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Essay on the autobiography of benjamin franklin
Essay on the autobiography of benjamin franklin
Puritan american literature
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Puritan literature and Rationalist literature are two contrasting types of writing that served different purposes. One example of Puritan literature is the Sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. This was written by Jonathan Edwards and preached by him in Enfield Connecticut on July 8th, 1741. The sermon focused on us humans and how we are bound to fall into destruction if we do not seek God and save ourselves. An example of Rationalist literature is The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. The part of this text that I will focus on is the chapter on his plan for attaining moral perfection. This chapter talks about Benjamin Franklins plan for attaining moral perfection and what he learned through it. The role of the author in Puritan literature …show more content…
Although puritan literature is more focused on religion rather than rationalist literature they both talk about the imperfection of humans. In Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God it talks about how we fall into destruction, “It implies that they were always exposed to sudden unexpected Destruction. As he that walks in slippery Places is every Moment liable to fall; he can’t foresee one Moment whether he shall stand or fall the next; and when he does fall, he falls at once, without Warning” (Edwards 1). This quote shows that just like walking on a slippery surface we are bound to fall and we won’t know when but we will fall back into temptation. In Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography he talks about how it was hard to overcome his imperfections, “This article, therefore, cost me so much painful attention, and my faults in it vexed me so much, and I made so little progress in amendment, and had such frequent relapses, that I was almost ready to give up the attempt, and content myself with a faulty character in that respect, like the man who, in buying an ax of a smith, my neighbor, desired to have the whole of its surface as bright as the edge”(Franklin 5). It is hard and nearly impossible for humans to achieve moral perfection because we often relapse into bad habits. The same thing is seen in the sermon and in both texts we can see how when we do fall or relapse into committing wrongful actions it is always our own
First, both of the main speakers within each of the following Puritan literary works were ministers during the 1700s, which was around the time of the Puritans. These works were also written within third person point of view. Now, both of these ministers then express their concerns for their congregation
Miller Edwards,Hawthorne and korning each show how religion was a sin in puritan cultures and affected many people’s lives that punishment will come when you have disgraced your religion that good is against the devil there is a strict form of puritan. Puritans were dedicated to work to save themselves from the sins in the world. Guilt was a great force in the puritans belief. The people in the story are Puritans a religion often depicted because of its rules and severe punishments to those who sin. The puritans left england to avoid religious persecution they established a society in America founded upon religion intolerance, Up surprising result the church dominates the Puritan culture.
In America, the period of Romanticism brought up many depictions of society that held their place in America many decades ago. This society was made up of Puritans who held a strong belief system and was even their form of governing. Romantic authors like Washington Irving, who wrote “The Devil and Tom Walker”, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, who wrote The Scarlet Letter included Puritans in their stories to convey a message. In both works, the authors focus on Puritans in their stories to convey an image of who Puritans were and what they did, though not in a positive light through the use of the devil and the setting of a forest. This is because of how Romanticism generally satirized Puritans and tried to portray them as completely contradictory
In the 1700’s the Puritans left England for the fear of being persecuted. They moved to America for religious freedom. The Puritans lived from God’s laws. They did not depend as much on material things, and they had a simpler and conservative life. More than a hundred years later, the Puritan’s belief toward their church started to fade away. Some Puritans were not able to recognize their religion any longer, they felt that their congregations had grown too self-satisfied. They left their congregations, and their devotion to God gradually faded away. To rekindle the fervor that the early Puritans had, Jonathan Edwards and other Puritan ministers led a religious revival through New England. Edwards preached intense sermons that awakened his congregation to an awareness of their sins. With Edwards’ sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” he persuades the Puritans to convert back to Puritanism, by utilizing rhetorical strategies such as, imagery, loaded diction, and a threatening and fearful tone.
In these text, “The Minister’s Black Veil” and “The Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” the preachers are teaching their congregations a lesson.
