Henry - A History of Biola University Since 1908

4 f.. America were those annunciated by John Calvin, who found Luther's doctrines acceptable in most essentials. However, he took them several steps further and developed -a .:theol -o-grc:-ar system which was more rigid in its demands. Cal- vinism came to America in the early part of the seventeenth century by way of the Puritans and Separatists from England. These two groups were both irreconcilable enemies of the Roman Catholic Church. Although both groups belonged to the Anglican Church, their main concern was its procrastination in eliminating the vestiges of Roman Catholicism from it worship. The basic difference between the two groups was how to deal with the problem . The Puritans preferred to remain in the Anglican Church and work from within, hoping to purify it, hence the name Puritan . The Separatists, on the other . hand, saw no hope of bringing about the desired change, and withdrew from the parent body. The main body of Separatists left England and went to Leiden, Holland, where they remained for approximately ten years, after which a small group sailed to America in 1620, and became known as the Pilgrims. Historically, Biola University relates more to the Separatists as its spiritual ancestors than to the Puritans. Until the 1690's, the congregations favoring church-state unity and an intellectual approach to religion were dominant in Colonial America. After that time, some evangelical groups composed of largely non-English stock, such as the German Pietists and independent Lutheran groups, migrated to America. These groups, together with the Pilgrim Separatists and the Bap-ยท tists ~ created a condition in the Colonies that had a direct bearing upon the American development referred to by some historians as "revivalism." All this contributed greatly to a strong position of orthodoxy in Protestant- ism that was to flourish in America for the next two centuries. The era from 1800 to the A.'Tierican Civil l'lar, 1861-1865, had a great impact on the liberal-fundamental controversy that was to follow . During this era a restlessness manifested itself in every apsect of life, including

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