Puritan Perfection
Why did Puritanism decline in the seventeenth century, after the migration to America? According to Alden T. Vaughan, who wrote The Puritan Tradition in America 1620-1730, "There is little doubt that after about 1660 a gap began to grow between the well-ordered, godly, communitarian Bible commonwealth envisioned by John Winthrop, Richard Mather, and John Cotton and the more materialistic, cosmopolitan, heterodox New England of the post-Restoration (Vaughan, 297)." The puritans were non-materialist people who followed the Bible, and wanted to set an example for the rest of Europe that only there religious ways would receive God's grace. They were not like the separatists who wanted to worship and live among themselves, but they wanted to strive to change others. They stressed the need to purify the world (Reuben 2). The puritans at this time believe very strongly about God. Everything they do they wanted to do for God, and to be God's followers. The puritans believe tha!t to achieve God's grace, which is the overall goal of the puritans, is to abide by a very strict policy. The puritan's strict way of life creates an opening for mistakes and failures. America is being influenced by modern Europe, and Puritanism collaps
The husband and wife also played vital role in the family. There community strength is what held them together, but the puritans were influenced by many external factors that caused a decline in their willingness to become a perfect society. The puritans want to live a perfect life in the eyes of God so they will receive his grace and go to heaven. However, because of the many pressures "The confrontation between husband and wife is a highly dramatic indication that the diversities and disagreements engendered within a Puritan culture that was common to all parties frequently manifested the particular intensity an complexity that marks family interaction and conflict (Stavely 38). They have to confess all that God has provided them, from his holy spirit to his teachings. " PAL: Perspectives in American Literature- A Research and Reference Guide. As a society, puritans were great role models because they had "Group motivation, not individual achievement, that guided their success (leverenz 135). The Language of Puritan Feeling: An Exploration in Literature, Psychology, and Social History. " The puritan faith toward family became so obsessive that they believed God as being the one true parent, who judged all actions as being either "good" or "Bad (Leverenz 118). " Because of predestination, meaning that God chooses whom he will save, the puritans have to truly believe in him (Reuben 2).
Common topics in this essay:
Christ Leverenz,
John Winthrop,
Church England,
Yankee Vaughan,
God Vaughan,
John Cotton,
God Family,
Lord Jesus,
David Leverenz,
God God's,
university press,
saints elders,
receive grace,
god's grace,
ideology god family,
leverenz 118,
striving perfection,
family community,
john winthrop,
perfect society,
world reuben,
puritan ideology god,
tradition america 1620-1730,
god family community,
receive grace god,
|
Acceptance Essays
