Who are the Puritans?

March 4, 2009 Who are the Puritans? Reformation Puritan Theology Puritan Ecclesiology Puritans in New England Puritans most aggressively prosecute those who they believed were witches Witchcraft in New England largely Puritan Cotton Mathers in history most associated w/ the Salem Witch Trials devoted to the belief in witches in Salem the ?witch-hunter? cruel, ruthless, intelligence writer of the Witchcraft pamphlets Puritan?s seen as obsessive- obsessive about?evil in the world, devoutness to faith, discipline, danger Cotton Mather?s the other side had altogether 15 children- only one made it to age 30 3 wives- one died, one went insane Increase Mathers- favorite son- publicly shamed, committed suicide believes that he is the mission to reform his community- believes to be tested by God Reformation starting point for study of modern witchcraft direct contact between supernatural and human world Christian human is never alone- always in the middle of the struggle between good and evil- the soul is in the middle after the reformation? good ?Christian? surrounded by books, imminence of death, reminder of mortality, not as cluttered Puritan Theology intellectual community think about formal doctrine of their faith Core Set of 5 Beliefs Total Depravity- human beings, without the saving Grace of God, are utterly polluted, sinful, and unredeemable sin from the original transgression from Adam and Eve cannot be eradicated without God focus on physical corruptions of human body- with its lusts, appetites, and physical properties- receptacle on filth and pollution Unconditional Election- salvation/election comes from God from grace alone- not by works but by God?s choice to save you can?t earn it Limited Atonement- salvation reserved for limited population of people God has already decided who he will saved and only those handful selected will be saved- those were decided before the beginning of time would be saved Irresistible Grace- salvation cannot be refused- if you are selected to be saved, you cannot refuse or reject it Perseverance of the Saints- in the long sweep of history- the saints will prevail they are tested, they suffer, but in the end- god?s chosen few- will rule with God in the ultimate future if you are lucky enough to be selected to be saved, you will prevail and you will rule covenant- God is willing to, and on some occasion does, makes compacts/agreements with God human agrees to behave in a certain way and God gives them some sense of assurance that he will look favorably upon him convince themselves that because you have the desire to be the perfect Christian- this is God?s way of telling you that you?ve already been selected to be saved Puritan Ecclesiology Ecclesiology- the term for how theology works in the world- the institutions and practices of religion theology in the world- practical manifestations of theology in the world Church of Visible Saints exclusive institution only supposed to be comprised of those who could prove that they were part of the ?spiritually elite? emphasis on determining who is part of the elite, identify who is selected/saved Reformation you had to choose to be Christian- it was not universal, not for everyone Medieval Church was universal you were a Christian because you were born to Christian parents Members of Church have enormous benefits social benefits (high social status) if you?re a man- gain political power, can?t vote without church membership spiritual hierarchy Providence- way for God to send messages to people divine messages that can come through nature i.e death of a child, crop failure witchcraft is one way that God works in the world to send messages these messages need to be decoded wonders- manifestations of God?s providence i.e- seeing an unusual light, seeing a comet natural occurrences that are somewhat inexplicable by conventional human understanding popular side of wonder tales- weird or bizarre things in nature- the deformed, the monstrous, the exotic images from miracle stories resurrected sin is physical demons and evil spirits are present in the world- create monsters monsters carry messages to resist Catholicism, be a good mother, be a good wife Family/Gender Roles reformation did away with idea of celibacy for clergy- ministers who have families family life and sex was changed from degradation and became revalidated reformation did away with role models of women got rid of idea of Mary as saintly, strong women did away with all female saints now- you can only be mothers, you can only be wives validated sexuality- dismissed idea of celibacy as highest state negative views of sexuality heightened after reformation- sexuality strongest symbol of corruption of flesh/human body Puritans in New England Puritans were for the first time the majority still paranoid, still worried about threats to their faith enemy in England( the Anglican establishment enemies of the New World Indians- did not welcome the Puritans fought many battles w/ them Sectarians- other dissenting Puritans that fled England Quackers Anabaptists Fought amongst themselves- internal dissenters Anne Hutchinson Roger Williams THE REAL ENEMY IS THE DEVIL- interpreted their battles in the New World as examples as battles against the devil