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The Puritan Dilemma is the story of John Winthrop growing up in the Puritan colonization of America. This book tells the reader of the events that Puritans had to go through during that time period. The book also talks about the attempts, both by John Winthrop and the Puritans, to establish a new type of society in the New World, something they couldn’t do in England. This story is told by the theology of the Puritan ideas, and focuses a lot on how their beliefs intervene in their daily lives, churches, and political ideologies. Puritanism was the belief that the Church of England should remove traditions that inherited from the Catholic Church, and make the Church of England more pure in Christ. The book starts by stating that Henry VIII …show more content…
Puritans believed that every individual or kingdom was placed by the Almighty, and if the individuals were faithful to the Almighty, He would reward them. Whenever bad situations arose, anything from drought to scarcity, they accepted it, because they believed it was a punishment for disobedience, “Preachers sounded the alarm again and again, calling up the memory of Sodom and Gomorrah” (P.17). Sodom and Gomorrah are the cities that were destroyed by the wrath of God, according to the Old Testament in the Bible. John believed that the English government was “under the shadow God’s wrath” (P.18), Charles I became king in 1625, and demanded the loyalty of the Parliament, King Charles I accepted Arminianism, which is the belief that attempts to explain the relationship between God’s sovereignty and individual free will. The book states that Puritans had three options: overthrow Charles, separate from the Church of England and make their own, or leave England together as a group. John decided to head to Massachusetts, since this was the opportunity God has given him to be prosperous, by using his talents and practicing true Puritanism,” The colony was to be a refuge for truth, a religious rather than a commercial …show more content…
John persuaded and got the Puritans to join the expedition to the New World, and the main reason for the persuasion was because of their faith, where in the New World they could practice it, and with God’s favor by their side. John prepared for the expedition to the New World, but although he prepared, the first 1,000 settlers were unprepared for what they encountered in Massachusetts. Cold winters killed men, and most of them were not prepared for the new things that were in the New England. They finally settled in Charlestown. “He returned with the conclusion that the bay was the place to settle: there was plenty of champion land on its rivers and peninsulas…” (P.54), it offered them protection and security. John was a leader to the Puritan community, and stated that they had a special calling from God, much like the way Israel in ancient times, and just like Israel followed Moises, and the Puritans followed John’s commands. Dangers of separatism came across the minds of the Puritans, and was an issue that John had to deal with it. Puritans wanted an establishment of a church in which God commanded it to be, they wanted an end for bishops, and archbishops, “…an end to the idolatrous ritual and trappings that exalted the clergy instead of God in the divine service…” (P.70). Two groups immerged because of this, the Congregationalists which believe there should be no
Edmund S. Morgan's book, "The Puritan Dilemma", is an account of the events encountered by John Winthrop's mission of creating a city on a hill. Winthrop leads and directs the Massachusetts Bay Company, to the new world, while trying to find a solution to the Puritan dilemma, which was how they were going to live in the world while trying to live up to the ideals in the Bible. These ideals lead John Winthrop to propose the creation of a “city on a hill”. His proposition involves reforming the Church of England, in the new world, by purifying the church of all its flaws. It would create a citadel of God’s chosen people, the kind of society that God demanded of all His servants. According to Winthrop, "They should be purified of their unregenerate members, their heretical clergymen, their unwarranted ceremonies, their bishops, and archbishops, but they were nevertheless churches and must be embraced as churches". (Morgan, 27) Winthrop continues to emphasize that they have been selected by God, like Israel of old, to serve as a model society to others; they would be a “city on a hill” for everyone to see and observe.
Unlike the Chesapeake Bay colony, the New England colonies were founded because of a desire for religious freedom. The Puritans wanted to 'purify' and fix the morally corrupt parts of the Church of England that were created by King Henry VIII; however, they faced discrimination and were subject to violence. The reformers fled England, working together to create a model of the perfect society, with strong family values. The Puritans generally were not wealthy, with many leading simple lives and using their time to help others in their community. John Winthrop, the first governor of the New England colony, constructed the society around family and religion. Puritans established many churches in the hopes that England would copy their model. The religious influences in the society were clear in the New England Primer, a textbook for Puritan children, in which they described the persecution of their people. The discrimination against the Puritans created a s...
The Puritans came to the New World in hopes of establishing their religion as the only accepted faith. In my opinion, they became exactly like those that they fled from in England. Their closed minded views kept them from spreading the word of God and closed themselves off from saving others. Their persecution and intolerance of other religions bound their hands and communities.
The Puritans didn't have all the luxuries we have today. They were told many things by preachers such as Jonathon Edwards, who lit a candle of fear in their minds. If I was alive to hear Edwards preach, I'd certainly have to question myself. He preached that God holds us in his hands and he can make or break us. If God decides it so, he will let us go and we will fall from his hands to nothing but Hell. Certainly no one wants to go to Hell. So, the Puritans tried to better their lives, and go by rules or "resolutions." They believed if they followed these resolutions, even though their fate was predetermined by God, they could live a life of good and maybe prove they are meant to go to Heaven.
1) Puritanism originated from a movement for reform in the Church of England. It focused on the impact upon American values, the present paper first discusses the origin and the tenets of Puritanism.
