You all I am sure have been told that Thanksgiving Day in America is not truly a Christian holiday. There are Christian traditions associated with the day, but the official national holiday declared by Abraham Lincoln is not rooted in Christianity. Instead, Thanksgiving is a secular or civic religious day that is grounded in America’s history.
Now the rest of that story is that Pilgrims, not the Puritans, were the ones who settled in North America after arriving on the Mayflower in 1620.
Now "Who" were actually the Pilgrams is the question.
The Pilgrims were Christian Separatists from England who believed that the Church of England was hopelessly corrupt and sought the freedom to practice their religion apart from government interference.
The story of the Pilgrims traces back to the decision by King Henry VIII to seize control of the English church in 1534. The king’s action sparked decades of deadly conflict between Roman Catholic and Protestants. King Edward VI, son of Henry VIII, took the side of the Protestants and continued to drive Catholicism out of England. However, upon his death as a teenager, he was replaced by Mary 1, who brutally attempted to reestablish Catholicism as the dominant religion in England. Mary’s half-sister Elizabeth I succeeded her as queen and strove to stabilize Christianity in England. Elizabeth I redesigned the Church of England as a compromise between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, granting it the full backing of the state.
This compromise was intolerable for some. A group of these Separatists, as they were called, would later come to be known as the Pilgrims. Under English law, it was illegal for the Separatists to practice their faith outside of the Church of England. In 1607 a congregation of Separatists, seeking to escape persecution, moved from England to Holland, which was more religiously tolerant. These Separatists established a successful community in Holland, and for several years were happy with their newfound religious freedom.
So the fact is that they formed a CHURCH from England in Holland. Therefore, believing that it was the will of God, they consolidated their resources and set sail for North America, purchasing passage aboard the Mayflower.
The Pilgrims were CALVANISTS and CONGREGATIONALISTS. They were radical Puritans and held mostly Puritan beliefs about God, the Bible, church government, morality, and the world around them.
They established the famous Plymouth Colony upon their arrival in the New World, but their story began nearly a century earlier.
So then.......the real historical fact is that America was actually A CHRISTIAN CHURCH RELOCATION!
They clebrated their THANKS to God for surviving that 1st winter with the help of native Americans.
Source: “The General Society of Mayflower Descendants has identified more than 82,000 Pilgrim descendants,” including nine American Presidents, astronaut Alan Shepard, poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and actor Clint Eastwood (Reid, R. “How much do you know about the Pilgrims and their legacy?” Stars and Stripes, 11/25/15).
Now the rest of that story is that Pilgrims, not the Puritans, were the ones who settled in North America after arriving on the Mayflower in 1620.
Now "Who" were actually the Pilgrams is the question.
The Pilgrims were Christian Separatists from England who believed that the Church of England was hopelessly corrupt and sought the freedom to practice their religion apart from government interference.
The story of the Pilgrims traces back to the decision by King Henry VIII to seize control of the English church in 1534. The king’s action sparked decades of deadly conflict between Roman Catholic and Protestants. King Edward VI, son of Henry VIII, took the side of the Protestants and continued to drive Catholicism out of England. However, upon his death as a teenager, he was replaced by Mary 1, who brutally attempted to reestablish Catholicism as the dominant religion in England. Mary’s half-sister Elizabeth I succeeded her as queen and strove to stabilize Christianity in England. Elizabeth I redesigned the Church of England as a compromise between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, granting it the full backing of the state.
This compromise was intolerable for some. A group of these Separatists, as they were called, would later come to be known as the Pilgrims. Under English law, it was illegal for the Separatists to practice their faith outside of the Church of England. In 1607 a congregation of Separatists, seeking to escape persecution, moved from England to Holland, which was more religiously tolerant. These Separatists established a successful community in Holland, and for several years were happy with their newfound religious freedom.
So the fact is that they formed a CHURCH from England in Holland. Therefore, believing that it was the will of God, they consolidated their resources and set sail for North America, purchasing passage aboard the Mayflower.
The Pilgrims were CALVANISTS and CONGREGATIONALISTS. They were radical Puritans and held mostly Puritan beliefs about God, the Bible, church government, morality, and the world around them.
They established the famous Plymouth Colony upon their arrival in the New World, but their story began nearly a century earlier.
So then.......the real historical fact is that America was actually A CHRISTIAN CHURCH RELOCATION!
They clebrated their THANKS to God for surviving that 1st winter with the help of native Americans.
Source: “The General Society of Mayflower Descendants has identified more than 82,000 Pilgrim descendants,” including nine American Presidents, astronaut Alan Shepard, poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and actor Clint Eastwood (Reid, R. “How much do you know about the Pilgrims and their legacy?” Stars and Stripes, 11/25/15).
