Word: puritan
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Dates: during 1900-1900
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...absence of definite knowledge is due to the vague nature of the reform. It was neither a doctrine nor a tangible belief, but rather an impulse of self-emancipation, hampered to some extent by the conservatism of the day. Coming as a reaction from the old Puritan theology, it excited a storm of abuse and persecution as furious as it was undeserved. Theodore Parker, the leader of the party, held views on the interpretation of the Scriptures which would today be considered the reverse of radical; and yet these same views prevented his election to the Phi Beta Kappa...