were persecuted, and their religion was outlawed in England, so they resolved to form a pure church of their own. One group of these, the Pilgrims, left England for America in 1620, originally settling in Plymouth, Massachusetts. These are the settlers who founded
4329-657: The Congregational church with ministers including Jonathan Edwards . The first new Congregational Church in the Massachusetts Colony during the great awakening period, was in 1731 at Uxbridge and called the Rev. Nathan Webb as its Pastor. By the 1730s, they had spread into what was interpreted as a general outpouring of the Spirit that bathed the American colonies, England, Wales, and Scotland. In mass open-air revivals, preachers like George Whitefield brought thousands of people to
4440-687: The Dutch ship, St. Catrina. These records were kept by Jan Pietersz Ketel who was a skipper aboard the Peereboom, which was an Amsterdam ship that arrived near the same time as the St. Catrina. According to Jan Pietersz Ketel, 23 Jewish refugees , fleeing persecution in Dutch Brazil , arrived in New Amsterdam (soon to become New York City) in 1654. By the next year, this small community had established religious services in
4551-463: The Family of Love, and re-marriage after the death of a spouse could only take place between men and women of the same Familist congregation. Additionally, they would not discuss their ideas and opinions with outsiders and sought to remain undetected by ordinary members of society: they tended to be members of an established church so as not to attract suspicion and showed respect for authority. The group
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4662-664: The Great Awakening made relationship with God intensely personal to the average person. Historian Sydney E. Ahlstrom sees it as part of a "great international Protestant upheaval" that also created Pietism in Germany, the Evangelical Revival and Methodism in England. It brought Christianity to enslaved people and was an apocalyptic event in New England that challenged established church authority. It resulted in division between
4773-638: The Great Awakening was influential among many Congregationalists . In the Middle and Southern colonies, especially in the "Backcountry" regions, the Awakening was influential among Presbyterians . In the South Baptist and Methodist preachers converted both whites and enslaved Blacks. During the first decades of the 18th century, in the Connecticut River Valley , a series of local "awakenings" began in
4884-720: The Interregnum, the Baptists and other dissenting groups absorbed the British Anabaptists. Despite this, evidence suggests that the early relations between Baptists and Anabaptists were quite strained. In 1624, the five existing Baptist churches of London issued an anathema against the Anabaptists. Even today there is still very little dialogue between Anabaptist organisations (such as the Mennonite World Conference ) and
4995-471: The Interregnum. They took their name from a prophecy in the Book of Daniel that four ancient monarchies (Babylonian, Persian, Macedonian, and Roman) would precede Christ's return. They also referred to the year 1666 and its relationship to the biblical Number of the Beast indicating the end of earthly rule by carnal human beings. In a sermon preached at St Paul's Cross on 11 February 1627, and published under
5106-455: The New Birth, as well as after Entire Sanctification. The early Methodists were known by careful lifestyle, including wearing of plain dress , fasting on Fridays , devout observance of the Lord's Day , and abstinence from alcohol . The Muggletonians , named after Lodowicke Muggleton , were a small Protestant Christian movement which began in 1651 when two London tailors announced they were
5217-525: The New Side Presbyterians (who were eventually reunited on their own terms with the Old Side), they carried the Great Awakening into the southern colonies, igniting a series of the revivals that lasted well into the 19th century. The supporters of the Awakening and its evangelical thrust—Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists—became the largest American Protestant denominations by the first decades of
5328-559: The Puritans by persistently returning to their jurisdictions risked capital punishment , a penalty imposed on the Boston martyrs , four Quakers , between 1659 and 1661. Reflecting on the 17th century's intolerance, Thomas Jefferson was unwilling to concede to Virginians any moral superiority to the Puritans. Beginning in 1659, Virginia enacted anti-Quaker laws, including the death penalty for refractory Quakers. Jefferson surmised that "if no capital execution took place here, as did in New England, it
