What Does Jesus Say About Children?

Jesus’ helpers tried to send them away. ‘Jesus doesn’t have time for you!’ they said. ‘He’s too tired.’ But they were wrong. Jesus always had time for children.  ‘Don’t ever send them away!’ Jesus said. ‘Bring the little ones to me.’ …You see, children loved Jesus, and they knew they didn’t need to do anything special for Jesus to love them. All they needed to do was run into his arms. And so that’s just what they did.

In this sweet excerpt from The Jesus Storybook Bible, Sally Lloyd-Jones begins to answer the question we must start with when we discuss children’s ministry: “What does Jesus have to say about children?”

When the disciples try to hurry the children away so that Jesus can focus on his “more important work,” Jesus stops the disciples and welcomes the children in his arms. If Jesus “always has time for children,” we must ask, do we? 

Many people today view children’s ministry as glorified childcare, a place to drop off your children while you socialize, or a place to volunteer in order to spend time with sweet and adorable children. Some even flippantly disregard children’s ministry by remarking that while we should strive to give children decent information, we should rely on adult ministry to fix all of the inaccuracies they absorb as children. This must not be the case, not only for the children’s sake, but for ours as well. 

Children Are Image Bearers

We must take children seriously because first and foremost, they are image bearers. Running around our church hallways are a bunch of little children , who were uniquely created in the image of God. Every conversation we have with a child is a new opportunity to know God more deeply. How would children’s ministry change if we remembered that every child who enters our ministry is an image bearer of the God of the universe? 

More than that, if these children know and love Jesus, then they are our brothers and sisters with whom we will spend eternity. C.S. Lewis famously writes, 

It is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.

We love and serve children because God created them in his image, and they are worthy of our care and our time. 

Children Need Us to Teach Them

In Psalm 71 the psalmist writes, 

With the mighty deeds of the Lord I will come;
I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone. 
Oh God, from my youth you have taught me, 
And I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
So even to my old age and gray hairs, 
O God, do not forsake me, 
Until I proclaim your might to another generation, 
Your power to all those who come. 

In this chapter, the psalmist asks to live long in order that he can tell the coming generation of all God has done. Similarly, we must have a similar desire for the little ones to know and trust in the good news of the gospel. 

Children have malleable hearts. They are sponges of information. They are constantly amazing us with the amount of detail that they can remember and repeat. They are always listening, watching, and applying what they learn making us some of their biggest influences and role models. The responsibility of a role model is one that we should steward well. 

We can steward and love  their listening hearts well by teaching them faithfully. While we do not need to aim to teach them with the same theological density that comes from the pulpit, we should teach them with the same theological accuracy. Children listen and they remember.

Children Show Us Need

Children are more attuned to their needs than we are of our own. They rely on adults for their most basic needs. From the minute they are born, they are utterly helpless. While children’s ministry should be full of teaching and discussion, it is, on a basic level, fulfilling children’s needs like food, water, and safety while their parents are elsewhere. This may seem like a mundane aspect of the ministry, but our hearts need it. As Joseph Hart says in his hymn, Come Ye Sinners, “All the fitness He requires is to feel your need of Him.”

We need this “need.” We naturally want to prove our independence and self sufficiency, but Jesus works on our hearts in order to show us that we are insufficient and in utter need of Him. We are helpless without him. When we are near to children who are so aware of their own needs, we will be reminded of our own needs.

Children Show Us Wonder

A few years ago, I was teaching 3-year-old Sunday school on Heaven and this sweet little boy in my class said, “Miss Emily! Guess what? I’m going to Heaven someday!” Without missing a beat, the little boy’s best friend exclaimed, “No way! Me too!” They spent the next few minutes in complete excitement that they would get to “play together forever with Jesus.” I remember sitting there watching them thinking, “Wow, do we get this excited about Heaven?” 

If we are being honest, we may not even thinking about Heaven everyday, much less get so excited we can barely stand it. We need children to be examples for us of what it looks like to be in awe of the good news of the gospel. We need to begin to recapture a childlike wonder for the beautiful truths that become mundane to us as life goes on. Children are vital gifts to us in this way. As we teach them the stories we have known for many years, we must watch their glittering eyes and pray that the Lord would restore in us a wonder we once had when we first believed. 

