'The Puritans (as Reformed believers) had to set clear boundaries about sexual behavior because of their passionate spirituality. They also had to caution themselves against the danger of pantheism because of the earthly spirituality they espoused - warning themselves against confusing the world's lesser beauty with God's unique glory. Reformed Christians who seem prudish and proper are thus revealed to be a people of incredibly passionate desire. Calvinist believers who seem so focused on divine transcendence turn out to be closet nature mystics who exult in God's beauty everywhere in creation. This is the double irony of Reformed spirituality. Curiously the tradition has come to be known more for its cautions against pantheism and passion than for its original emphases on nature and desire themselves.'
Belden C Lane, Ravished by Beauty, p.26.
