Thus says the Lord: "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.
But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'" --Jeremiah 6:16

 

24 November, 2005   comments: (0) Church History   The First Thanksgiving: Who Were The Pilgrims? On this day we remember the hardship, faith, and accomplishment of that group of historic Christians known as "The Pilgrims". Who were they, and what were their beliefs? In autumn of 1621 a group of 51 Pilgrims gathered for a feast we now popularly regard as the "First Thanksgiving", among them were 4 married women, 5 adolescent girls, 8 adolescent boys, 13 young children, and 21 men. Dr. C. Matthew McMahon of APuritansMind.com tells us: The Pilgrims left Plymouth, England, on September 6, 1620, sailing for a new world that offered the promise of both civil and religious liberty. The Pilgrims had earlier left England in 1608, as the Church of England had curtailed their freedom to worship according to their individual consciences. The Pilgrims had settled in Holland for twelve years, where they found spiritual liberty in the midst of a disjointed economy (which failed to provide adequate compensation for their labors) and a dissolute, degraded, corrupt culture (which tempted their children to stray from faith). For almost three months, 102 seafarers braved harsh elements to arrive off the coast of what is now Massachusetts, in late November of 1620. On December 11, prior to disembarking at Plymouth Rock, they signed the "Mayflower Compact," America's original document of civil government and the first to introduce self-government. While still anchored at Provincetown harbor, their Pastor John Robinson counseled, "You are become a body politic ... and are to have only them for your... governors which yourselves shall make choice of." . . . Upon landing in America, the Pilgrims conducted a prayer service, then quickly turned to building shelters. Starvation and sickness during the ensuing New England winter killed almost half their population, but through prayer and hard work, with the assistance of their Indian friends, the Pilgrims reaped a rich harvest in the summer of 1621. [read more] Loraine Boettner explains the specific beliefs of the Pilgrims and America's earliest settlers: Calvinism came to America in the Mayflower, and Bancroft, the greatest of American historians, pronounces the Pilgrim Fathers "Calvinists in their faith according to the straightest system." John Endicott, the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; John Winthrop, the second governor of that Colony; Thomas Hooker, the founder of Connecticut; John Davenport, the founder of the New Haven Colony; and Roger Williams, the founder of the Rhode Island Colony, were all Calvinists. William Penn was a disciple of the [Calvinist] Huguenots. It is estimated that of the 3,000,000 Americans at the time of the American Revolution, 900,000 were of Scotch or Scotch-Irish origin, 600,000 were Puritan English, and 400,000 were German or Dutch Reformed. In addition to this the Episcopalians had a Calvinistic confession in their Thirty-nine Articles; and many French Huguenots also had come to this western world. Thus we see that about two-thirds of the colonial population had been trained in the school of Calvin. Never in the world's history had a nation been founded by such people as these. Furthermore these people came to America not primarily for commercial gain or advantage, but because of deep religious convictions. It seems that the religious persecutions in various European countries had been providentially used to select out the most progressive and enlightened people for the colonization of America. At any rate it is quite generally admitted that the English, Scotch, Germans, and Dutch have been the most masterful people of Europe. Let it be especially remembered that the Puritans, who formed the great bulk of the settlers in New England, brought with them a Calvinistic Protestantism, that they were truly devoted to the doctrines of the great Reformers, that they had an aversion for formalism and oppression whether in the Church or in the State, and that in New England Calvinism remained the ruling theology throughout the entire Colonial period. For more background on Thanksgiving, Puritanism, and the Pilgrim's beliefs: Learn more about the first Thanksgiving on aPuritansMind.com Download John Gerstner's audio presentation on New England Puritanism Calvinism in history: missionaries, martyrs, preachers, and hymn writers Be a Berean - weigh both sides of the Calvinism vs Arminianism debate Too late for 2005, but here's an excellent Thanksgiving bundle for 2006 Posted by: Jim B.   Link: http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.114   Be the first to post a comment about this article        Home  |   About  |  Videos   |  Calvinism