OUTLINES OF CONGREGATIONAL HISTORY. BY REV. GEORGE HUNTINGTON, Professor of Logic and Rhetoric, BOSTON: Congregational Sunday-School and Publishing Society. 1885. COPYRIGHT, 1885, BY GEORGE HUNTINGTON. T APR 1866 LIBRARY 39,047 Electrotyped and Printed by Stanley & Usher, 171 Devonshire Street, Boston, Mass. PREFACE. THE following brief history of Congregationalism was written at the suggestion of the Rev. Robert West, the editor of The Advance, and was published in a series of articles in that paper. It was received with a degree of favor wholly unexpected by the author; and its publication in book form has been urgently called for by many esteemed brethren more competent than he to judge of its probable utility. Its scope and purpose may be easily stated. It reports no newly discovered facts, and no new exploration of the original sources of history, but aims to present, in condensed form, some of the more important results of scholarship in this field of study. Fortunately for our denomination, we have no lack of such scholarship. All that splendid erudition, critical acumen, and lifelong patience and application could do for the preservation of every discoverable detail of our history, has been done. But the very richness of the field has made it inaccessible. The most valuable books upon the subject are so voluminous and so costly that many pastors can not, and most laymen will not, purchase or peruse them. It is in the hope of bringing the cardinal facts to the attention of some who might not elsewhere find them, and of persuading others to study the works which treat the theme more adequately, that these outlines are written. It is needless to say that the author is indebted to former historians for what is most valuable in his work, and offers no statement except upon recognized authority; although the necessary limitations of such a book forbid the citation of authorities in detail, or of extensive quotation. He could on no account omit, however, to acknowledge his indebtedness to the works of the Rev. George Punchard and the Rev. Henry M. Dexter, D.D., particularly to the "History of Congregationalism," by the former, and to "Congregationalism as Seen in its Literature," by the latter, — works whose appearance marks an epoch in our literature, and whose contents ought to be so familiar to Congregationalists as to render such meager outlines as these unnecessary. CARLETON COLLEGE, NORTHFIELD, MINN., June, 1885. GEORGE HUNTINGTON. CONTENTS. - What Congregationalism is - Teachings of our Lord - The - Page Pagan England - Papal England --Results of the Norman Con- - Causes of the English Reformation - Henry VIII, as a papist SEPARATION FROM THE ENGLISH CHURCH. The three religious parties - What separation involved - At- - 27 |