5439-451: The Quakers carry to extremes many Puritan convictions. Historians in support of the Puritan classification of Quakers argue that Quakers stretch the sober deportment of the Puritans into a glorification of "plainness." Theologically, they expanded the Puritan concept of a church of individuals regenerated by the Holy Spirit to the idea of the indwelling of the Spirit or the "Light of Christ" in every person. Such teaching struck many of
5550-433: The Quakers' contemporaries as dangerous heresy . Quakers were severely persecuted in England for daring to deviate so far from orthodox Christianity. By 1680, 10,000 Quakers had been imprisoned in England and 243 had died of torture and mistreatment in jail. This persecution impelled Friends to seek refuge in Rhode Island in the 1670s, where they soon became well entrenched. In 1681, when Quaker leader William Penn parlayed
5661-474: The Society of the Woman in the Wilderness (led by Johannes Kelpius ), the Ephrata Cloister , and the Harmony Society , among others. English dissenter English Dissenters or English Separatists were Protestants who separated from the Church of England in the 17th and 18th centuries. English Dissenters opposed state interference in religious matters and founded their own churches, educational establishments and communities. They tended to see
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#17328451728085772-427: The Swedenborgian enthusiasts became disillusioned with the prospects for thorough Swedenborgian theological reform within their respective traditions. These left those churches to form the General Conference of the New Jerusalem, often called simply the New Church. Other Swedenborgian converts, such as Anglican John Clowes and Thomas Hartley, argued for remaining within existing traditions. Swedenborg did not call for
5883-550: The US has dramatically increased from 2% to 13%. The number of Americans unsure about their religion and religious beliefs has stayed roughly the same over the years, always hovering at 0% to 4%. Over the last 19 years, some of the more traditional Protestant denominations and branches experienced a large decline as a percentage of the total American population. These include Southern Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and other Protestants. The only Protestant category that significantly increased its percentage share over
5994-402: The United States Religion in the United States began with the religions and spiritual practices of Native Americans . Later, religion also played a role in the founding of some colonies , as many colonists, such as the Puritans , came to escape religious persecution . Historians debate how much influence religion, specifically Christianity and more specifically Protestantism , had on
6105-602: The United States , though the Catholic Church is technically the largest individual religious denomination in the United States if Protestantism is divided into its various denominations instead of being counted as a single religious grouping. Overall, roughly 43% of Americans identify as Protestants, with 20% identifying as Catholics, 4% identifying with various other Christian groups such as Mormonism , Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Oriental Orthodox Christianity , and Jehovah's Witnesses ; and 2% identifying as Jewish. Hindus , Buddhists , and Muslims account for 1% each of
6216-554: The United States increased from 1948 all the way to the 1980s, but then began declining again. The percentage of Jews in the United States has decreased from 4% to 2% during this same time period. There has been very little Jewish immigration to the US after 1948 in comparison to previous years. The number of people with other religions was almost nonexistent in 1948, but rose to 5% by 2011, partially due to large immigration from non-Christian countries. The percentage of non-religious people ( atheists , agnostics , and irreligious people) in
6327-536: The acts of justification , regeneration , and adoption . In the second work of grace, which Wesley taught could be bestowed instantaneously, the believer is made perfect in love, original sin is uprooted, and he/she is empowered to serve God with an undivided heart. Wesley taught that those who receive the New Birth do not willfully sin. Additionally, he taught that the second blessing—entire sanctification—was "wrought instantaneously, though it may be approached by slow and gradual steps". Growth in grace occurs after
6438-553: The city. Around 1677, a group of Sephardim had arrived in Newport, Rhode Island , also seeking religious liberty and, by 1678, they had purchased land in Newport. Small numbers of Jews continued to come to the British North American colonies, settling mainly in the seaport towns. By the late 18th century, Jewish settlers had established several synagogues . The Religious Society of Friends formed in England in 1652 around leader George Fox . Recently, church historians have debated whether Quakers may be regarded as radical Puritans since
