ABSTRACT
The English Reformed churches in the United Provinces wanted to distinguish themselves from the Church of England with its lax discipline but also ‘serve as a moral, social and even economic governor for the British community’. Influenced by their Dutch environment, the English Reformed churches adopted Dutch business attitudes, in particular stern views on economic discipline and debt repayment, so that bankruptcy and fraud could lead to exclusion from the Lord’s Table. After years of struggle to keep the Sabbath amongst members of the congregations, the English Reformed churches finally also abandoned the Puritan position on Sabbath observance. ‘The English […] gradually accommodated themselves to the prevailing values.’70
