The Puritans

The Puritans
The Puritans landed on Plymouth Rock in 1620 tired and weather-beaten
after leaving England for religious freedom. Once they landed they were all by themselves with little supplies in an unknown world. There was suppose to be another boat full of supplies coming, but it never came. With little supplies, an unknown world, and a cold winter coming the Puritans had to be tough, and that’s what they were.

The Puritans beliefs are very straight- forward and blunt. They believed in total depravity. Which means because Adam and Eve ate that apple and disobeyed god all humans are born sinful, the concept of original sin. This was a whole new way of thought for humans in this time. Instead of being great and holy, humans are sinful and evil. Another Puritan belief is God’s Grace. Their belief was that Jesus only died for the chosen only. God’s Grace could not be given or taken away. You’re either an "predestined" (the word the Puritans used for the chosen ones) or a "reprobate" (the word the Puritans used for the not chosen ones.)

The puritans were tough. Surviving the long and hard trip over the Atlantic, surviving the rough New England winter, and doing all of this with little to no supplies wasn’t at all easy. The Puritans being one of the first successful settlements in the New World set the bar for which Americans had to reach to become successful.

In the speech Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, by Johnathan Edwards, was a very fierce speech. Bringing many of the people in the audience to tears. Though he is very descriptive of hell it is still very straight- forward (and to his knowledge) honest. "Unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering, and there are innumerable places in this covering so weak that they will not bear their weight, and these places are not seen." This quote captures the main point of the speech. What he is saying is that on earth you are standing on this "rotten covering" that is to weak to hold you and the holes you can’t see are the many unseen ways you can die at any moment.

In the book Of Plymouth Plantation, written by William Bradford you can clearly see The Puritans plain text style. "And for the season it was winter, and they know that the winters of that country know them to be sharp and violent, and subject to cruel and fierce storms, dangerous to travel to known places, much more to search an unknown coast. Besides, what could they see but a hideous and desolate wilderness, full of wild beasts and wild men--and what multitudes there might be of them they knew not. " This is how the whole book goes, very plain and boring. He gives you the straight facts and that’s it. William Bradford being a Puritan probably didn’t even realize how boring his writing was, Because like his writing his people were boring. Always working so hard for the next day so that the next day will be better, never realized that if you always work for tomorrow you will never enjoy the time at hand.
Whenever I think about the Puritans belief I always get very confused. How could so many people want to be a Puritan? The appeal of their success is the only thing that comes to mind, their beliefs on the other hand aren’t appealing. If I would’ve gone to one of their sermons I would have left depressed and never wanting to see a Puritan again. What is appealing about going to hell? Unlike most beliefs were there is some reward after living a good wholesome life and obeying your god, The Puritans believe on certain people go to heaven. And there’s no way you can earn it if you’re not blessed with god’s grace.

Total Depravity in the day of The Puritans was a whole new type of belief. Instead of being perfect holy creatures, humans are evil and born 100 percent sinful. It is surprising that people in that time accepted this. It’s a hard concept to accept, and in my opinion I think it was ahead of its time. In the speech Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God John says " The arrows of death fly unseen at noon-day; the sharpest sight cannot discern them. God has so many different unsearchable ways of taking wicked men out of the world and sending them to hell, that there is nothing to make it appear, that God had need to be at the expense of a miracle, or go out of the ordinary course of his providence, to destroy any wicked man, at any moment." What John is saying here is that death is coming for you in many unseen ways, There's no way to predict it, and you're going straight to hell and god isn't going to help you one bit. Because you are evil and unchosen.

Unconditional election is the belief that god only chooses to save certain people. This is the backbone to The Puritans beliefs. In the speech Sinners in the hands of an Angry God John Edwards says "God has laid himself under no obligation, by any promise to keep any natural man out of hell one moment. God certainly has made no promises either of eternal life, or of any deliverance or preservation from eternal death" What John is saying here is that god feels no obligation to save the unchosen from hell or eternal death.
What throws me off about Puritan beliefs is Irresistible Grace. Which means grace cannot be earned or taken. This makes there beliefs unlike most because joining their church isn’t going to help you get into heaven one bit if you’re unchosen. So What makes people want to become a Puritan? If you have grace then it doesn’t matter if you join or not because you’re going to heaven, and if you don’t have grace then it also doesn’t matter because you’re going to hell and there’s nothing you can do about it.

The Puritans wrote in a way that is called the plain style, which means they don’t want the reader to get any satisfaction from the book, but just get the facts. When you read the book Of Plymouth Plantation you just get bored. "But here I cannot but stay and make a pause, and stand half amazed at this poor people's present condition; and so I think will the reader, too, when he well considers the same. Being thus passed the vast ocean, and a sea of troubles before in their preparation (as may be remembered by that which went before), they had now no friends to welcome them nor inns to entertain or refresh their weatherbeaten bodies; no houses or much less towns to repair to, to seek for succor." This quote from Of Plymouth Plantation is very boring, but it works with the mood of the moment. If it was describing something fun and exciting it might be very plain, but since it’s something kind’ve down the plain style works for it.
The Puritans plain style writing is in no doubt the Puritans characteristics on paper. The Puritans just like their writing is very boring and plain. Also the Puritans being hard workers were probably very particular with everything, and you can see in their writing everything is very descriptive and particular. "The wrath of God burns against them, their damnation does not slumber; the pit is prepared, the fire is made ready, the furnace is now hot, ready to receive them; the flames do now rage and glow... " This quote from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is very descriptive and makes me feel like I’m on my way to hell. When John Edwards was writing this he had to have spent hours and hours making sure this was as descriptive as possible.

So in the end do you really hate Puritans? Though very boring, The Puritans were very hard workers and would’ve been good people to have your back. You can hate them, but how can you hate someone that simply spends their lives working hard trying to make tomorrow better? Their beliefs are a little different, but it’s their beliefs that made them tough and sturdy. If they would’ve been all soft and caring then they wouldn’t have ever made it past the Atlantic and definitely wouldn’t have ever made it through the winter. The Puritans set the bar on how to become successful in America, and anyone who came to America after The Puritans saw that bar and knew they would have to work hard to become successful in America. So in a way you can credit The Puritans for the great success of America, because without them there would be no "American Dream."