The Power of Redemption
Everyone has done something wrong and some think that it is unforgivable, but there are wrong. In the world today everyone is being tempted and ends up sinning in some sort of way. God has made a way for his people to get rid of their sins. The action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil, is called redemption. No matter how big the sin, if the person works hard and proves to God that he/she is worthy, then they will receive redemption.
The only chance anyone has to be saved from sin is to go to God and repent. “Consider the fearful danger you are in: it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath. That you are held over in the hand of the God… as against of the damned
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in hell.”(Edwards page 110). The place for sinners belong in the pits of hell. In the eyes of God all sinners will receive exactly what they deserve. God will show no mercy. No one can escape this fate, unless they repent to God. “… a day wherein Christ has thrown the door of mercy wide open, and stands in calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners; a day wherein many are flocking to him, and pressing into the kingdom of God.”(Edwards page 111). God understands that all of his people make mistakes. God cries to his people letting them know that this is the only way they can be saved. Repent to him and the soul will be saved. To receive full redemption they must know what they did and desire to be forgiven.
In the play the crucible, the setting is in a puritan town. The puritans believe that if someone commits a sin they will never be forgiven. That they will be damned to hell. John Proctors committed one of the biggest sins, adultery. Because of this sin, he commits more by lying to his friend and family. Proctors sin haunts him, making him feel ashamed and not worthy of God. John Proctor was accused for witch craft and they wanted him to confess to be saved. He decides that he will no longer lie, that he will be a truthful man and not confess. “… you have made your magic now for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor”( Miller page 1333). Proctor has now forgiven himself for the sins he has committed. He finally feels free of his guilt. Proctor gave his life away to stay true to the gospel. He has received his …show more content…
redemption. There is no possible way for anyone to be forgiven unless they confess of their sins.
Every person has secret sins. People don’t want other people to know they have done something bad. It is human nature to act like they didn’t do anything wrong. “…felt as if the preacher has crept upon them, behind his awful veil, and discovered their hoarded iniquity of deed or thought.”(Hawthorn page 339). In the short story The Ministers Black Veil the people of the town are being troubled from this black veil that their preacher is harmlessly wearing. When they see the veil they can see their own sins that no one knows. The peoples secret sins are making them feel very guilty. “When the friend shows his inmost heart to his friend; the lover to his best beloved; when man does not vainly shrink from the eye of his Creator,…”(Hawthorn page 348). If the people would just share with someone their secret sin they no longer would be afraid of the Black Veil. People would have the opportunity to repent and receive the redemption. If only people would open up and admitted they did something wrong then they could move
on. When someone hurts another person because of their sin they must ask for forgiveness from that person. In the parable The Prodigal Son, the youngest son of two went to his father asking for his inheritance. His father did as his son asked and gave him his money. Shortly after, the boy wasted all of his money and goods. He was ashamed and was in need of food. He went out and looked for a job, but no one wanted help. The boy was out of options.” I will arise and go to my father and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.” (King James Version, Luke 15:18-19). The son went to his Father and asked for forgiveness even though he was very ashamed of himself. He didn’t even expect his father to forgive him he just wanted to be a servant. Because his Father say that he truly meant it and truly deserved it, he forgave his son.”…his father saw him, and had compassion and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servant, Bring forth the best robe…” (Luke 15:20-22). The boy’s father gave him riches showing to him that he is forgiven. No one possible can be truly redeemed unless they have been forgiven by themselves and by those they have sinned against. God knew that his people were imperfect and that they would make mistakes and commit sins. But God wanted his people to return to him so he provided a way for his children to be forgiven. He called this redemption. Even in a world that is as corrupt as todays everyone still have the chance to repent. If his people work hard and truly desire to be forgiven then there is no sin that cannot be forgiven.
In the Crucible, people were continuously accused of doing witchcraft. Those people who were being accused had to either confess or die despite of the truth. Struggling in this moral decision, people began to recoil and lie to others and even to themselves in order to save their lives. Marry, who was first accused of doing witchcraft told the judges that John Proctor was connected to the devil. Obviously, Marry chose to live as a liar. Eventually, It was John Proctor’s turn to decide: to confess and lie or refuse and die. Struggling in a decision that drives people into craziness, John Proctor chose to refuse anything despite of being hanged.