Jonathan Edwards's sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" is moving and powerful. His effectiveness as an eighteenth century New England religious leader is rooted in his expansive knowledge of the Bible and human nature, as well as a genuine desire to "awaken" and save as many souls as possible. This sermon, delivered in 1741, exhibits Edwards's skillful use of these tools to persuade his congregation to join him in his Christian beliefs.
An Evaluation of Edwards’ Persuasive Techniques in Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
Religion was the foundation of the early Colonial American Puritan writings. Many of the early settlements were comprised of men and women who fled Europe in the face of persecution to come to a new land and worship according to their own will. Their beliefs were stalwartly rooted in the fact that God should be involved with all facets of their lives and constantly worshiped. These Puritans writings focused on their religious foundations related to their exodus from Europe and religions role in their life on the new continent. Their literature helped to proselytize the message of God and focused on hard work and strict adherence to religious principles, thus avoiding eternal damnation. These main themes are evident in the writings of Jonathan Edwards, Cotton Mathers, and John Winthrop. This paper will explore the writings of these three men and how their religious views shaped their literary works, styles, and their historical and political views.
In 1741, Jonathan Edwards, a Puritan preacher of that time, had one thing on his mind: to convert sinners, on the road to hell, to salvation. It just so happened to be, that his way of doing that was to preach the reality to them and scare them to the point of conversion. Sermons of this time were preached to persuade people to be converted and to me it seemed that Edwards just had a special way of doing it. Just as people are being influenced by rhetoric appeals today Edwards used the same method on his congregation. In “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” Jonathan Edwards positively affected his readers using pathos, logos, and ethos, while trying to convince the unconverted members of his sermon to be born again.
There is so much evil in the world such as: murder, child mortality, torture, rape, assault and more. So how can there be an all loving God if these things are constantly happening? In this paper, I will be arguing that there is in fact no such thing as an all loving and all powerful God due to Evil. When I think of an all-loving God, I think of God as someone who would never allow a child to be kidnapped, raped, tortured and killed. I think of God as someone who would not allow anything bad or evil to happen in this world. I am not saying people would not get their fair share of misfortune now and again, but they would never experience evil, pain or suffering. That being said, there would be no evil or vindictive people in this world
The Puritans didn't have all the luxuries we have today. They were told many things by preachers such as Jonathon Edwards, who lit a candle of fear in their minds. If I was alive to hear Edwards preach, I'd certainly have to question myself. He preached that God holds us in his hands and he can make or break us. If God decides it so, he will let us go and we will fall from his hands to nothing but Hell. Certainly no one wants to go to Hell. So, the Puritans tried to better their lives, and go by rules or "resolutions." They believed if they followed these resolutions, even though their fate was predetermined by God, they could live a life of good and maybe prove they are meant to go to Heaven.
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).
First, the religious philosophies between these ages of thinking were very radical for their time in history which eventually discarded the old ideas and beliefs of Puritanism into more modern ideas and reasoning of the Enlightenment. Writing was a principle of social philosophy that both ages conflicted with due to the differences of how and what they wrote. In John Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, he wrote and instilled fear to those who were thinking of moving away from Puritan teachings by saying that God will have wrath to those who don’t glorify him which caused some Puritans to revert to the old teachings rather than the new ideas of religion. On the contrary, writings from Enlight...
The Puritans believed that to be justified, one must let go of his worldly dependence and strive to live a life free of sin (Soler), making the story an allegory “in its treatment of the nature and consequences of the Puritan belief in the total depravity of man” (Waggoner 250). This would have had an impact on the development of the psyche, as the ego struggled to repress certain instincts that the superego deemed as sinful based on Puritanical beliefs.
First, the religious philosophies between these ages of thinking were very radical for their time in history which eventually discarded the old ideas and beliefs of Puritanism into more modern ideas and reasoning of the Enlightenment. Writing was a principle of social philosophy that both ages conflicted with due to the differences of how and what they wrote about religion. In John Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, he wrote and instilled fear to those who were thinking of moving away from Puritan teachings by saying that God will have wrath to those who didn’t glorify him which caused some Puritans to revert to the old teachings rather than the new ideas of religion. On the contrary, writings ...