Throughout the seventeen hundreds, thousands of immigrants came to the New England region, seeking refuge from European persecution. These early colonist yearned for a domicilewere they could indulge in religious freedom, a heavy contrast to the strict religious persecutionthey experienced in their native countries. Aspirations such as these hold the initial sentence inthe statement: The New England colonies were founded upon the promise of religious freedom,to be valid. On the contrary, there are several cases from the New England colonies that makethe second sentence of the statement, Those who wish to practice their religioun freely were ableto do so, to be invalid due to their characterization of exclusive religious tolerance. A rareexample of complete religious tolerance in the New England region sprang from Rhode Islandsliberal religious freedom, which extended to all their citizens; this factor would hold the statementto be true.Martin Luther, a German friar, nailed ninety-five theses, protesting Catholic doctrines, tothe door of the Wittenbergs Cathedral in 1517. By denouncing the authority of priest and popes,Luther ignited the fire of religious reforms. The Protestant Reformation divided peoples, toppledsovereigns, and most importantly, kindled the spiritual fever of men and women that helped findAmerica.John Calvin, of Geneva, elaborated on Luthers ideas. His basic doctrines in Institutes ofChristian Religion state that God was all-powerful, all good, and all knowing. Humans wereweak and wicked (due to the original sin), and were governed spiritually by the idea ofpredestination. A principle theory in Calvinism, predestination was the idea that those who wereto achieve salvation were already chosen by God. Adding to the the Protestant Reformation, King Henry VIII of England broke away fromthe Roman Catholic Church in the 1530s. This in turn would give birth to the Church of England,or the Anglican Church, which wa...
