 The divines were even more strongly opposed to Catholicism than to William Laud and his followers , the <unk> . They associated both Catholicism and <unk> with <unk> 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 <unk> against Catholicism . The divines were particularly concerned with those they labeled <unk> . 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 . 
