The Pilgrims
Why did the Pilgrims come to America?
In order to understand this then, we have to understand the whole story of the Pilgrims.
The story of the Pilgrims did not begin when they arrived in Plymouth Colony in 1620 AD. The events, which lead to that fateful day, need to be examined to understand the Pilgrims.
The roots of the Pilgrims were the books that John Wycliffe wrote in 1374 AD, which challenged many of the doctrines of the False Church of Rome, that then held sway over England. The commoners, who followed the teachings of John Wycliffe, but did not have his degree of formal education, were known as the Lollards. Wycliffe then began translating the Book of Truth (The Bible) into English from Latin, and the version that bears his name was completed in 1388 AD.
Although, it soon became a death penalty crime to own a copy of an English translation of the Book of Truth in England, the Lollards produced them nonetheless, and the commoners read them. As common people in England began to read the Book of Truth for themselves, they began to notice many of the same inconsistencies between it and the doctrine of the False Church of Rome as Wycliffe. Soon, there was a grassroots movement among the commoners to break away from the False Church of Rome. As this movement grew, so did persecution against the Lollards.
When the Czech kingdom broke off from the False Church of Rome in 1436 AD as the first Protestant country, then the movement to do the same grew hopeful in England. This was bolstered as more illegal copies of English translations of the Book of Truth began being printed, sometime after Gutenberg began printing copies of the Latin translation in 1454 AD.
The migration path of the Pilgrims to America began in 1497 AD, just five years after the day when worlds collided. John Cabot sailed to North America on behalf of King Henry VII that year, and found new land in the New World. He named this new found land in North America, "Newfoundland".
Then Martin Luther began the Protestant Reformation in 1517 AD, and the desire to break away from the False Church of Rome became even stronger in England, as it was now seen as a trend among the kingdoms of northern Europe.
In 1532 AD, the state persecution of the Lollards finally began to subside, after Thomas Harding was executed. In 1534 AD, King Henry VIII and the parliament of England officially broke off from the False Church of Rome. It was replaced with the Church of England.
Then the translation of the Book of Truth from original languages into English by William Tyndale was completed in 1535 AD. The next year, King Henry VIII repealed the law making it a death penalty crime to own an English translation of the Book of Truth. He then commissioned the Church of England to create an official English translation of the Book of Truth.
The Church of England took the Tyndale translation, made a few modifications, most notably replacing "congregation" with "church" in every occurrence. This translation was called the Great Bible of the Church of England, that was made available to all of the people of England to read.
When people began reading the official English translation, they began noticing differences between the doctrine of the Renewed Covenant (B'rit Chadashah aka The New Testament) and the Church of England. They began to see that the Lollards were right in their desire for the Church of England to separate itself from many of the practices, which it had inherited from the False Church of Rome.
When King Edward VI took the throne in 1547 AD, he began making an effort to bring about many of the reforms that he also believed were needed. So, he turned England into a place of refuge for Protestants all over Europe. Finally, he had the forty-two articles issued in 1552 AD, that listed forty-two changes that the Church of England was to make to further remove practices inherited from the False Church of Rome.
However, when Queen Mary I (Bloody Mary) came to the throne in 1553 AD, she tried to bring England back into submission to the False Church of Rome. As part of her efforts, she resumed state persecution of the Lollards in 1554 AD, that lead to the Marian persecutions, which killed hundreds of Lollards until she died in 1558 AD. During this time period, about 800 of the Lollards fled England to Protestant countries in northern Europe, including the Netherlands, which had adopted a policy of religious tolerance.
When Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne that year, she put an immediate end to the persecution of the Lollards. The Church of England again replaced the False Church of Rome in England. Many of the exiled Lollards returned to England, and many were given positions to help bring about further reforms to remove practices inherited from the False Church of Rome.
In 1559 AD, a set of uniform practices for the Church of England were made into law, based on suggestions by the returning Lollards. Yet, she still allowed certain practices inherited from the False Church of Rome that she saw as harmless, like the clergy wearing special clothing, and people kneeling during communion, to continue. This was to avoid a war between the many members of the False Church of Rome and the Protestants, who lived in England. These reforms were enough to satisfy most of the Lollards, and they assimilated into the Church of England, where they sought to work for further reforms.
However, a policy of conformity with the Church of England was also part of the laws signed by Queen Elizabeth I. Anyone, who did not attend all church services, had to pay fine equal to about the wages of half a day for a common laborer per missed service. No one could preach without a license, which only about one in ten of the ministers of the Church of England were able to obtain. Anyone, who taught any thing that did not conform to the teachings of the Church of England, was subject to more severe penalties than those for missing church services.
The Lollards had also influenced Scotland.
In 1560 AD, Scotland outlawed Christmas, and all other holidays celebrated by the False Church of Rome. This gave reason for the Lollards to hope that England would soon do the same.
In 1563 AD, thirty-nine of the forty-two reforms that King Edward VI had advocated were restored to the Church of England by its leadership. However, the former Lollards sought to have the three missing reforms, and some other reforms put into place as well, but were unable to do so. So the former Lollards led others into a new movement to purify the Church of England from all vestiges of the doctrine and practices of the False Church of Rome. These various groups became known as Puritans.
In 1564 AD, one of these Puritans, Thomas Cartwright, engaged in a debate to expound the Puritan position on further reforms needed by the Church of England before Queen Elizabeth I. He continued to use his position in the Church of England to call for the Church of England to change practices that were contrary to those found in the Renewed Covenant.
By 1567 AD, the Puritans in the area of London began being facing constant fines and imprisonment for following the example of Cartwright.
Richard Greenham, another Puritan, took a position in Cambridge in 1570 AD. Cartwright finally fled England that same year to escape persecution, even though Greenham, had plead on his behalf.
Cartwright briefly returned to England in 1572 AD to teach Hebrew at Cambridge, but then had to flee to the Netherlands to live among the former Lollards still there. Among those influenced by the teaching of Cartwright were Robert Harrison and Robert Browne.
Also that year, Nicholas Bownde came to Cambridge, where his uncle Richard Greenham persuaded him to become a Puritan.
In 1574 AD, Robert Harrison was removed from office at Norwich by the Church of England for his efforts to have a very minor reform made to the practice of infant baptism. He then went to Cambridge to possibly take another position in the Church of England, but Robert Browne dissuaded him. So, he returned to Norwich and became the head of the hospital there instead.
Browne took a position at Islington afterwards, but was soon dismissed for preaching against the doctrines and practices of the Church of England. So, he went to live with Harrison in Norwich. They spent their time together discussing how to best rid the practices of the False Church of Rome from England.
Brown returned to Cambridge in 1578 AD to take a position there. While he was there, he had more discussions with Greenham about how to best rid the practices of the False Church of Rome from England. He was soon dismissed from the Cambridge position for preaching against the doctrines and practices of the Church of England. So, he returned to Norwich to live with Harrison.
By 1580 AD, Browne had persuaded Harrison of the hopelessness of purifying the Church of England from the doctrines and practices that it had inherited from the False Church of Rome. So, they began a movement for the Children of Truth (those who obey The Father of Truth because they love Him) in England to completely separate themselves from the Church of England. They soon started the first Separatist congregation in England at Norwich.
Also that year, John Penry left the False Church of Rome and came into the House of Truth. Shortly after that, he became a Puritan.
In 1581 AD, Browne was arrested for illegally creating a congregation that was not part of the Church of England, but was soon released. The entire congregation then moved to the Netherlands, to set up a congregation that did everything in the same way as the congregations in the Renewed Covenant.
Also that year, Henry Barrowe heard a sermon by Greenham while at Cambridge, and became a Puritan as well.
That same year John Greenwood and Francis Johnson became Puritans under the influence of Greenham, while they were at Cambridge. After graduating, Greenwood used his position in the Church of England to begin calling for the Church of England to change practices that were contrary to those found in the Renewed Covenant.
In 1582 AD, Browne wrote two tracts in the Netherlands. One explained that no one needed permission from the Church of England to worship the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) in the way shown in the Book of Truth. The other explained how to create a Congregational church that was self-governing. Harrison paid to have the tracts published and smuggled into England.
