What denomination describes best?

PloverWing · Mar 5, 2023

QvQ said:
Can anyone explain to me, what in the parlance of denomination, a Puritan is?

That's a good question. I would label both "Puritan" and "Calvinist" as Reformed (i.e., within Calvin's school of thought); I don't know what distinction the quiz-writer has in mind. Unless it's a distinction between Reformed in England/New England vs Reformed in Continental Europe, but that's a lot of hair-splitting for an online quiz.

QvQ · Mar 5, 2023

PloverWing said:
That's a good question. I would label both "Puritan" and "Calvinist" as Reformed (i.e., within Calvin's school of thought); I don't know what distinction the quiz-writer has in mind. Unless it's a distinction between Reformed in England/New England vs Reformed in Continental Europe, but that's a lot of hair-splitting for an online quiz.

Yes, it is just an on-line quiz. I wonder what combination of answers would separate Calvinist from Puritan or are all Puritans Calvinist?
The quiz does not rightly separate Orthodox from the other somewhat similar groups so it is not particularly discerning.
However, since I am one, according to the quiz, I would like to know what Puritan is.

PloverWing · Mar 5, 2023

QvQ said:
Yes, it is just an on-line quiz. I wonder what combination of answers would separate Calvinist from Puritan or are all Puritans Calvinist?
The quiz does not rightly separate Orthodox from the other somewhat similar groups so it is not particularly discerning.
However, since I am one, according to the quiz, I would like to know what Puritan is.

I don't know if there are any modern Puritans. In the US, their theological descendants are the Congregationalists in New England, but modern Congregationalists are not identical in belief to their 17th century ancestors. I also would like to know what the quiz writer meant by "Puritan".

FireDragon76 · Mar 5, 2023

Puritans were English post-Lollard Calvinists who dissented from the Established Church, either formally through schism (and becoming Congregationalists or Baptists), or informally by simply disregarding the Book of Common Prayer and Elizabethan Settlement, and emphasizing (often self-styled) Calvinistic/Lollard doctrines (such as the denial of baptismal regeneration or the attacks upon liturgy in general). Frequently, Puritans emphasized the need to experience "the new birth" as something separated from baptism, and they demanded clergy be able to testify to such experiences.

It cannot be compared to the continental Reformed, who often emphasized (and still do), the ordinary means of grace through preaching and the sacraments, and not the experience of regeneration or the new birth.

FireDragon76 · Mar 5, 2023

PloverWing said:
I don't know if there are any modern Puritans. In the US, their theological descendants are the Congregationalists in New England, but modern Congregationalists are not identical in belief to their 17th century ancestors. I also would like to know what the quiz writer meant by "Puritan".

Modern Congregationalists are pretty far removed in some ways form Puritans. For one thing, Puritanism was a disaster in North America, degenerating into fanaticism and hypocrisy fairly quickly, and this lead to the development of corrective doctrines, such as the "Halfway Covenant", and the moderating of Puritan impulses. By the time of early America, Congregationalists had basically become like Anglicans in terms of focusing on broad church moralism and latitudinarianism, but they also participated in the two Great Awakenings, along with other Protestant churches, and that shaped them as well.

The modern UCC and it's adjacent denominations are more or less similar to other mainline Protestant churches, such as American Baptists, except they usually have congregational polity and a somewhat higher view of the sacraments. The dominant influences, like other mainline churches, are Pietism and theological Liberalism and Modernism. It's fairly common to see calendar observances (such as Ash Wednesday) and religious art in modern UCC churches, something you wouldn't have seen in an historically Puritan church.

QvQ · Mar 5, 2023

PloverWing said:
I don't know if there are any modern Puritans. In the US, their theological descendants are the Congregationalists in New England, but modern Congregationalists are not identical in belief to their 17th century ancestors. I also would like to know what the quiz writer meant by "Puritan".

One meaning of Puritan is that they were "plain," and simple in ceremony.
It may be that to which the quizzers refer. I dont' see the other "plain folks" such as Quakers listed but the quiz is narrow in scope. I doubt the Amish or Quakers need an on-line quiz to identify their denomination. Those denominations identify their members, not the other way around.

fhansen · Mar 6, 2023

rockytopva said:
What denomination describes best? Take ten minutes to take the test!

