1.

Total Depravity
Most Christian sects believe in the concept of
Original Sin -- rooted in Adam and Eve's temptation
and fall -- and the Puritans were no exception.
Puritans took the concept of Original Sin to mean
total depravity. To the Puritans, people were not only
sinful, but there was no horrendous crime people
were not capable of committing. They believed that,
like Adam and Eve before them, all people were
susceptible to temptation and sin.
 2. Unconditional Election
In other religious groups, the concept of
unconditional election is often called predestination.
Puritans believed that God chose who would be
saved and who would be chosen for eternal
damnation. A person couldn't do anything to
determine God's choice, and being a member of the
Puritan church was not enough to be elected for
salvation. While other Christian denominations do
believe that people can choose salvation, Puritans
believed that the choice was God's alone.
 3. Limited Atonement (Reparation- make
amends)
Like other Christians, Puritans believed that Jesus
Christ died to atone for the sins of man. Puritans,
however, believed that Christ's atonement did not
extend to everyone. Only those who God elected
received the salvation benefits of Christ's
atonement. Those elected were part of an exclusive
group, and not all Puritans were necessarily
considered saved.
 4. Irresistible Grace
Puritans believed that, once God chose to elect
someone for salvation, that person could never
resist God's grace. Being chosen meant that a
person had found the path to salvation, which
included "ecstatic intimacy with the divine." Puritans
could be called on both internally and externally.
Being chosen internally meant that God changed a
person's heart to respond to the Gospel. The
external calling was to preach the word of God to
others.
 5. Perseverance of the Saints
A person elected by God's grace (pastor) would never
depart from the path to salvation. The person would
have complete power to understand the word of God,
and would never turn towards evil. By definition,
understanding the word of God meant that someone
would never depart from God's commands. The
person would instead persevere towards salvation.
This belief is in stark contrast with other Christian
denominations, which believe that even people who
are saved sometimes fail to understand and can
choose to depart from God.