In 1583 AD, two men were arrested and hanged for distributing these tracts in England. Harrison responded by writing two books explaining the Congregational church system in greater detail, and the doctrines found in the Renewed Covenant. He then paid to have them published and smuggled into England.
Somewhere around 1584 AD, Greenwood came under the influence of Browne. He had realized the futility of trying to reform the Church of England. Greenwood renounced his ordination as a priest in the Church of England as contrary to the Law of Truth (Torah aka The Law), and became a Separatist. He was soon joined by Barrowe.
Also that year, William Brewster went to Cambridge, where he was exposed to the teaching of the Puritans, probably from Greenham. Then he went to the Netherlands on diplomatic business, where he was persuaded to become a Puritan.
In 1585 AD, Cartwright returned to London, where he was immediately arrested for his reform efforts. After he was released, he moved to Warwick, and became the head of a hospital there.
Also that year, the English tried to create a colony on Roanoke Island in North Carolina.
By 1586 AD, Greenwood became the leader of the Separatists in London. Many Puritans there had also realized the futility of trying to reform the Church of England. So, the movement grew quickly there, as many of the Puritans became Separatists.
In October of that year, Greenwood was arrested for preaching that separation from the Church of England was the only way to separate from the doctrines and practices of the False Church of Rome. When Barrowe went to visit Greenwood in prison the next month, he was also arrested for his Separatists preaching.
Also that same year, Richard Clyfton became parson of the church in Babworth, which he soon turned into a Separatist congregation. Lastly, Penry began preaching among the Welsh in his native tongue, because Welsh speakers were being neglected by the Church of England.
In 1587 AD, Greenwood and Barrowe were both indicted for refusing to attend the services of the Church of England.
Also that year, Brewster returned to England and moved to Scrooby to take another position with the government there. While there, he began attending services lead by Clyfton in nearby Babworth and became a Separatist.
This was the same year, when the Roanoke Island colony was found destroyed, with only one skeleton remaining. A second attempt was made at colonization of Roanoke Island at that time.
Finally that year, Penry wrote a tract that was a public appeal for the Church of England to do more reach the people of Wales. The head of Church of England became angry at Penry for bringing the neglect of the people of Wales to the attention of the people of England, and Penry was arrested.
Greenwood and Barrowe were both released from prison in 1588 AD. Greenwood resumed leading the Separatists in London, but Barrowe had to appear once again before a council for a private hearing of the court. In this hearing, Barrowe continued to defend the Separatist cause. He even called the practices of the Church of England "false worship", and leaders of the Church of England "oppressors and persecutors", in his hearing.
Penry became a Separatist after he was released from prison this year as well. He proceeded to write, publish, and distribute books throughout Wales and England, that exposed the neglect of the people of Wales by the Church of England. He also did the same with a number of tracts, that exposed the corruption of the leadership of the Church of England, and called for the bishops to be replaced with elected elders in each congregation.
Also that year, Spain amassed a huge armada of 130 ships, financed by wealth that it has acquired from Spanish colonies in the New World, and attempted to invade England. It only failed because an unexpected storm at sea, which had worked in the favor the English and their Dutch allies.
In 1589 AD, Johnson was imprisoned for preaching that the Church of England should replace bishops appointed by the Church of England with elders elected by the congregation. After being released from prison, he fled to the Netherlands.
That same year, the Church of England seized the printing press of Penry.
In 1590 AD, the leaders of the Church of England and the Puritans, met with Greenwood and Barrowe, to dissuade them from continuing to preach separation from the Church of England.
At the same time, the Church of England searched the house of Penry, and seized his papers. However, Penry escaped to Scotland, where he wrote, published, and had smuggled into England, new tracts that called for people to separate from the Church of England.
Also that year, the people of the second Roanoke Island colony was found to be gone without a trace, except for the word "CROATOAN", the name of a nearby Native American tribe, carved in a fence post.
Greenwood and Barrowe were not dissuaded by their imprisonment, and responded by creating a Separatist congregation in London in 1592 AD. Greenwood also elected as "The Teacher" of the Separatist movement that same year. Penry moved to London and joined their congregation.
Then Johnson returned to England to visit Greenwood and Barrowe when they were imprisoned for their preaching. He came to discuss their book that he had read in the Netherlands, which laid out the Separatist position. He became a Separatist as well, and joined them in their preaching.
After the release of Greenwood and Barrowe, Johnson was arrested, and then released. Then Greenwood and Johnson were arrested together.
That same year, Greenham wrote his tract calling for people to start treating the entire Sabbath day (Sunday in his mind) as a day of rest, and not just for attending church meetings in the morning. Also that year, John Robinson came to Cambridge, where he became exposed to the teachings of Greenham, which eventually lead him to become a Puritan.
In 1593 AD, Greenwood and Barrowe were arrested writing, publishing, and distributing books, which called for complete separation from the Church of England. They were found guilty and hanged.
That same year, Johnson and Penry moved to Islington. Both were soon arrested. Penry tried on false charges of sedition, found guilty, and hanged.
In 1594, Johnson was released from prison, after his new wife paid a huge bail payment. He continued his preaching in private homes.
In 1595 AD, Bownde was inspired by the tract of Greenham, and wrote a book showing from the Book of Truth, that one day out of each week belonged to the Father of Truth. His book called for all activities other than those for worship, particularly sports, be banned by the government on the Sabbath day (Sunday in his mind). Many of the Puritans adopted this position, and were arrested for preaching it. Yet the teaching spread, and more Puritans became Separatists, who had been teaching similar things since their founding.
In 1597 AD, Johnson and three other Separatists joined an expedition to start a colony near Newfoundland on two ships, the Hopewell and Chancewell. However, the Chancewell wrecked on the voyage to Newfoundland. So the colony was never started. All four fled to the Netherlands after returning to England.
In 1602 AD, William Bradford, at the age of 12 came to the congregation led by Clyfton in Babworth with a friend. He became a Separatist on that day, and began a friendship with Brewster as well.
In 1603 AD, King James I took the throne. Since he was already king of Scotland as well, the Puritans hoped that he would move the Church of England to be more like the Church of Scotland, which was much further separated from the practices of the False Church of Rome.
So, the Puritans petitioned him for some modest reforms in practices to further separate the Church of England from the False Church of Rome. They also asked that the ministers of all congregations be allowed to preach, instead of the one in ten that were licensed to do so. They sought that conformity to the Church of England be defined as adhering to the thirty-nine articles of reform that Queen Elizabeth I had adopted, with freedom for each congregation to do as it saw fit in other matters. They also sought for an updated English translation of the Book of Truth be commissioned to replace the Great Bible of the Church of England. Finally, they asked for a change in government of each congregation, that replaced bishops appointed by the Church of England with elders appointed by the congregation. This governance was the same as the congregation that King James I had attended in Scotland, before he became king.
The leaders of the Church of England were adamantly opposed to all everything in the petition, and demanded a hearing before the king made a decision.
So in 1604 AD, King James I held a conference to hear both sides. The representatives of the Church of England asserted that, if the governance of the congregations was changed to replace bishops appointed by the Church of England, with elders elected by the congregation, then the authority of the king to rule would be undermined. This lead the king to declare "No Bishop, No King!". So, he rejected all of the reforms sought by the Puritans, except for a few minor changes in practices. He did however, agree to their request for an updated English translation of the Book of Truth, and commissioned the Puritans to create what came to be known as the King James Bible.
King James I decided after the conference to maintain the status quo in hopes of quieting the unrest that had developed between various religious factions in England. So, he made a law against bringing any more petitions for reform in the Church of England to him. He also decided greater conformity was needed in the practices of the Church of England. In order to do so, he expelled about ninety Puritan ministers from the Church of England, who had called for the greatest reform. This caused many more Puritans to become Separatists.
These changes prompted Robinson to move to Norwich that year, where he started hearing the teachings of the Separatists.
Lastly in that year, the leaders of the Church of England tried to create a new canon of law to give themselves greater power over the populace, but Parliament insisted that they alone had the authority to change the canon of law in these matters. The Puritans took the side of Parliament over the Church of England for the first time ever. King James eventually was compelled to allow Parliament to decide what changes would be made to the canon of law. Parliament decided to not allow any changes, due to the great influence of the Puritans on Parliament.
