"Where shall I begin?" asked the White Rabbit of the King in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. "Begin at the beginning, and go on till you come to the end: then stop" was the reply. When we begin to talk about Religion in America, we really have to begin by talking about religion in Europe, and the various forces that led people to collect their belongings and leave home and hearth to make a new beginning in a strange new land far across the ocean.

Moving is the second most traumatic thing you can do. It is not something people do lightly even in our day. Just consider for a moment the disruption and stress of just going away to college. At least you know that you will be able to return home at fall break, or on week-ends. But the folks who left Europe to immigrate to America did so knowing--in words of Tom Wolfe--that they could never go home again. And so a good place to begin our understanding of religion in America might be to examine the forces that drove them to uproot themselves in this fashion.

A major force behind the immigration from Europe was the Reformation. As it unfolded on the continent of Europe, the Reformation was largely peasant driven. There it became far more than a religious revolution. Strong social tones manifested themselves as disaffected elements of the population used the religious upheaval to assist in the overturning of oppressive social structures. In England, however, things were different. In part, that was due to the English channel which served to foster a sense of isolation from developments on the Continent. In England the Reformation was royal. And it is this Reformation that was most important to America.

To fully understand the English Reformation, one needs to have a working knowledge of the major political alliances during the 16th century. During this period, Great Britain was ruled by the House of Tudor which had allied itself with Spain. Scotland--at this point an independent kingdom--was ruled by the House of Stuart which had aligned itself with France. To cement the alliance between England and Spain, Henry VII of England arranged to have his son Arthur marry the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, Catherine of Aragon (age 15). A problem arose, however, when Arthur died after only four months.

The Spanish government still thought the original idea had merit, and suggested that Catherine marry Arthur's younger brother Henry. Henry VII liked the idea. It allowed him to retain the friendship of Spain as well as the dowry that had been paid to compensate him for taking Catherine off Ferdinand's hands. There was just one small problem with the arrangement. It would be a violation of Canon law (based on a provision in the Book of Leviticus) that prohibited a man from marrying his brother's widow. Nonetheless a Papal dispensation was obtained, and the marriage occurred as soon as Henry was old enough.

The marriage was not a happy one, but it lasted 16 years. There was the age difference, and continuing questions as to the legality of the Papal dispensation. The lack of a male heir from the marriage was widely viewed as a sign of divine displeasure with the union. When Henry succeeded to the throne, the lack of a male heir from the marriage presented the new King with a major political problem, forcing him to choose between domestic and foreign policy needs. Domestically, a male heir was highly prized. The nation had just come through a war of succession, and the prospects of another were not comforting. And yet, Henry could not afford to offend Spain to whose royal family Catherine belonged.

Henry explored several ways out of his dilemma: (1) He proposed that his bastard son, the Duke of Richmond, be made his heir. This would have required Papal action to make him legitimate. The problem was it would have represented an insult to Spain. Such an arrangement would have recognized the priority of Henry's relationship with the Duke of Richmond's mother, and left the King of Spain's daughter living in sin without benefit of marriage. (2) the Cardinal who was in charge of the Church's negotiations with Henry suggested that Mary, Henry's daughter by Catherine, marry the Duke of Richmond. But here another problem presented itself: the two were half-siblings. This created a problem that even Henry could see. (3) Henry proposed that Rome annul his marriage with Catherine, leaving him free to marry on the grounds that the marriage had in fact been against canon law. (The original dispensation having been given by Pope Julius II; Henry now hoped a new Pope [Clement VII] might view the matter differently.) Indeed, Papal annulments during this period were not uncommon. Two of Henry's sisters had received annulments. But this one presented real problems. (1) It meant asking the Pope to admit that the Holy See had been wrong (2) By declaring the marriage null and void, it would result in Catherine's dishonor, and would make Mary a bastard. (3) For her part, Catherine was challenging Henry's efforts to gain an annulment, claiming there was no reason for a Papal dispensation as the marriage to Arthur had never been consummated. At this juncture in the negotiations between Henry and Rome, the Pope suggested Henry secretly take a second wife. This proved unworkable, however, because Henry needed a publicly acknowledged heir.