6549-447: The demand for prohibition of liquor was especially strong. After 1970, the mainline Protestant denominations (such as Methodists, Presbyterians and Episcopalians) lost membership and influence. The more conservative Protestant evangelical , fundamentalist , and charismatic denominations (such as the Southern Baptists) grew rapidly until the 1990s and helped form the Religious Right in politics. Though Protestantism has always been
6660-427: The development of the English Presbyterians, the English Unitarians and the Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland . In the 18th century, one group of Dissenters became known as "Rational Dissenters". In many respects they were closer to the Anglicanism of their day than other Dissenting sects; however, they believed that state religions impinged on the freedom of conscience . They were fiercely opposed to
6771-464: The economic advantages of Pennsylvania as well as the religious liberty available there. The appearance in Pennsylvania of so many religious groups made the province resemble "an asylum for banished sects." For their political opposition, Catholics were harassed and had largely been stripped of their civil rights since the reign of Queen Elizabeth I . Driven by "the sacred duty of finding a refuge for his Roman Catholic brethren", George Calvert obtained
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#17328451728086882-414: The effectiveness of external forms of religion such as the sacraments , water baptism and the Scriptures as a means of salvation . Many of them later became Quakers, convinced by the preaching of George Fox and other early Friends. The followers of Socinianism were Unitarian or Nontrinitarian in theology and influenced by the Polish Brethren . The Socinians of 17th century England influenced
6993-499: The existing social order with an agrarian lifestyle based on their ideas for the creation of small egalitarian rural communities. They were one of several nonconformist dissenting groups that emerged around this time. Several Protestant sects of the 16th and 17th centuries were called Enthusiastic. During the years that immediately followed the Glorious Revolution , "enthusiasm" was a British pejorative term for advocacy of any political or religious cause in public. Such "enthusiasm"
7104-402: The experience of regeneration ; 5) an impulse to gather with others who had had this experience; 6) mission to those who had not yet had this experience. Additionally, Fox taught the doctrine of perfection —"spiritual intimacy with God and Christ, entailing an ability to resist sin and temptation". The Plymouth Brethren originated in Dublin in 1827. The Ranters were a sect in
7215-441: The first Puritans in America who were called such have arrived between 1629 and 1640 and settled in New England, specifically the Massachusetts Bay area. These did not consider themselves completely separated from the English Church, however, and originally believed that they would one day return to purify England. Puritans are often confused with a distinct, but similar sect of Protestants, called Separatists, who also believed that
7326-512: The first settlers' passionate commitment to their faith, scholars now identify a high level of religious energy in colonies after 1700. According to one expert, Judeo-Christian faith was in the "ascension rather than the declension"; another sees a "rising vitality in religious life" from 1700 onward; a third finds religion in many parts of the colonies in a state of "feverish growth." Figures on church attendance and church formation support these opinions. Between 1700 and 1740, an estimated 75–80% of
7437-407: The forms of oral histories, stories, allegories and principles, and rely on face to face teaching in one's family and community. From time to time important religious leaders organized revivals. In Indiana in 1805, Tenskwatawa (called the Shanee Prophet by Americans) led a religious revival following a smallpox epidemic and a series of witch-hunts. His beliefs were based on the earlier teachings of
7548-410: The great majority left Europe to worship in the way they believed to be correct. They supported the efforts of their leaders to create "a City upon a Hill " or a "holy experiment," whose success would prove that God's plan could be successfully realized in the American wilderness. Puritanism was not a religion of its own, but rather was a movement, started in England, to reform Protestantism. However,
7659-530: The heart". The Familia Caritatis ("Family of Love", or the "Familists") were a religious sect that began in continental Europe in the 16th century. Members of this religious group were devout followers of Dutch mystic Hendrik Niclaes . The Familists believed that Niclaes was the only person who truly knew how to achieve a state of perfection, and his texts attracted followers in Germany, France, and England. The Familists were secretive and wary of outsiders. For example, they wished death upon those outside of
