In 1608, John Smyth baptized himself in Amsterdam. He had been a fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge, but as a Separatist fled from the harsh rule of James I's England. After his death one of his associates, Thomas Helwys, led back to England a group that had split from Smyth's former congregation. They formed the first General or Arminian Baptist congregation in England at Spitalfields, London, in 1612.

By 1638 at the latest there were also congregations holding a Calvinistic theology in London who practiced believers' baptism ("Particular Baptists"). These Baptists grew out of the first congregation of English Independents; although it is not know exactly when they adopted full Baptist views. A radical look at church principles, in the Puritan manner, led first to the understanding of the church as a gathered community, and then to a realization that only the baptism of believers fitted such a view.

During King Edward VI's brief years England saw the Six Articles repealed, priests allowed to marry, and the old Latin service of worship replaced by Thomas Cranmer's Book of Common Prayer in English. Under King Charles I and with the assistance of the Anglican Archbishop William Laud, the King insisted that worship in England be conducted according to the Prayer Book and no other. When Charles tried to force his brand of high-church on the Scots, John Milton called The Book of Common Prayer "the skeleton of a Mass-book."

[tags]BlogRodent, Book-of-Common-Prayer, Charles-I, church-history, ChurchRodent, Edward-VI, history, Thomas, William-Laud[/tags]

(1603-1642)

King of England. Charles was determined to put into practice his father James' theories about divine rights of kings. No law and no parliament would restrain him and to make matters worse in the eyes of the Puritans, his wife, Henrietta Maria, was a French Roman Catholic princess. Charles reintroduced stained glass windows, crosses, even crucifixes. They elevated the Communion table and called it an altar and they insisted that worship be conducted according tho the Prayer Book and no other. He eventually tried to force his high church brand of Anglican religion upon the Presbyterian Scots. When the Parliamentarians beheaded his Archbishop Laud, Charles tried to punish the leaders of this opposition and civil war erupted. By 1646 Oliver Cromwell's Parliamentary army forced Charles to surrender. Eventually resentment against Charles broke out anew and in 1648 another war erupted. Finally in January of 1649 the king was tried and

Archbishop under King Charles I. Laud believed that God had ordained bishops to govern his church. Under his leadership, an episcopal party rose to resist the Puritans. With the king's support they reintroduced stained glass windows, crosses, even crucifixes. They elevated the Communion table and called it an altar and they insisted that worship be conducted according to the Prayer Book and no other.

[tags]BlogRodent, Charles-I, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, William-Laud[/tags]

The best example of Protestant expansion through colonies is in Puritan New England. When Charles I granted the Massachusetts Bay company a charter as a colony, the document contained a clause concerning missions: "The people from England may be so religiously, peaceably, and civilly governed, as their good life and orderly conversation may win and incite the natives of the country to the knowledge and obedience of the only true God and Savior of mankind, and the Christian faith."

[tags]BlogRodent, Charles-I, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, Massachusetts-Bay-Company[/tags]

Designating a church which upholds church government by presbyters, or elders. It is a form of church government which invests presbyters, or elders, with all spiritual power and admits no prelates over them. Under King Charles I, the Presbyterians held sway in England's Parliament. When Oliver Cromwell became the Lord Protector after Charles' execution he purged Parliament of Presbyterian control.

[tags]BlogRodent, Charles-I, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, Oliver-Cromwell, Presbyterians[/tags]

Exiles who were forced to flee England under the reign of "Bloody Mary", returned under the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603) to cry out against the "ease in Zion". They had read their Bibles and had developed their own ideas about a true reformation in England, differing from Elizabeth's establishment. We know these reformers as "Puritans", preachers of personal and national righteousness.

In its day Puritanism stood for change and a new day in England. The first Puritans had little confidence in traditional religion. Their plans for a new England arose from a deep conviction that spiritual conversion was crucial to Christianity. This rebirth separated the Puritan from the mass of mankind and endowed him with the privileges and the duties of the elect of God. The church may prepare a man for this experience, and, after it, the church may guide him, but the heart of the experience,

When King Charles I tried to force his high church brand of Anglican religion upon the Presbyterian Scots they rose in opposition and joined in a "National League of the Covenant". To defend their Church they dared to take up arms against their king. To put an army in the field, Charles was forced to convene Parliament. But once parliament assembled, conflicting loyalties led to a "Royalist Party" and a "Parliamentary Party". The Parliamentarians, clearly a majority, were agreed on the broad Puritan principles but were divided over the form of the church. On the one hand were Presbyterians; on the other were Independents (or Congregationalists). United in their hatred of Archbishop Laud, the Parliamentarians succeeded in bringing him to trial and seeing him beheaded.

When Charles tried to punish the leaders of this opposition, civil war erupted. The Royalist members of Parliament left London to join the forces