📖 Biblical Definition
Puritanism was a movement within English Protestantism (16th-17th centuries) that insisted the Reformation must be carried to completion — that worship, doctrine, church governance, and daily life should all be ordered by the authority of Scripture alone, not by human tradition or political convenience. The Puritans took seriously the call to holiness in every sphere of life: personal devotion, family worship, vocational faithfulness, civil governance, and congregational purity. They were deeply Calvinistic in theology, emphasizing the sovereignty of God, the authority of Scripture, the depravity of man, and the necessity of regeneration. Their conviction was that God's Word speaks to all of life, and that the church should reflect the pattern of the New Testament rather than the accumulated traditions of Rome or Canterbury.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
The doctrines or practice of the Puritans; strictness in religious life.
expand to see more
PU'RITANISM, n. The doctrines, notions, or practice of Puritans. Note: Webster, himself shaped by the Puritan legacy in New England, understood Puritanism as a serious commitment to pure doctrine and practice — not the caricature of joyless legalism that modern usage imposes.
📖 Key Scripture
• 2 Timothy 3:16-17 — "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness."
• 1 Peter 1:15-16 — "As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct."
• Colossians 3:17 — "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Puritanism is now a slur meaning joyless, repressed, and legalistic — the opposite of what Puritans actually were.
expand to see more
The modern use of "puritanical" as a synonym for joyless legalism is one of the most successful slanders in Western intellectual history. The actual Puritans celebrated creation, marital love, feasting, music, and the goodness of God's gifts — within the boundaries He established. H. L. Mencken defined Puritanism as "the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy." This caricature persists because the modern world cannot tolerate people who joyfully submit every area of life to the lordship of Christ. The Puritans are slandered precisely because they demonstrated that rigorous theology and deep joy are not opposites — they are inseparable. To call someone "puritanical" today is to reveal one's own contempt for holiness, not any historical understanding of the movement.
Usage
• "The Puritans were not killjoys — they were men and women who loved God so deeply that they wanted every corner of life reformed by His Word."
• "When the world mocks Puritanism, it reveals that it cannot stand a people who found their greatest joy in holiness rather than hedonism."