This new law caused Robinson to leave his position, because by the end of the year, he had became a Separatist. He then attempt to become the head of the hospital in Norwich, but he was unsuccessful.
In 1605 AD, Clyfton was removed from his position as parson in Babworth, as the Church of England sought to purify itself of everyone, who did not meet the conformity set out by King James I. Robinson move back to his home near from Scrooby that year, and began preaching in small home congregations of Separatists, whenever he could.
So in 1606 AD, Clyfton became the leader of a congregation of Separatist in Scrooby. This congregation met in the home of Brewster. Robinson soon joined as associate pastor. Bradford was among the congregants.
By 1607 AD, the Separatist congregation in Scrooby learned that the Separatists in London had been imprisoned, and left there to starve to death. Also, a heavy fine was levied against Brewster for hosting the congregation in his home. Finally, the Church of England took away the license of Clyfton to preach.
So they realized, that the only way that they were going to be able to completely separate from the practices of the False Church of Rome that remained in England, was to separate themselves from the land of England. So they started immigrating out of England, which had been made illegal. They were betrayed by the captain of the ship, who kept their passage payment, causing their first attempt to fail. Most of them were imprisoned.
Also that year, England made two more attempts at colonizing North America, one in Jamestown, Virginia, and one in Popham, Maine. England had not manage to successfully create a colony since it had sent the first voyage over a hundred years early. All it had been able to successfully do, was send out fishing expeditions. At the same time, the main rivals of England, France and Spain, had enjoyed many years of success, which were filling their coffers with money that could be used to launch another attempt to invade England. So, establishing successful colonies in North America was vital.
In 1608 AD, Brewster had managed to use his diplomatic skills and political connections to get the Scrooby congregants released. This time they migrated to the east coast of northern England, and then escaped via the Humber tidal estuary to the North Sea. Most of the congregation then completed their immigration to the Netherlands. Later, Brewster, Clyfton, and Robinson, came in a third attempt with those who could not make it on second attempt. So their entire Separatist congregation, including Bradford, relocated to the Netherlands.
Also that year, the Jamestown colony had lost eighty percent of the colonists, by the time that a second wave of colonists arrived, but it survived. However, the Popham colony had to be abandoned.
In 1609 AD, the Scrooby congregation moved to the city of Lieden. They had great difficulty finding work that could provide them with enough money to live on, after they arrived. The congregation moved to the poorest part of the city called Stink Alley.
Around that same time, John Carver became a Separatist and moved to the Netherlands.
In 1610 AD, Robinson began publishing essays that were smuggled into England. Some of these essays expounded upon the practices of the False Church of Rome that the Church of England continued. Some expounded on why these practices were contrary to the Renewed Covenant. Others pointed out the futility of trying to reform the Church of England. The rest were written to persuade people to become Separatists. Many people became first Puritans, and then Separatists after reading these essays.
Around this time, Carver joined the congregation of Robinson.
In 1611 AD, the Puritans finished their updated English translation that came to be known as the King James Bible, since King James I had authorized it to replace the Great Bible as the authorized English translation.
Also that year, John Traske was also arrested in London for preaching without a license. He had no formal training, had only read the King James Bible, and put what he read into action. He was eventually given a license, despite his lack of ordination by the Church of England. He had taken up the cause of setting apart the Sabbath (Sunday in his mind at the time) as holy by banning all leisurely activities on the Sabbath, which he continued to preach.
In 1615 AD, Traske became a Puritan. The movement to ban sports on the Sabbath (Sunday in their minds) grows stronger as more and more Puritans are convinced by him.
In 1616 AD, Traske comes to the realization the False Church of Rome changed the Sabbath to Sunday, but it was still on Saturday in the Renewed Covenant. He probably was convinced by Separatists visiting from the Netherlands. Many of the Children of Truth, including many Separatists, had been observing the actual Sabbath (Saturday) for over one hundred years there by this time, because they knew who changed the Sabbath. He became a Separatist, and began preaching that Saturday is the Sabbath.
Also that year, William Bradford started writing and distributing books calling for people to forsake every practice that had came from the False Church of Rome, and replace them with the practices found in the Renewed Covenant. These books were sold illegally in England in great numbers, and as well as legally in the Netherlands.
In 1617 AD, King James I issued the Book of Sports, which banned some sports that were commercial in nature on Sunday, but allows others that were recreational in nature. This caused deeper division in England, with Puritans and Separatists on one side, and everyone else on the other side.
This same year, Edward Winslow became a Separatist and moved to the Netherlands, where he started helping Brewster in his printing operations.
By this time, the Pilgrims had found problems with living in the Netherlands as well. In particular, their children were adopting many of the Dutch customs, including language. They might have been willing to assimilate into Dutch society, if it had not been becoming more and more dominated by Humanists. So, the congregants from Scrooby, and the other Separatists that joined them in the Netherlands, found themselves without a place to call home.
So, these Separatists decided that the only way they could be totally separated from the practices of the False Church of Rome, and the influence of Human Secularists, was to start their own colony in America. Bradford called these English Separatists, who had decided to separate from the land of England to escape the practices and doctrines of the False Church of Rome that remained in England, Pilgrims.
The Pilgrims also wanted to go to America because of the opportunity for missionary work among the Native Americans. There were practically no opportunities in Europe for taking the Gospel to those who had not heard, but there was nothing but opportunity in America.
So, they sent a party of negotiators led by Carver to London, to negotiate with the Virginia company for a land grant patent in the North America.
This was a daring plan made by desperate people. There were reasons, why England had so much trouble getting anyone to volunteer to set up an English colony in America.
Spain had already conquered the Aztec and Incan Empires. However, almost no colonies north of Florida along the east coast of North America had survived. The French, English, and Dutch had exactly one each. The death rate in these three colonies during their first year had been over sixty percent.
There were many reasons for this. The weather was horrendous. The area had some of the most fierce tribes in the New World. Some of these tribes had even managed to drive out the Vikings before Columbus came to the New World. Setting up a colony on the east coast of North America was virtually a suicide mission.
Also that year, Traske was arrested by the Church of England for teaching that the Children of Truth should not only separate from everything associated with the False Church of Rome, but they should instead do everything that the congregations in the Renewed Covenant did. He taught that this included observing the actual Sabbath (Saturday), keeping the Feasts of Truth given in the Book of Truth, and abstaining from eating what the Father of Truth literally calls filth in the Book of Truth. (Many of the Separatists in the Netherlands, including the Pilgrims, had started doing this a well.)
In 1618 AD, King James I (he is also king of Scotland) began an effort to force the Church of Scotland to make the changes given in the Five Articles of Perth, including observing holidays from the False Church of Rome like Christmas. This only deepened the division over religion in England and Scotland.
That same year, Traske was brutally punished for "Judaising" the people of England by being flogged mercilessly, branded on the forehead with a hot iron, and having an awl ran through his ear.
So, Brewster and Winslow published a tract that exposed the extent of the persecution of King James and the Church of England against Puritans and Separatists. The tract caused many more people to become Puritans, and many Puritans to become Separatists.
Even so, the Carver party was able to confirm a land grant patent with the Virginia Company in London.
In 1619 AD, the Pilgrims began making preparations to create their own colony in America. However, as they were trying to arrange this, King James I sent officials to the Netherlands to arrest Brewster and Winslow.
Brewster escaped and went into hiding, but Winslow was arrested. Since the English officials had no authority to do so in the Netherlands, they were forced to let him go. They were not willing to risk offending the only ally that England had against Spain and France over Winslow. However, they did take the printing plates, which ended the printing operation of the Pilgrims. This also took away one of their main sources of income.
With Brewster in hiding, and unable to go to England, the Pilgrims had to change their strategy. Winslow took the position of Brewster in the leadership of the Pilgrims, until Brewster could come out of hiding.
However, Brewster did manage to make it to Scotland, where he published and distributed tracts opposing the Five Articles of Perth. People who read these tracts, began taking action to prevent the passage of the Five Articles of Perth. King James I sent to have him arrested, but he escaped again.
