Puritanism
Puritan Legacy
The Puritans were central to the development of the American Literary
tradition.
In many respects, the American character has been shaped by the moral,
ethical, and religious convictions of the Puritans.
Who Where the Puritans?
Settlers who colonized New England called themselves Puritans.
First group landed in 1620 (led by William Bradford)
By 1640 twenty thousand English Puritans sailed to New England
Definition:
Puritan is a broad term: refers to Protestant groups that sought to “purify”
the Church of England
The Puritans . . .
wished for a simpler form of worship and church organization as described
in the New Testament
did not believe that clergy or govt. should or could act as an intermediary
between the individual and God
were persecuted in England (put in jail, whipped, noses slit, ears lopped off)
Puritan Beliefs
At the center of Puritan Theology was a mixture of certainty and doubt:
Certainty #1:
Adam and Eve’s sin caused humanity to be damned for all eternity
Certainty #2:
God sent his son Jesus Christ to save particular people
Doubt:
How did you know if you were saved (the “elect”) or damned (the
“unregenerate”)?
The two principal indications of the state of one’s soul (neither were certain):
1-You were saved by God’s grace.
2-You could feel his grace arriving in an intensely emotional way. . .
Thus . . .the inner arrival of God’s grace was demonstrated in your outward
behavior.
After receiving grace, you were “reborn” as a member of the community of
saints, and you behaved like a saint.
This is also called “irresistible grace” and it was predetermined by God at
birth.
Dilemma:
If you were predetermined to go to hell - why should you live a holy life?
In addition, Puritans:
Believed their souls were a battleground between God and Satan.
Created strict laws against pleasurable activities that failed to glorify God. . .
.
ex: no bowling, dancing, gambling, or attending plays
Valued: self-reliance, industriousness, temperance, and simplicity.
Puritans also believed that the Bible was the literal word of God.
Reading the Bible was necessary for all Puritans . .
So . . Puritans placed great emphasis on education
*Founded Harvard College (1636) to train Puritan ministers.
*In 1642 Puritans opened free public schools (for girls & boys)
*Puritan belief in a spiritual compact between God and humanity paved the way
for American Constitutional democracy.
“Great Awakening” (1730s - 1750s)
A religious revival that attempted to draw Christians back to Puritanism.
Began at a time when enthusiasm for old Puritan religion was declining
To offset losses in their congregations, churches began to accept
“unregenerate” Christians (people who accepted church doctrine and
lived upright lives - but who had not confessed to being born again in
God’s grace)
Led by Jonathan Edwards in the 1730s (was dismissed in 1750 for being too
strict because he would accused prominent church members, by name, of
lapsing into sin . . . oops!)
Marked by waves of conversions that were intensely emotional and
sometimes caused mass hysteria
In the end the Great Awakening basically failed. . . . . Puritan American
began making way for modern America (the Age of Reason and the
Rationalists, which included the writings of Benjamin Franklin)
Characteristics of Puritan Writing
The Bible provided a model for Puritan writing: a conception of each
individual life as a journey to salvation. Puritans saw direct connections
between Biblical events and their own lives.
Puritans used writing to explore their inner and outer lives for signs of the
workings of God.
Diaries and histories were the most common forms of expression in Puritan
society; in them writers described the workings of God.
Puritans favored a plain style, similar to that of the Geneva Bible. They
stressed clarity of expression and avoided complicated figures of speech.