Life and works of Reverend John Cotton Reverend John Cotton was born on December 4, 1585 in England and is considered to be among the most noted of the ministers in the Massachusetts colony . He completed his Bachelor of Divinity from the Emmanuel College and got inducted as the Vicar of the church of St. Botolph in Boston in the year 16122. He is also considered by many to be the most popular among the first generation American Puritans4. He was a highly respected preacher and was quite progressive in his thoughts. He had a major role to play in the establishment of the first public school in Boston . He was inspired immensely by William Perkins, who is regarded as the “Principle Architect of the Elizabeth Puritan” movement . He preached
puritanism rigorously and advocated unorthodox views in order to reform the church and renew people’s faith in it1. He proposed a theology of free grace, according to which he preached that the followers will receive eternal life as soon as they accept Jesus Christ to be their savior, and opposed to the concept preached by the ministers of church, which claimed that God had promised eternal life to Adam in exchange for his obedience . John Cotton had also written several books to propagate his philosophy among the people. One of the books was titled “Pouring out of the Seven Vials”. In that book he has described how God was furious with the human beings and was pouring out all His wrath on them. In this book he equated all the National, Provincial and Diocesan churches as well as the people who are devoted to the Popish churches with the people worshipping the beast and has maintained that God will have his vial of wrath poured upon them5. He also preached in his sermons that the scriptures were sufficient to provide the guiding path to the human beings and no other entity apart from the Holy Trinity of God, His Son and the Holy Spirit was required to be worshipped1. These unorthodox teachings drew a lot of attention towards him from the church and attracted multiple investigative enquiries as well2. He barely avoided imprisonment by going into hiding5. Rev. John Cotton not only was the recipient of public respect but also got involved in the infamous Antinomian controversy. Antinomian translates to one who is against the law. This name was given by the orthodox followers of the church to all the followers of Anne Hutchinson, who was a student and follower of Rev. John Cotton. Anne Hutchison used to repeat the sermons for her neighbors, including those of John Cotton, but gradually she began adding her own explanations, beliefs and doctrines in them, thereby igniting the entire controversy. She took these sermons even further by publically deriding all the other ministers except for John Cotton and her own brothe-in-law3. While initially Joh Cotton supported her views and actions, gradually he diverged away from her and maintained his distance. He was able to mend the fences with the church ministers and the authorities and he was allowed to continue to preach in the church of Boston until his death. The controversy ended in the year 16385.
In the sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards, he preached about a stricter Calvinist theology of Puritanism. Edwards delivered it at the Massachusetts congregation on July 8, 1741. He blatantly uses rhetorical strategies to instill fear into his audience if they are to continue to not be active Puritans in religion. Edwards uses polysyndeton, harsh diction and tone, and the appeal to emotion along with the use of semicolons to develop his message.
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.
... a detailed account in his biography and tells about the hardships of the Puritans in New England and their struggles to be accepted and respected by the English in England. By and large, both groups of people were able to turn their hardships and mistreatments into something positive and productive, leading them to a better life.
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
William Bradford was a well educated man and was a son of a preacher and was governor of Plymouth. William Bradford came to the New England in 1620. He felt that the Puritans were God chosen people. They believed God gave them signs and things happened to people that went against Gods will.
Sir Philip is hailed as "a godly and approved member of the congregation" (152). He is considered such an exemplar of the puritanical faith that he is deemed a more appropriate match for Hope than Everell. While Sir Philip maintains the outward appearances of a puritan, Everell, while his "puritan principles [remain] uncorrupted . . . has little of the outward man of a 'pilgrim indeed'" (150). When Mr. Fletcher asks Winthrop about the validity of Sir Philip's supposed credentials, Winthrop replies "that he thought the gentleman scarcely needed other than he carried in his language and deportment" (155). While Sir Philip's principles are untested and Evere...
Born in Groton, Conn., Samuel Seabury was the son of the Reverend Samuel Seabury Sr. His Father was a pioneer of New England Anglicanism who followed the example of Samuel Johnson. Samuel Jr.,broke away from the Congregationalists and pursued Anglican ordination. He graduated from Yale in 1744 and received his B.A in 1748. He married Abigail Mumford and went abroad in 1784 to obtain consecration as an Anglican Priest. On December 23, 1753, Samuel Seabury was ordained a deacon and two days later a priest of the Anglican Church. He was licensed by the church to preach in New Jersey. He preached in various places, but none suited his fancy. A preacher in Westchester was charged with drunkenness and sexual assault, which opened up the preaching position. Samuel filled the position and preached in an uneventful ministry. He also ran a school in Westchester.
