tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72343148814682428872024-03-04T23:15:16.567-08:00Into the WildernessAn exploration of Puritan writing in early AmericaChristinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971674088814672391noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7234314881468242887.post-56903749020558058282010-09-28T09:49:00.000-07:002010-09-28T09:50:20.738-07:00Augustinian Tradition<blockquote>When the wave of religious assertion which we call Puritanism is considered in the broad perspective of Christian history, it appears no longer as a unique phenomenon, peculiar to England of the seventeenth century, but as one more instance of a recurrent spiritual answer to interrogations eternally posed by human existence.</blockquote>Thus writes Perry Miller in <i>The New England Mind: the Seventeenth Century</i>, as he embarks on a fascinating explanation of the Puritans’ extended heritage. Considering Puritanism in context of the Christian tradition—and, even more, in light of the great human questions—lends greater significance to my own study. I hesitate to claim understanding of a movement until I know its place in history, major forebears, and how it speaks to these questions: What is man? How should he live? Thus, considered in relation to the major currents of Church history, the Puritans can be both better understood and more ably appreciated. Because I am just beginning to grasp the broad historical issues, my formulation will err on the side of simplicity, but here’s a try…<br />
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Early in Church history, Christianity separated (and tried to synthesize) two influential currents: the Augustinian tradition and the Scholastic tradition. These two movements were defined by their answers to these questions: Which is pre-eminent: faith or reason? If you choose one, what place does the other have in Christian practice? Can there be a synthesis?<br />
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In devotional practices, the Puritans follow in the tradition of St. Augustine, who placed faith foremost. In The New England Mind, Miller identifies the Puritans’ location within this centuries-old tradition of piety. Miller reminds us that “Augustine is the arch-exemplar of a religious frame of mind” continued over fifteen hundred years of religious history, of which “Puritanism is only one instance” (4). He emphasizes that Puritan thought was not entirely new. The Puritans’ fervent repudiation of Catholicism did not mean that they rejected all aspects of it; rather, they drew heavily on Augustine’s doctrine, medieval devotional works, and even contemporary Catholic authors.<br />
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As Augustinians, Puritans favored revelation over reason. Reason is corrupted, they thought; we cannot trust it. This debate dates back to the medieval Scholastic movement and, especially, Thomas Aquinas, who revived interest in Aristotle and emphasized the role of reason in Christian understanding. The Puritans conceived dangers with Catholic attitudes toward reason: Through reason, they thought, we can only conceive God through balancing his attributes, e.g. justice and mercy. These attributes are modes of human understanding—they are not God’s essence (13). Because we tend to exalt one attribute above another according to our tastes, we can easily arrive at a skewed view of the Almighty. We must keep these attributes in balance and never forget the essential mystery of God. Thomistic theologians had erred by making God too rational” and exaggerating certain of His characteristics (13). Puritans accused scholastics of trying to “confine the unconfinable within artificial distinctions. <br />
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Rather than depend solely on reason, the Puritans depended primarily on the revealed Word of God, i.e. the Bible. Miller notes a reservation, though, consistent with the Puritan concept of God’s incomprehensibility: the Bible does not reveal God’s fullness (10). Behind the Bible is God’s secret will, His mystery. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpFHgFTHXP0fjd2uIsn7_yvgw1_Yb3kNDWjOlxkjphaGqs4f2e8whyphenhyphenzWko-enWLLJ-QZfaawVoSD1vgM5mBX-WUNTYbXsWMn-kOSvVIPFKfFr_HgB9lixUJLmb4JJn2p1pXrp_TmbY9KU/s320/Saint_Augustine_repentance.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St. Augustine's contrition</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpFHgFTHXP0fjd2uIsn7_yvgw1_Yb3kNDWjOlxkjphaGqs4f2e8whyphenhyphenzWko-enWLLJ-QZfaawVoSD1vgM5mBX-WUNTYbXsWMn-kOSvVIPFKfFr_HgB9lixUJLmb4JJn2p1pXrp_TmbY9KU/s1600/Saint_Augustine_repentance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>Puritan descent from Augustine is clearest in the matter of sin. Man is living at odds with the all-perfect God. Miller summarizes Augustinian piety in relation to sin: “The maimed soul, even while persisting in evil, longs for deliverance from the body of this death, for reinstatement in the created harmony” (22). The core problem is man’s separation from God and man’s own imperfection: “The Augustinian strain of piety flows from man’s desire to transcend his imperfect self,” to connect with the divine (8). It “cries out for forgiveness of the sins by which he has cut himself off from full and joyous participation” and “draws sustenance from the moments of exaltation in which glimpses of the original happiness are attained” (8). Knowledge of God and of one’s soul are the means to attain truth and happiness. To seek this knowledge, Augustine and the Puritans turned to an “analysis of soul.” These ideas reappear in Puritan works: Augustine is quoted frequently, echoed in their rhetoric, and read often by Puritans. <br />
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Charles Hambrick-Stowe, in <i>The Practice of Piety</i>, illustrates the likeness of many Puritan personal writings to Augustine’s <i>Confessions</i> and identifies the Puritan relationship to other Augustinians (26). Hambrick-Stowe, who acknowledges his debt to Perry Miller, probably drew the Augustinian connection from The New England Mind. He adds that the Puritans are not Augustine’s only heirs. He traces Augustine’s influence through the medieval mystics and even to seventeenth-century Anglican meditative poet George Herbert. The American Puritans evidently used Catholic devotional texts, including the works of medievals Bernard of Clairvaux and Thomas à Kempis, and they read George Herbert, their contemporary. Independently of this study, I had developed interests in Western mysticism and in Herbert, so it’s exciting to see a common thread!<br />
