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Puritanism

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American Puritans

  • Purify Church of England (hence, the name)
  • Create Puritan, Christian Utopia
  • Came to America from England for religious freedom due to persecution
    • Ironically, believed the Church of England was not strict enough
    • Led by John Winthrop

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Basic Beliefs & Values

  • Total Depravity: all born with original sin due to Adam & Eve’s fall (infant damnation)
    • Sin is in our nature & we will most likely succumb to it: life as a constant battle to remain virtuous.
  • Unconditional Election
    • God “saves” only His chosen, which are few: predestined
    • Sounds dire, but it actually gave purpose: all part of God’s cosmic plan
    • Ability to be good/pure proved one was likely part of the “elect”
    • PRE-DESTINATION: Not based on “deeds”
      • Only belief in Jesus as savior and God’s predetermined destiny–your “deeds” are unrelated to this.

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Beliefs/Values, Cont.

  • Limited Atonement
    • Jesus died for the chosen only, not for everyone
  • god & the devil/demons in an “invisible world”
    • Extremely superstitious: presence of demons
  • Children/Family: obedience versus “fondness”
      • No physical affection for children before two, to “break their will”
      • Obedience is godliness
      • “Better whipped than damned,” Cotton Mather
      • No toys/games because they create idleness
        • “Idle hands are the devil’s plaything…”

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Patriarchy

  • What is it?
  • Extreme biblical patriarchal beliefs fueled witch hunts
  • Women totally subservient to men
  • By their nature (Eve), more likely to do the devil’s work
    • Lustful
  • Zero political or economic power
    • All land, property, or wealth of any kind to man upon marriage
    • Widows…

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"All wickedness, is but little to the wickedness of a woman…What else is woman but a foe to friendship, an unescapable punishment, a necessary evil, a natural temptation, a desirable calamity, domestic danger, a delectable detriment, an evil nature, painted with fair colours…Women are, by nature, instruments of Satan -- they are by nature carnal, a structural defect rooted in the original creation."

  • From Malleus maleficarum (“The Hammer of Witches”)
    • Used as a guidebook for the Witch Trials: No surprise the court victimized women...

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Literacy

  • Near complete literacy rates
    • HUGE contrast with 17th century western world
        • 1600= 1/10 women literate & 1/3 men vs. nearly 100% of Puritans, regardless of gender.

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BUT

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  • A journal entry of John Winthrop about a woman who fell ill after reading: "For if she had attended her household affairs, and such things as belong to women, and not gone out of her way and calling to meddle in such things as are proper for men, whose minds are stronger, etc., she’d have kept her wits, and might have improved them usefully and honorably in the place God had set her. . . " (Queen et al 197).

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“I am obnoxious to each carping tongue who says my hand a needle better fits…

For such despite they cast on female wits.�

If what I do prove well, it won’t advance,

They’ll say it’s stol’n, or else it was by chance.”

-Anne Bradstreet

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Puritan Writing

PURPOSE:

  • To make a mysterious God more relevant to the universe: He is so great and separate from humans, that we must try to understand his “great mystery.”
  • To glorify God

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THEREFORE…

  • Sermons, lectures, essays
  • Personal journals reflecting spiritual philosophies, etc.
  • Little to no fiction
  • No reading for “fun”

STYLE:

-no flowery language, no “ornateness” (too sinful…)

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In a Nutshell…

  • Can fight sinful nature, but will likely “backslide” into temptation
    • Satan loves the virtuous the most! Must be diligent!

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  • Pleasure = sin, so seek it moderately

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  • State of perpetual fear, shame, and oppression = recipe for disaster…

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Downfall

  • THEOCRACY: Church ruled all
  • Religious leaders also political and official leaders (law enforcement…)
  • Inflexible: fled persecution only to persecute with fervor themselves
      • Could never be questioned because of theocratic nature: To question the court is to question god…
  • Scientific growth:
      • medical/academic knowledge led to less reliance on superstition
  • Urbanization & immigration: growing American diversity--not everyone was a Puritan anymore

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A few fun facts…

  • Unwanted/unmarried pregnancy
    • From 10% to 40%!
    • “Bundling”
  • Even the Puritans twerked!
  • Yes, they drank alcohol—there wasn’t much else!
      • Consider the era…

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