The English Separatists were a group of Protestant Christians who gave up on the idea that the 16th century Church of England could be reformed, at least from within. The Separatists believed the Church of England was still characterized by entirely too much Catholicism (e.g., ecclesiastical courts, clerical vestments, altars and genuflections). The Church needed to be, therefore, totally destroyed, or totally abandoned by Protestants.
The English Separatists consequently “separated” from the unsalvageable Church and dedicated themselves to interpretations of practical living based upon simple Biblical practice and teaching. Many of these Separatists were fight-tired, weary and disgruntled extreme wing Puritans (Puritans were very similar to Separatists, but believed the church could be salvaged). Baptists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Quakers and many independent Christian churches would later emerge from this English Separatist movement. Separatists would eventually make their way to North America, under the leadership of John Robinson, in effort to escape religious persecution in England. The Separatists would become historically known to all who would come after them as “Pilgrims.”
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