Puritan Beliefs Essay, Research Paper
Puritan Beliefs
When people hear the word Puritan, one will detect faces of displeasure,
because cipher wants to hear about these edgy people. Our misconceptions of
these people have spread all over America, when in fact these peoples & # 8217 ; ethical motives
and beliefs are what shaped our state today. If one looks deeper into Puritan
speculations they will happen that these people were non merely edgy people.
Stereotypes that we have can be easy altered by really reading Puritan
literature. The Puritans & # 8217 ; believe that the Bible is the exclusive beginning of God & # 8217 ; s
jurisprudence, they believe in original wickedness, and they believe that God plays a direct manus
in the personal businesss of work forces.
Puritans & # 8217 ; chief belief is that the Bible is the exclusive beginning of God & # 8217 ; s jurisprudence. They
believed that the Bible has all the replies to life & # 8217 ; s inquiries. One sample of
Puritan literature that supports this thought is the New England Primer, which is a
book that the parents used to learn their kids at a immature age. In the New
England Primer there is a subdivision that is devoted to the alphabet. The missive
“ Bacillus ” has a image of the Bible following to it and a transition stating
“ Thy life attend, this book attend ” ( NEP 29 ) . The missive “ B ”
fundamentally shows us that right from the start Puritan kids are taught to
follow the ways of the Bible. Along with the missive “ B ” other letters
hold expressions that go along with narratives of the Bible. The New England Primer has
another subdivision entitled “ The Dutiful Child & # 8217 ; s Promises ” which says
“ I will every bit much in me as prevarications keen all God & # 8217 ; s holy commandments ” ( NEP
28 ) . The transition shows how of import God & # 8217 ; s Torahs were in the Puritan civilization.
Puritans besides believe in natural corruption, or the belief that all are born
sinful. Again in the New England Primer it states for missive “ A ”
“ In Adam & # 8217 ; s autumn we sinned all ” , which describes to us that through
Adam & # 8217 ; s wickedness we are all evildoers. Jonathon Edwards, a Puritan curate, writes
“ So therefore it is, that natural work forces are held in the manus of God over the cavity
of snake pit, they have deserved the fiery cavity, and are already sustained to it
& # 8230 ; . ” ( “ Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God ” 43 ) . Edward & # 8217 ; s
composing state us that
we are all over that cavity of snake pit and it is up to us to acquire
out of this state of affairs. Natural corruption was a really existent belief that was
ingrained into them at an early age.
The belief that God plays a direct function in the personal businesss of work forces is another
Puritan belief that can be found in beginnings of their literature. Since Puritans
believe that God is the Godhead of all things in being, so he can take
anything off merely every bit fast as he created it. “ Upon the Burning of my House,
July tenth 1666 ” , by Anne Bradstreet, is about how God took all her
ownerships but she does non shout or morn for her losingss. “ He might of all
rightly lovelorn / But yet sufficient for us left ” ( Bradstreet 33 ) Tells us
that even though all is lost she will be able to last without her
ownerships. The verse form goes on to state us how she felt that she cared about her
ownerships to much, and that they were merely acquiring in the manner of lauding
God to the fullest. “ Raise up thy thought above the sky / That dunghill
mists off may wing ” shows us merely how serious Puritans were about there
religion. Bradstreet sees her bad luck as a approval so that she can joy his
name with even greater passion. Jonathan Edwards in his Personal Narrative besides
speaks of God & # 8217 ; s manus in his life. “ When it pleased God to prehend me with
pleurisy, in which he brought me near to sculpt, and agitate me over the cavity of
snake pit ” describes to us how Edwards was blessed with pleurisy, a really fatal
disease, and lived so that he could recognize that he was populating a life of wickedness and
could repair it. Both Bradstreet and Edwards had tragic things happen to them which
they saw as approvals from God so that they could truly glorify God. Puritans
definately believed that God plays a direct manus in our lives.
The belief that the Bible is the exclusive beginning of God & # 8217 ; s jurisprudence, natural corruption,
and that God play a direct manus in the personal businesss of work forces are all Puritan values
that are shown though their literature. By reading Puritan liturature we can
farther understand their ways. Knowing their ways can unclutter up our
misconceptions of them as a whole. Learning things in different constructs can
aid unclutter up stereotypes that we might hold. Make non be speedy to judge without
researching all sides of the narrative.