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The Puritans do have clear, significant answers to questions about humankind, and they did not formulate these answers in a vacuum. I’m interested in exploring further how these influences affected their thought, their devotional life, and even their word choice.Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971674088814672391noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7234314881468242887.post-3968065144523352832010-09-26T15:07:00.000-07:002010-09-26T15:07:22.317-07:00Selfish PietySo faithful were the Puritans to “grace alone” that pious practices—if performed from self-exertion and to earn salvation—could be considered sinful acts of pride. David Brainerd (later a Puritan missionary to the Indians) poured his life into prayer, fasting, and other exercises for years, but he gained no assurance of salvation. He realized later that these were all selfish acts; the more he tried, the further he became mired in sin. <blockquote>Before this, the more I did in duty the more hard I thought it would be for God to cast me off….But now the more I did in prayer or any other duty, the more I saw I was indebted to God for allowing me to ask for mercy; for I saw it was self-interest had led me to pray, and that I had never once prayed from any respect to the glory of God….I saw that I had been heaping up my devotions before God, fasting, praying, pretending, and indeed really thinking sometimes that I was aiming at the glory of God; whereas I never once truly intended it, but only my own happiness. (<i>Life and Diary </i>Part I)</blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>In the above passage, Brainerd shows the Puritan attitude toward examining their behaviors: the underlying motivation is what matters. Perry Miller observes, “Guilt or innocence consisted not in what was done but in what was intended” (<i>The New England Mind </i>52). Since intentions cannot be judged from outside, and judging one’s own motives is a tricky business, Puritans navigated this soul-searching by using Bible- and prayer-based methods of self-examination. Their purposefulness and faithfulness in these exercises astounds me! Yet the impetus is real: to be secure in salvation, you must be sure that you depend on grace, not on your own devotional practices. And even after salvation, you must remember that your piety fully depends on Christ’s work. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf4lrj5KIXChgWxrXBljsw6HbnOrT0wJNkPMg0hyphenhyphen1G4KTSt4SrZCeXFjaPUSV0NYFxRT9_j4fWBqAE-Q-lyXD43RKMFf7zbRCXZdhAtbRKxD4IBL84WNNrD1sGB-mRieLWbYyQiWW1wtc/s1600/brainerd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf4lrj5KIXChgWxrXBljsw6HbnOrT0wJNkPMg0hyphenhyphen1G4KTSt4SrZCeXFjaPUSV0NYFxRT9_j4fWBqAE-Q-lyXD43RKMFf7zbRCXZdhAtbRKxD4IBL84WNNrD1sGB-mRieLWbYyQiWW1wtc/s1600/brainerd.jpg" /></a></div>David Brainerd at last came to the conviction that Christ alone was able to save, but he continued to be aware of this issue, recording years later, <br />
<blockquote>Had some intense and passionate breathings of soul after holiness, and very clear manifestations of my utter inability to procure, or work it in myself; it is wholly owing to the power of God. Oh, with what tenderness the love and desire of holiness fills the soul! I wanted to wing out of myself to God, or rather to get a conformity to Him. (<i>Life and Diary </i>Part V)</blockquote>Compared to the first quotation, in this quote Brainerd has moved from selfish to selfless piety. Enthralled with holiness, he longs to be wholly freed from hollow, prideful righteousness.Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971674088814672391noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7234314881468242887.post-81064703289496012472010-09-26T14:07:00.000-07:002010-09-26T14:07:22.966-07:00Puritan Self-Fashioning: An OxymoronIn the last post, to balance out the view that Puritans focused only on sin, I highlighted the godly delight that follows Puritan self-examination. I came across an article that concurs with this correction but makes another error; though the article focuses on an English (not American) Puritan, I’d like to address the critic’s viewpoint here. In “Puritan Self-Fashioning: The Diary of Samuel Ward,” Margo Todd recognizes the faulty view of those who negatively emphasize Puritan cataloguing of sins, but the alternative interpretation she offers is still unfaithful to Puritan thought.<br />
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Todd argues that Samuel Ward’s diary is misrepresented by current editors: undue attention is given to the guilt-ridden sections of his writing, in which he lists his sins. This negative selectiveness on the part of scholars furthers a common misconception—that Puritans are all constantly, morbidly focused on their sins. This is an unbalanced approach to Ward’s character. <br />
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She asserts, instead, that Ward was “defining himself, designing for himself an identity,” an activity inspired by Renaissance notions of the self. This alternative reading is a modern misreading. Certainly, the Protestant practice of self-examination is closely related to the self; Protestant reformers were heavily influenced by Renaissance humanism. However, self-examination does not involve remaking oneself. Rather, it is about being transformed. <br />
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Note the active and passive voices: “Remake oneself” vs. “Be transformed.” What are the implications of this slight difference in terms? The former assumes that God is not real, while the latter assumes God’s existence. “Remake oneself” implies only one actor, the self-examining subject, whereas “be transformed” requires two actors: God transforms the believer. <br />
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To be historically honest, readers of Puritan religious texts must take full account of the authors’ strong faith in God. Self-examination in the Christian tradition is a process of being transformed, of allowing God to illumine the soul. Romans 12:2 reads, “…be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” This transformation moves a person from desiring his own will to “proving” God’s will. Meditation on God, while revealing dark sins in the soul, fills the believer with God’s Spirit, so that he becomes more like Christ.<br />
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Todd interprets this God-performed inner transformation as self-performed self-creation. By taking this approach, Todd discounts Ward’s faith. In “self-fashioning,” there is no room for God. <br />
