The Plymouth Colony: Ecclesiastical Convictions and Religious Obstacles under James I of England1/18/2019 After the murder of his father and the exile of his mother, James VI of Scotland assumed the throne at the approximate age of thirteen months. Of course, James wasn’t expected to be the chief authority of the Scottish kingdom at such an age, in fact, a number of representative regents governed throughout his minority. Due to his political and intellectual promise, James was surrounded by a number of established tutors before he officially appropriated the throne in 1567. One such tutor, George Buchanan, sought out to instill in James a passion for his own sentiments for reformed theology and a desire to promote the Protestant cause in the Scottish Highlands, especially in the Gàidhealtachd region. As his faithful companion and tutor, Buchanan inculcated in James a lifelong admiration for scholarship and learning. Furthermore, James certainly familiarized himself with the many systematic presuppositions that any good Calvinist brought to the scriptures and later committed himself to the good of the Scottish Presbyterian Church, all under the influence of Buchanan and other notable tutors. So, when many faithful reformed Englishmen heard of the impending reign of James I (James VI is his Scottish title), suddenly a certain hope surround their religious yearnings. Although, James’s requisition of the English crown was a sizable undertaking, despite his preliminary conception of the job. The demise of Queen Elizebeth of England brought forth impending complications for the soon-to-be king. Elizebeth left the English government £400,000 in debt, an equivalent of four years of ordinary revenue. In reality, by inheriting the English crown, James believed he had assumed a land of profitable value. Yet, the political landscape of early seventeenth century England was plagued with a number of apparent religious conflicts that would prove problematic for James. From the perspective of the Puritans, James would hopefully further the cause of the Reformation in England, as he did in Scotland. Retrospectively, things were not really all that simple. Although James considered himself somewhat of a Calvinist, he held many grievances against the way in which the Puritans were going about things in England. Correspondingly, when a number of influential Puritan leaders rode to the English border to present their ecclesiastical requests to their new king, he called the Hampton Court Conference in January of 1604 to formally deny a majority of their pleas and hopefully put an end to their appeals to the throne. So what was it that the Puritans desired? Their requests were put forth in what was dubbed the Millenary Petition; which begged the dismissal of the sign of the cross, the use of the ring in marriage, the rite of confirmation, the plea for an updated Bible translation and revisions to the Book of Common Prayer. Yet, despite their valiant requests for revision, most of these cravings were dismissed by James I due to his sentiments regarding the Divine Rights of Kings, in which he wrote an official textbook over back in Scotland. The doctrine of the Divine Rights of Kings stated that the ruling authority of the land was a direct reflection of God’s will on earth and his policies thereof. Therefore, seeking to purify particular characteristics of the government, as the Puritans were trying to do, meant that the one was toiling to change the characteristics of God. In formally denying their requests at Hampton, James set forth his attitude towards religious uprisings, such as the Puritans, who, in his eyes, who were dismissing the authority of the Church of England.
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