More than most Christians, the founders of Massachusetts were people of the book. Their faith was founded entirely on the Bible. John Cotton wrote that the "scriptures of God do contain a short upoluposis, or platform, not only of theology, but also of other sacred sciences... ethics, economics, politics, church government, prophesy, academy." In the language of a later age, the Puritans were biblical fundamentalists who believed that every authentic word of Scripture was literal truth, and every command was binding upon them. On even the most mundane social questions, they searched the
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