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In the Puritan view, the sinful self is not capable of change; justification and sanctification are the works of God alone. Perry Miller, in <i>The New England Mind</i> (1939), writes of Puritan theology: “The one bedrock certainty about the matter is that grace is a supernatural power and that no man can enact regeneration by his own exertions.” (27). Man, who brought on himself horrible anguish of sin, “could hardly expect to find within himself the power to master it. The force of this conclusion gave the Puritan cry for deliverance through the grace of God its urgency and its poignance” (25). Deliverance from the anguish of sinfulness could only come through God. Humbly, the believer approaches God to seek cleansing from sin, purification of heart, and a nearer likeness to Christ. The believer brings only himself to God, and God does the work through grace.<br />
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What did this look like in private devotions? It means that self-examination depended completely on God: Human ability played no role in devotional practices. God’s words provided the subject of meditation (the Bible), and He supplied the will to seek His ways (Hambrick-Stowe 45). In self-examination, people were to “be unbottomed of Self, to dye to Self-advancement, to Self-glorification, and to all Selfish joyes” (Corbet <i>Self-Imployment in Secret</i>, qtd Hambrick-Stowe 173). Quite the opposite of self-fashioning!Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971674088814672391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7234314881468242887.post-81494687472409481242010-09-26T13:30:00.000-07:002010-09-26T13:30:19.880-07:00Goal of Self-examination<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_XXdZiDDcWG9WF7Cs9zEkyAMiT4Fi4k11hNGNctzzEuBJp7QhNNkagXrCPiyIpi-V4LhYk1qSy5A4So_zHKOk74ZSLEP2QBn2JKmHJUkTjVOQ0WwEOm4qXBBIaUELSPEOSkghkfrqLCY/s1600/Practice+of+Piety.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br />
</a></div>To lay a foundation for talking about Puritan devotional practices, let’s clear up a misconception: the practice of self-examination was not just a morose focus on the minutest sins. While many engaged in listing their sins, they had a goal beyond self-examination: a clearer view of Christ. Realization of one’s own sinfulness was followed by a realization of God’s grace, delight in His presence, and spontaneous prayers of thanksgiving. In my readings, I have observed both facets of Puritan meditation: confession of sin and confession of God’s blessings. <br />
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Puritan meditation on sin was followed by meditation on “the joy of union with Christ,” Charles Hambrick-Stowe points out in <i>The Practice of Piety</i> (p.165). The process of devotion was to know the evil of your heart and then come to Christ. John Downame, in his widely-read period devotional manual, wrote: <br />
<blockquote>“Wee are not to bend all out thoughts to meditate and call to mind all our sins…The huge cloud of our sinnes being neere our eyes, will hide from our sight the shining beames of Gods mercy and Christs merit….As soone as wee cast one eye upon our sins for our humiliation, let us cast the other presently upon Christ Jesus, who hath payd the price for our redemption, and suffered all the punishment which we by our sins have deserved.” (167) </blockquote> Once properly humbled by knowing himself, the believer could see the beauty of Christ’s sacrifice. Then, in “the highest form of self-examination,” a saint could return thanksgiving, meditating on blessings bestowed by God (175).<br />
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This sequence—humiliation of self to praise of God—was lived out in public and private Puritan practice. A town’s covenant-making day was commonly a “Day of Humiliation,” and covenant-renewal was always performed in conjunction with a fast day. These serious occasions, though, were each followed within a few days by an appointed Day of Thanksgiving. In individual devotions, the same pattern manifests, notably in Cotton Mather’s <i>Diary</i>. At about age 18, he one day awakened to his sin of pride, so he set apart a day of humiliation. On this day, he examined himself and found himself “most wofully guilty before the Lord” (16). He recorded reasons, prayers and his hope in God’s assurances. Three days later, he scheduled a day of thanksgiving. In systematic plain style, he recollected and recorded Mercies, praised God on his knees for specific things, and considered how he would show gratitude in future actions. Overwhelmed by God's goodness and grace toward him, Mather concluded earnestly, "<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--> <m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent><!--[endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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</style> <![endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">“Shall I not <i>every Day</i>, in every Capacity, Relation, Company, bee contriving, <i>What can I now and here do for God?</i> And lay myself out accordingly.<span> </span>Oh! that, oh! that, Oh! that, God would help mee, thus to do!”</span></m:defjc></m:rmargin></m:lmargin></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac><br />
<br />
Self-examination, then, is not an end in itself: it moves toward communion with God. By prayerfully focusing on one’s own soul, one prepares to move to a deeper focus on God. The result of this meditation is joy, gratitude, praise, and resolution. Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971674088814672391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7234314881468242887.post-21748868564027951612010-09-20T20:51:00.000-07:002010-09-20T20:51:25.623-07:00Remind me again...Why am I studying the Puritans?[The great American Puritan works are] quite good enough to be read through, in their entirety, by all who imagine themselves capable of taking pleasure in the way human tones reveal themselves in a language once vividly expressive but available to us now merely as writing; and in the way writers invent or arrange their own structures of thought in order to encompass other structures of thought, equally human in origin, whether Scriptural or merely systematic, and so to express and transmit the results of their private meditation and social conversation on the most serious of human subjects. To be read…by any critic who has ever wondered…whether there is more to literary life than ‘Poems and Stories.’ (xvii)<br />
-Michael Colacurcio <i> </i><br />
<i>Godly Letters</i> <br />
<br />
For in that first century, primitive conditions of life and the Puritan culture conspired to produce a literature distinguished by closeness to fact, energy and vividness of expression, and at times a soaring imagination. Rarely has the mind worked with greater vigor and penetration than in the early New England community; rarely has the written word been used more effectively; rarely has the human spirit burned with an intenser, brighter flame.<br />