Even so, the Carver party soon partnered with a group of investors called The Plymouth Council for New England to finance the trip. (This was the same group which had attempted to create a colony at Popham twelve years earlier.) This council was able to secure a charter to do so from King James I, on the condition that the Separatist religion of the Pilgrims not receive official recognition.
For King James I there was no downside to this proposition.
The kings of England had persecuted the Lollards, but England ended up separating from the False Church of Rome as they had desired. Despite the persecution of the Puritans, the Church of England ended up making many of the reforms they had sought. The persecution of the Separatists had only led to even greater numbers of people leaving the Church of England. The Pilgrims, despite their harsh conditions, had managed to bring even more challenges to the status quo in England from the Netherlands.
In fact, the Puritans by this time controlled Parliament, which alone had the power to levy taxes and declare war. England was on the verge of civil war over these religious matters.
King James I had not been able to stop the Pilgrims from resuming their publishing books in the Netherlands, and then having them smuggled into England. These books called for people to leave the Church of England, and even England. They called for the holidays of England to be changed to those found in the Book of Truth. They even called for the Sabbath in England to be changed back to Saturday. As far as King James I was concerned, the Pilgrims were certified trouble makers.
However, by letting the Pilgrims start a colony in the New World for England, these troublemakers would be far away from England, and unable to continue to disrupt the status quo. If the colony of the Pilgrims failed like Roanoke had, then England would be rid of them permanently. If the colony of the Pilgrims succeeded like Jamestown, then England would have a second colony on the east coast of North America, that would make further colonization easier.
So in 1620 AD, the Pilgrims were granted a charter to create an English colony at a location near the mouth of the Hudson River. The new area of their colony would be called New England, and independent of the Virginia government.
When Brewster heard of the deal, he came out of hiding. and rejoined the Scrooby congregation in the Netherlands.
It was not possible for the entire congregation in the Netherlands, which had grown considerably, to go on the first voyage. So, it was decided that thirty-five of the Pilgrims would go on the first wave, and the rest would follow in subsequent waves. This first wave include Brewster, as the spiritual leader of the Pilgrims in the New World. Bradford was selected to be the governor of the new colony. Carver went, while his business partner stayed behind. Winslow also went, but Robinson stayed behind to lead the rest of the congregation in the Netherlands. The original Pilgrims left the Netherlands on the Speedwell.
When they arrived in England on the Speedwell, they were joined with the Mayflower, and picked up sixty-seven more colonists near London. However, the Speedwell developed leaks and was not able to make the trip. (The crew might have caused the leaks, since they did not want to make the dangerous voyage.) So at Plymouth, all of the colonists were transferred to the Mayflower, and it set sail for North America.
The majority of the new colonists were obviously Separatists, as who had been influenced by the illegal writings of the Pilgrims. These Separatists became Pilgrims as well.
However, not all of the colonists were Pilgrims. The Virginia Company had insisted that other people be part of the colony. These other people had skills that would be necessary for the colony to survive and prosper, but the Pilgrims lacked. The Pilgrims called these people, The Strangers.
It is certain that the Pilgrims were the majority, since virtually everything was voted on about the colony while the Mayflower was at sea, and the original Pilgrims consistently won almost all of the votes. The original Pilgrims obviously would have been losing most of the votes, if the Pilgrims were the minority among the colonists. The Strangers were plainly the minority.
The only vote the original Pilgrims are known to have lost, was to observe the Sabbath on Saturday, instead of Sunday. (The Pilgrims had originally negotiated for two days off a week to avoid this conflict, but the Carver party lost one day off a week in the negotiations with the Virginia Company. The rest of the original Pilgrims did not learn this until they were at sea. The new Pilgrims picked up in England voted for Sunday, while the original Pilgrims from the Netherlands voted for Saturday.)
So, after a month at sea, a tremendous storm caused great damage to the Mayflower and almost sunk it, but the Pilgrims decided to press on to North America. About a month later, land was spotted, but the ship had been blown north of the Hudson River by the storm, and was at Cape Cod. The winds would not allow the Mayflower to travel south to the Hudson River, where their land grant was, so they appeared stuck.
The Pilgrims and Strangers determined that they would have to create a their own government and laws, since the laws of the patent only covered the land grant area. They formed the Mayflower Compact after a vote of 41 to 32 for ratification. (Only adult male colonists were allowed to vote.) Carver was elected as the governor instead of Bradford.
After being on the Mayflower for about another month, the Pilgrims had selected a site for New Plymouth, and began building Plymouth Colony as the first colony in New England.
By the time of the feast in 1621 AD commemorated by Thanksgiving, exactly half of the colonists had died, including Carver. Bradford had been elected as the new governor. A mutually beneficial relationship between Wampanoags and Pilgrims had already began. The Pilgrims had already started doing what they came to America to do, and were determined to not let their colony die.
While there is no doubt that the Pilgrims had came to America to escape persecution in England, that is not the only reason that they came to America. They also came to America to escape the growing influence of Humanists in the Netherlands. They came to escape the influence of the False Church of Rome that remained in Europe.
Even more important than what the Pilgrims came to America to escape, is what they came to accomplish.
The Pilgrims came to create a place that was free from the practices of the False Church of Rome, similar to Celtic Christianity in its original form that Saint Patrick had practiced. Like The Mench Who Killed Christmas, they came to create a place that outlawed all such similar holidays from the False Church of Rome. They came to create a place that did not allow any holidays that came from the Druids, like Halloween. They came to create a place where people could be free to celebrate the Feasts of Truth that form The Greatest Play Ever.
The Pilgrims came to carry out the Great Commission, first by reaching out to the First Nations, telling them about the Hope of the Almodadi. They came to use America as a base for bringing the Good News to all the world through missionaries.
The Pilgrims came to create a haven in America for persecuted Jews in Europe that was free from the Spirit of Anti-Jewism. They came to create a base of operations for their descendants to help carry out the Impossible Dream of Christian Zionists, like themselves, to help the real Jews in Europe create the Impossible Country some day.
In short, the Pilgrims came to America to carry out the will of the Father of Truth unhindered by anyone else.
It is not just the Pilgrims who should take great risks to carry out the will of the Father of Truth on this Earth, but all of the Children of Truth.
This is what the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) taught them to pray for (Matthew 6:9-10). They are to seek after this above all else (Matthew 6:31-33).
The Man of Truth was a certified trouble maker (Matthew 10:34-36). He publicly challenged the status quo, because it contradicted the Book of Truth (Matthew 15:1-9). He kept doing this until the religious leaders plotted to kill him (Matthew 26:3-4). The political leaders eventually wanted to kill him for his constantly exposing the corruption of the religious leaders (Luke 13:28-31).
The Children of Truth are to fearlessly proclaim the Word of Truth (Matthew 10:26-28). They are to tell others about the the Man of Truth at all times (Matthew 10:32-33). Therefore, they are never to just go along with anything that is contrary to the Book of Truth, in order to get along with those around them (Matthew 10:37-39).
The Children of Truth are endure persecution to do what the Father of Truth says is right, because they belong to His kingdom like the Prophets of Truth (Matthew 5:10-12). They are to continue to do so through all tribulations, so they can enter the kingdom of the Father of Truth (Acts 14:22).
These tribulations and persecutions mark them as belonging to His kingdom (2 Thessalonians 1:4-5). Everyone who does what the Father of Truth says is right, will suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12).
All of the Children of Truth are Pilgrims, because they are hated for not being part to this world (John 15:18-20). They are Pilgrims, because they have chosen the Word of Truth over being part of this world (John 17:14-16). They are Pilgrims, because they seek another country, where they may carry out all of the will of the Father of Truth (Hebrews 11:13-16).
These Pilgrims will be rewarded for their troubles, when they are ruling over the Earth with the Man of Truth (2 Timothy 2:10-12). They will live in the country that they have always desired (2 Peter 3:10-13).
It is not too late to become a Pilgrim. The journey of every Pilgrim begins by coming into the House of Truth (1 Peter 2:9-12).
You come into the House of Truth, when you make the Man of Truth your king, because you believe that the Father of Truth raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9). You will no longer belong to this world, after you come into the House of Truth (1 John 3:1-3).
Come into the House of Truth!
In order to understand this then, we have to understand the whole story of the Pilgrims.
