E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Pu’ritans.
Seceders from the Reformed Church; so called because they rejected all human traditions and interference in religion, acknowledging the sole authority of the “pure Word of God,” without “note or comment.” Their motto was: “The Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible.” The English Puritans were sometimes by the Reformers called Precisionists, from their preciseness in matters called “indifferent.” Andrew Fuller named them Non-conformists, because they refused to subscribe to the Act of Uniformity.
