Justin Mason English III Honors Mrs. Wood October 9, 2014 William Bradford and Jonathan Edwards: Comparing and Contrasting “Religion is the backbone of evolution.” Without the cultural differences and belief systems we would not have a regulated religious base. It is evident some religions can be both alike but yet still very different. The historical William Bradford and Jonathan Edwards demonstrate this theory. William Bradford portrays more leniencies while allowing for more religious tolerance within the puritan community. With some contrasting beliefs but familiar goals, Jonathan Edwards, pursued a stricter religious background. Both of these author’s play an important role in sculpting the puritan way of life. William Bradford serves …show more content…
Starting in his younger years, Edwards struggled with accepting the Calvinist sovereignty of God. Various circumstances throughout Edward’s own personal life led to him later believing in the sovereignty of God. Jonathan Edwards is known greatly as a key figure in what has come to be called the First Great Awakening of the 1730s and 1740s. Fleeing from his grandfather’s original perspective by not continuing his practice of open communion, there was a struggle to maintain that relationship. Edward’s believed that physical objects are only collections of sensible ideas, which gives good reasoning for his strong religious belief system. Through research it is evident that Edwards and Bradford are similar in more ways than one. For example, each individual dedicated their life to service. They both portrayed the qualities a true leader and successor should have. Bradford, leading his colony showed his dedication to improve what already had been done previously. Edwards, showing equal consideration lead the church in the best possible way by holding the title of the …show more content…
Each of these individuals did their part in making a historical effort on this time period. Their tributes to their communities helped form the nation we are still living in today. William Bradford was a natural born leader and assisted to better his colony in the best of his ability. He was very successful in his trials of teaching and learning as well. Jonathan Edwards was also authentically well in his purposes. From preaching impacting sermons regularly, to being recognized as one of the most prominent philosophers of all time, Edward’s left behind some very big shoes to fill. Bradford, leading his colony as governor in a more lenient matter, and Edward’s, was the stricter of the two. Their differences is what made them both so unique as authors, because their writing skills helped connect with their
Colonial settlers John Smith and William Bradford were two of many Englishmen that partook in an expedition across the Atlantic Ocean in hopes of starting life anew in the New World. They lived and died around similar time frames and are both known for their success in maritime travel. Although the premise of their journeys are similar, it is evident through their respective narrative accounts that the two vastly differ in their motivations, perspectives, and literary structure.
In the New World Bradford and Morton were both important men of our history. The stories of both great men give us an insight into the way religion and influence affected Puritan life.
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were two important men who affected our nations independence and the beginning years of our country. They helped form this nation into a free and sovereign country. Yet, they were different in many aspects they shared a few common features. Both Washington and Jefferson grew up in the southern state of Virginia and like most owned land to grow and harvest crops. In growing up they came from two different class levels of living. The Jefferson family was more famous and richer than Washington’s giving him a greater advantage and opportunity to succeed, especially in higher education. After Jefferson finished regular schooling he was able to attend the College of William and Mary were he studied law. He did so under the teaching of George Wthe who was considered perhaps the greatest teachers of law in Virginia at the time. Washington however was taught by his mom mainly in mathematics and received no higher education. Washington was still knowledgeable and began to put it to use in the army to become as a young British soldier. He interred the army at the young age of nineteen were he began to learn leadership and military strategy which would prove useful in the Revolutionary War to come. Jefferson on the other hand was involved in the laws, courts, and small politics. At the young age of twenty-five Jefferson was elected to the House of Burgesses in Virginia were he served for five years. Washington was known for his great motivational speeches that would rally troops together to prepare for war and lead on to victory. Jefferson was more of a writer not a speaker and by using his skill he wrote and brought forth fresh ideas of independence and freedom.
Discovering the new world wasn’t done at the same time by both William Bradford and John Smith; so there are bound to be differences and some similarities between their two writings. Which I will illustrate to you in the next paragraph.
The church and Christian beliefs had a very large impact on the Puritan religion and lifestyle. According to discovery education, “Church was the cornerstone of the mainly Puritan society of the 17th century.”( Douglas 4). Puritan laws were intensively rigid and people in society were expected to follow a moral strict code. And because of Puritans and their strict moral codes, any act that was considered to go against this code was considered a sin and deserved to be punished. In Puritan theology, God h...
Jonathan Edwards was a brilliant man that lived a life that glorified God. He is considered one of the greatest thinkers in America. During his childhood, he was a very smart boy who used that to find out the wonders of God’s creation. Soon he went to Yale University where he got his bachelor and masters degree and started preaching. While preaching, he married a young woman, Sarah, and had 11 children. He was a great preacher to his church. When the great awakening started he was one of the most important figure in the great awakening. He influenced many people and he preached one of the most famous sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, which made many people convert to Christ. After the great awakening he provided sound Gospel to the people. However, he also got persecuted because of preaching what was right. Though he was persecuted he went on missions to Indians and became the president of Princeton University. He died young
Edwards reacted to the Enlightenment with distrust, and his writing suggests that he felt threaten by the new ideas of the Enlightenment because they were against the church. Edwards believed these thoughts caused the churches to lose their authority over its society and nonetheless those who followed the ideas felt powerless. Even so, there were others who felt empowered by the ideas of the Enlightenment and thought the ideas of the Church were too rigid to be employed in a person’s lifetime. Edwards went on to state in his narrative that “It reveals no new doctrine, it suggest no new proposition tot the mind, it reaches no new thing of God, or another world, not taught in the Bible, but only gives a due apprehension of those things that are taught in the word of God” (420). Edwards believe the bible had all the material one needed in life, in within the words God had set out a specific plan for all of his children to follow. Edwards to an extent rejected the idea that one should follow their personal intellect to make decisions in their life, as he desperate clutched on to the teaching established through the Puritan
John Winthrop and Jonathan Edwards were two different authors, writing in two different time periods, but had a common goal. They were working bring people both to Christ and back to Christ. Winthrop was preaching his sermon called, “A Model of Christian Charity” on the ship to the “New World.” Winthrop preached about men giving gifts to other men so that God could give people who have gifts the satisfaction of helping someone in need. On the other hand, Edwards was writing, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" in a time period called the Great Awakening, in an attempt to bring “corrupted people” back to the church with scare tactics. Winthrop and Edwards were both exceptional authors and preachers, but lived in different times with different
Wesley Harris and Jeffery had many qualities that were similar and many that were different.
