Essay On Puritan Culture

From a religious point of view, Puritans left a significant mark in the establishing of the American colonies by becoming the most vibrant Christian civilization. Puritans had a very difficult role in the new society; not only Puritans acted as the first representatives, but also established a series of basic political traditions for the benefit of the community in the colonies. The Puritan culture was spread throughout New England, creating the foundations of a national patriotism. Puritans established political communities in New England under the idea or vision of a Christian devotion. They were hard worshipper and God was their ultimate guidance because they trusted his divine mission. They felt that they were people ‘chosen’ by God, but
at the same time they were feared the anger of a just God. They focused on maintaining a moral purity, which was of great importance for them, because they live up to the ideal of avoiding divine judgment on their community. In the Puritan mind, there was no place for tolerance; there was no place for bad morality. They demonstrated leadership and submission to the will of God. Puritans were committed to following the Ten Commandments as the Supreme Law of God. This law gave them the guidance to live a good moral life according to what God expected from them, because the leadership of the community depended on an inner experience of personal renewal or personal encounter with God. John Cotton reflects a lot on the importance of being guided by the Ten Commandments, he says that “The righteous shall go into life eternal, and the wicked shall be cast into everlasting fire with the devil and his angels.”
However, I believe they failed to live up the ideal of living a life of good morals according to the will of God when the whole idea of the perfect religion lead to the hunting of individuals accused of witchcraft or of having more liberal attitude that was “not tolerable nor comely in the sight of God.” Although Puritans aspired for a harmonious life, these were events that obscured their mission.
They had this idea of chosen country, which was given a providential mission and in order to fulfill this mission the community had remain faithful to this call by following the rules. I believe they had a great vision of great Christian civilization, but at the same time I believe this strong force fail, because they entered the fanaticism of religion. And of course, when something is imposed on people it starts to generate rebellion to express discontent. William Penn believed in “freedom of conscience to all who believed in God.” He offered a different perspective of what it meant to be a follower of God; he hoped for a peaceful and loving friendship with the Indians. In any case, it is very clear the impact the Puritans had in defining a good American Christian civilization, focused in a vision of a unique country, with a special
mission.