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	John White's Christian faith - A Puritan

John White was a Puritan. 'Puritan' was a label. It said that a person interpreted the Christian faith in certain ways. There was no Puritan church, denomination or organisation. In fact, the term 'Puritan' was never rigorously defined at the time. It was rather like saying today that someone is a Fundamentalist : it refers to views and beliefs rather than an organisation.

Puritans wanted to change the Church of England. Most (including John White) wanted to do this from within. They wanted :

• No foreign or 'popish' practices
• Preaching rather than ceremony
• No status-ridden hierarchy
• A church for the people, run by the people
• The Bible, as God's Word, the arbiter of all things

They naturally objected to the 'Divine Right of Kings' claimed by Charles I. Politically, they sided with Parliament in its struggle against the king.

Puritans were generally pious, highly moral, uncompromising and studied the Bible conscientiously,. However, this still allowed a wide range of views :

• Extreme Puritans had narrow, extreme, severe interpretations of their beliefs. They tended to be exclusive and intolerant of people with different views. After all, it was a matter of eternal life and death, they knew what God wanted and anyone who disagreed was clearly wrong.
• Moderate Puritans were tolerant of many practices that they regarded as not essential to salvation. They tended to be inclusive and tolerant of other people, although condemning heresy (which included Roman Catholics). After all, it was a matter of life and death, they knew what God wanted and anyone who disagreed clearly needed to have their mind changed.

John White was a moderate Puritan. Many Puritans strongly opposed certain church practices (e.g. wearing surplices). However, John White refers to '...three innocent ceremonies as matters of external order imposed by authority to be observed with a good conscience and not worth a man's life and livelihood to oppose'. He also liked some singing in church (frowned on by many Puritans) and produced a collection 'David's Psalms in metre agreeable to the Hebrew to be sung in the usuall Tunes'. John White became more radical towards then end of his life, perhaps because of the civil and religious strife surrounding the Civil War in which sects and factions threatened to tear apart both church and state. However, even then he was not an extreme Puritan.

See the Bibliography for references to more information about Puritans.

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