Be Like Children

The Jesus Storybook Bible says it well:

Well, after all the laughter and games, Jesus turned to his helpers and said, ‘No matter how big you grow, never grow up so much that you lose your child’s heart: full of trust in God. Be like these children. They are the most important in my kingdom.’

Children’s ministry has deep effects on our souls. Let us not only serve the children of our church well, but also watch them intently. They show us more about who God is, who we are, and how we can relate to Him. They are made in the image of God and show us need and wonder. Even in our pursuit of further biblical knowledge, may we never lose our child’s heart for God and for the gospel. May we continue to marvel at our own salvation and the promise of the new heavens and the new earth with a childlike wonder. Jesus loves the little children and so must we.

Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
-Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Over the past four years, I have spent my summers involved in camp ministry. While all vastly different, my summers at camp have each brought such a sweet community that has encouraged me and pushed me to grow in my walk with the Lord.

During this time, fellow believers have sharpened, stretched, and challenged me in how I view myself and others in light of the gospel. I have come to see an immense amount of grace and revelation of my own sin as I have learned to rely on others. This has given me the perspective to truly see the body of Christ at work. Through my experience, I have come to see the importance of community in a believer’s life and how it is a way to experience growth and grace in a believer’s life.

Why is Community Important?

Community Brings Encouragement

First, community brings encouragement into believer’s lives. There will always be times in our lives when we feel distant from the Lord or “spiritually dry.” However, it is during these times where community will help us to continue in our walk with the Lord. While we are not to rely on others fully for our spiritual nourishment, our brothers and sisters in Christ can help encourage and challenge us by publically living out their faith. Romans 1:11 says:

For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.

We see in this passage the place of community in a believer’s life. Community with others is a way to bring mutual encouragement by seeing one another walk with the Lord. Seeing the Lord use others as His vessel, and seeing Him use their different gifts and talents for His purpose and Glory will encourage us in knowing how the Lord has made us equally unique for His glory. In 1 Corinthians, Paul discusses this in reference to the body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12 reads:

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.
-1 Corinthians 12:4-6

Community is an incredible picture of the body of Christ at work. While we see others’ differences and gifts, we can be comforted in knowing we serve the same God and see a glimpse of His nature.

Community Brings Accountability

Community not only brings encouragement, but it also brings accountability. When we surround ourselves with fellow Christians, it will be easier to notice our own sin. However, we should not grow discouraged by this. At camp, we have the phrase “It’s a privilege to see your own sin.” This simple phrase has grown to become a sweet reminder to me in my walk with Christ. It is a privilege because, in the revelation of our own sin, we can take comfort knowing the Holy Spirit is at work. In John 12:46, Jesus states that “whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.”

The work of sanctification in a believer’s life is one that continues to draw sin out of our lives and shine light into the darkness.
When we notice our sin, it is not just a privilege, but a comfort, as we see our need for Christ. Charles Spurgeon put it well when he stated that:

The person who is a sinner is the kind of person Jesus Christ came to make clean.

When we see our own sin, we see our desperate need of a savior. Community helps in the revelation of this. As we are in a relationship with others, God uses others to show us our faults and point us back to the gospel.

We are also called into accountability through community as we are pushed to be more like Christ by finding people also seeking Christ. Proverbs 27:17 speaks of this when it states, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”

When we choose those chasing after Christ as friends, we can be brought into accountability with our own weaknesses. As we speak truth into each other’s lives and pray for one another just as Scripture commands, we will be challenged to become more like Christ, and held publically accountable for the recurring sins in our life.

What is True Biblical Community?

Community is a way in which God brings about spiritual growth among believers. Without community, we lack both accountability and encouragement. True biblical community is one that constantly and consistently points to Christ while displaying the grace of God to others in their lives. Community that seeks to glorify Christ should be united, prayerful, and Christ-exalting.