The Crucible was a rather strong book, it had battles both internal and external, there were also betrayals and vendettas… but a few stuck strong to their morals of what was wrong, and what was right. After the girl’s acts were, undoubtedly, in the eyes of the law, seen as entirely real, people who would not otherwise have been accused of witchcraft were now eligible to be under Satan’s spell. One John Proctor, saw himself above the nonsense, that witches could not exist in Salem, his wife, his children nor him; But, when Mary Warren said to the court that he used his spirit to drag her into court to testify against the girls, the judges deemed her word more truthful than his. After actively and repeatedly denying the claims, he was sentenced to death, for only a witch could lie in the face of god.
In this act he finds the goodness in himself to take responsibility for something he did not do just to make up for his sins. He says to Elizabeth, “Spite only gives me silent. It is hard to give a lie to dogs…” (4.136) He wants to confess, but he has to find the courage in him to confess it. He has to swallow his pride in order to confess of something he did not do. After he finds the courage to confess, Danforth makes him sign a confession statement, but he cannot. In support of this Proctor says, “I have confessed myself! Is there no good penitence but it be public? God does not need my name nailed upon the church! God sees my name; God knows how black my sins are! It is enough!” (4.142) Proctor has already confessed and he feels as if that is already enough, but he has to sign the confession or he will be hung. He finds the courage to sign it but then rips it apart before it is hung upon the church, and he could not build up the courage to re-write it. This leads him to being executed. Henry Popkin once again helps support my sources by stating, “The real, the ultimate victim in this play is John Proctor, the one independent man, the one skeptic who sees through the witchcraft "craze" from the first…This is a climactic moment, a turning point in the play. New witches may continue to be named, but The Crucible now narrows its focus to John Proctor, caught in the trap, destroyed by his effort to save his wife, threatened by the irrationality that only he has comprehended.” (143) Abigail’s idea did not go as planned because Proctor rebelled against her. Therefore Proctor was accused and died because he was not going to let Abigail ruin the pureness of his
In the story, “The Crucible”, John Proctor is thought to be a sinful person because he does not know all of the commandments and sometimes plows on Sundays. The author does not reveal this to the readers directly but tells them what others have been saying about him. Readers can also learn that Proctor is quite prideful. His main goal was to save Elizabeth from hanging, but when Danforth gave him a deal that would save Elizabeth he did not take it. Proctor was too proud to take the deal. Also when Proctor confessed to seeing the devil, his pride got in the way from saving his life. He did not want his name to be slandered.
“I want my life, … I will have my life” (137). In the drama of the “Crucible” John Proctor is accused of being a witch. John is unaware of the reason he is accused, but it is obvious that every time someone comes close to getting to the bottom of the girls lie that is the person the girls accuse. Before the beginning of the play John had committed lechery with Abigail Williams. John Proctor is almost ready to admit that he is a witch even though he is not, some reasons that he doesn’t admit it could be that it could help to make the girls seem like they are telling the truth, because he doesn’t want to live a lie and because he doesn’t want other people to look at him as a witch, nor does he want people to follow his lie and start admitting to things when they didn’t really do it. John Proctor would rather die honest than live a lie!
John Proctor is, at first, willing to offer up a false confession that his life may be spared. Inevitably, John Proctor possesses that fateful attribute known to fall fatal to many human beings - pride. While he has, indeed, been ashamed of his many sins throughout his life, Proctor's soul still clings to his pride and his good name, however soiled it may have become. On the morning scheduled for his execution, Proctor wrestles with the realization that one more sin so heaped upon the rest in his life will make precious little difference in the end; "I cannot mount the gibbet like a saint. It is a fraud. I am not that man.... My honesty is broke... I am no good man. Nothing's spoiled by giving them this lie." (126) He attempts to calm his pride by telling himself that the other accused witches who will not give false testimony to save themselves from the gallows have every right to do so; they led lives free of blame. He, however, he tells himself, did no such thing; what right has he to hang among the righteous? "Let them that never lied die now to keep their souls. It is pretense for me, a vanity that will nor blind God nor keep my children out of the wind." (126) Thus the conviction first reached by John Proctor is to save his life rather than to throw it away in mock martyrdom.