-Randall Stewart<br />
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</style> <![endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">"Puritan Literature and the Flowering of New England"</span></m:defjc></m:rmargin></m:lmargin></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Now I'm ready to keep reading! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span></span> </span>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971674088814672391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7234314881468242887.post-8625197945084364582010-09-20T20:25:00.000-07:002010-09-20T20:25:46.738-07:00Leaving New England<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7meT2xFa653m4yQJfbbt1ABfnIQzPke1rKZbMk6R4qg5wkXG3Di_btbK4ROP_tGULAGMf1JG0NG6HIvn_Aj5dIl-y24-iv1-EpYuS8vYXRPulCqOHs14bjTZaye3Ujp2HsLNLfljxxhM/s1600/17th-cent-ship.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7meT2xFa653m4yQJfbbt1ABfnIQzPke1rKZbMk6R4qg5wkXG3Di_btbK4ROP_tGULAGMf1JG0NG6HIvn_Aj5dIl-y24-iv1-EpYuS8vYXRPulCqOHs14bjTZaye3Ujp2HsLNLfljxxhM/s320/17th-cent-ship.gif" /></a></div><br />
“As many as one in four settlers abandoned New England,” asserts Susan Hardmoon Moore in her interesting study, <i>Pilgrims: New World Settlers and the Call of Home</i> (p.14). Really?! I knew that the Puritan emigration from England slowed mid-century when persecution diminished—after all, Puritans even gained control of the British government for a while. The period of 1630-39 contained the great Puritan exodus from Britain. However, I didn’t know that “in the decades after 1640, far more people left New England each year than went there” (p.1). This significant emigration <i>from</i> New England provokes the question: why did so many leave? Moore tackles the question…and there I leave all of us in tantalizing suspense. <br />
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I wanted to introduce this book (suggested by a blog reader) for your exploration and my future reference, when I’m ready to research these questions. I’m interested in transatlantic studies, so a movement of people who brought New England experiences back to England is intriguing. How much of the New England perspective was then incorporated by English Puritans? Did the return of so many settlers demean the colonies, or did the exodus spread New England’s influence in an unexpected way?Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971674088814672391noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7234314881468242887.post-69021195451420557132010-09-20T20:21:00.000-07:002010-09-20T20:21:29.500-07:00Puritans vs. Their Writings<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--> <m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent><!--[endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">If I am asking questions about American Puritan culture in general, and I'm answering them using Puritan writings, I have to resolve a difficulty: those who wrote such memoirs were the best educated, socially privileged Puritans. How can their experiences and attitudes be taken as representative? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In his preface to <i>The Practice of Piety: </i></span><i>Puritan Devotional Disciplines in Seventeenth-Century New England,</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><i> </i>Charles Hambrick-Stowe sees only a narrow gap between the Puritan "social elite" and popular society. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Puritanism was a devotional movement, and, though extraordinary education was peculiar to clergy, the Puritan populace was remarkably similar to their leaders in piety and religious practice. One evidence is the extremely wide use of certain devotional manuals (guides to prayer, meditation, and Scriptural study) in households throughout the colonies. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">However, Michael Mages, in </span><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Magnalia Christi Americana: America’s Literary Old Testament, </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">points out the fallacy of assuming that all Puritans are like their preachers. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In the context of the Magnalia's third book, "Lives of the Divines," which lauds exceptional New Englands pastors, Mages observes that preachers do not give a picture of everyday Puritan men and women. Pastors were specially educated at a high level and with theological depth; moreover, many were morbidly focused on death and sin. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Mages is right that the pastors underwent a tremendous preperatory education and were extraordinary individuals. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Those who left a literary legacy certainly were from a distinct social standing, especially the preachers. And he</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> may be right</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> that Mather's "Lives" does not portray the everyday Puritan. As I saw last semester in "Life of John Winthrop," Mather emphasizes his subject's saintly attributes and leadership qualities. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">We need to remember that we are talking about Puritans. There may have been a sort of "social elite," but there was no spiritual elite among church members--they were all equally dependent on grace! What is significant is the commonalities of the Puritan mind: a commitment to family and society, a pressing toward God for signs of grace, a fear of God, a delight in His presence. In other words, whether well-read or not, they are all Puritans. They were people who held family devotions; flocked for miles to hear preachers, sometimes multiple times a week; and read the Bible in all circumstances, like Mary Rowlandson during her captivity, or like this imprisoned Puritan woman.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcEudq3BXhStWHgOnAa-8UjgHUiojw7p3i2Do2ufgfRvmt0U8k9gS19ggYiQKcZa-7d2gToBygUopFrIjP4khKJ_Wp-SLxCbJ5gXitdUzFfJSXg8sSDaE9Gmxu8730BKxjt87t3wJ4lcw/s1600/young-woman-reading-the-bible-in-a-puritan-jail-new-england-1600s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcEudq3BXhStWHgOnAa-8UjgHUiojw7p3i2Do2ufgfRvmt0U8k9gS19ggYiQKcZa-7d2gToBygUopFrIjP4khKJ_Wp-SLxCbJ5gXitdUzFfJSXg8sSDaE9Gmxu8730BKxjt87t3wJ4lcw/s320/young-woman-reading-the-bible-in-a-puritan-jail-new-england-1600s.