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Because of the importance of preaching and finding guidance from interpretation of the Scripture, Puritans learned ministers held a very high position in Puritan society. For Puritans the source of all religious authority lay in the Scripture itself, which was to be studied by all members of the congregation. They were taught that man was duty-bound to do God’s will, which he could understand best by studying the Bible and the universe which God had created. The Puritans believed that man was inherently sinful and corrupt rescue from damnation was only by arbitrary divine grace. When the British crown granted its permission, the Puritans set sail for the New World and founded Plymouth in 1620. These concerns led them to ask the English King for the right to emigrate to America and found an English colony in which they could practice their religion freely. They were also concerned that their children were adopting Dutch customs and that Spain, a rigidly Catholic country, would gain control of Holland and persecute them. However, the Puritans were never completely accepted in Holland and were relegated to menial, low paying jobs. In 1608, a group of Puritans emigrated from England to Holland, a country that was tolerant of religious differences. They were persecuted by the Anglican Church and the English government because their views differed from official Church doctrine. Puritans were known for the moral and religious earnestness that pervaded their way of life. Puritanism had its roots in sixteenth-century efforts by Calvinist Protestants to rid the Church in England of all vestiges of Catholicism. FICTION (SOAPS, DRAMAS, AND REALITY/SURVIVAL SHOW).