United

When we are striving to live for Christ together, we should be striving for unity. Community brings about an opportunity to both extend grace to others and receive it from them when we fall short. It is easy to get caught up in our differences, to focus on the faults of others, and to remain in our division. However, we should strive to seek peace with fellow believers. In Colossians 3, Paul reminds us of this by saying,

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
-Colossians 3:12-14

Prayerful

Secondly, we can be brought into a deeper community with believers by praying together. God promises that “where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Matthew 18:20).  I have seen the Lord most clearly at work when believers pray together. If you are discouraged by pre-existing division or attempting to find God-honoring friendships where you are, I suggest that you start praying with and for people.

Ask others how you can pray for them and set aside time with them to pray specifically for them. Prayer can be a tool for God to bind us more closely together. When God uses prayer to bring us together, we are shown our collective need for Him. There is unity when believers come together in the adoration of God and humbly place their needs before Him.

Christ-Exalting

Lastly, community should be focused on exalting Christ. Community allows us to see a glimpse into the kingdom of God as [ultimately] the goal of it should be the glorification of Christ and a celebration of His work on the cross. When we experience a genuine, Christ-exalting community, we see a foretaste of what’s to come in eternity. We see a glimmer of Revelation 7, which says:

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.
-Revelation 7:9-12

What a picture of what is to come and what believers must long for! How gracious that our loving Father would give us each other as we continue to walk in our faith. It is essential that we know we do not have to do life alone, but we are able to lean on each other, bearing with one another our burdens as we continue to point each other to Christ. The song “We Will Feast In The House of Zion” illustrates this, as it says:

We will feast in the house of Zion
We will sing with our hearts restored
He has done great things, we will say together
We will feast and weep no more

May we all seek a community that is centered around Christ, unified in His love, and aimed at bringing glory to Him, for this is a picture of eternity.

Popular Misconceptions Concerning Puritan Theology and Church Life

It remains important to understand that those who considered themselves “Puritan” were not of one certain monolithic theological outlook nor any specific ecclesiological outlook. In other words, Puritanism was less of a denominational perspective and more of a prevalent movement that embodied a central ideological objective. The objective to rid Anglicanism of the things considered “indifferent.”

Within certain Protestant circles, many may claim that “If Puritanism was still around today, I’d be a good Puritan!” Probably not. It is important for us to note that Puritanism was not synonymous with any of the denominational sects that we are familiar with today.

It solely rested upon a shared conviction for reform within the Anglican Church. Even at the height of Puritanism’s reign in the American Colonies, distinctly “Puritan” congregations did not exist. Those with Puritan convictions might find themselves attending a church that shared their convictions. Yet, none of these churches were marketed as distinctly Puritan.

Puritanism and Reformed Theology

The theology of the Reformation reigned supreme in the hearts of most Puritans. Puritans were Calvinists who believed that humanity was sinful from birth, that God unconditionally elected sinners for salvation, that Christ was sent by the Father to atone for the sins of those whom he unconditionally elected, that humanity could not resist God’s irresistible call to salvation, and that those whom God had chosen were unable to fall from grace.

Due to their staunch belief regarding the absolute sovereignty of God, Puritans were wholly convicted of the belief that He should be properly worshiped as the Sovereign King. God was not in any way to be treated as puny, weak, or lacking in any necessity. These Puritans held firm to their confidence that proper adoration of God begins with understanding humanity’s true nature of fallenness and God’s sovereign mercy to save.

In fact, the Puritanistic idea of God’s sovereignty would not only exhibit itself in the way that the Reformed understood salvation but also in everyday life. If God was truly omniscient and omnipotent, how could his sovereignty be limited just to the order of salvation? Surely these attributes were not constrained to one sphere of life. As a result of this, Puritans saw God’s reign over humanity as providential.

Puritans believed God’s providential role in everyday life also hinged upon His desire to actively discipline his people. If any one person were to act out of step with the convent of grace, they were to be actively punished for their theological wrongdoing. Ironically, such a belief resembled aspects of the Eastern philosophy of karma.

