Title : Glorious Revolution in English and Puritan Movement

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Title : Glorious Revolution in English and Puritan Movement

Today we will look around the Glorious Revolution and the Puritan Movement.

John Bunyan died in 1688, the year the Glorious Revolution occurred, and Richard Baxter died in 1691.

So Baxter was able to witness the Glorious Revolution three years before his death.

The Glorious Revolution is a very important event not only in British history but also in church history.

That's because the Glorious Revolution was essentially an event that resulted from a religious conflict between Roman Catholics and Protestants.

If I were to explain the history of the Glorious Revolution in a very concise and easy-to-understand manner, it would be as follows.

James II, who succeeded Charles II as king, attempted to convert England to Roman Catholicism, appointing Roman Catholic leaders to key positions in government, severely persecuting protesting Protestants, and ignoring the decisions of the British Parliament.

After Charles II restored the monarchy, he sought political stability, severely persecuting the Puritans, persecuting Protestants, and pursuing a policy of favoring Roman Catholics.

And James II, who succeeded Charles II, also continued his father's policies and implemented policies that returned to a more pro-Catholic style.

However, in 1688, the English Parliament joined forces with William of the Netherlands to dethrone James II and install William and his wife Mary on the throne as William III and Mary II.

Therefore, this revolution was called the Glorious Revolution in history because it achieved a smooth change of government without shedding a single drop of blood.

James II fled to France.

In 1688, the year after he ascended to the throne, William III promulgated the Bill of Rights and set a milestone in British history.

Because the history of parliamentary democracy was so deeply rooted in England, the king could no longer interfere with parliament.

Political background of the Glorious Revolution

We need to look around the political background of the Glorious Revolution.

In understanding the Glorious Revolution, it is very important to know the political situation at the time.

Why did the Glorious Revolution occur?

It can be answered by understanding at least three things.

First, as Charles II and his successor James II attempted to Roman Catholicize England, serious religious confrontation and conflict continued between Roman Catholics and Protestants.

Second, naturally, the conflict between the King and Parliament

Conflicts, confrontations, and battles broke out between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians, and the Parliamentarians won, establishing a republic centered on Oliver Cromwell.

However, after Cromwell's death, his son James Cromwell became a tribune, but due to his incompetence, Charles II restored the monarchy again.

As a result, the Parliamentarians handed over the initiative to the Royalists.

Although Charles II was restored to the throne, the conflict between the king and parliament naturally continued.

However, with the advent of James II, who insisted on a thorough doctrine of divine right of kings, a serious conflict between James II and Parliament began.

As the conflict between James II and Parliament continued, a conflict arose between James II and the Whig party, which was made up of state believers from that church.

In 1679 and 1681 the Whigs attempted to depose James II, although they ended in failure.

The King supported the Tory Party, made up of High Church members, and in 1685 the Royal Parliament was filled with Tories.

However, this was not because the king inherently supported the Tories, but because of a highly political calculation to eliminate Whig influence.

This can be seen from the fact that James II unilaterally hired a large number of Roman Catholics as officials without seeking the consent of Parliament.

In fact, this was an action that ignored the review rate established by the British Parliament.

After restoring the monarchy, Charles II attempted to revive his Roman Catholicism in England by promoting religious tolerance.

Parliament realized the king's intentions and, in 1673, enacted a rate of review restricting all civil service to Anglican church believers(National church believers).

As a result, not only Catholics but also Non-Anglican Christians were forced out of public office.

The rate of review remained effective law in England until its abolition in 1828.

In this political situation, James II appointed Roman Catholics to high positions without seeking the consent of the National Assembly.

James II deposed Henry Compt, Bishop of London, dismissed the Protestant faculty of Magdalen College, Oxford University, and replaced him with Roman Catholics.

Moreover, it attempted to promulgate freedom of conscience and abolish the system that oppressed Roman Catholicism.

The conflict between the King and Parliament became increasingly sharp as the King violated the rate of review and openly defended Roman Catholicism.

Third, there is the issue of succession to the throne.

The English Parliament expected Mary, a Protestant, to succeed James II on the throne.

However, James II named his young son as his successor to the throne.

As the situation unfolded like this, the Tory Party also joined hands with the Whig Party, which had maintained a hostile relationship with James II, and stood against the tyranny of James II.

The congress agreed that it was necessary to prevent any Roman Catholic from succeeding to the throne.

A secret group was formed in June 1688 to dethrone James II and place William (William), then governor of the Netherlands Republic, and his wife Mary, the granddaughters of Charles I, on the throne.

William was the great-grandson of William of Orange, who played a decisive role in the Dutch independence movement.