To admit to adultery takes integrity. To tell the truth no matter what the consequences takes integrity. To stay true to one's morals and be able to accept any punishments to keep one’s integrity, is a genuine trait. During the Salem witch trials many were unable to keep their integrity, but there were some who did. The Crucible written by Arthur Miller takes place during the Salem witch trials, when many people were forced to lie in order to live. John Proctor is looked at in the play as an adulterer, and sinful man. Nevertheless, John Proctor's public and private selves differ dramatically, but overall Mr. Proctor is truly a honest and integrity filled man.
The Crucible – Forgiveness & nbsp; The Healing Power Of Forgiveness - The Gift of Reconciliation. The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." --- Mahatma Gandhi & nbsp; Forgiveness is a process of inner healing. For most of the people in The Crucible, they did not need to necessarily forgive others but forgive themselves.
John Proctor is guilty of both spoken lies and lies conveyed from his actions. John Proctor has to deal with the decision to stay true to himself and not let his frustration condemn him to falsify the truth. Accused of conjuring with the devil among many other innocent Puritans in the town, John has to face making the right decision to either be hanged and keep his soul pure or lie to save his life and oblige to the magistrates that he did indeed conjure with devil. The tendency to want to keep your life is within any human being on this Earth, however John is faced with the decision of saving his life or faulting his already remorseful heart by lying. As John Proctor makes the decision to lie and keep his life, he begins to doubt how others will now think of him knowing he conjured with the devil. When asked to sign his name on paper for the entire town to see he refuses and exclaims, “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies…” (143) While John passionately speaks this, his immense frustration is finally released and shows his desire to stay true to himself and others in the town. Refusing to sign the paper conveys the lie he initially told and the truth he sought for once realizing the guilt and remorse he would have for the rest of his life. John Proctor’s feeling of frustration
The Salem witch trials were a time period when any individual could be accused of witchcraft for numerous reasons. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller focuses on the deviation of the trials and how the town’s most religious and honest members of the community are tried with witchcraft. John Proctor, the town’s most honest man, is accused of being a witch and must decide if he should confess or not. Proctor’s confession will stop the town from rebelling and uphold the reputations of Deputy Governor Danforth and Reverend Parris. Hale also wishes for Proctor’s confession so he does not have to feel responsible if Proctor were to be hanged for his witchcraft accusations. The confession of Proctor would convince others in the town to confess to their
This reveals that the lies and deceit told throughout the play drive the plot, as characters, such as Elizabeth and John Proctor, in the play are significantly affected by the accusations made against them. This is revealed, as Proctor is too concerned with his reputation to confess his affair with Abigail and end the witch trials. Throughout the play, the imagery of God and the Devil is directly tied in with lies and deceit. The Crucible is set in a Puritan theocratic society, where every citizen is concerned with religious piety and purity.
The witchcraft trials became a significant event in Salem. There were 20 innocent people that died and many more accused. There is a debate on whether who was the main reason for the witchcraft trials and all the deaths of the accused. There are good arguments on about every side. Judge Danforth, Abigail Williams, John Proctor, Reverend Hale, Reverend Parris, Elizabeth Proctor and Mary Warren are all the main arguments for the blame. Personally, I believe that Abigail Williams is the main reason why the witchcraft trials came about and that so many people have died and were accused.
We are all sinners. Although one may try hard not to sin, all humans eventually succumb at some time or another to sin. While people may not able to avoid the fate which awaits them, the power of free will allows people to decide how they will respond to sin. While some may respond with guilt and regret, others may react with a sense of redemption and a renewed sense of responsibility.
“I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my heart! I never knew what pretense Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons I was taught by all these Christian women and their covenanted men! And now you bid me tear the light out of my eyes? I will not, I cannot!” (The Crucible, pg. 146) You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet! Knowing that at the start of this play
The most skilful composers will be able to effectively represent the deception which can arise from the ulterior motives behind politics. The indication that political motivations may be ambiguous but control is the ultimate goal, is represented in Author Miller’s play The Crucible and Richard Eyre’s 2006 film, ‘Notes on a Scandal’. Both textual forms are able to demonstrate relationships which revolve around political influences for the motivations of power and control over a desired companion. This, in turn, displays an authoritative status that often comes into concern over the wellbeing of others. Knowledge of the truth has the ability to bind relationships into a manipulative and controlling state with the power to disassemble an individual