The Pros And Cons Of Puritan Societies

In the 1630s to 1660s, the Puritans strong belief in god and its upholding shaped the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s development. The colony was fully based on the Puritan’s view which painted their religion and it effected the lifestyle. The Puritans were a highly religious group that believed god’s will was the absolute. As shown in document 3, it states how the church is always right and nothing should be done to offend it. This shows the grasp of the Puritans hold toward god because this was a statement of the church’s membership and so it should display their beliefs.

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.

Puritans were a group of heretics who immigrated to the New World under the Massachusetts Bay Company for religious freedom. On unsettled land, the Puritans were able to develop their utopia, built on similar beliefs and values. The Puritans value system was centered on family, the community, and relationship with God. These common commitments fueled the Puritan’s pious and hardworking lives, and ultimately, influenced the political, economic, and social development of the New England colonies. The values of the Puritan body influenced the political development of New England colonies.

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.

have made gigantic advancements in technology, in medicine, and in civil rights. Humanity as a whole has progressed significantly, yet we still have many of the same issues that we did hundreds of years ago. Yes, we may not have slavery or the Jim Crow Laws, but we still have institutionalized racism that allows the shooting of unarmed black men by police officers to go virtually unpunished. Yes, women are allowed to vote, but they still get paid less than their male counterparts. America has made many advancements and one might say is doing better than it had been in the past, but doing better doesn’t mean doing good. One part of American history that we still unfortunately share many similarities with is the Puritan society of colonial America. Although America as a whole has made many advances since the 1600s, we still hold many of the same flaws that the Puritans did.

The Puritan way of life completely centered around the Bible, and they believed in God's supreme authority over everything as conveyed in the scriptures. They believed that whatever happened to them, good or bad, was God’s will. The Puritans’ faith and religious beliefs made it possible for them to endure and survive the hardships they faced in life. “Puritanism was not only a religious creed, it was a philosophy and metaphysic; it was an organization of man's whole life, emotional and

Back in this time period religion was taken very seriously. In fact it was against the law to not attend church. Men and women would sit on different sides if the church service was particularly long. Puritans not only believed in god, but the devil as well. They believed the following, “Everyone was faced with the struggle between the powers of good and evil, but Satan would select the weakest individuals—women, children, the insane—to carry out his work. Those who followed Satan were considered witches. Witchcraft was one of the greatest crimes a person could commit, punishable by

needed to be purified of the influence of Catholicism. The basis for the Puritan’s belief was an

In puritanism, God is every person's heart and brain; their self, in theory, is always striving to become as God himself in their actions and words thus pressuring one into a sense of conformity. For example, in the modern play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Reverend Hale tells Proctor what needs to be done in order to be viewed as a righteous and Christian household during the Salem witch trials. Hale tells Proctor to let ¨the third child

Puritan ideology had a profound effect upon early America. Though they came to the New World mainly for religious freedom after attempting to ‘purify’ the Church of England, they left an impact beyond just the spiritual as many men of the Puritan faith helped shape the young country. This obviously led to the Puritan’s having a dramatic effect on the literature The whole life of a Puritan was dedicated to God, as He was the only one who could offer salvation from eternal damnation. They believed that humans are sinners incapable of earning God’s merit on their own, and for that reason they observed strict moral codes in order to ensure that they may receive God’s grace. This central idea, God’s long withstanding mercy, a central idea reflected in many of the early writings of America

They believed that, “God had a few chosen people, “the elect.” ( Holt McDougal) The Puritan people thought that only a certain group of people would be saved, but that is wrong. The Bible states that those who follow God’s word and are washed of their sins, will enter into heaven. ( Matthew 18:3 ) The Bible tells people that everyone who is baptized and who has followed God will be saved, but the Puritans suggest only a few people will be saved. They are telling people that even if they are a good Puritan believer and have a strong Puritan faith, it does not matter. If they are not apart of, “the elect,” then there will be no possible way for them to be saved. The Puritan faith sounded like the best choice of the time to many christians, but why would someone follow a religion like that know that they would not be saved, when the truth has always been in front of

Puritans always had very strict beliefs.Among these beliefs the puritans thought sin should not be expressed and a sinner should be shamed, hell is the single most terrifying thing so they instilled fear to get people to convert, and they are the city on a hill so they should lead by example and be the best. In the sermons Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, A Model of Christian Charity, and a Sermon Preached by Samson Occom the authors talk about some of these puritan beliefs.

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.

[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

Back in the seventeenth century, religion was a major theme. The Puritans were a group of very religious people. They believed that god was their absolute ruler. They also believed that God controlled their afterlife. The religious group called the Puritans were very fixed on God. Their spirituality is expressed in their literature. Their writing explicated their religious values. These include: their importance of Church and the influence God has on the Puritans life. The Puritans wrote literature to show how their life revolved around God and to express their heavy belief in him.