At a young age he had a passion for the word of God. He loved reading and he read his father's collection of books which included the works of the Puritans. He searched for the real knowledge of God. He was under the conviction of sin and before he was saved he said that day and night God's hand lay heavy on him. When he slept, he dreamed of his search. He prayed, wept, without the greatness of God's mercy. He went from church to church searching for God, but he felt that the men whom were in the pulpits did not actually preach the Gospel.
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.
She believed that: "1.One can feel one's salvation and is filled with the spirit of God after conversion. 2.One needn't be learned in the Bible or in the Puritan writers in order to be saved. 3.The ministers are all under the covenant of works, except John Cotton, who is under the covenant of grace.4. Inner light is the guarantee of salvation.5. All responsibility for salvation is placed on Christ. 6.Every person has the ear of God if only he or she would ask for it, and listen to the answer. 7.Indian slavery is wrong - people of all skin colors are of one blood. 8.Sunday shouldn't be set aside as the Lord's Day because every day is the Lord's day. 9.Christians will have new bodies when they get to heaven.10.Predestination is unfounded.11.Prayers should not be memorized, but inspired by love for God, waiting on Him.12.Holy Spirit dwells within each Christian like a personal union.
In 1630, the Massachusetts Bay Company set sail to the New World in hope of reforming the Church of England. While crossing the Atlantic, John Winthrop, the puritan leader of the great migration, delivered perhaps the most famous sermon aboard the Arbella, entitled “A Model of Christian Charity.” Winthrop’s sermon gave hope to puritan immigrants to reform the Church of England and set an example for future immigrants. The Puritan’s was a goal to get rid of the offensive features that Catholicism left behind when the Protestant Reformation took place. Under Puritanism, there was a constant strain to devote your life to God and your neighbors. Unlike the old England, they wanted to prove that New England was a community of love and individual worship to God. Therefore, they created a covenant with God and would live their lives according to the covenant. Because of the covenant, Puritans tried to abide by God’s law and got rid of anything that opposed their way of life. Between 1630 and the 18th century, the Puritans tried to create a new society in New England by creating a covenant with God and living your life according to God’s rule, but in the end failed to reform the Church of England. By the mid 1630’s, threats to the Puritans such as Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson, and Thomas Hooker were being banned from the Puritan community for their divergent beliefs. 20 years later, another problem arose with the children of church members and if they were to be granted full membership to the church. Because of these children, a Halfway Covenant was developed to make them “halfway” church members. And even more of a threat to the Puritan society was their notion that they were failing God, because of the belief that witches existed in 1692.
The "A Model of Christian Charity" sermon, delivered by John Winthrop, is an example of the deeply religious Puritans that settled in Boston. They felt they had a convent with God to live a righteous life, a life that put God commandments and the community first. The puritans were very concerned with proper behavior theirs and others. The settlers of Boston were pious Puritans who regularly reassessed the state of their souls. By living this righteous life, the Puritans believed the Massachusetts Bay Colony was the "City upon the Hill" and they would be the light of the world. John Winthrop stated in the closing statement of his sermon how deeply the Puritans walked with God.
In my opinion, Reverend Mr. John Wilson as minister of the Puritan community is supposed to guide people to find a better way away from the sin, he in the other hand wants to punish the sinners, such as Hester and Pearl, instead of forgive and help them he tries to do the opposite. Sometimes, people criticize other people but they never examine themselves and how they are also committing a sin by criticizing, being selfish, hateful and do not forgiving and loving each
John Calvin was born on July 10, 1509 in Noyon, Picardy, France (Biography.com). As he grew up, he was raised in France where he practiced the Roman Catholic religion. His father always wanted him to become a priest in the Roman Catholic Church (Tilbert). As Calvin grew older, he decided to attend college at the University of Paris. Later
Wentworth Upham, a Minister and mayor of Salem. He wrote the books : Lecture's on