The story of the Pilgrims did not begin when they arrived in Plymouth Colony in 1620 AD. The events, which lead to that fateful day, need to be examined to understand the Pilgrims.
The roots of the Pilgrims were the books that John Wycliffe wrote in 1374 AD, which challenged many of the doctrines of the False Church of Rome, that then held sway over England. The commoners, who followed the teachings of John Wycliffe, but did not have his degree of formal education, were known as the Lollards. Wycliffe then began translating the Book of Truth (The Bible) into English from Latin, and the version that bears his name was completed in 1388 AD.
Although, it soon became a death penalty crime to own a copy of an English translation of the Book of Truth in England, the Lollards produced them nonetheless, and the commoners read them. As common people in England began to read the Book of Truth for themselves, they began to notice many of the same inconsistencies between it and the doctrine of the False Church of Rome as Wycliffe. Soon, there was a grassroots movement among the commoners to break away from the False Church of Rome. As this movement grew, so did persecution against the Lollards.
When the Czech kingdom broke off from the False Church of Rome in 1436 AD as the first Protestant country, then the movement to do the same grew hopeful in England. This was bolstered as more illegal copies of English translations of the Book of Truth began being printed, sometime after Gutenberg began printing copies of the Latin translation in 1454 AD.
The migration path of the Pilgrims to America began in 1497 AD, just five years after the day when worlds collided. John Cabot sailed to North America on behalf of King Henry VII that year, and found new land in the New World. He named this new found land in North America, "Newfoundland".
Then Martin Luther began the Protestant Reformation in 1517 AD, and the desire to break away from the False Church of Rome became even stronger in England, as it was now seen as a trend among the kingdoms of northern Europe.
In 1532 AD, the state persecution of the Lollards finally began to subside, after Thomas Harding was executed. In 1534 AD, King Henry VIII and the parliament of England officially broke off from the False Church of Rome. It was replaced with the Church of England.
Then the translation of the Book of Truth from original languages into English by William Tyndale was completed in 1535 AD. The next year, King Henry VIII repealed the law making it a death penalty crime to own an English translation of the Book of Truth. He then commissioned the Church of England to create an official English translation of the Book of Truth.
The Church of England took the Tyndale translation, made a few modifications, most notably replacing "congregation" with "church" in every occurrence. This translation was called the Great Bible of the Church of England, that was made available to all of the people of England to read.
When people began reading the official English translation, they began noticing differences between the doctrine of the Renewed Covenant (B'rit Chadashah aka The New Testament) and the Church of England. They began to see that the Lollards were right in their desire for the Church of England to separate itself from many of the practices, which it had inherited from the False Church of Rome.
When King Edward VI took the throne in 1547 AD, he began making an effort to bring about many of the reforms that he also believed were needed. So, he turned England into a place of refuge for Protestants all over Europe. Finally, he had the forty-two articles issued in 1552 AD, that listed forty-two changes that the Church of England was to make to further remove practices inherited from the False Church of Rome.
However, when Queen Mary I (Bloody Mary) came to the throne in 1553 AD, she tried to bring England back into submission to the False Church of Rome. As part of her efforts, she resumed state persecution of the Lollards in 1554 AD, that lead to the Marian persecutions, which killed hundreds of Lollards until she died in 1558 AD. During this time period, about 800 of the Lollards fled England to Protestant countries in northern Europe, including the Netherlands, which had adopted a policy of religious tolerance.
When Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne that year, she put an immediate end to the persecution of the Lollards. The Church of England again replaced the False Church of Rome in England. Many of the exiled Lollards returned to England, and many were given positions to help bring about further reforms to remove practices inherited from the False Church of Rome.
In 1559 AD, a set of uniform practices for the Church of England were made into law, based on suggestions by the returning Lollards. Yet, she still allowed certain practices inherited from the False Church of Rome that she saw as harmless, like the clergy wearing special clothing, and people kneeling during communion, to continue. This was to avoid a war between the many members of the False Church of Rome and the Protestants, who lived in England. These reforms were enough to satisfy most of the Lollards, and they assimilated into the Church of England, where they sought to work for further reforms.
However, a policy of conformity with the Church of England was also part of the laws signed by Queen Elizabeth I. Anyone, who did not attend all church services, had to pay fine equal to about the wages of half a day for a common laborer per missed service. No one could preach without a license, which only about one in ten of the ministers of the Church of England were able to obtain. Anyone, who taught any thing that did not conform to the teachings of the Church of England, was subject to more severe penalties than those for missing church services.
The Lollards had also influenced Scotland.
In 1560 AD, Scotland outlawed Christmas, and all other holidays celebrated by the False Church of Rome. This gave reason for the Lollards to hope that England would soon do the same.
In 1563 AD, thirty-nine of the forty-two reforms that King Edward VI had advocated were restored to the Church of England by its leadership. However, the former Lollards sought to have the three missing reforms, and some other reforms put into place as well, but were unable to do so. So the former Lollards led others into a new movement to purify the Church of England from all vestiges of the doctrine and practices of the False Church of Rome. These various groups became known as Puritans.
In 1564 AD, one of these Puritans, Thomas Cartwright, engaged in a debate to expound the Puritan position on further reforms needed by the Church of England before Queen Elizabeth I. He continued to use his position in the Church of England to call for the Church of England to change practices that were contrary to those found in the Renewed Covenant.
By 1567 AD, the Puritans in the area of London began being facing constant fines and imprisonment for following the example of Cartwright.
Richard Greenham, another Puritan, took a position in Cambridge in 1570 AD. Cartwright finally fled England that same year to escape persecution, even though Greenham, had plead on his behalf.
Cartwright briefly returned to England in 1572 AD to teach Hebrew at Cambridge, but then had to flee to the Netherlands to live among the former Lollards still there. Among those influenced by the teaching of Cartwright were Robert Harrison and Robert Browne.
Also that year, Nicholas Bownde came to Cambridge, where his uncle Richard Greenham persuaded him to become a Puritan.
In 1574 AD, Robert Harrison was removed from office at Norwich by the Church of England for his efforts to have a very minor reform made to the practice of infant baptism. He then went to Cambridge to possibly take another position in the Church of England, but Robert Browne dissuaded him. So, he returned to Norwich and became the head of the hospital there instead.
Browne took a position at Islington afterwards, but was soon dismissed for preaching against the doctrines and practices of the Church of England. So, he went to live with Harrison in Norwich. They spent their time together discussing how to best rid the practices of the False Church of Rome from England.
Brown returned to Cambridge in 1578 AD to take a position there. While he was there, he had more discussions with Greenham about how to best rid the practices of the False Church of Rome from England. He was soon dismissed from the Cambridge position for preaching against the doctrines and practices of the Church of England. So, he returned to Norwich to live with Harrison.
By 1580 AD, Browne had persuaded Harrison of the hopelessness of purifying the Church of England from the doctrines and practices that it had inherited from the False Church of Rome. So, they began a movement for the Children of Truth (those who obey The Father of Truth because they love Him) in England to completely separate themselves from the Church of England. They soon started the first Separatist congregation in England at Norwich.
Also that year, John Penry left the False Church of Rome and came into the House of Truth. Shortly after that, he became a Puritan.
In 1581 AD, Browne was arrested for illegally creating a congregation that was not part of the Church of England, but was soon released. The entire congregation then moved to the Netherlands, to set up a congregation that did everything in the same way as the congregations in the Renewed Covenant.
Also that year, Henry Barrowe heard a sermon by Greenham while at Cambridge, and became a Puritan as well.
That same year John Greenwood and Francis Johnson became Puritans under the influence of Greenham, while they were at Cambridge. After graduating, Greenwood used his position in the Church of England to begin calling for the Church of England to change practices that were contrary to those found in the Renewed Covenant.
In 1582 AD, Browne wrote two tracts in the Netherlands. One explained that no one needed permission from the Church of England to worship the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) in the way shown in the Book of Truth. The other explained how to create a Congregational church that was self-governing. Harrison paid to have the tracts published and smuggled into England.
In 1583 AD, two men were arrested and hanged for distributing these tracts in England. Harrison responded by writing two books explaining the Congregational church system in greater detail, and the doctrines found in the Renewed Covenant. He then paid to have them published and smuggled into England.