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Actually, in raising the education level and spiritual rigor of their pastors, didn't the Puritans strive to inculcate in each lay person a fuller knowledge and deeper experience of faith? The result was not a pastorate that rose higher and higher above a static society, but a pastorate that poured its gifts into ministry--and in so doing, elevated the people along with them. (I have to add a caveat: the failure of this ideal, i.e. the inability to spiritually motivate the people, resulted in the second-generation dilemma.)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Since I'm currently reading spiritual autobiographies, diaries, and poems, this debate about socially superior writers is quite pertinent. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Based on the Puritans' emphasis on piety, education, and participation among all people, I am inclined to think that, as Hambrick-Stowe asserts, the average Puritan was not that far separated from those who wrote what I'm reading. </span>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971674088814672391noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7234314881468242887.post-22853230146236884362010-08-01T18:38:00.000-07:002010-08-01T18:38:33.829-07:00Resolutions"<i>Resolved</i>, Whenever my feelings begin to appear in the least out of order, when I am conscious of the least uneasiness within, or the least irregularity without, I will then subject myself to the strictest examination."<br />
<br />
Thus reads the sixtieth resolution in Jonathan Edwards's remarkable list, drawn up when he was a young man. Out of the seventy resolutions, I chose the one above because it directly addresses self-examination, a Puritan practice that is particularly foreign to the typical modern person. Edwards's <a href="http://edwards.yale.edu/archive?path=aHR0cDovL2Vkd2FyZHMueWFsZS5lZHUvY2dpLWJpbi9uZXdwaGlsby9nZXRvYmplY3QucGw/Yy4xNTo3NDoxLndqZW8=">"Resolutions" </a>shows how he examined his soul and serves as a portal into the Puritan perspective.<br />
<br />
Edwards was committed to living daily in full obedience to God. Therefore, he questioned every habit, attitude, and idle tendency in his life, and he continually cultivated godly virtue and demeanor. At the end of every day, week, month, and year, he meditated on his spiritual condition, his duties, successes, and sins. Edwards left no stone unturned in his soul, so to speak, as he earnestly sought full surrender. Awareness of death and eternity pressed on him--he resolved to live each day as if it were his last.<br />
<br />
Personal devotional writings like Edwards's "Resolutions" and diaries show the Puritan character perhaps better than the other forms of writing. The personal journals record individuals' struggle for proof of salvation, their earnest and disciplined lives, their abhorrence of sin, and their delight in God's revelation. Joined with an understanding of covenantal community (shown in sermons), a reading of diaries or spiritual autobiographies is an excellent introduction to the Puritan mind.Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971674088814672391noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7234314881468242887.post-71347009782492332132010-06-21T19:28:00.000-07:002010-06-21T19:28:49.153-07:00A Recent Read<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrrqmYLuVKb6Fjg0BY5YVhfM6-rlIEINHZigfA8Wkx3z5t_5u8nfDzy0bMCqA5gZi8hRL0LIAfcrhA1ycQpv5H-UH3HBxwH2F_U2uaxmluBtCfUOOFc2UrMeTbyfVdDRUHMzADbd9HWGs/s1600/worldlysaints.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrrqmYLuVKb6Fjg0BY5YVhfM6-rlIEINHZigfA8Wkx3z5t_5u8nfDzy0bMCqA5gZi8hRL0LIAfcrhA1ycQpv5H-UH3HBxwH2F_U2uaxmluBtCfUOOFc2UrMeTbyfVdDRUHMzADbd9HWGs/s320/worldlysaints.jpg" /></a></div><br />
According to Leland Ryken in <i>Worldly Saints: the Puritans As They Really Were</i>, we have been misled by modern portraits of the Puritans as dour, dark-clothed, money-grubbing, old, intolerant, strict, moralistic enemies of fun, color, art, sex, and emotion. While the Puritans did sometimes indulge in too much self-loathing and were strict and intolerant compared to contemporary standards, they were hardworking, serious, moderate, well-informed, argumentative, and well-educated. They sanctioned joy and normal clothing, they were opposed to hypocritical legalism, and, after all, no group at their time was fully tolerant in religious or political spheres. The following paragraphs gloss certain points that interest me, illumine what I’ve already read, or apply to themes I’m exploring.<br />
<b><br />
Comparison of American and English Puritans.</b> This book encompasses English and American Puritans. The historical timeline was helpful, for Ryken traces the major points in 16th-17th century England that caused Puritanism to rise. Compared to English Puritanism, Ryken finds New England Puritanism “a less attractive phenomenon—more prone to intolerance and heavy-handedness, to complacency, to legalism, to inner decay.” Why? In England, Puritans were the persecuted minority, but in N.E., Puritans were the majority. They had established churches and political structures, and people could devote themselves to “institutions rather than ideals,” thus corrupting their vision of pure religion. <br />
<br />
<b>Sermons. </b>I didn’t realize how incredibly popular Puritan preaching was in England and America, a good sermon drawing crowds from miles around. This wasn’t because of fancy style, for the Puritans used what is called “plain style.” They rejected the ostentatious, quote-filled sermons of their peers, thinking such words led to self-exaltation. Besides, pastors were trying to reach all levels of society, even illiterate and poor. Spiritual edification and intelligibility were more important than aesthetics, content more important than form. John Flavel said, “Words are but servants to matter.”<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKBzPGnqouw-78nh7bm3t_jDSWlW6oOgG9cMM0e7EXbpFRYh8numh3ZCMzEq9WST4udwbfgJxps1quWwVUbcbPs0BF4ykneX1GF7aElQdIgGaMS5vD6uNczFjOEgx4CG-qzbqipSId9sI/s1600/puritans+preaching.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKBzPGnqouw-78nh7bm3t_jDSWlW6oOgG9cMM0e7EXbpFRYh8numh3ZCMzEq9WST4udwbfgJxps1quWwVUbcbPs0BF4ykneX1GF7aElQdIgGaMS5vD6uNczFjOEgx4CG-qzbqipSId9sI/s320/puritans+preaching.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Sermons were affective—intended primarily to move the listener toward right Christianity. Samuel Ward wrote in his diary to “remember always at the hearing of God’s word to be applying the things delivered always to thyself, and so bythoughts will take less place.” [English] Listening meant active involvement, especially notetaking and post-meeting meditation. Edmund Calamy wrote, “One sermon well digested, well meditated upon, is better than twenty sermons without meditation.” Remembering the sermon was essential for meditation, so sermons were very well-organized. As I mentioned in one of my early posts, families repeated the main points at home.<br />
