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Centuries-Old Puritan Influence Not a Bad Thing, Pastor Says
By Allie Martin
August 1, 2002
(AgapePress) - A British pastor says Christians in the 21st century can learn a great deal about stable family life from 16th- and 17th-century Puritans.
Speaking at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Founders Conference at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, Erroll Hulse -- associate pastor at Leeds Reformed Baptist Church in Yorkshire, England -- said Puritans have a lot to teach modern believers by their biblical understanding and example in marriage and family.
While Baptists do not agree with the Puritans' decision to remain in a state-sponsored church, Hulse said today's Baptists can learn from the Puritan beliefs. The Puritans, he said, sought to be truly pious in their daily living and strong in their understanding of Scripture. They also believed that scriptures firmly established both marriage and sex as gifts ordained by God.
The Puritans lived in the 16th and 17th centuries in England and later came to America. They were called "Puritans" because they sought to purify the Church of England from all remaining vestiges of medieval Roman Catholicism.
See Related Article from Baptist Press
Impure Toronto
Perhaps leaders in one major Canadian city could use some Puritan influence. Just two days after Pope John Paul's departure from Toronto, the city's leaders have voted to support homosexual marriage. Associated Press says the measure passed without debate after Canada's national government moved to keep marriage defined as the union of a man and a woman.
The federal government is appealing an Ontario court ruling that the present law on marriage unconstitutionally discriminates against homosexuals. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has asked the government to appeal. [See Related Story]
But in Toronto, where the pope attracted hundreds of thousands to the church's World Youth Day, city leaders said supporting homosexual marriage is "the right thing" to do.
© 2002 AgapePress all rights reserved.
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