Just what is meant by the term Puritan? The word was first used in the 1560s of those English Protestants who considered the reforms under Queen Elizabeth incomplete and called for further “purification” in the Church. It originally had a negative connotation, used by those who were less than appreciative of these English reformation-minded ministers. But the term Puritanism was quickly embraced as a positive description of the reform movement which sought to bring
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