The Netherlands is a Calvinist Protestant country, and William came from a family that was firmly committed to the Calvinist Protestant faith.

Instead of remaining a bystander in the political turmoil in England, he sent a secret letter of encouragement to the leaders of the Tory and Whig parties in the British Parliament who were opposing King James II in April 1687.

And on the other hand, in September of that year, James II publicly was requested an end to his overt defense of Roman Catholicism in the name of religious tolerance by William.

Naturally, a conflict between James II and both William and Mary was bound to arise.

William and Mary of the Netherlands intervene in England

William and Mary begin to become deeply involved in British affairs.

In 1688, he received letters from the six Archbishops of Canterbury, who were planning to invade England and were imprisoned by James II to avoid being misunderstood as a foreign invasion.

And on the other hand, William of Orange was truly diplomatically resourceful.

He promised no persecution of Roman Catholics in England.

And he decided to jointly respond to France by signing an alliance agreement with the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I to fight against the Ottoman Empire.

William, who had excellent political and diplomatic skills, succeeded in borrowing 400 transport ships, 13,616 German mercenaries, 2 million guilds, and even funds from Pope Innocent through Chief Administrator Bantinck.

William, who received approval to invade England from the Parliament of Amsterdam on September 26, set sail with 60,000 troops and 50,000 horses on November 16 and 11, and landed in Toray, England, on December 15, 1688.

The banner of his army bore the words, “I will defend the freedom of England and the Protestant faith.”

William's army included many English exiles and Huguenots.

The armies of William II were incomparable over James II's army.

James II's army of 19,000 men was heavily outnumbered.

In addition, Louis Dura, the supreme commander of James' army, surrendered on November 23, followed by John Churchill and James' daughter Anne, so James II could no longer hold out.

With the English navy supporting William, James II feared that he might be executed like Charles I, so on December 23, he went into exile in France, where his wife was.

Parliament debated whether William should be crowned king alone, jointly with Mary, or Mary alone, and decided to jointly crown both of them as king.

Eventually, the decision was made to ascend to the throne jointly, so William and Mary ascended to the throne together.

February 13, 1689, William III and Mary II signed the Bill of Rights.

In 1689, the Scottish Parliament also recognized William III and Mary II as kings.

In this way, the Glorious Revolution of 1688 was successful, and James II, who advocated the doctrine of divine right of kings, was forced to abdicate.

So the autocratic monarchy was abolished and parliamentary democracy achieved the final victory.

The core contents of the Bill of Rights, which defined Britain's national system on December 16, 1689, defined the existence of the King of England as an absolute monarch and stipulated six rights that the King must observe.

First, it prohibits the application, exemption, or suspension of execution of laws without the consent of Congress.

Second, taxation without the consent of Congress and standing armies in peacetime are prohibited.

Third, freedom of parliamentary elections, freedom of speech in parliament, and the right of citizens to petition are guaranteed.

Fourth, convene the National Assembly.

Fifth, the citizens' right to petition, the immunity of members of the National Assembly, and all regulations regarding personal freedom.

Sixth, exclude Roman Catholics from being heirs to the throne.

William III, who ascended the throne, valued religious freedom and provided religious tolerance.

Religious freedom is allowed as long as you sign the 39 Articles of Creed and promise loyalty to the king. Even those who refuse to sign can enjoy religious freedom as long as they do not plot to harm the royal family.

As the Puritans went through these harsh trials, they had to maintain their faith and spirit of reform despite the trials, so even after the restoration of the monarchy, the Puritans' ideals were able to live on in the hearts of the British people.

The Puritans were able to maintain their faith even through the most severe trials.

Richard Baxter, a prominent Puritan of his time

During this era, Richard Baxter, widely known as the author of "The Reformed Pastor", emerged as a representative Puritan leader in England.

Indeed, he was a Puritan who offered a profound appeal to many scholars.

Many papers were published about him.

It was Richard Baxter that world-renowned scholar James Packer submitted as his doctoral thesis at Oxford University.

Baxter was a Puritan leader who was deeply interested in human conversion in an atmosphere that emphasized double predestination, advocated the five doctrines of Calvinism, and emphasized orthodox theology.

Richard Baxter was unanimously elected pastor of St Mary and All Saints’ Church, Kidminster, in April 1641, at the age of twenty-six.

His ministry there continued for 19 years, during which time he brought about many reforms in Kidminster and the surrounding area.

Above all, he leads a movement to unite pastors in surrounding areas regardless of denomination, including Presbyterian, Anglican, and Independent churches.

During this period, his famous <Reformed Pastor> was published.

This book deeply moved and challenged many pastors, and its influence continues to this day.