The Historical Implications of Puritan Theology

Mary Dyer, a young woman living in Boston during the 1630s, found comfort in attending Anne Hutchinson’s Sunday meetings. Although, Hutchinson’s reputation in Massachusetts Bay was not viewed in a positive light. Puritans saw Hutchinson’s teachings to be heretical and out of step with biblical authority. Thus, when Dyer gave birth to a deformed baby, prominent Puritan figures devised a plan to take a stab at her.

Her minister, the Reverend Joseph Wilson, vehemently stated that

We have been visited of late by the admonition of the Lord. One Mary Dyer of our midst, who has lately become addicted to heresy, has produced not a woman child but a monster. God himself has intervened and pointed his finger at this woman at the height of her sinful opinions.

Although quite an extreme example, the reaction of Wilson perfectly portrays how most Puritans understood God’s providence in discipline to play out in everyday life. God was not only active in the lives of the regenerate, but He also lacked passiveness when it came to those who defiled His name.

This situation is fairly ironic, for the institution that Puritanism fostered, resembled aspects of Catholicism — the very system that Puritans so inspiredly toiled to abolish. Due to their Calvinistic tendencies, the Puritans had formulated a God who acted sovereignly and providentially against those who rejected the conventional belief of their day. A conviction that greatly resembled the tyranny present within Medieval Catholicism.

The Catholic Tendencies of Puritanism

Historian Mark Noll, when commenting on the ironic implications of Puritan theology, states that

The Reformed attacked Catholic dogma, but they reasserted a Catholic kind of Christendom by insisting that God’s rule should encompass everything… the Reformed of every rank in society were expected to function as theologians since social, political, economic, and artistic spheres of life were also God’s concern.

In this way, the Reformed were more medieval than most would have expected. Most Colonial Massachusettsan’s saw God’s governance in the form of one organic unity. It was through this “organic unity” that God instituted his providential control. God’s reign was not separated into the temporal and the spiritual. Rather, both were one.

Similar to the quasi-omnipotent medieval reign of the Catholic church, nothing was to escape God’s sphere of influence. The theological “scope of government” that Puritanism fostered was all-encompassing in its control of humanity. In modern political terms, Puritanism promoted big government. Likewise, scholars have argued that big government was the exact trend that influenced the advent of the Protestant Reformation.

Concluding Statements

The theological aspects of Puritanism can be most aptly characterized as a combination of personal acceptance of faith and shared societal and ecclesiastical unity. This shared unity ironically formalized itself as something more Catholic than Protestant. Sixteenth-century Reformers harked back to ancient Christendom by emphasizing the importance of freedom of conscience in determining religious matters. Yet, Puritanism deviated from traditional Reformation theology when inhabitants of Massachusetts Bay asserted the need for a theologically-unified political system.

Mark Noll and various church history scholars rally behind one predominant definition of Puritan theology,

[Many] characterize Puritanism as a religious movement combining medieval commitments to the unity of society with Reformed Protestant views of personal salvation, that is, Calvin’s soteriology with Erasmus’s Christendom.

Puritanism fostered quite a peculiar conjunction of theological distinctions. When we wholly subjugate ourselves to the Reformed aspects of Puritan belief, we fail to understand the role that Catholicism played in its formation. In the following edition of this series, we will delve into how the theological implications of Puritanism defined the political and sociological structures within the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Prayer is a crucial part of the Christian life. God uses prayer to bring about change. Prayer forms us and it honors the Father. We need to heed Paul’s command to “pray without ceasing,” but to do so, we need to better understand prayer and how God uses it (2 Thessalonians 5:17). We need to know why, if God is sovereign, do we pray. We need to know when to pray. We need to know how to pray. Finally, we need to understand how prayer forms us. These are four questions we should seek answers to as we walk with Jesus.

Why should we pray?

Countless passages command us to pray so, if for no other reason than Scripture commands us to, we must pray. Let’s dive into the Word to see what it says about prayer.

Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.
-1 Chronicles 16:11

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
-2 Chronicles 7:14

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
-Matthew 7:7

We should pray because God commands it of us. We should also pray because we have a generous Heavenly Father who will answer according to His will and purpose for our lives. God is a keeper of promises. He is steadfast, and an anchor for our souls so why would we not trust His command when He tells us to pray?

