 Both
groups believed that the Church of
England had become corrupt
 Puritans wanted to reform or purify the
church
 Pilgrims believed the Church was
beyond saving and therefore wanted to
separate from it completely
 The
King was the head of the Church
 Saying the Church was corrupt and in
need of reform was a direct assault on the
King
 Rebelling against the Church was often
seen as treason
Predestination:
 Although everyone wants to go to
heaven, only a small number will
 God knows who will go to heaven and
who will go to hell
 We can only guess who is predestined by
their behaviors
A
person who is obviously predestined
for heaven will act in a way that proves it
 People who deliberately sin are not
necessarily predestined for hell, they can
and should be taught to change their
ways.
 This is why punishment becomes so
important to Puritans
 The
church is the state
 Any sin is views as a crime and is subject
to public prosecution
 Sin is also seen as a social problem and
could result in the culprit being shunned
by the community
 Possibly
the Puritans’ most important
contribution to America
 Puritans believed that any work you had
to do was given to you by God
 So, you had to do your best to accomplish
that task
 They were extremely hard workers and
endured great hardship without
complaint
 Characterized
by simplicity
 Puritans should not do anything to draw
attention to themselves (all attention
should go to God)
 Clothing was plain and usually dark
colored
 Their goal was to always be honest and
straightforward
 The
literature of the Puritans reflects their
simple, straightforward approach to life
 It is simple, direct, and meant to focus
attention on God rather than the writer
 To accomplish this, there are some very
strict rules Puritan poetry follows
The characteristics of Puritan poetry are:
 expression of religious ideas
 short words
 direct language (no figurative language)
 references to ordinary objects
 absence of emotion or sensory
experiences