Religion was the foundation of the early Colonial American Puritan writings. Many of the early settlements were comprised of men and women who fled Europe in the face of persecution to come to a new land and worship according to their own will. Their beliefs were stalwartly rooted in the fact that God should be involved with all facets of their lives and constantly worshiped. These Puritans writings focused on their religious foundations related to their exodus from Europe and religions role in their life on the new continent. Their literature helped to proselytize the message of God and focused on hard work and strict adherence to religious principles, thus avoiding eternal damnation. These main themes are evident in the writings of Jonathan Edwards, Cotton Mathers, and John Winthrop. This paper will explore the writings of these three men and how their religious views shaped their literary works, styles, and their historical and political views.
The church and Christian beliefs had a very large impact on the Puritan religion and lifestyle. According to discovery education, “Church was the cornerstone of the mainly Puritan society of the 17th century.”( Douglas 4). Puritan laws were intensively rigid and people in society were expected to follow a moral strict code. And because of Puritans and their strict moral codes, any act that was considered to go against this code was considered a sin and deserved to be punished. In Puritan theology, God h...
In 1630, the Massachusetts Bay Company set sail to the New World in hope of reforming the Church of England. While crossing the Atlantic, John Winthrop, the puritan leader of the great migration, delivered perhaps the most famous sermon aboard the Arbella, entitled “A Model of Christian Charity.” Winthrop’s sermon gave hope to puritan immigrants to reform the Church of England and set an example for future immigrants. The Puritan’s was a goal to get rid of the offensive features that Catholicism left behind when the Protestant Reformation took place. Under Puritanism, there was a constant strain to devote your life to God and your neighbors. Unlike the old England, they wanted to prove that New England was a community of love and individual worship to God. Therefore, they created a covenant with God and would live their lives according to the covenant. Because of the covenant, Puritans tried to abide by God’s law and got rid of anything that opposed their way of life. Between 1630 and the 18th century, the Puritans tried to create a new society in New England by creating a covenant with God and living your life according to God’s rule, but in the end failed to reform the Church of England. By the mid 1630’s, threats to the Puritans such as Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson, and Thomas Hooker were being banned from the Puritan community for their divergent beliefs. 20 years later, another problem arose with the children of church members and if they were to be granted full membership to the church. Because of these children, a Halfway Covenant was developed to make them “halfway” church members. And even more of a threat to the Puritan society was their notion that they were failing God, because of the belief that witches existed in 1692.
The Puritans were Englishmen who chose to separate from the Church of England. Puritans believed that the Anglican Church or Church of England resembled the Roman Catholic Church too closely and was in dire need of reform. Furthermore, they were not free to follow their own religious beliefs without punishment. In the sixteenth century the Puritans settled in the New England area with the idea of regaining their principles of the Christi...
Puritan life is probably one of the biggest paradoxes known to man theoretically. In practice is doesn’t seem like such an absurd notion. There are certain things that may lead someone into confusion over the way that Puritan life was conducted. One of these things is the object of holiness. This means that only certain members are allowed into the Puritan life after proving themselves holy. Another object that may cause confusion is the idea of enjoying oneself in Puritan life. Recreation did occur in Puritan life, but the definition of Puritan recreation is differently defined. One more object of confusion in Puritan life is the type of Puritan in which you are stereotyped into depending of your actions regarding your religion. Although this might sound complicated it is not as intricate as it is written. For Puritan’s this was a way of life. This tells us that, in practice, all of these social theories are probably more plausible than they sound. Winthrop did encounter all of these problems in his journey from England to Massachusetts, and them encountered some of these while he was in control of the society there.
Winthrop had decided to leave England to found a godly community in the new world. Like most Puritans, Winthrop was extremely religious and subscribed fervently to the Puritan belief that the Anglican Church had to be cleansed of Catholic ritual. Winthrop was convinced that God was going to punish the English Puritans for its heresy against God. As the leader of the party heading for the new world he believed in creating a society based on a moral code that was rooted in the bible. Winthrop and the other Puritans hoped to establish in the new world a pure church that would offer a model for the churches in England, thus purifying the Anglican Church from within. "They sought homogeneity, not diversity, and believed that the good of the community outweighed protecting the rights of its individual members".
During the seventeenth century, the Puritans landed in New England to form the Massachusetts Bay colony. John Winthrop, the first Governor of the colony, saw the place as a political and religious refuge. He described it as “a city upon a hill.” In England, the Puritans were not free to practice their faith and were persecuted by the Anglican Church. The Puritans wanted to create an ideal society where they could practice religion at will. These people risked everything just so they could freely practice their faith. Their sole purpose in settling in America was to sustain and practice their religion.
Puritanism as a religion declined, both by diluting its core beliefs and by losing its members. This phenomenon was at work even in colonial days, at the religion’s height, because it contained destructive characteristics. It devolved into something barely recognizable in the course of a few generations. We can observe that the decline of Puritanism occurred because it bore within itself the seeds of its own destruction.
The Puritans first became a sect in England, where they became dissatisfied with the Church of England and sought reform. They led a civil war but their victory was short-lived and they came to North America to escape persecution. “The Puritans believed that the Bible was God’s true law and that it provided a plan for living.” They wanted to live according to this belief and that is what brought the separation between them and the Church of England. For the Puritans, God was to be the motivation of all their actions (Kizer, Kay). They believed in piousness, righteousness, and hard work. (Campbell, Douglas).
Some Puritans of this time did not like the sound of their ever nearing future and believed it was not in god’s will for these things to happen. Therefore they grouped together in order to make a new, pure model society in the area of New England in America. The Puritans simply did not agree to what was happening to their religion in their homeland so they set off for a fresh start.