What was the goal of the Pilgrim Church? It was to be an example of the original Christian church recorded in Scripture, for as Bradford states “I know not but it may be spoken to the honor of God and without prejudice to any, that such was the true piety, the humble zeal and fervent…
Almost immediately after their conversion, the Pilgrims were persecuted by “the profane multitude.” Bradford then writes “Seeing themselves thus molested, and that there was no hope of their continuance there, by a joint consent they resolved to go into the Low Countries, where they heard was freedom of religion for all men.” Persecution, and eventually…
The Pilgrim or Separatist church began in the home but focused on the exaltation and presence of Christ. The revival of “hearth and home” in England was nurtured by families who had access to own the Geneva translation of the Bible in their own tongue. Fathers would read from the Scriptures in the morning and…
The doctrine of discovery was built on pride, aggression, and disrespect of others. It condoned methods of aggression for the “end” of “conversion.” But there was another movement, a remnant, born of true revival, that was arising as well. In that movement, true conversion was sought, one from the heart and voluntary. Though not as…
What makes the Pilgrim movement so unique is that it stands in such contrast to the coercion practiced by the State Church of England? The State (in this case King James) was the head of the Church and thus there was little religious liberty. Richard Clyfton had such pressure when pastoring in Babworth, England where…
In the United States which has benefited so much from the legacy of the Pilgrims who came in 1620, it is hard to imagine being forced to go to the parish church or face dire consequences. We have taken for granted that the State does not enforce religious belief and thus people are free to…
Consider for a moment the year 1820 at the two hundredth anniversary of the arrival of the Pilgrims. Daniel Webster came to Plymouth, Massachusetts and on Forefathers Day declared: …let us not forget the religious character of our origin. Our fathers were brought hither by their high veneration for the Christian religion. They journeyed by…
Conversion, or spiritual liberty, was the origin and root of why the Pilgrims came to the shores of New England. Conversion is an act of God whereby He regenerates the heart and puts His Spirit into the believer. It is an act of surrender on our part, choosing to follow the risen Lord Jesus Christ…
To the historian cognizant of American history and its significance, 2020 does not simply mark a new decade. It marks the 400th anniversary of a tiny band of people called Pilgrims who braved an ocean to plant a church and a colony in the wilderness of New England in 1620. But why did they come? …
In the year 1627, William Bradford relates that the Pilgrims built a trading post to “avoid the compassing of Cape Cod and those dangerous shoals, and so make any voyage to the southward in much shorter time and with far less danger.”
William Bradford, second Governor and historian of the Pilgrims, began his “journal” about ten years after they landed. With providential foresight, he said the purpose of history was, “That their children may see with what difficulties their fathers wrestled in going through these things in their first beginnings, and how God brought them along notwithstanding…
Most people think of the Pilgrims as stuffy, mournful souls who dressed in black and never smiled. The life of William Brewster quickly dispells these myths, for he was a bold leader of the Pilgrim Church. Born in 1566 or 1567 in Scrooby, England, he entered Cambridge University and became an assistant to William Davison,…
With the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Pilgrims a little more than a year away, it is important to demonstrate the ideological roots of covenant that they expressed in the Mayflower Compact as well as the consistent preaching on Biblical covenant by the clergy in the colonies that resulted in the Declaration of…
Historian and Director Emeritus of the Pilgrim Society Peggy Baker has noted, “Family is at the heart of the Pilgrim story….that makes Plymouth Colony unique amid a sea of other settlements – English, Dutch, French, and Spanish alike – that were almost exclusively masculine… The Separatist movement, from its earliest beginnings, was built around strong…
There were 29 children under 18 on board the Mayflower when the Pilgrims anchored in what is now Provincetown Harbor in late 1620. Two (Oceanus Hopkins and Peregrine White), were born on board! The other 27 ranged in age from 1 to 17.