John Pym Pros And Cons Essay

By the early 1600's, the Puritans composed a small minority of England's religious groups. The religion desired to purify the recently reformed Church Of England and rid it of all remnants of Catholicism. Puritans desired to see the government and Church more biblical and more representative. Yet, the government and the Anglican church of England denied their aspirations for more than 20 years. There was hope in the death of James I and the crowning of his son, Charles I. Nonetheless, King Charles faced more adversity than ever before. The adversity and chaos came in the form of John Pym.

John Pym was one of foremost men in the English Parliament. He crafted a lot of the policies and ideas in the form the Parliament of 1625 to the Long Parliament

of 1640. His strong Puritan principles convinced Pym to fight for the traditional English government that was cleansed of the Pope and Catholic tradition. Pym embodied Puritan religious zeal to the entire country of England. John Pym's religious convictions, puritanism, caused him to help lead the revolt against the English government and Charles I. His beliefs and actions supported a powerful parliament in place of the absolute monarchy, which divided the country and led to the greater English Civil War.
Pym devoted his live to politics and became a self-made politician. During the Parliaments of 1621-28, Pym was the treasurer and main administrator for the Providence Island Company, he invested in many colonial ventures to make himself known in the commercial world, and he became the leader of the House of Commons during the Short and Long parliaments. The chaos and confusion caused by John Pym was unlike anything England saw before. From the impeachment of the Duke of Buckingham in 1626, Pym dedicated himself to oppose the parliament, the royal privilege, and Laudian Anglicanism. John Pym's supporters crowned him with the name of 'King Pym" for his strength in all things political.
The authority that Pym created for himself grew out of his dedication to his faith. The one issue that provoked John Pym the most was the Catholic Church and some of Anglican bishops. Historian Conrad Russell explained the significance of "the priority of religious over constitutional issues in Pym's intellectual makeup." His commitment to the Puritan religion influenced Pym's strong convictions of rule of law, parliaments, the king's authority, and liberty. He said "The greatest liberty of our kingdom is religion." He wanted to protect parliament and the King from corruption of Catholicism. Religion became the central concern of Pym throughout his reign in parliament.
From its beginning, the Puritan religion was in conflict with the Anglican church over church government and ritual.

Puritans did not disagree with the Church of England doctrinally, so the conflict spilled over into government in order to prove the stronger and more worthy denomination. The Anglican church's belief in episcopacy conversely highlighted the connection between the Puritan church and its support of a constitutional monarchy. William Laud, the archbishop of Canterbury delivered a speech to the Star Chamber on episcopacy and monarchy and said "And here in England the bishops are confirmed, both in their power and means, by Act of Parliament." The bishops of the Anglican Church obtained their authority from the state, rather than the authority of God which elevated matters of the state higher than God. This idea antagonized the Puritans and Pym because according to John Calvin, the work and nature of the church had a higher essence than the work of the state. The church and state mixed too much; bishops held positions in government and the head of the church was the king. The Church and government of England constantly challenged Puritan principles and the political ideologies of Calvinism to maintain power in

England.
As a Puritan, John Pym abided by the beliefs of Calvinism. They were the antithesis to English religious and ecclesiastical beliefs. The functions of the church and the government were inherently different and should impact each other, only if the connection followed Puritan beliefs that ministers of the church could not have governmental power. John Calvin taught:
[the church] in some measure begins the heavenly kingdom in us even now upon earth . . .; while to the latter [the state] it is assigned, so long as we live among men, to foster and maintain the external worship of God, to defend sound doctrine and the condition of the church, to adapt our conduct to human society, to form our manners to civil justice, to conciliate us to each other, to cherish common peace and tranquility.

Religion and the church created good citizens and its affairs were entirely spiritual. Government did not have the authority to tell the church what to do and instead it should uphold the morals of the church in social welfare and crime. The alarming problem to the Puritans was the English monarchy rejected the beliefs of Calvinism and did not truly believe that God created both the government and the church distinctly and to do his will. When the English Crown no longer sought this important distinction, John Pym's religion grew political.
Pym's reaction to Arminianism demonstrated his commitment to faith and longing to keep England from indoctrinate by incorrect doctrine. Arminian beliefs rooted themselves in Catholic tradition and government and denied Calvinist theology of grace.