Puritan Literature

Unit EQ: How does the literature of Puritan America reflect beliefs

and values of the settlers?

EQ: What is the history of the early settlers in America?

Puritanism

God, Humanity and The Power of Belief in the New World

Two Important New England Settlements

The Plymouth ColonyFlagship Mayflower arrives - 1620Leader - William BradfordSettlers known as Pilgrims and SeparatistsThe Mayflower Compact provides forsocial, religious, and economic freedom,while still maintaining ties to Great Britain.

The Second Settlement

The Massachusetts Bay ColonyFlagship Arabella arrives - 1630Leader - John WinthropSettlers are mostly Puritans or Congregational PuritansThe Arabella Covenant clearly establishesa religious and theocratic settlement,free of ties to Great Britain.

Life

Non-materialistic

Overly concerned with the attainment of “His Holy Grace”

Emphasized nurturing one’s piety.

Ethics portrayed their conviction on eternal damnation as a result of one’s religious transgressions.

Ideology

Puritans believed in the majesty, righteousness, and sovereignty of God

God was omniscient- “all-knowing”

God was omnipresent- “all-present”

God was omnipotent- “all-powerful”

Beliefs are roughly based on the Doctrines of Grace of James Arminius, a follower of John Calvin.

I. Basic Puritan Beliefs – “Tulip”

1. Total Depravity2. Unconditional Election3. Limited Atonement4. Irresistible Grace5. Perseverance of the "saints”

I. Basic Puritan Beliefs – “Tulip”

1. Total Depravity - through Adam and Eve's fall, every person is born sinful - concept of Original Sin.

Mankind, through his defiled lineage, is inherently corrupt from birth.

It is Man’s duty to redeem his sins by accepting the Lord’s grace.

I. Basic Puritan Beliefs – “Tulip”

2. Unconditional Election - God "saves" those he wishes - only a few are selected for salvation - concept of predestination “His most wise and holy counsel, of His own, freely and unchangeably ordain some men to heaven and some men to hell by the nature of His good pleasure.” (Doctrines of Grace)

One of reasons for rift between Pilgrim and Puritan beliefs

I. Basic Puritan Beliefs – “Tulip”

3. Limited Atonement - Jesus died for the chosen only, not for everyone.

Christ died for those righteous individuals who championed His cause and hence, secured their salvation.

I. Basic Puritan Beliefs – “Tulip”

4. Irresistible Grace - God's grace is freely given, it cannot be earned or denied. Grace is defined as the saving and transfiguring power of God.

The Holy Spirit is sent to change one’s heart.

If somehow one contradicts the feeling of His Grace and fails to embrace it into his/her life, then he/she might have to face damnation because of his/her contemptuous actions.

I. Basic Puritan Beliefs – “Tulip”

5. Perseverance of the “Saints" – Salvation relies solely at God’s discretion, who has already decided to save those whom he wishes to, and it is their inherited prerogative which cannot be altered.

It should be noted that though the ‘chosen ones’ were liable to commit grave sins, they would not be denied from attaining a place in the heavens

Additional beliefs

Scripture, the sacraments, and the sermons seen as God’s own words.

All Puritans were expected to live strictly according to the parameters of Scripture.

Marriage was a sanctimonious ritual which resulted in partners entering into a lifetime bonding of love, sacrifice, and forgiveness.

Covenant of Grace and WorkThe covenant of grace required a faith in God, that God himself gave the elect to graspThe covenant of work, on the contrary, depended only on human action.Although the Puritans believed in predetermination they did not await their God-given fate.They spent their whole life trying to find out their destiny, whether it might be heaven or hell.

Continued…

Work was their way to express their faith and to show their hope for heaven.

Morality and good life were interpreted to be a sign of God’s will.

For these reasons Puritans worked for all their life and they were appalled by everybody who did not work.

This is also the reason why many Puritans were wealthy, if not rich.

Wealth, though, did not stop them from working.

