Separatist

Thanksgiving is our family’s favorite time of celebration. I always take the time to read a Christian version of the story of the Pilgrims to our children. They never cease to be inspired when told about how a part of a body of Protestants called Puritans, those called so because they wished to purify the Church and realizing this couldn’t be done, came seeking freedom in America to worship as they thought they should. Before 1600, some of the Puritans decided that they could not reform the Church from within. They separated from the Church of England and set up congregations of their own. These persons who separated from the Church became known as Separatists. English officials persecuted them and many fled from England and then settled in Holland. From there they fled to America and so we have the story of the Pilgrims on their way to the New World.
What Did the Puritans Want to Purify?
Many of the Puritans differed a bit among themselves, but they had one common idea. They believed in a simple religious belief, a simple manner of worship, and a simple method of church organization. Most of the Puritans wanted to purify churches of priestly vestments and elaborate ceremonies which they called traditions of men.
Some wanted to do away with statues and the ostentatious buildings, and some with the monetary “business” of the church. They said their views on church organization and government came from the Bible itself and that they firmly believed that all clergymen should be of equal rank.
Were They Able to Purify?
For a long time, all Puritans were opposed by the officials of the Church of England and not only that, but the English government itself. The English government controlled all religious affairs in the country. Because the Puritans wanted to abolish the priest hood as well as do away with bishops and because they believed that any member of a congregation had the right to preach, they were no longer tolerated. When they were cast out of the churches, no longer did they hold the title of Puritan, but now they were called Separatists. Something rather interesting... after some of the Pilgrims left England to live in America, Parliament executed Charles I in 1649 and the Commonwealth was established under the devoted Puritan, Oliver Cromwell. During this time it was declared that no King would rule over England, only God. And throughout Cromwell’s time the Puritans were able to worship as they wished without government involvement in the Church of England. The political power of the Puritans came to an end in 1660, with the return of the Stuart dynasty, but the influence of the Puritans in strengthening Protestantism, and in increasing political freedom in England, has lasted until the present day. (All information gathered is from the World Book Encyclopedia).
The Puritan Awakening
Today we see in many of our churches an infiltration of humanism and feminism. I’ve had friend after friend sadly state that there are no older women in their church. But just as our ancestors who bravely battled the sea and perils in an unchartered wilderness, pulled away from a world and a religious system not aligning itself with God’s Word, we find a brilliant fistful of young women and men also following in their footsteps. These devoted believers are willing to think beyond the philosophies they were brought up with. As we find the educational system slowly conforming to worldliness, there was a long period of time in American History when the most important aspect of education was that of learning to read with the prime purpose of being able to read God’s Word. After a few centuries, however, a Machiavellian philosophy of a well-rounded education overtook the system and worldly study and a worldly, rather than Biblical, became known as advancement. The dedication of our Puritan forefathers is apparent in many of the believers as there are still those who today are working within the system in the hopes of bringing school prayer back as a norm and also bringing back the true facts of history in our nation, which then contained a belief in God. We have come so far in our educational system of getting rid of our Father that it is now taught as fact in schools that the Pilgrims gave thanks to the Indians rather than as a Feast unto the Lord! But many of these modern Puritans have found themselves shut out, and shunned as they have tried to Christianize the world’s system of education. They, too, have had to leave and now they are indeed Separatists just as much as the Pilgrims were over 300 years ago.
The Return of the Separatists
The Separatists today are those who have found that they will not go along with the world training their children and have removed themselves from the influence of humanism and feminism. There are thousands of parents across the nation and also around the world whose God’s Spirit has touched regarding the education of their children. Many parents who were brought up with an academically stressed education have found that truly indeed, “That wisdom of this world is foolishness to God, and the wisdom of God is foolishness to the world.” They were not able to merge the two, neither were they able influence one against the other. They were not able to serve two masters, that of humanistic academics AND a Biblicaly based education. It might be helpful to add here that if you are living in a state where the home education laws are difficult, that if you were brought to trial for home educating, they would try to find out if you home educated your children because of a preference versus a conviction. A preference is where you prefer to do it, but you would still use secular material. They would want to prove that your belief was legally a conviction and then allow you to home educate only if you showed that it was a religious conviction. One major way of proving this would be because your actions showed your belief by using only Christian material. This is the basis of being a Separatist. You live your life through what you believe. It is not head knowledge. It is heart knowledge and it affects every aspect of your life. When you believe in something so strong, it effects every thing that you do.
The Return of Feminine Separatists
There are more aspects among women to be seen today where they are walking in the life-style of the Separatists. They are those women whose lives are separated from the humanism and degenerating that we see being taught to young girls from infancy. These women are not afraid to look about them and realize that they do not want to walk the way of a feminist. That they will separate from the world and walk that of being woman.
Not women in men’s clothing, not women in men’s positions, not women in men’s mannerisms and speech, but those who are willing to walk away and be what God has called them to be... God’s females. He created them male and female. He separated His own very creation from the beginning. And He intended it to keep that way.
As the world accepts more and more of a unisex philosophy, as it moves towards a universal role for all citizens of the earth, women who are professing the love of God through their Savior are willing to take a gigantic risk and stand alone. When many of their friends and associations from their past are wanting to walk according to the ways of the world, the Spirit of God is pulling and separating His people. God Himself is the separator. “When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: and before Him shall be gathered all nations; and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth His sheep from the goats; and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, ‘Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world’...” And dearest sister, I pray that indeed you will have the same heart that our Christian ancestors had, when after they were come unto a new land, that they gave a feast unto the Lord and thanked the Father. So also should we as we come out of humanism and feminism, as we are walking obediently in the new land of femininity in Christ, thank God for all the blessings and joys that He has brought us and spread the feast of love and nurturing to all those who He brings us, be it our children, our husbands, or those who are needy. For remember the end of the scripture above, “For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me... And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
-by Anna Neumas