Coming up this coming week is Thanksgiving. In 1621 there was a harvest celebration among the Plymouth Colonists and the Wampanoag Indians. There were earlier giving of thanks by peoples who had settled in America, quite some time prior to the Pilgrims - listen to learn more.

We are to give thanks for

"all things." What does that mean exactly? We discuss this. The Pilgrims lost about 1/2 of their numbers between the travel to American on the ship, and the first year once settled. We discuss the subtle distinctions between the Pilgrims and the Puritans. The fact is, the Pilgrims were Separatists, and yet they are still Puritans. They are called "Pilgrims," in the sense that they were travelers. The difference between them and the Puritans which came to New England 10 years later was that the Pilgrims felt that the Church of England could not be reformed, while the Puritans felt that it could be Reformed, and did not take a separist stance.

For further education: A couple of years ago, we covered in detail, the Thanksgiving tradition with our good friend Dr. Hans Vought. That Podcast is contained on this webpage, dated 11/20/2010. The cut and past link is here: http://www.redeemerbroadcasting.org/podcasts/apa_112010_Thanksgiving.mp3

Today's participants: Dr. John Vance, Dan Elmendorf