The New World Times

   In 1534, the first whispers of Puritanism reached the England streets and caught many ears.

   Today in Salem Massachusetts, miles and miles away from England, Puritanism is something practiced daily and will hopefully help get rid of the witches in Salem Village. Puritanism is a concept that was thought of long before Salem was first settled. John Calvin was a French pastor who created the base for Puritanism which is Calvinism.

    John Calvin was born in 1509, in France which worshipped a Catholic church as a country. As John Calvin grew older, he figured out that the Catholic church was corrupt and had impurities in it. Because of this, John Calvin created his own theology called Calvinism. This new theology started to spread all over Europe in the 1500s. Although, John Calvin did not spread this idea all by himself, Calvin invited priests and scholars from all across Europe to France where he would teach the scholars Calvinism. John Calvin would then send these scholars back to their homelands with this idea that needed to be spread.

    While Calvinism was being spread all across Europe a man named, Martin Luther, who was a German monk who protested against the Catholic church and rejected some Catholic teachings given to him in Germany. These actions created another spark of rebellion on another side of Europe. Martin Luther continued to push Calvinism and this movement of people protesting their religion is called the Reformation which took place in Europe.

    The Reformation spread fairly quickly, teaching people the laws of Calvinism which is different from Catholicism and follows these rules which became varied as Calvinism began to spread all throughout Europe. Generally these were the followed rules: “The Sovereignty of God” meaning God Rules Over Everyone, “The Depravity of Humans” stating it is impossible for humans to achieve salvation through their own efforts throughout life,  “To Restrain Evil”, “God Has Foreordained All Things”, “God Chooses Whom He Wishes To Save” and lastly “God's Saving Grace Is All-Powerful”. These brilliant ideas were taught to many across Europe and reached England in 1534.

    Along with these laws John Calvin created the most brilliant idea in the history of Christianity which is Predestination. Predestination comes from The Depravity of Humans because it states that humans can not change the decision that God makes deciding if you go off to Heaven or Hell in the afterlife. This decision by God is unknown to humans while they live and can only be answered after the human has died when they either become saved or damned by God. Because of this idea this brings an uncertainty to the people of Salem because it will make people act different than they would naturally without this idea of Predestination in their minds. This also is constantly pressuring Puritans on their actions because they want to act like one who has been saved by God and not one chosen to be damned.

   Before The Reformation reached England, there were no Puritans because Puritanism is a variation of Calvinism created by geniuses in England. However, Calvinism had a profound influence on Puritanism, which is a version of Protestantism. This new theology, which is a purified version of Catholicism overtime urged, the English to move to other lands where they would be allowed to practice their religion. Thus eventually brought the Puritans to Plymouth as Pilgrims finally in September 1620, carrying the idea of Calvinism with them.

In the New World the Pilgrims were allowed to practice their own religion without any issues because there was no law against it. As years went by, the English eventually started to settle all along the east coast of the New World where they experienced harsh weather. In 1629, the first settlements of Salem were first created, which started to expand as a village and a town. At this time, Puritans started to expand in where they lived and their religion did as well.

   Calvinism went from a small idea from one man, to a religion overtime because people really believed that a change needed to be made about the corruption of the churches. At this point it may look like a deadly fight for the people of Salem against the witches because the witches are taking over many people and some suspicious activities were going on at priest Parris’s house which definitely disobeyed many of the laws of Calvinism. Although if the laws of Calvinism are obeyed all will be fine in Salem and the witch problem will be resolved. But Calvinism may not be the only blame. The idea of Predestination is in the back of every person’s mind in Salem and it may be driving people to second guess themselves meaning they are acting as if nothing matters. Maybe the bewitchings are only happening because people know they were not saved so they might as well act for some attention so they can make themselves feel special in some way. This hysteria is occurring because nobody can do anything to decide their fate because it has been predetermined by God and it is influencing this demonic behavior.