7770-492: The hierarchical structure of the established church and the financial ties between it and the government. Like moderate Anglicans, they desired an educated ministry and an orderly church, but they based their opinions on the Bible and on reason rather than on appeals to tradition and authority. They rejected doctrines such as the original sin or Trinity , arguing that they were irrational. Rational Dissenters believed that Christianity and faith could be dissected and evaluated using
7881-426: The history of the United States, while the so-called " Protestant work ethic " has long held influence over American society, politics, and work culture. In the late 19th and early 20th century, most major American Protestant denominations started overseas missionary activity. The " Mainline Protestant " denominations promoted the " Social Gospel " in the early 20th century, calling on Americans to reform their society;
7992-553: The king's side in the civil wars. At the Putney Debates in 1647, Colonel Thomas Rainsborough defended natural rights as coming from the law of God expressed in the Bible. Methodism arose as a movement started by Anglican priest John Wesley , who taught two works of grace— (1) the New Birth and (2) entire sanctification . In the first work of grace, individuals repent of their sin and embrace Jesus as their saviour, accomplishing
8103-702: The last 19 years is non-denominational Protestantism. Native American religions are the spiritual practices of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas . Traditional Native American ceremonial ways can vary widely, and are based on the differing histories and beliefs of individual tribes, clans and bands. Early European explorers describe individual Native American tribes and even small bands as each having their own religious practices. Theology may be monotheistic , polytheistic , henotheistic , animistic , or some combination thereof. Traditional beliefs are usually passed down in
8214-490: The last prophets foretold in the biblical Book of Revelation . The group grew out of the Ranters and in opposition to the Quakers. Muggletonian beliefs include a hostility to philosophical reason, a scriptural understanding of how the universe works, and a belief that God appeared directly on Earth as Christ Jesus. A consequential belief is that God takes no notice of everyday events on Earth and will not generally intervene until it
8325-493: The necessity of compelling religious uniformity in society. During the main years of German emigration to Pennsylvania in the mid-18th century, most of the emigrants were Lutherans, Reformed, or members of small sects— Mennonites , Amish , Dunkers , Moravians , and Schwenkfelders . The great majority became farmers. The colony was owned by William Penn , a leading Quaker, and his agents encouraged German emigration to Pennsylvania by circulating promotional literature touting
8436-569: The necessity of obeying Mosaic Law . Because they believed that God is present in all living creatures, the Ranters' adherence to antinomianism allowed them to reject the very notion of obedience, thus making them a great threat to the stability of the government. Sabbatarians were known in England from the time of Elizabeth I. Access to the Bible in English allowed anyone who could read English to study scripture and question church doctrines. While First-day Sabbatarians supported practices that hallowed
8547-479: The need for uniformity of religion in the state. Once in control in New England, they sought to break "the very neck of Schism and vile opinions." The "business" of the first settlers, a Puritan minister recalled in 1681, "was not Toleration, but [they] were professed enemies of it." Puritans expelled dissenters from their colonies, a fate that in 1636 befell Roger Williams and in 1638 Anne Hutchinson , America's first major female religious leader. Those who defied
8658-538: The new revivalists and the old traditionalists who insisted on ritual and doctrine. The new style of sermons and the way people practiced their faith changed Christian faith in America. People became passionately and emotionally involved in their relationship with God, rather than passively listening to intellectual discourse. Ministers who used this new style of preaching were generally called "new lights", while preachers who did not were called "old lights". People began to study
8769-563: The newly emerging discipline of science, and that a stronger belief in God would be the result. A tradition that emerged at the end of the 18th century is the Swedenborgian church , which continues today in several branches around the world. It originated in London in 1780. Beginning as groups reading Emanuel Swedenborg , whose members were composed largely of Methodists, Baptists, and Anglicans, some of