<br />
<b>Role of words.</b> Besides examining the sermon culture, Ryken makes cogent observations about the general role of words in Puritan life. They were certainly a highly literate people, who so valued a liberal education that they founded Harvard only six years after settling in America! Ryken writes, “The acts of worship emphasized by the Reformers and Puritans were overwhelmingly literary acts: reading the Bible, meditating on its meaning, listening to sermons, and talking to others about one’s grasp of doctrine” (124). They expected the “verbal imagination to do the work” that Anglicans/Catholics had left to the visual senses. Puritan language was richly reliant on “master images,” figures, and Biblical allusions. Opposing the accusation that lengthy Puritan discourses are dry and forensic, Ryken writes, “Once we grant the validity of the verbal image, it becomes clear that the Puritan worship service did not starve the imagination or even the senses of the worshiper. Allusions to the Bible carried immense imaginative and emotional voltage for a person to whom the Patriarchs were like neighbors and Mary and Martha like their own sisters.” (125) Images, instead of being visually enshrined on altars and in statuary, were “embodied in the sermon.” <br />
<br />
Ryken’s volume is an easy-to-read, encouraging, and candid avowal of both Puritan strengths and weaknesses. It was mainly pleasure reading, yet I have also gleaned reading suggestions from Ryken’s extensive bibliographies and abundant quotations. My summer study plan is relaxed, since I have other reading requirements, but I’m enjoying slowly perusing a few books!Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971674088814672391noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7234314881468242887.post-28742577768137206472010-06-04T12:59:00.000-07:002010-06-04T13:00:51.895-07:00On reading old books"There is a strange idea abroad that in every subject the ancient books should be read only by the professionals, and that the amateur should content himself with the modern books. Thus I have found as a tutor in English Literature that if the average student wants to find out something about Platonism, the very last thing he thinks of doing is to take a translation of Plato off the library shelf and read the Symposium. He would rather read some dreary modern book ten times as long, all about “isms” and influences and only once in twelve pages telling him what Plato actually said. The error is rather an amiable one, for it springs from humility. The student is half afraid to meet one of the great philosophers face to face. He feels himself inadequate and thinks he will not understand him. But if he only knew, the great man, just because of his greatness, is much more intelligible than his modern commentator....It has always therefore been one of my main endeavours as a teacher to persuade the young that firsthand knowledge is not only more worth acquiring than secondhand knowledge, but is usually much easier and more delightful to acquire.... <br />
<br />
"Every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes. We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period. And that means the old books. All contemporary writers share to some extent the contemporary outlook – even those, like myself, who seem most opposed to it....<br />
<br />
"The only palliative is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds, and this can be done only by reading old books. Not, of course, that there is any magic about the past. People were no cleverer then than they are now; they made as many mistakes as we. But not the same mistakes. They will not flatter us in the errors we are already committing; and their own errors, being now open and palpable, will not endanger us. Two heads are better than one, not because either is infallible, but because they are unlikely to go wrong in the same direction. To be sure, the books of the future would be just as good a corrective as the books of the past, but unfortunately we cannot get at them." --C.S. Lewis<br />
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<br />
Lewis cleverly explains one reason for my attachment to Puritan writings: they are from an age so different from mine that I can't help learning from them. In our day, for instance, we don't talk much about the benefits of suffering. Or, today it's taboo to claim that one's belief is the true one. As a culture, we don't encourage sitting still, contemplating, and examining inner thoughts. Yet these ideas were Puritan priorities.<br />
<br />
Among the modern virtues we emphasize, have we neglected other important things? At the same time that we see antique cultures' faiblesse, reading their literature can balance modern deficiencies. And, like Lewis pointed out, we may just find their writing "easier and more delightful."Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971674088814672391noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7234314881468242887.post-17691449315012683752010-05-19T15:04:00.000-07:002010-05-19T15:04:05.979-07:00Next Steps<meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"></meta><meta content="Word.Document" name="ProgId"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 12" name="Generator"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 12" name="Originator"></meta><link href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5COwner%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"></link><link href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5COwner%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx" rel="themeData"></link><link href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5COwner%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml" rel="colorSchemeMapping"></link> <m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent><style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">This semester-long reading project has officially come to an end, but I’ll let you in on a secret: I’ve committed to a year-long reading/writing project on the American Puritans. I will continue to explore the themes in my last post and eventually find a narrower focus. So my next step is to decide what to read in the coming weeks. I have these books in mind, since it’s time to familiarize myself with the literature written <i>about</i> the Puritans:</div><br />
<ul><li>Michael Colacurcio, <i>Godly Letters: the Literature of the American Puritans,</i> for close readings of the first generation writings. </li>
<li>Harry Stout's <i>New England Soul: Preaching and Religious Culture in Colonial New England</i>. Parts I & II deal with sermons, 1620-1700. </li>
