John Robinson (1575-1625) was the pastor of the Pilgrims after their removal to Holland in 1607-8, and many of his writings survive--giving us a direct view of the Pilgrims religious beliefs and theology.
The Pilgrims' separatist movement can be directly traced back to John Calvin (1509-1564) and Calvinism, from which also descends Puritanism and Presbyterianism. The Pilgrims' separatist movement sprung up from primarily Nottinghamshire, where Richard Clyfton and John Robinson, both Cambridge alumni, began their preaching. Beginning in 1604 with the ascention of King James I, the persecution of Protestants increased. Members of Clyfton and Robinson's church had to meet secretly, and were hunted continually by the authorities--and when caught, thrown in jail. By 1607, they could no longer take the persecution, and made their escape to Amsterdam, Holland, and a year later moved to Leyden where they established their congregation.
In addition to John Robinson, William Bradford and Edward Winslow have added their own remarks to various theological debates of their day. Below is a basic outline of some of these religious beliefs supported and practiced by the Leyden Pilgrims. For those who are interested, the Pilgrims used John Calvin's Geneva translation of the Bible, nicknamed the "Breeches Bible".
Predestination.
The Pilgrims believed that before the foundation of the world, God predestined
to make the world, man, and all things. He also predestined, at that
time, who would be saved, and who would be damned. Only those God elected
would receive God's grace, and would have faith. There was nothing
an individual could do during their life that would cause them to be saved
(or damned), since God had already decided who was going to be saved before
the creation of the world. However, God would not have chosen blatant sinners
to be his elect; and therefore those who were godly were likely to be the
ones God elected to be saved. For more information,
see: A Defence of the Doctrine Propounded by the Synod of Dort, by
John Robinson, (1624).
Sacraments and Popery.
To the Pilgrims, there were only two sacraments: baptism and the Lord's Supper.
The other sacraments (Confession, Penance, Confirmation, Ordination,
Marriage, Confession, Last Rites) of the Catholic and Anglican churches were
inventions of man and were therefore not Holy. The Pilgrims opposed
the mass, and considered marriage a civil affair (not a religious sacrament).
The legitimacy of the pope, the saints, and the church hierarchy was
rejected, as was the veneration of relics. Icons and religious symbols
such as crosses, statues, stain-glass windows, fancy architecture, and other
worldly manifestations of religion were rejected.
Church Organization
The church of the Pilgrims was organized around five officers: pastor, teacher,
elder, deacon, and deaconess (sometimes called the "church widow").
However, none of the five offices was considered essential to the church.
The Pastor was an ordained minister whose responsibility was to see
to the religious life of the congregation. John Robinson was the pastor
of the Pilgrims, but was never able to get to America before his death in
1625. The Teacher was also an ordained minister who was responsible
for the instruction of the congregation. The Pilgrims apparently never
had anyone to fill that position. The Elder was a lay-person responsible
for church government, and he was also the church's eyes and ears, assisting
the Pastor and Teacher in admonishing the congregation.
See: A Just and Necessary Apology of Certain
Christians, by John Robinson (1625), chapter 9, "Of the Ecclesiastical
Presbytery". William Brewster was the Elder for the Plymouth church.
The Deacon collected offerings, and attended to the needs of the poor
and elderly. John Carver and Samuel Fuller both were deacons during
their life. The Deaconess attended the sick and poor, and often played
the role of mid-wife as well. The Deaconess of the early Plymouth church
is not named, but may have been Bridget Fuller. The church building
itself had no significance to the Pilgrims, and was usually called simply
the "meetingplace" or "meetinghouse". The meetinghouse was kept drab,
and had no religious depictions or icons. Starting about the summer
of 1622, the fort served as the Pilgrims meetinghouse. The Pilgrim
men brought loaded guns to church in case they were attacked during services.
Infant Baptism.
