The Puritans - Creating the Perfect God Fearing Society

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The Puritans - Creating the Perfect God Fearing Society

The Puritans dream was to create a model society for the rest of Christendom. Their goal was to make a society in every way connected to god. Every aspect of their lives, from political status and employment to even recreation and dress, was taken into account in order to live a more pious life.

But to really understand what the aspirations of the puritans were, we must first understand their beliefs. “Their goal was absolute purity; to live with out sin in a sinful world was to them the supreme challenge in life. They were derisively called Puritans because they sought to purify the Church of England of the popish and antichristian stuff with which they believed the simplicity of the primitive Christian church had been encrusted.” The Puritans believed that man’s only purpose in life was “to glorify God on earth and, if he were especially fortunate, to continue the good work in Heaven.”

For the puritans, to glorify god meant keeping him in mind at all times, working to the best of their ability at whatever job god had fated them to do, and following a strict moral code based on the bible. “Every act and thought was either a glorification of god or its opposite.” Thus, leading a pious life in the form of working hard, praying, and churchgoing, was considered paying homage to God. Through all of these things, the most important was to be mindful of God at all times. Pride, complacency, and gratification of the senses could not be permitted if they captured the place in the mind reserved for the Almighty.

This does not mean, however, (as many people have believed) that the Puritans did not allow themselves to be comfortable and happy. First of all, the Purita...

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... influential enough to prevent Winthrop’s reelection as governor in sixteen thirty-six. The next year he returned to office and had her tried for heresy. Even though she displayed remarkable knowledge of theology, she still defied clergy, and was eventually banished for sedition. Williams and Hutchinson were only a few of the growing number of colonists who were discontented with the Puritan government.

The Puritans dreamed of creating the perfect god fearing society as a model for the entire Christian world. They did everything in their power to keep this dream alive. They created strict laws, and enforced them vigorously all in the name of God. But it was destined to fail because of the growing political liberty in England and the numerous advancements during the age of enlightenment, which eventually came into direct conflict with established Puritan beliefs.

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