Somewhere around 1584 AD, Greenwood came under the influence of Browne. He had realized the futility of trying to reform the Church of England. Greenwood renounced his ordination as a priest in the Church of England as contrary to the Law of Truth (Torah aka The Law), and became a Separatist. He was soon joined by Barrowe.
Also that year, William Brewster went to Cambridge, where he was exposed to the teaching of the Puritans, probably from Greenham. Then he went to the Netherlands on diplomatic business, where he was persuaded to become a Puritan.
In 1585 AD, Cartwright returned to London, where he was immediately arrested for his reform efforts. After he was released, he moved to Warwick, and became the head of a hospital there.
Also that year, the English tried to create a colony on Roanoke Island in North Carolina.
By 1586 AD, Greenwood became the leader of the Separatists in London. Many Puritans there had also realized the futility of trying to reform the Church of England. So, the movement grew quickly there, as many of the Puritans became Separatists.
In October of that year, Greenwood was arrested for preaching that separation from the Church of England was the only way to separate from the doctrines and practices of the False Church of Rome. When Barrowe went to visit Greenwood in prison the next month, he was also arrested for his Separatists preaching.
Also that same year, Richard Clyfton became parson of the church in Babworth, which he soon turned into a Separatist congregation. Lastly, Penry began preaching among the Welsh in his native tongue, because Welsh speakers were being neglected by the Church of England.
In 1587 AD, Greenwood and Barrowe were both indicted for refusing to attend the services of the Church of England.
Also that year, Brewster returned to England and moved to Scrooby to take another position with the government there. While there, he began attending services lead by Clyfton in nearby Babworth and became a Separatist.
This was the same year, when the Roanoke Island colony was found destroyed, with only one skeleton remaining. A second attempt was made at colonization of Roanoke Island at that time.
Finally that year, Penry wrote a tract that was a public appeal for the Church of England to do more reach the people of Wales. The head of Church of England became angry at Penry for bringing the neglect of the people of Wales to the attention of the people of England, and Penry was arrested.
Greenwood and Barrowe were both released from prison in 1588 AD. Greenwood resumed leading the Separatists in London, but Barrowe had to appear once again before a council for a private hearing of the court. In this hearing, Barrowe continued to defend the Separatist cause. He even called the practices of the Church of England "false worship", and leaders of the Church of England "oppressors and persecutors", in his hearing.
Penry became a Separatist after he was released from prison this year as well. He proceeded to write, publish, and distribute books throughout Wales and England, that exposed the neglect of the people of Wales by the Church of England. He also did the same with a number of tracts, that exposed the corruption of the leadership of the Church of England, and called for the bishops to be replaced with elected elders in each congregation.
Also that year, Spain amassed a huge armada of 130 ships, financed by wealth that it has acquired from Spanish colonies in the New World, and attempted to invade England. It only failed because an unexpected storm at sea, which had worked in the favor the English and their Dutch allies.
In 1589 AD, Johnson was imprisoned for preaching that the Church of England should replace bishops appointed by the Church of England with elders elected by the congregation. After being released from prison, he fled to the Netherlands.
That same year, the Church of England seized the printing press of Penry.
In 1590 AD, the leaders of the Church of England and the Puritans, met with Greenwood and Barrowe, to dissuade them from continuing to preach separation from the Church of England.
At the same time, the Church of England searched the house of Penry, and seized his papers. However, Penry escaped to Scotland, where he wrote, published, and had smuggled into England, new tracts that called for people to separate from the Church of England.
Also that year, the people of the second Roanoke Island colony was found to be gone without a trace, except for the word "CROATOAN", the name of a nearby Native American tribe, carved in a fence post.
Greenwood and Barrowe were not dissuaded by their imprisonment, and responded by creating a Separatist congregation in London in 1592 AD. Greenwood also elected as "The Teacher" of the Separatist movement that same year. Penry moved to London and joined their congregation.
Then Johnson returned to England to visit Greenwood and Barrowe when they were imprisoned for their preaching. He came to discuss their book that he had read in the Netherlands, which laid out the Separatist position. He became a Separatist as well, and joined them in their preaching.
After the release of Greenwood and Barrowe, Johnson was arrested, and then released. Then Greenwood and Johnson were arrested together.
That same year, Greenham wrote his tract calling for people to start treating the entire Sabbath day (Sunday in his mind) as a day of rest, and not just for attending church meetings in the morning. Also that year, John Robinson came to Cambridge, where he became exposed to the teachings of Greenham, which eventually lead him to become a Puritan.
In 1593 AD, Greenwood and Barrowe were arrested writing, publishing, and distributing books, which called for complete separation from the Church of England. They were found guilty and hanged.
That same year, Johnson and Penry moved to Islington. Both were soon arrested. Penry tried on false charges of sedition, found guilty, and hanged.
In 1594, Johnson was released from prison, after his new wife paid a huge bail payment. He continued his preaching in private homes.
In 1595 AD, Bownde was inspired by the tract of Greenham, and wrote a book showing from the Book of Truth, that one day out of each week belonged to the Father of Truth. His book called for all activities other than those for worship, particularly sports, be banned by the government on the Sabbath day (Sunday in his mind). Many of the Puritans adopted this position, and were arrested for preaching it. Yet the teaching spread, and more Puritans became Separatists, who had been teaching similar things since their founding.
In 1597 AD, Johnson and three other Separatists joined an expedition to start a colony near Newfoundland on two ships, the Hopewell and Chancewell. However, the Chancewell wrecked on the voyage to Newfoundland. So the colony was never started. All four fled to the Netherlands after returning to England.
In 1602 AD, William Bradford, at the age of 12 came to the congregation led by Clyfton in Babworth with a friend. He became a Separatist on that day, and began a friendship with Brewster as well.
In 1603 AD, King James I took the throne. Since he was already king of Scotland as well, the Puritans hoped that he would move the Church of England to be more like the Church of Scotland, which was much further separated from the practices of the False Church of Rome.
So, the Puritans petitioned him for some modest reforms in practices to further separate the Church of England from the False Church of Rome. They also asked that the ministers of all congregations be allowed to preach, instead of the one in ten that were licensed to do so. They sought that conformity to the Church of England be defined as adhering to the thirty-nine articles of reform that Queen Elizabeth I had adopted, with freedom for each congregation to do as it saw fit in other matters. They also sought for an updated English translation of the Book of Truth be commissioned to replace the Great Bible of the Church of England. Finally, they asked for a change in government of each congregation, that replaced bishops appointed by the Church of England with elders appointed by the congregation. This governance was the same as the congregation that King James I had attended in Scotland, before he became king.
The leaders of the Church of England were adamantly opposed to all everything in the petition, and demanded a hearing before the king made a decision.
So in 1604 AD, King James I held a conference to hear both sides. The representatives of the Church of England asserted that, if the governance of the congregations was changed to replace bishops appointed by the Church of England, with elders elected by the congregation, then the authority of the king to rule would be undermined. This lead the king to declare "No Bishop, No King!". So, he rejected all of the reforms sought by the Puritans, except for a few minor changes in practices. He did however, agree to their request for an updated English translation of the Book of Truth, and commissioned the Puritans to create what came to be known as the King James Bible.
King James I decided after the conference to maintain the status quo in hopes of quieting the unrest that had developed between various religious factions in England. So, he made a law against bringing any more petitions for reform in the Church of England to him. He also decided greater conformity was needed in the practices of the Church of England. In order to do so, he expelled about ninety Puritan ministers from the Church of England, who had called for the greatest reform. This caused many more Puritans to become Separatists.
These changes prompted Robinson to move to Norwich that year, where he started hearing the teachings of the Separatists.
Lastly in that year, the leaders of the Church of England tried to create a new canon of law to give themselves greater power over the populace, but Parliament insisted that they alone had the authority to change the canon of law in these matters. The Puritans took the side of Parliament over the Church of England for the first time ever. King James eventually was compelled to allow Parliament to decide what changes would be made to the canon of law. Parliament decided to not allow any changes, due to the great influence of the Puritans on Parliament.