William Bradford was the leader of one of the earliest colonial settlements in the United States. Thomas Morton was one of the settlers with him. Bradford documented his escapade in "Of Plymoth Plantation" to gain support from his home country and fellow colonists. Bradfords work, however differs from Mortons "New English Canaan" which also describes Mortons view on the settlements and the colonies. Morton is just a relaxed person who wants to sit around and party and does not really believe in anything. Bradford on the other hand believes that God is good and all powerful, he will strike you down if you dont go to church every Sunday and do as he says. These two werent the only settlers. Around one hundred years later came Jonathan Edwards.
Jonathan Edwards was known as a “nurturing pastor, frontier missionary, and bold revivalist preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ, Edwards exemplifies a man who integrated reason (the mind) and personal devotion (the heart) in unwavering dedication to the sovereign God revealed in creation and Scripture.” Jonathan Edwards spent much of his young life trying time to live and serve God through his works and deeds. He finally realized that it was impossible to earn his own salvation through his works and he accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior. Jonathan Edwards helped propel the First Great Awakening around 1733-1735, by directing some of the very first revivals from his Northampton, Massachusetts church. During some of these revivals Edwards preached sermons about salvation to his Puritan congregation. When these sermons were conducted amazing outbreaks of the Holy Spirit took place and people started recognizing their need for Jesus. This awesome move of God helped communities, households, and individuals to bond together in unity. These events continued to spread throughout the communities and most of the American colonies. Jonathan Edwards successful revivals were not without opposition. Edwards was drawing opposition and criticism from more traditional and strict Puritan leaders who were more concerned with religion. Jonathan Edwards then relocated to Stockbridge,
If one had the opportunity to enlighten others of their new land, what would they reveal? John Smith and William Bradford both were given this opportunity and wrote tales about their endeavors in New England; the two of them had very differing stories. The two men were both leaders who established colonies, and they attempted to attract readers with their writing. Both John Smith and William Bradford wrote stories about their colonies and experiences there, but each of them had contrasting views of what they chose to share.
William Bradford, an exceptional leader and an inspiration to the people of our country, set the foundation for American success and inspires young and old to promote the value of personal freedom and responsibility. With the leadership that Bradford shows in his narrative, “Of Plymouth Plantation,” he sets the foundation for American success and along the way inspires young and old to promote the sheer value of personal freedom and responsibility. He achieves this by describing his grueling voyage to the New World and through his struggles once he arrives. Certainly some may disagree with the leadership that Bradford brought into the New World, but despite that claim his colony was successful for many years into the future . The way that Bradford set the foundation for American success
In the 1730’s, there was a revitalizing movement that swept throughout the North American Colonies. This was because there was a notion of religion that emerged from the science-based times of the earlier 1700’s. The 1730’s started the time period known as the Great Awakening. The Great Awakening quickly spread through the Northern Colonies with it being most prominent with the Puritans. The Puritans had strict worshipping services in the church, and they prioritized the church and God. A great catalyst for the Great Awakening to the Puritans was Jonathan Edwards. Jonathan Edwards was renowned for riveting, vivid, and horrifying speeches. He is most well known for his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” where he discusses the congregation’s
The real war was among spiritual powers. By the time the precocious Jonathan was old enough to read, he would have discovered that one of the most fascinating book in his father’s library was uncle’s The Redeemed Captive, Returning to Zion. John Williams’ vivid narratives recounted the horrors of the Indians attacks. It was an awful plight of the souls of poor Indians subject to the deceptions of antichrist. Jonathan, his only son, followed closely in his father’s footstep (Marsden 15 – 17). Jonathan Edwards from 1703 – 1758 was perhaps the outstanding American theologian and certainly the ablest American philosopher to writer before the great period of Charles S. Peirce in 1839 to 1914, William James in 1842 to 1910, Josiah Royce in 1855 to 1916, John Dewey 1859 to 1952, and George Santayana 1863 to 1952 they were judged over two centuries, but Jonathan Edwards stands out as one of America’s great original minds. He was considered as the foundation stone in the history of American philosophy and the unique theological and philosophical formulated (Zakai 29). Edwards was born in the east parish of Windsor, now the town of South Windsor, Connecticut on October 5, 1703. He was the only son in a family of eleven children his parent were Rev. Timothy Edwards and Esther Stoddard Edwards the daughter of the Rev. Solomon Stoddard of Northampton, Massachusetts. During Edwards’s youth, he was nurtured and instructed in Reformed theology and the practice of puritan piety. At age of thirteen he was admitted to Yale College in 1718 because his father was tutoring at the Yale College he find easily. Edwards’s course of study was including classical and biblical languages, logic, and natural philosophy. When Edwards was at Yale College in 1717 to 1718, he was inspired by the philosopher of Mr. Locke and Sir Isaac Newton. He became acquainted with the ideas of the scientific revelation and the early