The divines was even more strongly opposed to Catholicism than to William Laud and his followers , the Laudians . They associated both Catholicism and Laudianism with Arminianism and persecution . Before the civil war , the divines saw these two groups as the greatest threat to the church . With the rise of radical sectarian movements during the war , the divines became much more concerned with these groups than polemics against Catholicism . The divines was particularly concerned with those they labeled antinomians . This was a loose term for those who saw the moral law as in some way no longer relevant for Christians . The divines saw these groups as more immediately threatening than Catholicism .