This new law caused Robinson to leave his position, because by the end of the year, he had became a Separatist. He then attempt to become the head of the hospital in Norwich, but he was unsuccessful.
In 1605 AD, Clyfton was removed from his position as parson in Babworth, as the Church of England sought to purify itself of everyone, who did not meet the conformity set out by King James I. Robinson move back to his home near from Scrooby that year, and began preaching in small home congregations of Separatists, whenever he could.
So in 1606 AD, Clyfton became the leader of a congregation of Separatist in Scrooby. This congregation met in the home of Brewster. Robinson soon joined as associate pastor. Bradford was among the congregants.
By 1607 AD, the Separatist congregation in Scrooby learned that the Separatists in London had been imprisoned, and left there to starve to death. Also, a heavy fine was levied against Brewster for hosting the congregation in his home. Finally, the Church of England took away the license of Clyfton to preach.
So they realized, that the only way that they were going to be able to completely separate from the practices of the False Church of Rome that remained in England, was to separate themselves from the land of England. So they started immigrating out of England, which had been made illegal. They were betrayed by the captain of the ship, who kept their passage payment, causing their first attempt to fail. Most of them were imprisoned.
Also that year, England made two more attempts at colonizing North America, one in Jamestown, Virginia, and one in Popham, Maine. England had not manage to successfully create a colony since it had sent the first voyage over a hundred years early. All it had been able to successfully do, was send out fishing expeditions. At the same time, the main rivals of England, France and Spain, had enjoyed many years of success, which were filling their coffers with money that could be used to launch another attempt to invade England. So, establishing successful colonies in North America was vital.
In 1608 AD, Brewster had managed to use his diplomatic skills and political connections to get the Scrooby congregants released. This time they migrated to the east coast of northern England, and then escaped via the Humber tidal estuary to the North Sea. Most of the congregation then completed their immigration to the Netherlands. Later, Brewster, Clyfton, and Robinson, came in a third attempt with those who could not make it on second attempt. So their entire Separatist congregation, including Bradford, relocated to the Netherlands.
Also that year, the Jamestown colony had lost eighty percent of the colonists, by the time that a second wave of colonists arrived, but it survived. However, the Popham colony had to be abandoned.
In 1609 AD, the Scrooby congregation moved to the city of Lieden. They had great difficulty finding work that could provide them with enough money to live on, after they arrived. The congregation moved to the poorest part of the city called Stink Alley.
Around that same time, John Carver became a Separatist and moved to the Netherlands.
In 1610 AD, Robinson began publishing essays that were smuggled into England. Some of these essays expounded upon the practices of the False Church of Rome that the Church of England continued. Some expounded on why these practices were contrary to the Renewed Covenant. Others pointed out the futility of trying to reform the Church of England. The rest were written to persuade people to become Separatists. Many people became first Puritans, and then Separatists after reading these essays.
Around this time, Carver joined the congregation of Robinson.
In 1611 AD, the Puritans finished their updated English translation that came to be known as the King James Bible, since King James I had authorized it to replace the Great Bible as the authorized English translation.
Also that year, John Traske was also arrested in London for preaching without a license. He had no formal training, had only read the King James Bible, and put what he read into action. He was eventually given a license, despite his lack of ordination by the Church of England. He had taken up the cause of setting apart the Sabbath (Sunday in his mind at the time) as holy by banning all leisurely activities on the Sabbath, which he continued to preach.
In 1615 AD, Traske became a Puritan. The movement to ban sports on the Sabbath (Sunday in their minds) grows stronger as more and more Puritans are convinced by him.
In 1616 AD, Traske comes to the realization the False Church of Rome changed the Sabbath to Sunday, but it was still on Saturday in the Renewed Covenant. He probably was convinced by Separatists visiting from the Netherlands. Many of the Children of Truth, including many Separatists, had been observing the actual Sabbath (Saturday) for over one hundred years there by this time, because they knew who changed the Sabbath. He became a Separatist, and began preaching that Saturday is the Sabbath.
Also that year, William Bradford started writing and distributing books calling for people to forsake every practice that had came from the False Church of Rome, and replace them with the practices found in the Renewed Covenant. These books were sold illegally in England in great numbers, and as well as legally in the Netherlands.
In 1617 AD, King James I issued the Book of Sports, which banned some sports that were commercial in nature on Sunday, but allows others that were recreational in nature. This caused deeper division in England, with Puritans and Separatists on one side, and everyone else on the other side.
This same year, Edward Winslow became a Separatist and moved to the Netherlands, where he started helping Brewster in his printing operations.
By this time, the Pilgrims had found problems with living in the Netherlands as well. In particular, their children were adopting many of the Dutch customs, including language. They might have been willing to assimilate into Dutch society, if it had not been becoming more and more dominated by Humanists. So, the congregants from Scrooby, and the other Separatists that joined them in the Netherlands, found themselves without a place to call home.
So, these Separatists decided that the only way they could be totally separated from the practices of the False Church of Rome, and the influence of Human Secularists, was to start their own colony in America. Bradford called these English Separatists, who had decided to separate from the land of England to escape the practices and doctrines of the False Church of Rome that remained in England, Pilgrims.
The Pilgrims also wanted to go to America because of the opportunity for missionary work among the Native Americans. There were practically no opportunities in Europe for taking the Gospel to those who had not heard, but there was nothing but opportunity in America.
So, they sent a party of negotiators led by Carver to London, to negotiate with the Virginia company for a land grant patent in the North America.
This was a daring plan made by desperate people. There were reasons, why England had so much trouble getting anyone to volunteer to set up an English colony in America.
Spain had already conquered the Aztec and Incan Empires. However, almost no colonies north of Florida along the east coast of North America had survived. The French, English, and Dutch had exactly one each. The death rate in these three colonies during their first year had been over sixty percent.
There were many reasons for this. The weather was horrendous. The area had some of the most fierce tribes in the New World. Some of these tribes had even managed to drive out the Vikings before Columbus came to the New World. Setting up a colony on the east coast of North America was virtually a suicide mission.
Also that year, Traske was arrested by the Church of England for teaching that the Children of Truth should not only separate from everything associated with the False Church of Rome, but they should instead do everything that the congregations in the Renewed Covenant did. He taught that this included observing the actual Sabbath (Saturday), keeping the Feasts of Truth given in the Book of Truth, and abstaining from eating what the Father of Truth literally calls filth in the Book of Truth. (Many of the Separatists in the Netherlands, including the Pilgrims, had started doing this a well.)
In 1618 AD, King James I (he is also king of Scotland) began an effort to force the Church of Scotland to make the changes given in the Five Articles of Perth, including observing holidays from the False Church of Rome like Christmas. This only deepened the division over religion in England and Scotland.
That same year, Traske was brutally punished for "Judaising" the people of England by being flogged mercilessly, branded on the forehead with a hot iron, and having an awl ran through his ear.
So, Brewster and Winslow published a tract that exposed the extent of the persecution of King James and the Church of England against Puritans and Separatists. The tract caused many more people to become Puritans, and many Puritans to become Separatists.
Even so, the Carver party was able to confirm a land grant patent with the Virginia Company in London.
In 1619 AD, the Pilgrims began making preparations to create their own colony in America. However, as they were trying to arrange this, King James I sent officials to the Netherlands to arrest Brewster and Winslow.
Brewster escaped and went into hiding, but Winslow was arrested. Since the English officials had no authority to do so in the Netherlands, they were forced to let him go. They were not willing to risk offending the only ally that England had against Spain and France over Winslow. However, they did take the printing plates, which ended the printing operation of the Pilgrims. This also took away one of their main sources of income.
With Brewster in hiding, and unable to go to England, the Pilgrims had to change their strategy. Winslow took the position of Brewster in the leadership of the Pilgrims, until Brewster could come out of hiding.
However, Brewster did manage to make it to Scotland, where he published and distributed tracts opposing the Five Articles of Perth. People who read these tracts, began taking action to prevent the passage of the Five Articles of Perth. King James I sent to have him arrested, but he escaped again.
Even so, the Carver party soon partnered with a group of investors called The Plymouth Council for New England to finance the trip. (This was the same group which had attempted to create a colony at Popham twelve years earlier.) This council was able to secure a charter to do so from King James I, on the condition that the Separatist religion of the Pilgrims not receive official recognition.
