Rise and Development of the Congregational Polity and Spirit

Here is a collection of ten manuscripts that trace the origins and development of the Congregational Polity and Spirit in New England. Earl Davis starts with the Church at Scrooby, England, from which the Pilgrims ultimately migrated to Plymouth in New England. The lectures look at some other early attempts to break with the authority of Rome–and then the English monarch–to allow for free inquiry and universal priesthood in matters of religious belief. The lectures move through developments in New England, including the arrival of the Puritans in New England and the various forces on the New England Theocracy that these groups established that ultimately led to the falling apart of the Theocracy and the rise of liberal religion.