Wayward Puritans Book Review Essay

Puritans and reformers of seventeenth century England have been given a bad name for their part in history. This is primarily because they were working against the grain and trying to create change in world that saw change as a threat. The time period was turbulent and there was bound to be resistance in a world that was dominated by Catholics and those that had reformed to abide by their King’s law. The puritans of the time were considered extreme and rubbed people the wrong way because they wanted a world that abided by their morals and ethical codes. For this, they took the blame for the misery that many suffered during this age, but as we see in Fire from Heaven, this is not a fair assessment. The Puritans of this time wanted to improve the lives of the people and society as a whole through morality and purity.

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.

In the 1630's and the 1640's, the Puritans traveled to the colonies to detach from their opinion of a convoluted Church of England. They set up towns and started new lives that were all based on their idea of a pure religion. The Puritan's definition of a pure religion did not include many of the ideas of the Church of England. They built the colonies and made a system based upon the idea that God was the most important aspect of life. Puritan ideas and values influenced the political, economic, and social development of the New England colonies from 1630 through the 1660’s by spreading their beliefs into every facet of daily life. Politically their ideas regarding what was considered sinful behavior and how power was separated among the

With religious reforms causing controversy in England came the Puritans, known for their simplicity in their way of life. They wore basic clothing and were against consumption of alcohol and sex (unless married). With the disagreements of the religious conflicts happening in England, the puritans “wanted to purify the Church of England from within.” The sole reason the idea sparked to settle a colony in America was in search of a Puritan lifestyle and the freedom to do so. On March 4, 1629 King Charles gave the Massachusetts Bay Company a charter while not knowing the true nature of what this colony was to become and for the reasons behind it. Still, the Puritans left for America in March 1630. In contrast to the type of people who immigrated to Virginia, the Massachusetts population was mostly nuclear families, meaning husband, wife, and kids. Also differing from the colonists in Virginia, the settlers in Massachusetts Bay worked together for the common good of the colony. Along with their lives and beliefs, their government and politics were religiously based as well and soon they decided upon a Congregationalism form of church government. Their churches were a matter of choice but in order to become a member they had a strict regulation “In order to join one (a church) a man or woman had to provide testimony–a confession of faith–before neighbors who already had been admitted as full members.” Because religion was the bases behind Massachusetts being colonization crimes and religious disagreements called for serious

The puritans go create the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They didn’t have strict rules like England, people were not forced to go to church, it all seems great. However, there were many issues. Puritans believed in Calvinism, or predestination. This was the idea that everything is preset by God and nothing you do can change your fate. “Nothing a person did in his or her lifetime could alter God’s choice or provide assurance that the person was predestined for salvation with the elect or damned to hell with the doomed multitude.” (The American

The Puritans were a group of people with strong beliefs, ideas and values in the 1630’s to the 1660’s. Their ideas influenced society in multiple ways during this time including politically, economically, and socially. Politically, they believed in having a theocratic government , economically, they used the value of hard work to run the economy and stimulate prosperity and also, socially the influence of the religion and the need for a tight knit communtiy influenced New England in many more ways than one. All of these influences were part of the ideological belief of the Puritans to attain a “City Upon a Hill” society where they would have the perfect community and established ethos for other communities to later follow in their footsteps.

The Puritans that came to New England wanted to escape religious persecution in Europe. They believed in strong family units/relationships and a strong foundation in the church; but they didn’t want to follow the Church in England, they wanted to make their own rules. “The newcomers intended to build a godly “city on a hill” that would serve as an example to the world” (pg 66). A “city on the hill” is an example of status, flawlessness, and godliness (since it is closer to the heavens). They set up tightly knit family communities, farms, and churches. However, their religion was very exclusive and their “guidelines” dictated that everything that happened was according to God’s plan, which meant that they could gamble, get drunk, etc.… In their

Before the hysteria of the trials struck, it is important to understand the core of what the puritans practiced. According to Dr. Paul Jehle, the Puritans had 7 doctrinally sound teachings. These were: 1) The Devil works most successfully where people are regularly sinning. 2) Ignorance of the enemy make an easy target. 3) If one indulges in the devil’s practice, it becomes more spectacular. 4) Satan works against the saints. 5) Satan and his helpers try and thwart the plans of God. 6) the devil’s

The world of Puritan New England, like the world of today, was filled with many evil influences. Many people were able to withstand temptation, but some fell victim to the dark side. Such offences against God, in thought, word, deed, desire or neglect, are what we define as sin (Gerber 14).

The strictness of Puritan society makes an image of purity (especially for those in positions of authority) necessary for its citizens to be acceptable and to rise through the Puritan social strata, and it is this need for an image of purity that undoes Goodman Brown’s initiation from a spiritually immature, idealistic faith to a spiritually mature faith.

Throughout history, the Puritan communities govern their communities on the basis of their religion and man-made laws. In many cases, like in Hester’s community, the church and governing body share very similar beliefs and leads to a strong connection with law and religion. According to Robert Higgs, people in Puritan communities did not feel guilt in “using government coercion” on others they believe do not follow their teachings to “knock some sense into the offender” (469). Puritan beliefs center around the laws from the bible. To keep the members of the

The Puritan’s were a group of English Protestants that left England to seek religious freedom in the sixteenth century. They had deep religious beliefs, and it was their mission to convert as many people as possible to become Christians. “The Puritans in Massachusetts were placed “as a city upon a hill” to create a model of success and prosperity that would light the way for the rest of humankind” (Perkins 103). The Puritan's believed in predestination, that everything is God’s plan. They believed everything happens for a reason and were a lesson. They lived simply and rejected the worldly luxuries. Everything they did was connected somehow to the work of God. “The Puritans believed God both favored and tested them” (Perkins 103). In their theology, they believed they must overcome temptation in order to earn salvation (Perkins 103).

Emile Durkheim was a French sociologist during the mid to late nineteenth century. His research contributed to many sociological theories of crime including, the Macrosociological theory. Durkheim did not believe that crime causation could simply be explained through biological or psychological factors, but rather believed sociological factors such as an individual's environment also contributed to crime causation. As our book states, Durkheim believed that "social laws and institutions are 'social facts' that dominate individuals by limiting their choices, and all that people can do is submit to them" (Bohm & Vogel, 2011). This means that people can have their choices affected by laws or even peer pressure. Durkheim believed that crime was

The Puritan way of life is distinct of other religions and not just because of religious beliefs. Standards were held at the utmost of Puritan societies in early America. The ideas, rituals, and obsessions of this religious people were the entirety of their lives. Although Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” is written much past the period of Puritanism, it gives insight into the affects that stiff religion has on the psychology and mental health.

According to Macionis (2016, p.171), deviance may be defined as the documented contravention of cultural standards. It is the intentional disregard for conventional way of association. The link between deviance and crime may be high based on what theory one chooses to explicitly follow. For the best part of this sociological paper, the focus will be on the social conflict theory which tends to shares some baseline from the work of the sociological father Durkheim on crime. Also, the paper will look at the necessity of technology in the American economy and thereafter on whether the American dream is attainable.