When the battle between Royalists and Parliamentarians broke out in 1642, Richard Baxter tried to avoid taking sides, but this was not realistically possible.

He served in the war as a Congressional chaplain and preached every week.

At this time, many prominent leaders heard him preach.

Baxter engages in a long theological debate with John Owen.

The reason is because Baxter rejected the idea of limited atonement.

Baxter wrote several books, including Christian Theological Methodology (1681).

He believed that Christ's atonement was not limited to a few people, but was a grace offered to all who believe in Christ.

Justification is also by faith in Christ, but it is not seen as an imputation of Christ's righteousness.

Baxter believed that each person had a unique role in the human conversion process.

In that respect, Richard Baxter's theology differed from the orthodox Calvinism of the time.

The fact is that theological diversity existed in England at the time, and even within the Puritans, church views and theological perspectives were not unified.

While Owen had a more systematic theological approach, Richard Baxter had a strong practical aspect.

And he was deeply interested in the union movement and played a leading role in leading it.

In fact, the person who was more popular with the public at the time was Richard Baxter, the Puritan leader, rather than John Owen.

God used John Owen theologically and Richard Baxter pastorally and practically to lead the Puritan movement.

The significance of the abdication of James II and the Glorious Revolution

I mentioned earlier about the abdication of James II and the Glorious Revolution, but I will explain once again what the essential core ideas are.

Charles II was succeeded by his younger brother, James II, who ascended the throne in 1685.

He succeeded in restoring Roman Catholicism as the official religion in England.

James II's true goal was not a policy of religious equality or tolerance, but the restoration of Roman Catholicism in England.

And he went further to destroy the foundation of Protestantism in England that had been established after 1559 and 1662.

His preference for Roman Catholicism was not well received by England's Anglicans, Puritans and Separatists alike.

James II issued an edict punishing those who participated in informal worship with death, and appointed Roman Catholics to high positions, further arousing public resentment.

This was an illegal act, an abuse of royal power, and especially a violation of the rate of review.

Because Roman Catholics were not supposed to hold more than civilian offices.

In 1685, James II unilaterally dissolved Parliament without prior consultation.

Not only that, he did not name the Protestant Princess Mary, who had been recognized as the heir to the throne, as his successor, but instead named his young son with his second wife as his successor.

Eventually, three years after James II came to power, the English revolted, deposed him, and made William of Orange of the Netherlands and his wife, Mary, king.

As soon as William arrived in England in 1688, James II fled to France.

Summary of the Puritan movement

Now let’s summarize the Puritan movement comprehensively.

As Aylmer points out, in the seventeenth century, as always, religion, politics and society were closely linked.

In particular, for 86 years, from the accession of James I to the accession of William III and Mary II, British politics was inextricably linked with the Puritan movement.

Therefore, the Puritan movement cannot be interpreted in a narrow sense by limiting it to a religious phenomenon.

This is why the Puritan movement needs to be interpreted comprehensively.

In this sense, as interpreted by William Haller, the Puritan movement was more than a matter of church politics, pastors' struggle for reform, and separatism.

It was a new way of life that could evangelize the existing society.

Ultimately, the Puritan movement brought results that transformed British civilization, including intellectual attitudes, behavioral norms, psychology, methods of expression‎, and a dynamic vitality of faith that surpassed established religious life.

The figures England produced during this era were not only religious leaders.

There were numerous Puritan leaders, including the forementioned Baxter, Bunyan, and John Owen, as well as the emergence of England's greatest scientist, Isaac Newton (1642-1727), and the great philosopher John Locke (1632-1704).

Religious life and scientific life were revised in a new direction.

Thus, the development of natural science and the rationalist Puritan movement progressed together in one era.

In the 18th century, three religious communities coexisted in England, whether they liked it or not.

There was the protestant church, which had the second largest power, the majority Church of England, and the minority Roman Catholic Church.

They took a fairly tolerant stance towards each other.

Because of this, there were a significant number of people who were Anglicans but possessed Protestant ideas.

This is how the Church of England found its way through two centuries of conflict.

Parliament's victory over absolute monarchy was the result of efforts to fight for the possibility of orderly progress and peaceful reform.

As a result, the field of democracy opened in Britain and pushed Britain further into modernity.

The migration of the British to the New World began in the 16th century, and especially the migration of the Puritans to the New World.

By the 17th century, the Puritan spirit took root in religion, society, and ethics in the New World, and these Puritan Pilgrims (pilgrims) who immigrated in search of religious freedom began to colonize the New World and Puritan culture began to take root.

As George Marston said, the Puritans can be eval‎uated as the most outstanding and brilliant religious movement in the history of Christianity, in which Doctrine, Piety, and Culture were in perfect harmony like a triangle.