When should I pray and about what?

Without fearing redundancy, I’ll echo the aforementioned command, “pray without ceasing.” We should pray constantly and about everything. God is the holy, all-powerful, all-knowing, triune Creator and Savior who always has been and always will be. He is faithful and good to hear every one of our prayers and to respond when and how He pleases. He is a loving Father who longs to hear from His children and has made a way for us to be in His presence while we eagerly wait for the day of His return.

Therefore, we are called to pray without end. Pray as you do the dishes, pray as you go to school, to work, to sleep, pray constantly. Pray about what your major should be, what relationships you should spend the most time investing in, how to escape apathy, to rise from depression, pray about anything and everything under the sun. Do not shy away from your Father because he does not shy away from you. He is not frightened or shaken by anything you do or do not pray about because He already knows about it and knows how it will end. Praise the Lord that we have a Father such as this!

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
– 1 Peter 5:6-7

How are we to Pray?

Pray with Belief

First and foremost, we are called to pray with a believing heart. If we pray with the wrong attitude, not trusting God to do what we are asking, why would He turn His ear towards us? God is a big God who is not intimidated by any prayer or request you have. Ephesians 3:20 says:

He is able to do far more abundantly than we could ever ask, think, or imagine according to the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, pray boldly, constantly, and about everything.

Over the past few months, I have been compelled to spend a lot of time in prayer over some big changes in my life. However, about a month into seeking the Lord about what to do, I realized that I didn’t believe that He would answer me according to His will. Praise be to the Father, though, because He did answer my prayer despite my unbelief. He answered it exactly at the right time, in the right way, and as a result, I could do nothing but obey in thankfulness. So, pray with a believing heart and watch for God to move.

Pray with Sincerity

Second, we are called to pray with a sincere heart. When we enter into prayer, we must do so in humility. When we pray, we should come before the Father seeking to repent of sin and confess where we need His help. It is important to approach God in prayer with more than mere requests, as we should also come to Him in our repentance.

Let’s consider the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13. While he teaches His disciples to pray, He must instruct them to ask the Father for forgiveness continually. Since repentance and confession were important enough practices for Jesus to add into His model of prayer, how much more should we, who are recipients of the amazing grace of God, bow down to Him in repentance.

Jesus set the perfect example of a prayerful life. Not only did He give us a model for prayer, but the Gospels also record the circumstances in which Jesus prayed. Jesus frequently fled to the mountains, the wilderness, the garden, or even the sea to get alone with God (Luke 6:12, Mark 1:35, Matthew 26:39, Matthew 4:13). Many of us might live in a context where it is not possible to go to the mountains or the sea, but we can retreat as He did. We can go to our car, our backyard, to the top floor of our university’s library, or even to an empty church building to spend intimate time with God. We see from Jesus that there is value in the quiet and a purpose in solitude. Let us pray like Jesus, with believing and sincere hearts, to the God who listens.

Pray with Reverence

Lastly, we are to spend time praying with a reverent heart. As HB Charles Jr. puts it, we are to “seek the face of God rather than His hands”. Begin prayer like Jesus began all of His prayers, with acknowledging who God is and speaking out an expression of praise to God and His character. Then, make your requests made known to God with repetition. Paul, who had a “thorn in his flesh” requested not once, but three times for his thorn to be removed. Though the Lord did not remove his thorn, he continued to speak to the Lord sincerely, reverently and filled with belief that the Lord was able to remove it if that was His will. Paul writes:

Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
-2 Corinthians 12:8-10

Do we, like Paul, go before the throne of God open-handed or are we holding tightly to a wishlist? In your prayer life, when you ask for a thorn to be removed, are you okay with not knowing the why behind God’s answer? If not, pray earnestly that the Lord would change your heart.

How does prayer form the people of God?

And lastly, we come to answer the main question of this article. How does prayer form us? When we have believing, sincere, and reverent hearts, we begin to form a prayer that will cause God to be exalted and ourselves to be humbled. More than that, we will begin to see God in a way that lifts our hearts to His will and causes us to be dependent on Him, rather than ourselves.

