The Puritans: Everything wrong with a Christian society, or much misunderstood forefathers of innovation and social justice?

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To Read

• If you want to know more about The Puritans, David has written down pretty much everything about them. Grab his book here
• Here’s an extract from John Winthrop’s famous “city on a hill” sermon, delivered in 1630
• Thanksgiving has undergone somewhat of a social deconstruction in recent years. Here’s a New York Times opinion piece reflecting on the celebration, and the Puritan pilgrims associated with it
• If you fancy a read, you can find The Fornicator poem by Robert Burns here
• One thing we definitely don’t agree with the Puritans on is their decision to cancel Christmas – and the subsequent culture war that ensued
• Heres a breakdown of the history of witch hunts throughout the Middle Ages.

To Watch

• Here’s the excellent skit about the challenges of having a Puritan housemate, courtesy of Studio C
• Simple History has this wonderful video about the Puritans that researcher Al came back to a lot when writing this episode
• Here’s the clip we used from the film Mayflower: The Pilgrims Adventure
• Robin Williams in full flight on the Puritans is hilarious – even if we don’t quite agree with him (language warning)
• Here’s a short video that attempts to bust some myths surrounding the Salem Witch Trials

To Listen

• Here’s David talking further about his remarkable book, for New Books Network
• Here’s an episode of Start the Week, courtesy of the BBC, that also covers Puritan history
• Our two-part series on The Reformation provides some important context to The Puritan era. Check it out here
• Here’s John Piper, preaching on the “joy” of the Puritans

… and finally

• Here’s the Harvard hymn Fair Harvard – with the reference to the Puritans included!

Find out more about Wheaton College and their post-graduate opportunities to study with John Dickson.