8880-500: The number of Catholics substantially while also fomenting an increase in virulent American anti-Catholicism . At the same time, these immigration waves also brought a great number of Jewish and Eastern Orthodox immigrants to the United States. Protestantism in general (i.e. all of the Protestant denominations combined) remains by far the predominant and largest form of religion and the dominant and predominant form of Christianity in
8991-719: The official census data after 1850, and Atlas for 1776, to estimate the number of Americans who were adherents to a specific denomination. In 1776, their estimate is 17%. In the late 19th century, 1850–1890, the rate increased from 34% to 45%. From 1890 –1952, the rate grew from 45% to 59%. According to the Pew Research Center the percentage of Protestants in the United States has decreased from over two-thirds in 1948 to less than half by 2012 with 48% of Americans identifying as Protestant. The data here comes from Gallup , which has polled Americans annually about their denominational preferences since 1948. Gallup did not ask whether
9102-417: The plain, modest buildings in newly settled rural areas to elegant edifices in the prosperous cities on the eastern seaboard. Churches reflected the customs and traditions as well as the wealth and social status of the denominations that built them. German churches contained features unknown in English ones. Deism is a philosophical and religious position that posits that God does not interfere directly with
9213-410: The population attended churches, which were being built at a headlong pace. By 1780, the percentage of adult colonists who adhered to a church was between 10 and 30%, not counting slaves or Native Americans. North Carolina had the lowest percentage at about 4%, while New Hampshire and South Carolina were tied for the highest, at about 16%. Church buildings in 18th-century America varied greatly, from
9324-400: The population currently declaring themselves " unaffiliated ", either in regard to a religion in general or to an organized religion . Religion in the United States (2019) The US census has never asked Americans directly about their religion or religious beliefs, but it did compile statistics from each denomination starting in 1945. Finke and Stark conducted a statistical analysis of
9435-509: The population. As Western Europe secularized in the late 20th century, the United States largely resisted the trend, so that, by the 21st century, the US was one of the most strongly Christian of all major Western nations. Religiously-based moral positions on issues such as abortion and homosexuality played a hotly debated role in American politics . However, the United States has dramatically and rapidly secularized in recent years, with around 26% of
9546-464: The population. After the Glorious Revolution of 1689 in England, the Church of England was legally established in the colony and English penal laws, which deprived Catholics of the right to vote, hold office, or worship publicly, were enforced. Maryland's first state constitution in 1776 restored the freedom of religion. Maryland law remained a major center, as exemplified by the pre-eminence of
9657-533: The predominant and majority form of Christianity in the United States, the nation has had a small but significant Catholic population from its founding, and as the United States expanded into areas of North America that had been part of the Catholic Spanish and French empires, that population increased. Later, immigration waves in the mid to late 19th and 20th century brought immigrants from Catholic countries, further increasing Catholic diversity and augmenting
9768-570: The presence of the Holy Spirit exists in each and everyone's soul , and that one can become enlightened and illuminated by living a virtuous life and seeking truth through the wisdom of God . Leade's visions were a central part of the group. Around 1694, she became a Christian Universalist , rejecting the "Doctrine that hath been preached of an endless Misery and Torment" which had "wrought little effect in frightening or terrifying 'em from their evil Courses." She believed that punishment after death
9879-461: The puritan concept of justification-by-faith emphasized the personal values of the individual. Moreover, their physical break from the Church of England (although they did not consider themselves fully separate) proves their independence. The Pilgrims may have had an influence as well. In fact, upon their first arrival in America, the Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact, a document which set up
9990-658: The reasons most cited is that they became less committed to their religion. Also, while there is some disagreement on an exact end point, most sources agree that puritanism had declined by the beginning of the 18th century. Puritans valued, among other things, soberness, diligence, education, and responsibility. They believed in predestination and were intolerant of all that they considered impure, including, but not limited to, Catholicism. While they intended to purify England, they nevertheless chose their ministers and members independently. Puritan values may have had some influence on American ideals, such as individualism. For example,