Additional Beliefs: Typology: The belief that God's intentions are present in human action and in natural phenomenon. Failure to understand these intentions are human limitations. Puritans believed in cyclical or repetitive history; they use "types" - Moses prefigures Jesus, Jonah's patience is reflected in Jesus' ordeal on the cross, and Moses' journey out of Egypt is played out in the Pilgrims' crossing of the Atlantic. God's wrath and reward are also present in natural phenomena like flooding, bountiful harvest, the invasion of locusts, and the lightening striking a home.

Additional Beliefs Continued…Manifest Destiny: The concept of manifest destiny is as old as the first New England settlements. Without using the words, John Winthrop articulated the concept in his famous sermon, the Arabella Covenant (1630), when he said: " ... for we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us; ..." Winthrop exhorts his listeners to carry on God's mission and to set a shining example for the rest of the world. From this beginning, the concept has had religious, social, economic, and political consequences. The words “manifest destiny” were first used by editor John L. O'Sullivan in 1845.

Continued Again…

Backsliding: The belief that "saved" believers, those with visible signs of grace, can fall into temptation and become sinners. To prevent this, believers were expected not to become smug, do constant soul-searching, be introspective, and pray constantly. Satan was particularly interested in snaring such believers.

EducationThe Puritans thought that only he who is able to read the Bible will find religious truth.The Bible was read and interpreted very accurately and strictly. This truth, that was to be found by accurate interpretation, was synonymous with a good life.Puritans, ergo, founded schools all over the country which led to a good and equal level of education through the whole Puritan and non-Puritan society.

Education continued…

The importance of education is the reason the majority of Americans in the 18th century were literate.Not only this, it also evened out another traditional difference between the upper and lower classes.In colonial times, almost every American town had its own newspaper so the Americans were generally well informed about politics and elections…this is the foundation stone and the realization of the “American Dream”, the equality of all men, “everything is possible” and the “from rags to riches” ideal.

II. The Function of Puritan Writers

1. To transform a mysterious God - mysterious because he is separate from the world.

2. To make him more relevant to the universe.

3. To glorify God.

III. The Style of Puritan Writing

1. Protestant - against ornateness; reverence for the Bible.

2. Purposefulness - there was a purpose to Puritan writing - described in Part II above.

3. Puritan writing reflected the character and scope of the reading public, which was literate and well-grounded in religion.

Puritan Style Continued…

4. Used Biblical allusions as a type of shorthand.

5. Often was written in third person

6. Was concerned about “God’s Providence.”

1. Puritans were basically middle class and fairly well-educated.

2. Virginians were tradesmen and separated from English writing.

3. Puritans were children of the covenant; gave them a drive and a purpose to write.

IV. Reasons for Puritan Literary Dominance over the Virginians

V. Forces Undermining Puritanism

1. A person's natural desire to do good - this works against predestination.

2. Dislike of a "closed" life.

3. Resentment of the power of the few over many.

4. Change in economic conditions - growth of fishery, farms, etc.

5. Presence of the leaders of dissent - Anne Hutchinson, Roger Williams.

Forces Continued…

6. The presence of the frontier - concept of self-reliance, individualism, and optimism.

7. Change in political conditions - Massachusetts became a Crown colony.

8. Theocracy suffered from a lack of flexibility.

9. Growth of rationality - use of the mind to know God - less dependence on the Bible.

10. Cosmopolitanism of the new immigrants.

1. The need for moral justification for private, public, and governmental acts.

2. The Questing for Freedom - personal, political, economic, and social.

3. The Puritan work ethic. 4. Elegiac verse - morbid fascination with

death. 5. The city upon the hill - concept of manifest

destiny.

VI. Some Aspects of the Puritan Legacy: each has positive and negative implications.

The Style of Puritan Writing

1. Protestant - against ornateness; reverence for the Bible.

2. Purposefulness - there was a purpose to Puritan writing - described in Part II above.

3. Puritan writing reflected the character and scope of the reading public, which was literate and well-grounded in religion.

4. Used Biblical allusions as a type of shorthand.

5. Often was written in third person

6. Was concerned about “God’s Providence.”