The Pilgrims believed baptism was the sacrament which wiped away Original
Sin, and was a covenant with Christ and his chosen people (as circumcision
had been to God and the Israelites), and therefore children should be baptized
as soon as practical. See: Of Religious Communion,
Private and Public, by John Robinson (1614). This was in
opposition to the Anabaptists, who believed that baptism was essentially
an initiation ceremony into the churchhood of believers, and therefore could
only be administered to believing adults who understood the meaning of the
ceremony. The Pilgrims believed that "Baptism now, as circumcision
of old, is the seal of the covenant of God". They further believed
that at least one parent must be of the faith for the child to be baptized
into the church. See: A Just and Necessary Apology
of Certain Christians, by John Robinson (1625).
Holy Days and Religious Holidays.
The Pilgrims faithfully observed the Sabbath, and did not work on Sunday.
Even when the Pilgrims were exploring Cape Cod, to the Mayflower
crew's dismay, they stopped everything and stayed in camp on Sunday to keep
the Sabbaths. See: Mourt's Relation (1622),
chapter 1. The Pilgrims did not celebrate religious
holidays--Christmas and Easter being the prime examples. These holidays
were invented by man to memorialize Jesus, and are not prescribed by the
Bible and therefore cannot be Holy. "It seems too much for any mortal
man to appoint, or make an anniversary memorial".
See: A Just and Necessary Apology of Certain
Christians by John Robinson (1625) chapter 5; and Of Plymouth
Plantation by William Bradford, chapter 12.
Marriage.
The Pilgrims considered marriage a civil affair, not to be handled by the
church ministers but instead by civil magistrates.
See: Of Plymouth Plantation, Ch. 12.
Marriage was a contract, mutually agreed upon by a man and a woman.
Marriage was ordained by God for the benefit of man's natural and spiritual
life. Not getting married (and thus remaining a virgin) was not considered
a sign of piety. Marriages were considered important for two main reasons:
procreation of children, and to avoid the sin of adultery. The important
characteristics to find in the proper spouse, according to Robinson, are
(1) godliness, and (2) similarity--in age, beliefs, estate, disposition,
inclinations, and affections. In the marriage, "the wife is specially
required a reverend subjection in all lawful things to her husband", and
the husband is "to give honour to the wife", and the Lord requires "the love
of the husband to his wife must be like Christ's to his church".
See: Observations Divine and Moral, by John
Robinson (1628), chapter 59 "Of Marriage".
Education of Children, and Discipline.
The Pilgrims believed that in the child's early years, the mother was the
most important educator. But as the child grew, the father became the
more important figure--from the father they are to learn manners, wisdom,
and authority. The Pilgrims believed that children needed to be disciplined
"with the rod" when necessary, as the Bible proclaims in Proverbs 13:24 and
22:15. Children were also expected to learn from the husband's disciplining
of his wife--a wife was to be disciplined just as the children were disciplined
when she disobeyed her husband or sinned against God.
See Observations Divine and Moral (1624)
by John Robinson, Chapter 60 "Of Children and their Education". The
Pilgrim's distinction between beating a wife, and disciplining a wife, is
akin to the modern-day distinction between beating a child and spanking a
child. The standard court-administered punishment for wife-beating
was a public whipping, which is certainly more severe than the modern
"punishment". None of the Mayflower passengers were ever accused
of wife-beating. Education was thought very important, but in early
years of the Plymouth Colony there was not enough time or qualified individuals
to teach. All children, boys and girls both, were taught to read (because
reading the Bible was something everyone needed to be able to do).
Writing, however, was not taught to girls, and in fact many boys never
learned to write either. If the situation required, writing was a skill
that could be learned fairly easily by someone who already knew how to read.
SOURCES:
1. The Works of John Robinson, Pastor of the Pilgrims. Edited by Robert Ashton (London, 1851). 3-Volumes.
2. The Reformation: A Narrative History Related by Contemporary Observers and Participates, by Hans Hillerbrand (Grand Rapids, repr. 1994).
3. Reformation Europe, by De Lamar Jensen (Lexington, 1992).
4. Of Plymouth Plantation, by William Bradford. (written 1630-1654).
5. Mourt's Relation: A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth (London, 1622).