Which Christian denomination do you belong to?

This quiz determines your Christian denomination via questions about your beliefs. Discover also which other denominations you are close to.

www.gotoquiz.com

The results pretty well describes my faith…

80% Methodist
78% Baptist
73% Puritan
63% Pentecostal
53% Calvinist
45% Lutheran
00% Catholic

Some of the questions were poorly structured, especially #4, 12, and 16. It’s a bit ironic, perhaps, that Catholics make up the majority of church members while ranking zero on this test.

QvQ · Mar 6, 2023

#7 was the best question as I had to stop and think about what I believed.
I compared that quiz to other, similar on-line quizzes and it is actually the best, imho.
It is fun. If it makes a person think about God and what a person believes, it is harmless.

9Rock9 · Apr 2, 2023

I got 85% Puritan and 83% Baptist.

I've taken this quiz before, and got Puritan everytime I can remember, so I actually expected this result.

I think part of it is that while I agree with most Baptist doctrines and practices, I am not as gung-ho about some of the distinctives such as church polity.

FireDragon76 · Apr 2, 2023

Lutheran, Episcopalian, Methodist, Catholic, Restorationist

Not very surprising, as I am still technically Lutheran, even if I attend a Congregationalist church.

The questions are not the best, since some common opinions are excluded, like liberal Protestant ones.

DragonFox91 · Apr 7, 2023

Puritan 79%
Baptist 77%
Calvinist 74%
Methodist 64%
Pentecostal 50%
Lutheran 45%
Episcopalian 12%
Restoration 8%
Catholics 0%

I attend Baptist (w/ a friend) & RCA (family) churches. I'm not really sure what "Puritan" means in this context, but based off the description the quiz gave me, it's kind of like Calvinism.

So my 3 highest results match the churches I attend.

PloverWing said:
That's a good question. I would label both "Puritan" and "Calvinist" as Reformed (i.e., within Calvin's school of thought); I don't know what distinction the quiz-writer has in mind. Unless it's a distinction between Reformed in England/New England vs Reformed in Continental Europe, but that's a lot of hair-splitting for an online quiz.

It seems like it's church set-up. Puritans believe in less centralized heirarchy than Calvinist.

"You adhere to the reformed theologies that stemmed from John Calvin in the sixteenth century. The idea of predestination is central to your beliefs. You believe that not only is salvation predestined by God, this election is unconditional, and cannot be either resisted or lost. As opposed to the Arminian belief in free will, Calvinists stress that men are born as sinners (total depravity), and that they do not have the ability to turn from sin by themselves (sovereign grace). As far as church organisation is concerned, you believe in a less centralised system than your mainstream Calvinist counterparts, although historically some Puritans did support a Presbyterian polity. However, Puritans stress the importance of religious freedom, with notable Purtans such as Oliver Cromwell being tolerant even to polygamist groups such as Anabaptists."
This is the description of Puritan I got.

FireDragon76 · Apr 8, 2023

Arminianism is actually just a variant of Reformed theology, and uses similar theological categories. Arminians historically also believed in total depravity, but they believe when the Gospel is preached, people are enabled to accept it. John Wesley's speculations about "Christian perfection" are what eventually lead to the minimization of denial of total depravity.

A salient, but often unacknowledged practical difference, between Puritans and Calvinists, and Arminians, actually isn't so much in the doctrine of predestination (historically Arminians did believe in predestination also, though they had a different explanation), the more salient aspect is that Puritans and Calvinists expected that spiritual awakening was something a person would grow into through the experience of the ordinary means of grace (preaching and the sacraments). There was also more of a demand that clergy in particular show evidence of regeneration. Whereas classical Anglicans and Lutherans did not have these distinct emphases.

IoanC · Apr 8, 2023

I am Orthodox, but got Catholic. I can see the reasoning, but the difference between the two is fundamental. (I don't believe in ecumenism, btw )

FaithT · May 20, 2023

I got Methodist but am Lutheran LCMS, former Catholic.

What denomination describes best?

Episcopalian

Member

Episcopalian

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Member

Oldbie

Member

Sinner in need of grace.

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Active Member

Well-Known Member

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