<li>Susan Hardman Moore, <i>Pilgrims: New World Settlers and the Call of Home</i>. Moore addresses the motivations for migration, then shows the viewpoint of those who decided not to stay (people who left New England during the British Civil Wars and Interregnum, 1640–1660). </li>
<li><o:p></o:p>Leland Ryken’s <i>Worldly Saints: The Puritans As They Really Were</i> is more cultural than literary: it uses extensive excerpts from Puritan writings to show their views on various topics.</li>
</ul><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">These books on literary criticism & cultural commentary will help with big themes, and I have a couple of other books that will address poetry. I can later narrow to articles about specific works.</div><div class="MsoNormal">I appreciate other reading suggestions, themes to explore, and general observations!</div>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971674088814672391noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7234314881468242887.post-36586492080210316722010-05-18T12:09:00.001-07:002010-05-18T12:11:41.359-07:00Semester in Review<meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"></meta><meta content="Word.Document" name="ProgId"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 12" name="Generator"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 12" name="Originator"></meta><link href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5COwner%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"></link><link href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5COwner%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx" rel="themeData"></link><link href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5COwner%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml" rel="colorSchemeMapping"></link> <m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent><style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">So, what have I learned about the witch-burning, shoe-buckled, solemn Puritans? </div><div class="MsoNormal">In my first post back in February, I posed several <a href="http://puritanwriting.blogspot.com/2010/02/what-comes-to-mind-when-you-think-of.html">questions</a> about these colonists, with the overarching goal of overcoming stereotypes by reading their own works. Here I cull through my answers, as well as reflect on new themes that have emerged. This is not a final commentary, but a pulling together of what I’ve learned thus far. My intertwining thoughts follow a sort of “idea chain,” as you will see below…</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGPvWw1mWp6TNtAO2aXQ2pgtkeIgzb6Hxb78aZZAA4KZgDgx3gJfF-U6kknhfxnoV_4QzjW-yQiX9n0GBY6pJz4SoHbnaD-YEM9YgtQHqtRwNwSe_T90jnrUMfo_ZInyB3FXUZ9eFRask/s1600/stocks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGPvWw1mWp6TNtAO2aXQ2pgtkeIgzb6Hxb78aZZAA4KZgDgx3gJfF-U6kknhfxnoV_4QzjW-yQiX9n0GBY6pJz4SoHbnaD-YEM9YgtQHqtRwNwSe_T90jnrUMfo_ZInyB3FXUZ9eFRask/s320/stocks.jpg" /></a></div>My reading encompassed a variety of genres—sermon, ecclesiastical history, poetry, and personal narrative—which illumine the <b>role of words</b> in New England culture. Sermons are highly structured presentations, easy to remember and repeat, voicing a message around which the community could gather, especially on noteworthy dates like election-day. The jeremiad functioned as a call to renew the covenant with God. As Bercovitch pointed out, jeremiads are forward-looking; condemnation is always followed by a call to renewal. </div><div class="MsoNormal">Sermons were not the only words meant to stir the people’s covenantal memory. Mather emphasized <b>remembering the covenant </b>in the <i>Magnalia</i>, his work of ecclesiastical history. With public agreements like the <a href="http://puritanwriting.blogspot.com/2010/03/salem-covenant-of-1629.html">Salem Covenant</a> of 1629, the colonists founded their communities on a covenant to live holy lives before God. They continually affirmed these compacts through church and sermons, reminders in the church calendar, and home worship. As the children born to original settlers grew older, however, they lost sight of what their parents taught. Many did not “own” the covenant personally, so they lacked the passion for holiness. I <a href="http://puritanwriting.blogspot.com/2010/03/in-remembrance.html">wrote </a>that they needed to be reminded of the covenant, their history as a people, and their charge to live for God’s glory. Danforth used sermons and Mather used history to re-instill Christian commitment in those who were “lukewarm.” </div><div class="MsoNormal">What did it mean for some Puritans to not “own” the covenant? Christians needed to have a personal experience of salvation and profess their faith publicly in order to “own” the covenant. Thus, Puritans were very concerned with the state of their souls, ascertained through <b>self-examination</b>. Self-examination could be public, through sermons and covenant-readings, or private, as seen in devotional poems (Taylor and Bradstreet) or Rowlandson’s experiences. Taylor and Bradstreet work through their spiritual struggles in verse form, praying and quoting Scripture to themselves. Danforth presents self-examination as a remedy to spiritual lukewarmness. From his sermon, I noted that self-examination is based not on empty meditation, but on specific remembrance. The mind is focused on God’s mercies, as well as on life purpose and a comparison with former spiritual diligence. These meditations convict and restore the soul. I wrote, “A life lived fully in God’s service, such as Danforth and his congregation desired, is not achieved by default. Self-examination and remembrance—leading to renewed vision—were keys to the Puritans’ perseverance through horrible circumstances.” </div><div class="MsoNormal">For Rowlandson, self-examination was linked with <b>the Bible</b>, the central Puritan text upon which all other texts are based. Rowlandson’s meditation spiraled into negativity, until Scripture came to mind and gave her hope. Quiet moments with her Bible enabled her to survive mentally and emotionally. This semester’s writers all drew heavily on Scripture. Some modeled Biblical forms, like the jeremiads. Others were particularly heavy in Biblical allusions and illustrations, like the <i>Magnalia</i>. Much of Puritan poetry is a reformulation of Scripture, particularly Wigglesworth’s <i>Day of Doom</i>, or another bestseller I didn’t write about, The Bay Psalm Book. Further, the Bible was the source of Puritans’ self-definition as a people: the Israelites, the wilderness, and the Promised Land.</div><div class="MsoNormal">The Puritans identified themselves strongly with the ancient Hebrews, God’s chosen people who wandered through the wilderness to the Promised Land. This explains why the Puritans called their enterprise “an errand into the wilderness.” <b>But why exactly did they board ships to America?