When we pray as though we know just how big God is, we come into the right view of how small and insignificant we are. Praise God that even despite this incredible human frailty, we have access to the throne room! It is awe revoking to stand in the presence of God as one who stands before one of the vast oceans or the marvelous Grand Canyon. To know that He is grand and we are not is a comfort to us, as we are shown our need for Him. Humility keeps us from indulging in weak prayers, like those of the Pharisee who said:

God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get…

And instead, help us to be more like the tax collector next to him who could do nothing but cry out:

God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

This prayer changed the tax collector and the Pharisee. For the tax collector, his sincere prayer which acknowledged God’s ability to save man from man’s sinful nature justified him to God. On the other hand, the Pharisee who acknowledged his self-righteousness before a holy God caused his own heart to be further hardened from the true gospel.

Prayer shapes us. How we pray shapes us. Do not be quick to say “Amen” and do not hurry to read off to the Father your grocery list of needs. Remember that we are commanded to pray, that we come to know God through prayer, and that God answers prayers by shaping our hearts through it. Therefore, in your prayers, continue to seek Scripture, pray reverently, sincerely, and with wholehearted belief.

For the Christian, the study of Church History remains an absolute necessity. Historical ignorance is a deadly plague that has infected modern Christianity. When our pastors reference Edwards, Lewis, Whitfield, Augustine, and Calvin, do we really even know them? Do we understand what these theological giants stood for?

The acceptable answer is, sadly, no. Therefore, it proves our duty, as learned Christians, to expel historical myths and delve deep into the study of the past. Our first order of business concerns the commonly misconstrued concept of Puritanism and its stark contrast to the statutory authority of seventeenth-century Anglicanism. 

Series Goals

In this series, we will dive deep into defining the doctrinal tenets of Puritanism and their impact on both old and new societies as well as students looking to understand the ideas today. The contents of this series will, in no way, look to accept or reject the theological precepts of Puritanism. Rather, we will embark on a journey to discuss the historical nature of an idea that has impacted millions. The following essays will seek out the application in Puritanism. Through this series, we will look to best understand why such an old concept should mean anything to our twenty-first-century minds. 

Likely Misconceptions

Nathaniel Hawthrone’s antagonistic approach to the societal vices of Puritan New England — seen in his fictional romance, The Scarlet Letter, along with a brief reading in Jonathan Edwards Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God — probably does not help our comprehension regarding the historical validity of Puritanism. A shallow and uncontextualized understanding of these documents will, in turn, generate a negative response to the entire idea of Puritanism. On the other hand, many fellow Protestants have gone to the other extreme by glorifying the works of the Puritans while remaining ignorant to the historical reality of their sociological, ecclesiological, and political plights.

What is Puritanism? 

In rightfully defining and understanding the nature of Puritanism, we must first define a few important terms. 

During the latter half of the sixteenth century, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, increased skepticism arose regarding the necessity of what many believed to be the “non-essentials” of the Christian liturgy and mode of worship. This fight is best understood under the notion of “adiaphora.” Rightfully defined, an adiaphorism is any practice deemed “indifferent” or apart of the “non-essentials” of the Christian faith. Furthermore, an adiaphorism is simply any theological opinion, liturgical practice, or religious affair that is a matter of “indifference” because it is neither instructed nor prohibited by the Scriptures.

Prior to this newfangled conflict in England, the old model for understanding the non-essentials was a commitment to the idea that any Christian may indulge themselves in the indifferent practices of the faith. In other words, if anyone disagreed with a particular, non-essential, church practice,  yet this specific believer was commanded to follow through with the practice, they could go through with the practice without it having a stain on their conscience due to its indifference.

Models of Adiaphoric Philosophy

The old model of adiaphoric philosophy encouraged obedience and wider acceptance of church practices rather than promoting the freedom of conscience, which would encourage many to stand in rejection of the things they believed to be unnecessary. This was the exact shift that occurred under the reign of Elizabeth. Puritans, under the command to proceed in adiaphoric liturgical practices, found themselves strongly convicted of abstaining from those proceedings entirely. 