10101-449: The salary of the minister. There was never a bishop in colonial Virginia, and in practice the local vestry consisted of laymen who controlled the parish and handled local taxes, roads and poor relief. When the elected assembly, the House of Burgesses , was established in 1619, it enacted religious laws that made Virginia highly favor Anglicanism. It passed a law in 1632 requiring that there be
10212-676: The secular character of the American Revolution and note the secular character of the nation's founding documents. Protestantism in the United States , as the largest and dominant form of religion in the country, has been profoundly influential to the history and culture of the United States. African Americans were very active in forming their own Protestant churches , most of them Baptist or Methodist , and giving their ministers both moral and political leadership roles. The group often known as " White Anglo-Saxon Protestants " have dominated American society, culture, and politics for most of
10323-447: The support of any established church even at the state level. In 1773, Isaac Backus , a prominent Baptist minister in New England , observed that when "church and state are separate, the effects are happy, and they do not at all interfere with each other: but where they have been confounded together, no tongue nor pen can fully describe the mischiefs that have ensued." Thomas Jefferson's influential Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom
10434-472: The time of the Commonwealth who were regarded as heretical by the established Church of that period. Their central idea was pantheistic , that God is essentially in every creature; this led them to deny the authority of the church, of scripture, of the current ministry and of services, instead calling on men to hearken to Jesus within them. Many Ranters seem to have rejected a belief in immortality and in
10545-473: The title "The White Wolfe " in 1627, Stephen Denison, minister of St Katharine Cree in London, charged the 'Gringltonian [ sic ] familists ' with holding nine points of an antinomian tendency. These nine points are repeated from Denison by Ephraim Pagit in 1645 and Alexander Ross in 1655. In 1635 John Webster , curate at Kildwick in North Yorkshire , was charged before a church court with being
10656-466: The tradition of Thanksgiving in America. They are also the group that many people attempt to pay homage to by dressing in dull colors and buckled hats. However, the Pilgrims did not actually dress as such. Together, the Pilgrims and the Puritans helped to form the Massachusetts Bay Colony. While it is difficult to define a distinct time that Puritanism ended or a reason why it ended, one of
10767-626: The trials were a mistake and tried to help the families of the convicted members. In the winter of 1636, former Puritan leader Roger Williams was expelled from Massachusetts. He argued for freedom of religion, writing "God requireth not an uniformity of Religion to be inacted and enforced in any civill state." Williams later founded Rhode Island on the principle of religious freedom. He welcomed people of religious belief, even some he regarded as dangerously misguided, because he believed that "forced worship stinks in God's nostrils." The first record of Jews in America cites their origin as passengers aboard
10878-557: The white settlers. Native Americans were the target of extensive Christian missionary activity. Catholics launched Jesuit Missions amongst the Huron and the Spanish missions in California ) and various Protestant denominations. Numerous Protestant denominations were active. By the late 19th century, most Native Americans integrated into American society generally have become Christians, along with
10989-522: The world, including the Anabaptists , Baptists , Methodists , Plymouth Brethren , Puritans ( Congregationalists ) and Quakers . In existence during the English Interregnum (1649–1660): Anabaptist (literally, "baptised again") was a term given to those Reformation Christians who rejected the notion of infant baptism in favour of believer's baptism . It is generally assumed that during
11100-458: The world. These views gained some adherents in America in the late 18th century. Deism of that era "accepted the existence of a creator on the basis of reason but rejected belief in a supernatural deity who interacts with humankind." A form of deism, Christian deism , stressed morality and rejected the orthodox Christian view of the divinity of Christ , often viewing him as a sublime, but entirely human, teacher of morality. The most prominent Deist