For King James I there was no downside to this proposition.
The kings of England had persecuted the Lollards, but England ended up separating from the False Church of Rome as they had desired. Despite the persecution of the Puritans, the Church of England ended up making many of the reforms they had sought. The persecution of the Separatists had only led to even greater numbers of people leaving the Church of England. The Pilgrims, despite their harsh conditions, had managed to bring even more challenges to the status quo in England from the Netherlands.
In fact, the Puritans by this time controlled Parliament, which alone had the power to levy taxes and declare war. England was on the verge of civil war over these religious matters.
King James I had not been able to stop the Pilgrims from resuming their publishing books in the Netherlands, and then having them smuggled into England. These books called for people to leave the Church of England, and even England. They called for the holidays of England to be changed to those found in the Book of Truth. They even called for the Sabbath in England to be changed back to Saturday. As far as King James I was concerned, the Pilgrims were certified trouble makers.
However, by letting the Pilgrims start a colony in the New World for England, these troublemakers would be far away from England, and unable to continue to disrupt the status quo. If the colony of the Pilgrims failed like Roanoke had, then England would be rid of them permanently. If the colony of the Pilgrims succeeded like Jamestown, then England would have a second colony on the east coast of North America, that would make further colonization easier.
So in 1620 AD, the Pilgrims were granted a charter to create an English colony at a location near the mouth of the Hudson River. The new area of their colony would be called New England, and independent of the Virginia government.
When Brewster heard of the deal, he came out of hiding. and rejoined the Scrooby congregation in the Netherlands.
It was not possible for the entire congregation in the Netherlands, which had grown considerably, to go on the first voyage. So, it was decided that thirty-five of the Pilgrims would go on the first wave, and the rest would follow in subsequent waves. This first wave include Brewster, as the spiritual leader of the Pilgrims in the New World. Bradford was selected to be the governor of the new colony. Carver went, while his business partner stayed behind. Winslow also went, but Robinson stayed behind to lead the rest of the congregation in the Netherlands. The original Pilgrims left the Netherlands on the Speedwell.
When they arrived in England on the Speedwell, they were joined with the Mayflower, and picked up sixty-seven more colonists near London. However, the Speedwell developed leaks and was not able to make the trip. (The crew might have caused the leaks, since they did not want to make the dangerous voyage.) So at Plymouth, all of the colonists were transferred to the Mayflower, and it set sail for North America.
The majority of the new colonists were obviously Separatists, as who had been influenced by the illegal writings of the Pilgrims. These Separatists became Pilgrims as well.
However, not all of the colonists were Pilgrims. The Virginia Company had insisted that other people be part of the colony. These other people had skills that would be necessary for the colony to survive and prosper, but the Pilgrims lacked. The Pilgrims called these people, The Strangers.
It is certain that the Pilgrims were the majority, since virtually everything was voted on about the colony while the Mayflower was at sea, and the original Pilgrims consistently won almost all of the votes. The original Pilgrims obviously would have been losing most of the votes, if the Pilgrims were the minority among the colonists. The Strangers were plainly the minority.
The only vote the original Pilgrims are known to have lost, was to observe the Sabbath on Saturday, instead of Sunday. (The Pilgrims had originally negotiated for two days off a week to avoid this conflict, but the Carver party lost one day off a week in the negotiations with the Virginia Company. The rest of the original Pilgrims did not learn this until they were at sea. The new Pilgrims picked up in England voted for Sunday, while the original Pilgrims from the Netherlands voted for Saturday.)
So, after a month at sea, a tremendous storm caused great damage to the Mayflower and almost sunk it, but the Pilgrims decided to press on to North America. About a month later, land was spotted, but the ship had been blown north of the Hudson River by the storm, and was at Cape Cod. The winds would not allow the Mayflower to travel south to the Hudson River, where their land grant was, so they appeared stuck.
The Pilgrims and Strangers determined that they would have to create a their own government and laws, since the laws of the patent only covered the land grant area. They formed the Mayflower Compact after a vote of 41 to 32 for ratification. (Only adult male colonists were allowed to vote.) Carver was elected as the governor instead of Bradford.
After being on the Mayflower for about another month, the Pilgrims had selected a site for New Plymouth, and began building Plymouth Colony as the first colony in New England.
By the time of the feast in 1621 AD commemorated by Thanksgiving, exactly half of the colonists had died, including Carver. Bradford had been elected as the new governor. A mutually beneficial relationship between Wampanoags and Pilgrims had already began. The Pilgrims had already started doing what they came to America to do, and were determined to not let their colony die.
While there is no doubt that the Pilgrims had came to America to escape persecution in England, that is not the only reason that they came to America. They also came to America to escape the growing influence of Humanists in the Netherlands. They came to escape the influence of the False Church of Rome that remained in Europe.
Even more important than what the Pilgrims came to America to escape, is what they came to accomplish.
The Pilgrims came to create a place that was free from the practices of the False Church of Rome, similar to Celtic Christianity in its original form that Saint Patrick had practiced. Like The Mench Who Killed Christmas, they came to create a place that outlawed all such similar holidays from the False Church of Rome. They came to create a place that did not allow any holidays that came from the Druids, like Halloween. They came to create a place where people could be free to celebrate the Feasts of Truth that form The Greatest Play Ever.
The Pilgrims came to carry out the Great Commission, first by reaching out to the First Nations, telling them about the Hope of the Almodadi. They came to use America as a base for bringing the Good News to all the world through missionaries.
The Pilgrims came to create a haven in America for persecuted Jews in Europe that was free from the Spirit of Anti-Jewism. They came to create a base of operations for their descendants to help carry out the Impossible Dream of Christian Zionists, like themselves, to help the real Jews in Europe create the Impossible Country some day.
In short, the Pilgrims came to America to carry out the will of the Father of Truth unhindered by anyone else.
It is not just the Pilgrims who should take great risks to carry out the will of the Father of Truth on this Earth, but all of the Children of Truth.
This is what the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) taught them to pray for (Matthew 6:9-10). They are to seek after this above all else (Matthew 6:31-33).
The Man of Truth was a certified trouble maker (Matthew 10:34-36). He publicly challenged the status quo, because it contradicted the Book of Truth (Matthew 15:1-9). He kept doing this until the religious leaders plotted to kill him (Matthew 26:3-4). The political leaders eventually wanted to kill him for his constantly exposing the corruption of the religious leaders (Luke 13:28-31).
The Children of Truth are to fearlessly proclaim the Word of Truth (Matthew 10:26-28). They are to tell others about the the Man of Truth at all times (Matthew 10:32-33). Therefore, they are never to just go along with anything that is contrary to the Book of Truth, in order to get along with those around them (Matthew 10:37-39).
The Children of Truth are endure persecution to do what the Father of Truth says is right, because they belong to His kingdom like the Prophets of Truth (Matthew 5:10-12). They are to continue to do so through all tribulations, so they can enter the kingdom of the Father of Truth (Acts 14:22).
These tribulations and persecutions mark them as belonging to His kingdom (2 Thessalonians 1:4-5). Everyone who does what the Father of Truth says is right, will suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12).
All of the Children of Truth are Pilgrims, because they are hated for not being part to this world (John 15:18-20). They are Pilgrims, because they have chosen the Word of Truth over being part of this world (John 17:14-16). They are Pilgrims, because they seek another country, where they may carry out all of the will of the Father of Truth (Hebrews 11:13-16).
These Pilgrims will be rewarded for their troubles, when they are ruling over the Earth with the Man of Truth (2 Timothy 2:10-12). They will live in the country that they have always desired (2 Peter 3:10-13).
It is not too late to become a Pilgrim. The journey of every Pilgrim begins by coming into the House of Truth (1 Peter 2:9-12).
You come into the House of Truth, when you make the Man of Truth your king, because you believe that the Father of Truth raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9). You will no longer belong to this world, after you come into the House of Truth (1 John 3:1-3).
Come into the House of Truth!
Labels: False Church Of Rome, History, Persecution, Pilgrims, Thanksgiving
posted by The House Of Truth @ November 24, 2017
<< Home