how did puritans believed god revealed himself?

Answer 1

First, if you want to read more of the article excerpted in leightonmobray's answer, here's the link
http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9061955/Puritans

To go more to the point --

Puritans DID believe that the "Word" (that is, the Bible) is inspired by God and is the PRIMARY and authoritative way God reveals himself, and by which every claim about spiritual truth should be tested. This helps account for why the SERMON (reading and EXPLAINING the Word) played such a huge role in Puritan churches (not to mention all the Puritan writings).

But they did not believe that Word could stand alone. That is, human reason is not enough to understand it properly, especially since they also believed in the Fall (or rebellion) of humanity.

So a necessary part of revelation is the ILLUMINATION of the Holy Spirit. That is, no one is able to properly understand and ACCEPT the revelation in the Word unless the Spirit opens their mind and heart to do so.

But, and this is key, the Spirit does not reveal God in a way that is separate from or 'goes beyond' the Word. And any revelation from the Spirit that anyone might claim must be tested to see that it is consistent with the Word. (Exactly how this works, esp. for the individual, is more debated, among the Puritans as it is in other groups.)

These things are perhaps best explained by John Owen, one of the most significant Puritan pastors and authors
See more on his teaching at
http://www.puritansermons.com/banner/fergus01.htm (esp. the fourth/last section)
http://www.johnowen.org/media/mckinley_on_fuller_erickson.pdf

For what other Puritan writers said on this subject:
http://www.puritansermons.com/banner/beeke01.htm
http://www.theresurgence.org/andrew_davis_1996-07_spirit_and_word--lessons_from_puritanism


The Puritans ALSO believed in "general" revelation -- that is, that God reveals himself through his creation. But this revelation is not as 'focused' and does not show people things concerning salvation. And in the end we cannot properly grasp and use this general revelation without the guidance of the "special" revelation of the Word.

By the way, ALL of this is very consistent with traditional Protestant (esp. Reformed, that is, "Calvinistic") theology, and what you would find in their major confessions and catechisms.

Answer 2

Puritans believed that it was necessary to be in a covenant relationship with God in order to redeem one from one's sinful condition, that God had chosen to reveal salvation through preaching, and that the Holy Spirit rather than reason was the energizing instrument of salvation. This naturally led to the rejection of much that was characteristic of Anglican preaching and ritual at the time, these being viewed as "popish idolatry." In its place the Puritans emphasized plain preaching that drew on images from scripture and from everyday experience. Still, because of the importance of preaching, the Puritans placed a premium on a learned ministry. The moral and religious earnestness that was characteristic of Puritans was combined with the doctrine of predestination inherited from Calvinism to produce a "covenant theology," a sense of themselves as elect spirits chosen by God to revolutionize history.

Answer 3

only through Scripture (the Bible)