The new model of adiaphoric philosophy stemmed from the influence of the Puritans. This model hinged entirely on the rationale that no man should be obligated to practice any ritual that was not explicitly commanded by the Scriptures. Examples of these adiaphoric practices included the wearing of vestments, kneeling during communion, and the artful depiction of biblical events. These depictions, such as Michaelangelo’s The Creation of Adam, were viewed as idolatrous images that, in the Puritan worldview, obscured the reality of an exact event. A majority, if not all, of those in the petition of these church practices, found them to be lingering aspects of Catholicism and thus wished them expelled. 

Nonconformity to the Crown

Those who considered themselves Puritans were also nonconformists. Simply, Puritans were considered nonconformists because they did not adhere to the standard of the Church of England. The Act of Uniformity of 1558 commanded that all persons must attend church at least once a week or be fined. This Elizabethan act also stated that all churches and persons must follow the order of prayer present within the English Book of Common Prayer which was protested vehemently by the majority of those who considered themselves Puritans. 

Thus, the English Crown dubbed anyone in protest of the Act of Uniformity of 1558 and its subsequent legal counterpart as a “nonconformist.” Furthermore, nonconformity, in reference to Anglicanism, was not synonymous with total separation from the local church. Many found themselves still involved in weekly services, most likely because they did not want to receive a fine for not attending. 

Nonconformists were subject to some scrutiny such as public shaming or forcibly paying a fine due to their nonconformity but they were not treated as harshly as many have imagined. Nonconformists were granted conditional freedom to worship under the Toleration Act of 1668. Many scholars, who generally favor the theology of the Puritans, have falsely represented them as a theologically homogeneous group of highly persecuted dissenters fleeing the tyranny of the English Crown. This perspective has assuredly been blown out of proportion. 

Large Puritan congregations were most susceptible to legal scrutiny and put themselves at greater risk for imprisonment. This was certainly true of John Bunyan and his congregation. Although, most nonconformist Puritan groups met in small numbers and away from any possibility of the government finding them. It was this latter group of people that the Crown found herself tolerating more frequently. In short, those causing a ruckus and openly acting against the government were continually sought out for their vices while those meeting in secret were, more often than not, tolerated. All this to say, nonconformity was treated differently depending on its context.

Separatism

Many Puritans sought to be a shining example to those who they considered drowning in the ecclesiological waters of Anglicanism. Historians have coined the term “Separatist” to refer to those who wished to separate themselves entirely from the Church of England, and subsequently acted upon their desires. 

Separatists did not flee simply because of persecution or governmental malice, but a whole myriad of reasons. A large majority of Separatists fled in hopes of establishing their own analogous cultural and theological utopia that would reign free from the social dominion of Anglicanism. A fruitless pursuit that would eventually fail in both the Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth colonies and can only truly come into fruition amidst Christ’s Millennial Kingdom.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, the idea and historical reality of Puritanism remains one of the most misunderstood concepts in Christian scholarship. Puritanism, rightfully defined, was a trans-Atlantic theological movement that was spurred into fruition through the influence of a unified frustration for the old model of adiaphoric philosophy. In the following article, we will look to understand the collective theological tenets of Puritanism and their implications upon society.

Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.

-Genesis 2:18

The role of women in the Church is an increasingly controversial topic, especially due to the rise of feminism in America. As the distinctions between men and women blur within our society, we must ask ourselves, how the Church can stand firm on the teaching of Scripture. As Christians, it is important to approach this conversation with grace and truth as we hope to display God’s unique order and design to the world. Furthermore, we hope to use God’s order of creation to further submit to Him. Therefore, it is essential to approach all Scripture with submissive hearts towards God and His will.

In the discussion of biblical femininity, we must be careful of the culture’s impact on the Church. Far too often, the culture surrounding the Church has often influenced the scriptural beliefs in an inappropriate way. However, we must avoid this, and rather let Scripture determine the Church’s view of the culture. We are reminded by Paul, in 2 Timothy 3:16, that all Scripture is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”

As Christians, Scripture must be our highest authority in both theological and social issues. Therefore, we must approach Scripture with the expectation of conforming to its demands rather than it conforming to ours. With that said, we will take a look at the creation of biblical womanhood in order to understand the role of women in the Church.