11211-574: The writings of Jakob Böhme ( Behmen being one of the adaptations of his name used in England), a German mystic and theosopher who claimed divine revelation . In the 1640s his works appeared in England, and English Behmenists developed. Eventually, some of these merged with the Quakers of the time. Böhme's writings primarily concerned the nature of sin , evil and redemption . Consistent with Lutheran theology, Böhme believed that humanity had fallen from
11322-483: Was Thomas Paine , but many other founders reflected Deist language in their writings. In the American colonies the First Great Awakening was a wave of religious enthusiasm among Protestants that swept the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s, leaving a permanent impact on American Christianity. It resulted from preaching that deeply affected listeners (already church members) with a sense of personal guilt and salvation by Christ. Pulling away from ritual and ceremony,
11433-520: Was "none upon the earth" that could cure unbelief and sinfulness. The inward experience of Christ, confirmed by the Bible, was the foundation of the Religious Society of Friends. The following characterized the Quaker message: 1) an in-breaking of God's power; 2) a realization of how sinful the believer's life had been, how far it had fallen short; 3) the chance to repent and accept new life; 4)
11544-468: Was considered heretical in 16th-century England. Among their beliefs were that there existed a time before Adam and Eve ; Heaven and Hell were both present on Earth; and that all things were ruled by nature and not directed by God. The Familists continued to exist until the middle of the 17th century, when they were absorbed into the Quaker movement. The Fifth Monarchists or Fifth Monarchy Men were Nonconformists who were active from 1649 to 1661 during
11655-515: Was enacted in 1786, five years before the Bill of Rights . Most Anglican ministers, and many Anglicans outside the South, were Loyalists . The Anglican Church was disestablished during the Revolution, and following the separation from Britain was reorganized as the independent Episcopal Church . Although they were victims of religious persecution in Europe, the Puritans supported the theory that sanctioned it:
11766-459: Was hard to practice outside the home. Some ministers solved their problems by encouraging parishioners to become devout at home, using the Book of Common Prayer for private prayer and devotion (rather than the Bible). This allowed devout Anglicans to lead an active and sincere religious life apart from the unsatisfactory formal church services. However, the stress on private devotion weakened the need for
11877-462: Was not owing to the moderation of the church, or the spirit of the legislature." Puritans also began the Salem Witch trials, named after the city that they were held in, Salem, Massachusetts. Starting with seizures of the local reverend's daughter as well as her subsequent accusations, more than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft, and 20 were executed. The colony eventually realized that
11988-662: Was purgative, not punitive. The group's views were spread to continental Europe by Francis Lee , a non-juror at the accession of William III . The group drew up a formal confession of beliefs in 1703. However, after the death of Mrs. Leade in 1704, the group's numbers dwindled quickly. In later years, although no longer officially a functioning group, many of the Philadelphian Society's views and writings, particularly those by Leade, remained influential among certain groups of Behmenists , Pietists , Radical Pietists , Christian mystics , and Esoteric Christians , such as
12099-402: Was seen as the cause of the English Civil War and its attendant atrocities, and thus it was a social sin to remind others of the war by engaging in enthusiasm. During the 18th century, popular Methodists such as John Wesley and George Whitefield were accused of blind enthusiasm (i.e., fanaticism), a charge against which they defended themselves by distinguishing fanaticism from "religion of
12210-449: Was the largest, most populous and arguably most important colony. The Church of England was legally established; the bishop of London who had oversight of Anglican in the colonies made it a favorite missionary target and sent in 22 clergymen (in priestly orders) by 1624. In practice, establishment meant that local taxes were funneled through the local parish to handle the needs of local government, such as roads and poor relief, in addition to
12321-559: Was then reinstated in 1660 during the English Restoration. Pordage was attracted to the ideas of Jakob Böhme. The Quakers began as a loosely knit group of preachers, many of whom had previously been Seekers. George Fox 's journal attributes the name "Quaker" to a judge in 1650 calling them Quakers "because I bid them tremble before the Lord". George Fox, often regarded as the father of Quakerism, taught that apart from Christ himself, there
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