Henry had one ace up his sleeve. At the suggestion of Thomas Cranmer, (who latter prepared the first Book of Common Prayer), the faculties of Catholic Universities were polled. They were unanimous that there was no valid marriage in keeping with Canon Law. Unable to resolve his political and religious dilemma, Henry began to lay the ground work for unilateral action. His first step was to reenact ancient laws against appeals to Rome. Second, he used the threat of withholding funds destined for Rome as a wedge to get his friend Thomas Cranmer installed as the Archbishop of Canterbury, which just happened to be the most important ecclesiastical position in England.

In 1534, Henry broke with Rome. The issue was not doctrine. Henry had been granted the title of "Defender of the Faith" by Leo X, and attacked the teaching of Martin Luther. He had little sympathy with what taking place on the continent, and lived and died a catholic. He had no qualms with catholic doctrine. The issue for Henry was the power of the Pope over his throne.

Henry arranged for Parliament to forbid the payment of tithes to Rome, and rule that Henry's marriage was not a true marriage, his daughter Mary was not a legitimate heir to the throne, and make the King the "supreme head of the Church of England." Any who disagreed were declared to be schismatic or heretics.

No attempt was made to reform the Church. Although many felt that the events presented a real opportunity to reform the church (men such as Thomas Cranmer), Henry was conservative, and saw no need for change. He was only open to reforms that served his purpose, such as allowing him to change wives.

On being made head of the Church of England, Henry declared his marriage to Catherine of Aragon to be null and void. He had already secretly married Anne Boleyn. Anne was also unable to give him a male heir, bearing him Elizabeth. (To get rid of her, he had her accused of adultery, and put to death) Henry next married Jane Seymour, who gave him a male heir, Edward. On her death, he sought an alliance against Spain and France by marrying a leading German Protestant Prince--John Frederick of Saxony's sister in law. He divorced her, and ordered the man who arranged the marriage to be beheaded. His next Queen was Catherine Howard. She was conservative and sought to make the church conform as much as possible with Roman Catholicism. Henry had her beheaded, and married Catherine Parr, who was a supporter of the Reformation.

Despite Henry's fascination with the institution of marriage, and his lack of zeal for any real reformation in the church, his reign did provide an opportunity for the ideas of the Reformation to spread throughout the land. Cranmer had ordered the Bible to be printed in English, and by royal decree an English Bible was placed in every church so that all could read it. Based on a translation by Tyndale, (which he had been printed on the continent) this English Bible served as a weapon in the cause of Reform. Reformers could draw attention to the passages that supported their teaching and goals.

In 1547, Henry passed from the scene, and was replaced on the throne by Edward VI. Edward was a sickly young man who only lived six years. The first three were under the regency of the Duke of Somerset. Somerset was a Protestant in principle, not just for convenience sake. This was a time of great advances for the Reformers. The clergy were allowed to marry. Images were withdrawn from churches and feast days eliminated. The vehicle for all this was the Book of Common Prayer commissioned by Cranmer. It provided a liturgy in the language of the people. The last three years of Edward's reign were under the Duke of Northumberland. A new edition of Book of Common Prayer was prepared during this period that was more Zwinglian. (Zwingli viewed communion as an act of remembrance. The original Book of Common Prayer had taken the Catholic position that at communion the bread and wine are transformed into the real body of Christ.)

EXAMPLE: First edition--"The body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was given for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life." New edition--"Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for thee, and feed on him in thy heart by faith with thanksgiving."

When Edward VI died, Northumberland tried to arrange for a Protestant to take the throne. He was ultimately unsuccessful. There was great popular support for Mary (Catherine's daughter), and the effort to keep her from the throne failed. Lady Jane Gray came to power, she proved to be England's 9 day queen.