Role of Women

In order to see the ways in which women were uniquely created and to understand their role both in the Church and in the home, we can look to the passage Titus 2:3-5. Here Paul describes a woman’s role:

Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

In this text, we can see the encouragement and importance of female discipleship. Women are essential to the body of Christ in their support, encouragement, submission, and nurturing of male leadership. If God had created both genders as spiritual leaders, who would follow along in support and submission? Likewise, if God had not created man to be the leader, who would be given the responsibility to guide the church? In the Complementarian view, we can understand and see how both roles are needed and valued.  

Creation Order

The order of creation displays God’s intended structure. We see this in Genesis 2:18, which says:

This, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman because she was taken out of Man.

In this passage, we see the order of creation and it is particularly important to note the order’s impact on gender roles. God created man first as the leader of the family, and woman next as the “helper” to encourage, nurture, and submit to her husband’s leadership. She is not to be above his leadership, at the head, nor below, at his feet. Instead, she was formed out of man’s rib cage, signifying the importance of her standing beside him as he leads and protects her.

Results of the Fall

Due to the fall of Adam, the roles between man and woman have often become twisted and corrupted. Genesis 3:16 describes a consequence of the fall, which states:

And the desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you.

This short sentence shines light on the ongoing struggle between man and woman. The man was not meant to rule over a woman, but to lead her. However, due to the fall, men desire to, sinfully, rule over women. In addition, as a result of the fall, women have the sinful desire to take leadership over their husbands. Both of these distortions are present in the world today yet they are both unbiblical and twist the design of God’s original perfect creation.

Marriage

God created the union of marriage for the furtherance of His kingdom and to display His glory. We see this when Jesus’ relation to the Church is described similarly to that of a wife and husband.  Ephesians 5:22-23 highlights this truth as it states:

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the Church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the Church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

In the context of marriage, Scripture commands wives to submit to godly leadership in a godly way. Christ is the example for husbands as he displays perfect leadership in love and a willingness to die for His bride, the Church. This type of sacrificial love is what husbands are called to in their leadership. Wives are called to respond to this Godly leadership in humility and support, submitting to the leadership and authority of their husbands.

To be clear, biblical leadership does not mean superiority. In the Trinitarian context, Christ submitted to his Father’s will (Phil 2, Mark 14:32-36) and yet Scripture is clear that Christ is not subordinate to the Father. In a similar way, a woman submits to her husband’s leadership, but this act of submission does not and cannot diminish her value.

Responsibilities & Role in the Church

With the role of women clearly outlined in Scripture, the Church must stand firm on the biblical teaching that a woman is not to teach or exercise the authority of Scripture over men in a pastoral setting. This is clearly outlined in the Pauline epistles (1 Corinthians 14:34, 1 Timothy 2:11-12).

While this position may seem outdated, or even unnecessary, it is important to realize that this truth is both freeing and beneficial for both Christian men and women as well as the Church as a whole. Through Scripture, we see the Complementarian view of men and women clearly outlined. With God’s purposeful design of creation, the strengths of both men and women coincide and strengthen each other.

This does not mean, however, that women are not needed in ministry. Women are essential to the ministry and spread of the gospel, and we see this clearly in Scripture. The Bible speaks of many women such as Phoebe who were used in a mighty way to carry out the work of ministry. In fact, Paul speaks of Phoebe of highest regards in Romans 16:1-2 by stating,

I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.

Throughout Scripture, it is clear that God has uniquely formed both genders to build and encourage one another. Godly submission is shown in the Trinity — an example of perfect, harmonious, community, but it is also shown in marriage. Submission in marriage does not determine one gender of inferiority. We can see this in the Trinitarian expression of submission, where the Father is not greater than the Son, but both are equally and fully God. Similarly, the husband is not greater than his wife. The husband is to be the leader, yet his wife, though equal to the husband, is to submit to the God-given responsibilities of nurturing, caring, and supporting her husband.