- Fluidization of boundaries with secular thought: With the loosening of theological doctrinal constraints, the boundary with secular ideologies that likewise advocated “the realization of an ideal society” and “the liberation of the weak” (socialism and Marxism) became ambiguous, completing the theological groundwork that made it easy to incorporate Marxist views of history and critiques of capital.
**3. Organizational structure of Congregationalism and its “democratic and reformist genes”**
The historical and organizational characteristics of Congregationalism itself also played a major role.
- Democratic and anti-hierarchical church polity: Congregationalism rejects hierarchical systems of top-down authority (such as the papacy or episcopacy) and is operated through the independent, deliberative self-governance of each congregation’s members in a form of direct democracy.
- Puritanism and the spirit of social reform: Congregationalism, connected to the English Puritan Revolution and the founding of America (the Pilgrim Fathers of the Mayflower), traditionally possesses a “spirit of criticism toward existing authority and systems” and a reformist orientation aimed at “the autonomous construction of an ideal society” (Puritan social construction).
This mental structure of “overthrowing the present system and building an egalitarian utopia with one’s own hands” strongly resonated with the ideals of revolutionary movements and workers’ self-liberation movements advocated by socialism and communism.
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- Fluidization of boundaries with secular thought:
With the loosening of theological doctrinal constraints, the boundary with secular ideologies that likewise advocated “the realization of an ideal society” and “the liberation of the weak” (socialism and Marxism) became ambiguous, completing the theological groundwork that made it easy to incorporate Marxist views of history and critiques of capital.
**3. Organizational structure of Congregationalism and its “democratic and reformist genes”**
The historical and organizational characteristics of Congregationalism itself also played a major role.
- Democratic and anti-hierarchical church polity:
Congregationalism rejects hierarchical systems of top-down authority (such as the papacy or episcopacy) and is operated through the independent, deliberative self-governance of each congregation’s members in a form of direct democracy.
- Puritanism and the spirit of social reform:
Congregationalism, connected to the English Puritan Revolution and the founding of America (the Pilgrim Fathers of the Mayflower), traditionally possesses a “spirit of criticism toward existing authority and systems” and a reformist orientation aimed at “the autonomous construction of an ideal society” (Puritan social construction).
This mental structure of “overthrowing the present system and building an egalitarian utopia with one’s own hands” strongly resonated with the ideals of revolutionary movements and workers’ self-liberation movements advocated by socialism and communism.