Introducing Puritan theology

Puritan theology rested on three foundational beliefs, beginning with God’s sovereignty—a concept that, while shared across Christian traditions, received distinctive emphasis in Puritan thought. Unlike other Christian groups, Puritans viewed God fundamentally as ruler, lawgiver, and magistrate demanding absolute obedience.[1] This theological framework descended from John Calvin’s conviction that an infinite gulf separates God from creation, making human comprehension of God’s true nature impossible through reason alone.[1]

To bridge this gap, Puritans embraced Scripture as God’s literal word, understanding the Bible as a complete and authoritative code governing personal conduct, church organization, and social order.[1] What distinguished Puritan theology was its integration of these high doctrines into everyday experience—connecting abstract truths about God’s grace to concrete life situations. This made Puritanism a comprehensive theological interpretation of religious, social, economic, and political existence, applying Calvinist principles to the entire structure of human life.[2]

Puritans cultivated reverent awe before God’s transcendent majesty and engaged the central gospel themes with intellectual rigor, investigating the relationship between law and gospel with precision while expounding justification and sanctification with both scholarly depth and pastoral concern.[3] Their theology aimed to inform the mind and challenge the conscience, demanding that every aspect of belief and behavior submit to Christ’s lordship and Scripture’s authority.[3]

Despite shared theological commitments to grace and scriptural authority, considerable diversity existed among Puritans themselves regarding practical piety.[4] Scholars have identified four distinct expressions: nomism (emphasizing law and order), evangelicalism (stressing gospel proclamation), rationalism (highlighting God’s truth in nature and reason), and mysticism (focusing on the soul’s union with God in Christ).[4]

[1] Robert C. Fuller, Religious Revolutionaries: The Rebels Who Reshaped American Religion (St. Martin’s Press, 2016). [See here, here, here.]
[2] James Montgomery Boice, Philip Graham Ryken, and R. C. Sproul, The Doctrines of Grace: Rediscovering the Evangelical Gospel (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2002). [See here.]
[3] Alan Cairns, in Dictionary of Theological Terms (Belfast; Greenville, SC: Ambassador Emerald International, 2002), 354.
[4] Jeffrey M. Kahl, “The Antinomian Controversy and the Puritan Vision: A Historical Perspective on Christian Leadership,” Ashland Theological Journal Volume 35 (2003), 35:57.