Pritan Society : The Benefits Of The Puritan Society

[H]e which would have suer peace and joye in Christianitye, must not ayme at a condition retyred from the world and free from temptations, but to knowe that the life which is most exercised with tryalls and temptations is the sweetest, and will prove the safeste. For such tryalls as fall within compasse of our callinges, it is better to arme and withstande them than to avoide and shunne them. -John Winthrop

As a sociologist, Kai T. Erikson looks at history as a reflection of changes in societal norms and expectations. Erikson re-visits his look at historical happenings of the Puritans in his novel “Wayward Puritans: A Study in the Sociology of Deviance”. By examining several “crime waves” throughout history, Erikson points out several aspects of how we see deviance. After researching Puritan lifestyle and the corresponding influences of deviance, Erikson explores the Antinomian Controversy, the Quaker Invasion, and the Witches of Salem Village.

Puritans and reformers of seventeenth century England have been given a bad name for their part in history. This is primarily because they were working against the grain and trying to create change in world that saw change as a threat. The time period was turbulent and there was bound to be resistance in a world that was dominated by Catholics and those that had reformed to abide by their King’s law. The puritans of the time were considered extreme and rubbed people the wrong way because they wanted a world that abided by their morals and ethical codes. For this, they took the blame for the misery that many suffered during this age, but as we see in Fire from Heaven, this is not a fair assessment. The Puritans of this time wanted to improve the lives of the people and society as a whole through morality and purity.

Religion had a powerful impact on Puritans lives. Many Puritan people had faith in a supreme being, God, and the teachings of his Divine Son, Jesus Christ. They’d assume that if you weren’t a good Christian they would suffer in hell, but if you were one would be saved by god. An example would be in the sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” the speaker strongly describes about how being a bad Christian has its consequences and the good things that come of being a good Christian. “Many that were very lately in the same miserable condition that you are in are now in a happy state, with their hearts filled with love to him who has loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own blood, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God.”(152)This explains how they had a strong feeling towards god’s ways. By being concerned about their religious life and being good Christians.

In today’s modern society, not many people around the world practice their religion as much as people used to in the older days. There may be certain exceptions, but generally religion in most places around the world is not as strict on its people as it used to be. Looking back on the Puritans in this book shows how religion was used to shape people and society itself.

In early 1600's, Puritans followed the Pilgrims to America then they landed in Massachusetts bay. The Puritans started the colony because they wanted to escape religious persecution. The only religion was the Puritans.In the early 1600's of, Massachusetts there was only one Indian tribe,and that was the Wampanoag. Puritans tried to purify the Anglican church because they wanted to make services simpler and taking ranks of authority

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

The Puritans believed in predestination--where whether a person was going to Heaven or Hell was decided before they were born--and they did not know where they were going until Judgement Day. However, they had a system, in which, depending how a person lived their life, they could guess where that person was going. A person who lived a prosperous and spiritual life would probably be going to Heaven, while a person who lived

Seventeenth century Puritans had several aspirations, successes, and failures when it came to creating a model society. They had many successes in their society, some examples are their education system, their advancements in equality for women, and the way they created a tight knit close society. Although they had many achievements, the Puritans also did fall short in many aspects of their society. They ultimately did fail at their perfect society, and that is a very important aspect since that was their main goal. They also were very strict about their policies regarding the church. Once the generations progressed, they had to create new rules to allow people basic religious rights such as baptism. They also fused church and state, which was necessary in a society such as this, but it ultimately hindered progression such as allowing non church members to vote. As the years progressed more and more non Puritans entered the Puritan society, this hindered society because eventually the small majority was making the most riveting decisions. Ultimately the Puritans had both failures and successes when attempting a model society, but the weight of the failures simply outweighed the successes.

When King Henry VIII broke ties with the Roman Catholic Church in the 1530’s, he proclaimed himself head of the Church of England. This occurred only a few years after Martin Luther nailed his 91 theses on the Church of Wittenberg and another religious reformer, John Calvin, brought new ideas to the forefront. Calvin proclaimed that one was pre-destined to be eternally blessed or damned from birth. One had no control over this, and works could not put you in to heaven. The unknowing is what drove the Puritans to such great lengths. In the excerpt from Document A from John Winthrop’s A Model of Christian Society, predestination and the basic ideals of the Puritans are laid out. The Protestant Reformation was thus in full swing as the Church

Fear was instilled in Puritans as a result of the constant uncertainty of their wellbeing shown through Edwards’ sermons. One concept plaguing them was that sinners will receive an inescapable dreadful fate, and can feel its effects at any time. Puritans were terrified and reflective of their actions when Jonathan Edwards said sinners “are already under a sentence of condemnation to hell” (Edwards 427). Because of this constant worry, Puritans tried to discover whether they were predestined to be in hell and whether they had sinned (Edwards 427). As life after death is still an unknown realm, this possibility still has an effect on today’s

As the Puritans left England to escape religious persecution, they established a thriving society in New England, based on puritan doctrine, virtue, and the church. They intended to create a utopian society that would honor God's laws. They intended for this utopia to be an example to the world. However, as religious dissenters gained a voice, Puritanism seemed to splinter and secular concerns became more important to the citizens of the New England area, the region lost the homogenous culture it once had.

Connecticut has had a rather interesting history regarding religion. Puritans moved here in the early 1600's to escape from the ever-increasing corrupt English monarch to practice the religion they believed in. The Puritans established the Congressional Church in Connecticut and did not tolerate freedom of religion in the colony. They were also extremely strict about a set of rules called,"Blue Laws". These rules prohibited certain activities that mostly pertained to preventing entertainment besides church on a Sunday. If one was caught disobeying the laws, then they would face severe repurcussions such as the hours in the gallows or whipping. Puritans discriminated other religions including the Quakers, by harsh punishment if they ever came

The puritans left their homeland to come to America for theocracy. They believed that the Bible and its message was above man’s law. They also believed in predestination. Predestinations are people who were either born sinful and bound to a life in Hell, or they were destined to be saved. Living under the Puritan beliefs is unfair and immoral. No one deserves that lifestyle.

Imagine living in a society where slut shaming happens everyday and a person's mistakes are publicized and everyone knows about what you did. Some people would think I would be referring to the Puritan society that existed around the 1600’s, but sadly I am referring to today’s society and how a “famous” person's mistakes show up on social media, covers of magazines, and every talk show host throughout America. For example, recently the break up of beloveded Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie showed up everywhere in less than twenty- four hours. The breakup sparked news on twitter, talk shows such as Wendy Williams, and was the main story on every tabloid by the next day. Even though, our society did not make the couple stand on a stage to be ridiculed