Mary ruled from 1553-1558. Although she was Henry VIII's daughter by Catherine of Aragon, she identified the Reformation with the dishonor of her youth when she had been labeled a bastard by her father's actions. In the wake of her disgrace, she had taken solace from a Spanish Chaplain, and refuge in her religion. Once in power, Mary set out to right the wrongs done her and her mother. Mary was also motivated by reasons of conviction (she was a true believer) and political necessity (to make herself legitimate once again) to restore Roman Catholicism in England.

The first months of her reign were spent consolidating her position. She married her cousin, Philip of Spain during this time, and popular support for restoring Catholicism, as well as support for her personally remained strong. This support was squandered, however, when she moved to take regressive measures against the Protestants. Previous reforms were undone. Clergy that had married under the reforms were ordered to leave their wives, and approximately 300 Protestants were burned at the stake. The burnings at the stake not only led to Mary being known as "Bloody Mary," they forced thousands of Protestants to flee to the continent of Europe where they came to be know as the Marian exiles.

The most famous martyr to Mary was Thomas Cranmer. He recanted under pressure, but when it became clear that Mary was going to have him burned at the stake anyway as an example to the people, he took back his recantation, and attacked Mary and the Pope with his last words.

Mary died on 1558, and was succeeded by her half-sister Elizabeth, born to Anne Bolyen. With Elizabeth on the throne, many of the Marian exiles returned. But they were shunned. Except for the use of English, services differed little from the Catholic church. These exiles, influenced by the Reformation in Europe, demanded a purification of the ceremonies and doctrines of the church, and insisted on the need to restore the pure doctrines of the New Testament. The Book of Common Prayer would no longer do. As a result of these demands for the purification of the church and its practices, these individuals came to be nick-named the Puritans.

Elizabeth looked askance at these Puritans. Her course of action was not based on doctrine, but on political necessity. If the head of the church of England was the Pope, then the marriage of Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon was valid, and Elizabeth was the illegitimate child of Anne Bolyen. Therefore she took the position that her father had been right to proclaim himself head of the church of England. Elizabeth, however, was not a Protestant extremist. Her goal was that religious worship be uniform so as to unite the Kingdom in a common worship. In Elizabeth's England there was no place for extreme Protestantism or Roman Catholicism.

Her policy of inclusivism found expression in a new edition of the Book of Common Prayer which combined the first Prayer Book's treatment of Communion (Catholic) with that of the second (Zwinglian):

"The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was given for thee preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life. Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for thee, and feed on him in thy heart with thanksgiving."

It united the divergent opinions of those who believed that communion was simply an act of remembrance, and those who insisted that one really partook of the body of Christ. She also prepared a new edition of the Thirty-Nine Articles that promulgated this "via media." (This search for a middle way between extremes is typical of the Church of England and other churches in the Anglican Communion. This commitment to a via media is currently being tested by ordination of women as well as the ordination of gays and lesbians)

Despite what we might think, Puritans were not people who were deeply disturbed at the thought of someone else having a good time. Puritans believed that all things should be ordered unto God. This led them to a frantic sense of immediacy. Cards, for instance, were not evil in themselves. But playing them was a waste of time. Instead of wasting time with frivolity, one could be reading scripture or praying, something with an ultimate reward. In fact, they were constantly pulling out their souls to see if there was any new spiritual growth.

Puritans believed nothing happens apart from or without reference to the divine imperative. They had a firm belief in their own Manifest Destiny. They saw the Reformation as a sign that the millennium was at hand. They believed God was purifying the church in anticipation of the end of time, and they saw themselves as agents of God's eternal purpose. To that end, they gave their children prophetic names. They became convinced that their efforts to purify the church and shape a new society would help hasten the day of the Lord's appearance. Their hopes of purifying the English Church, however, would ultimately be stymied. The Puritans came to see their manifest destiny might lie in a different direction. Perhaps England was too corrupt to be purified. Perhaps they needed to start afresh in a new land.