26-Postscript

Sadly, as throughout these pages, politics continued to be entwined with
the church, especially in the years leading up to the early 1660s. Because
of this, various Presbyterian groupings were formed, alliances which were
religious or political or both. Furthermore, those who moved in these
circles were prepared to switch loyalties, and this muddied the water to
such an extent it is impossible to speak of the Presbyterians; in short, there
was no one Presbyterian party. Nevertheless, for simplicity I will have to
speak as though there was. The same goes for the Independents. The point
is, we must not think of the emergent groups as though they were rigidly
defined in the way they later became with the development of
denominational attitudes. Needless to say, such political and religious
fluidity greatly confuses the issue for us at this distance. More important, it
must have complicated matters for the people at the time!