The Flesh and the Spirit

Care of Souls provides an account of Christianity's historical practices of soul care through a culmination of his many years of scholarship, teaching and clinical work.

At the time Bradford, Winthrop, Bradstreet and Edwards were writing, every aspect of life was guided by their Christian faith, which can be seen clearly in their published work. And while all four published different works covering a broad span of genres, all four share the three values of piety, courage, and industry. These values were not only important to the writers, but also to their general community, because these values were directly based off the Bible and its teachings. Moreover, despite the approximate century difference between the earliest works of Bradford in the 1600’s and Edwards in the 1700’s, each ideal is still woven into the text. But of the three ideals, piety remains the most prominent, as it was the most relevant and

    Anne Bradstreet uses diction to explain how her focus on God has created a life far more beneficial than the one on Earth. For example, Bradstreet expresses this when she bids her house farewell as it is burned to the ground. “In silence ever shalt thou lie; Adieu, Adieu, all’s vanity” (Bradstreet 35-36). Bradstreet finally recognizes the fact that everything she owns belongs to God, and there is nothing she can do about it. By using the phrase “All’s Vanity”, she emphasizes the unimportance of her material goods and instead praises the things that God has provided for

This poem was about very religious. In this poem she talks about her admiration of

God said: "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him" (Gen 2:18). This “man” refers to the human person, and not just to the male.

However, the spiritual being was born from God, which is evident because the poet is a Puritan; therefore, religion contributes immensely to her demeanor and actions she makes. While the flesh solely admires “sinful possessions” (Bradstreet 192) and has a zeal for worldly pleasures, the spirit claimed that her honors and “ambitions lie above” (Bradstreet 192) with God. The spiritual being knows that worldly objects and will not earn her way into Heaven, because God already has a plan for her in regards to predestination, and no amount of material goods will allow her to be a true model of God’s works. Bradstreet also conveys the central idea that religion is far more powerful than any material object, because the flesh is acquisitive and solely desires worldly, tangible temptations while the spiritual being believes that she has unseen riches that await her in Heaven. This is made evident when the author stated “my garments are not silk nor gold…but royal robed I shall have on…the city where I hope to dwell” (Bradstreet

Spiritual Gifts are special divine empowerments given to us through the Holy Spirit. These Gifts however are not for our own personal benefit, instead the main purpose is to equip us to be able to serve and glorify the Lord while Jesus continues His ministry though us. When we use our Spiritual Gifts to glorify the Lord we are contributing to the overall heath and growth of the church. 1 Peter 4:10-11 shows us that we have each been given a Gift by the Holy Spirit and when we use that Gift we find the strength we need to build up the Church. The Gifts of the Spirit are messages of wisdom, knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, miraculous powers, prophecy,

The Holy Spirit of God is the active force or power in one’s life, which most certainly includes spiritual formation (Pettit, 2008, p. 46). When Jesus was speaking with his disciples he made it clear – by using the analogy of a vine and branches – that apart from him they could do nothing (John 15:5). Only if one is connected to Christ will they have the ability to bear fruit and the way Jesus empowers those connected to him is through the Holy Spirt that that father will send in his name (John 14:26). The fact is that the triune God dwells in the Christian in and through the Holy Spirit. One sees this when they place multiple passages together to gain a full understanding of this concept. For example, Jesus made it clear that he and the father would come and make their home with the disciple (John 14:23). In 1 Corinthians 6:19 Paul reminds the Corinthians that their bodies are the very temple of God because the Holy Spirit dwells in them which is similar to what Jesus said would happen when he sent the Holy Spirit after his resurrection and ascension (John 14:17, 16:7).

Both Poems are faced with the problematic situation of inner hassle. Piano’s narrator struggles with his oppression of his emotions in sentimentality. When he is listening to the sounds of the chant from the women singing he says “In

To start off the analysis, the setting of the entire poem is significant. Though the poem takes place in a house, the atmosphere the house is set in is also important. The month is September which is a month of fall which can be seen as a symbol for decline. It definitely insinuates that the poem is leading towards death. Line 1 has “September rain falls on the house” which gives the feeling of a dark and cold night with a storm on top of that. To further develop that, Bishop gives us the failing light in line 2 to also give us an idea of the grandmother’s struggle. Bishop uses the cyclical theme of changing seasons to show the unending nature of what is transpiring within the

and that he believes them. The poem also translates into how living in the city is toilsome and that the city is unrelenting. On the other hand it shows how the city can be prosperous and happy with the city’s disadvantages. in the second half of the poem it’s telling how nomatter what is wrong with the city, the people are still proud of who they are.

Love makes people become selfish, but it is also makes the world greater. In this poem, the world that the speaker lives and loves is not limited in “my North, my South, my East and West / my working week and my Sunday rest” (9-10), it spreads to “My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song (11). The poem’s imagery dominates most of the third stanza giving readers an image of a peaceful world in which everything is in order. However, the last sentence of the stanza is the decisive element. This element not only destroys the inner world of the speaker, but it also sends out the message that love or life is mortal.

The various gifts of the Holy Spirit as listed in Scripture are conveyed according to the will of the Holy Spirit to every man for the eventual purpose of the edification and building up the church body.

Quite atypically for a renowned American poet, Anne Bradstreet was an English-born writer who moved to America in 1630 after enduring an arduous journey (“Anne Bradstreet”). Bradstreet was a devoutly religious Puritan, following the precedent of her father and husband, the most prominent men in her life. Her dedicated Puritan beliefs greatly molded her writings. Many of her poems contain references to sin, redemption, and immortality among other recurrent Puritan topics (“Anne Bradstreet”). Anne Bradstreet’s published poetry collections were the first published works of poetry by an English-American (Eberwein 161-163). Anne Bradstreet was a groundbreaking writer as the first English-American poet of her time; her life experiences, Puritan

As Book VIII of John Milton’s Paradise Lost begins, the “new-waked” human Adam ponders the nature of the universe and the motion of the stars (ll. 4-38). When Adam has finished his speech, Milton takes the opportunity to describe Eve, who is listening nearby. We find Eve reclining in the Garden, but with grace, not laziness: “she sat retired in sight,/With lowliness majestic from her seat” (41-42). This “lowliness majestic” is the central phrase to understanding Eve’s character—she is both humble and glorious. Everything that beholds her is captivated by her “grace that won who saw to wish her stay” (43). Even in this paradise, every other beautiful creation is drawn to Eve. She walks