</b> Danforth and Cotton Mather both address this issue. In his sermon “An Errand into the Wilderness,” Samuel Danforth identifies the cause of emigration as liberty of conscience and purity of religion. Similarly, according to Mather, they came to “seek a Refuge for their Lives and Liberties, with Freedom, for the Worship of God, in a Wilderness, in the Ends of the Earth." Mather also emphasizes historical context: the Reformation and Protestant in-fighting. The American Puritans wished to be an example of pure Reformation to the European Protestants, to establish what John Winthrop called “a city upon a hill,” shining its beacon across the Atlantic. I have purposefully left alone the most popular Puritan topics—witch hunts and heretical disputes. Now that I have a basic understanding of the Puritans’ concern for purity of religion and for God’s wrath and mercy, I’m interested in dealing with their infamous shortcomings.</div><div class="MsoNormal">By reading their own words, I am gaining insight on how the Puritans saw themselves and their God. <b>Wrath and mercy</b> are inseparable concepts. Both Danforth’s “Errand” and Jonathan Edwards’s “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” contain sections detailing the two concepts. On the other hand, Wigglesworth’s <i>Day of Doom</i> is all about the wrath to come, in which there will be no mercy. So how is that consistent with mercy? Like the jeremiads, this poem ends with a fervent call to readers: come now to the merciful God, while you can still obtain pardon! </div><div class="MsoNormal">Yes, the Puritans admit, we have sinned. But He has promised pardon. The <b>promise</b> is central—to heal (Danforth), to restore (Rowlandson), to make of you a great nation and a light to the world (<i>Magnalia</i>). “You shall be my people and I shall be your God” is an Old Testament promise to which this community clung (Ezek. 36:28). “God is but waiting for an opportunity of our thankfulness and humility,” cried Hubbard, “to turn his face toward us that we may be saved” (“The Happiness of a People” 53). To enter into God’s promises, a people must humble themselves and live a pure religion of Christian charity. <span id="goog_443220826"></span><span id="goog_443220827"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvjZE_7rS0tBQ1I_bf0G7kBrOE_dZ24eFHlUqefB4ZWxW8_odpfTw0Ed1EOHFOa9YTJF5QJV-n129Te_k7jJSDgJTg3gJf3SYjy-fogS4HbjkjdIHsvwmIb6xcgPBq7UgDPBT8Mo9B-BU/s1600/puritans+arrival.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvjZE_7rS0tBQ1I_bf0G7kBrOE_dZ24eFHlUqefB4ZWxW8_odpfTw0Ed1EOHFOa9YTJF5QJV-n129Te_k7jJSDgJTg3gJf3SYjy-fogS4HbjkjdIHsvwmIb6xcgPBq7UgDPBT8Mo9B-BU/s320/puritans+arrival.jpg" /></a></div>Pardon from sin is not exemption from life’s hardships. Even in the midst of war, famine, and sickness, Puritan writers point out the reality of <b>affliction, </b>as well as its attendant blessings! The jeremiads are expressions of hope in the mercies of a fatherly God, who sends afflictions not to destroy but to correct. For Bradstreet, in the battle between “flesh and spirit,” balance requires loving God more than all; afflictions are the test that shows whether we do. She further believes that hardships are a form of God’s love, to draw one closer to Him. Mary Rowlandson, too, turns her story of affliction into a lesson on gratitude.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Puritan writing is noticeably affective, or <b>reader-oriented</b>. Every Puritan text asks for reader response at the heart/soul level. Mather’s “Life of John Winthrop” calls readers to examine their lives, whether they are as godly and loving as Winthrop. Even Rowlandson’s first-person narrative was more about impacting readers with God’s goodness than about recording a war experience. Wigglesworth’s poem was aimed at convicting his readers and drawing them to the mercy-seat. The personal and devotional poems of Taylor and Bradstreet are perhaps the least reader-oriented, for they focus on the writer’s soul experiences. Yet, as Jeffrey Hammond explains, Puritan readers would meditate on these poems with eyes focused inward, applying the truths to their own Christian experience. </div><div class="MsoNormal">Puritan writing is an integral part of remembering and personally fulfilling the covenant, an act of self-examination for both writer and reader. In public sermons and personal texts, Puritan writers exhort patience in affliction, fear of God’s wrath, trust in His mercy, and faith in Biblical promises. What attracted me to this community are qualities that are rare today: strong personal discipline, covenantal community, and the willingness to be quiet with one’s own soul. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqbXVeH30n9NengUwxk0PzWP2HSt5vNEFUCu_v7ELThaXuRdOK-AtNCTdhYriMOIpBjQf0-9DSBOEg9wsT-vpIaPL5rItX8NPzlYSRCsyAIgwTBGzRXCtxqNNjbWNFmA3C7_2rTK-5m-U/s1600/puritan+maiden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqbXVeH30n9NengUwxk0PzWP2HSt5vNEFUCu_v7ELThaXuRdOK-AtNCTdhYriMOIpBjQf0-9DSBOEg9wsT-vpIaPL5rItX8NPzlYSRCsyAIgwTBGzRXCtxqNNjbWNFmA3C7_2rTK-5m-U/s320/puritan+maiden.jpg" style="cursor: move;" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">As the settlers cultivated the harsh New England wilderness using saws and hoes, many among them wielded pens to tame the wilderness of the soul. And, centuries after the Puritans writers wielded their pens, I approach their texts with a willing mind and humble pen, aware that I’ve cleared only a corner of the wilderness. At times I feel like an Israelite wanderer, but golden glimpses of the Promised Land of learning quicken my steps. Hesitant to push the metaphor any further, I lay down my pen [laptop] for now, “blushing” like Bradstreet at this “ill-form'd offspring of my feeble brain.” </div>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971674088814672391noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7234314881468242887.post-34059689553278370472010-05-14T15:28:00.000-07:002010-05-14T15:33:33.015-07:00Native American LanguageWhile on the topic of Native Americans, I want to recommend a little volume written by Roger Williams, called <i>A Key into the Language of America </i>(1643). Williams spent many years living with the Narragansett tribe and learning their language. He then wrote this key to their language, divided into vocabulary sections like "Of the seasons of the Yeere" and "Of Fish and fishing," interspersed with interesting and sometimes entertaining details about Indian customs.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtjZjSFL-WAE3NMpzTqM5o6lwq5Cy7xREeQAw4XeMIwiP4Y2lp6GZ95UUbD5WaYRBAuq8Po2Ir_nbw16o5RuULGMuaW5GeKRYdae4XlBrf3Nw5ThpzXtWU7dytrBJ_d1cS3JpfzaC9U4g/s1600/Narragansett+Indian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtjZjSFL-WAE3NMpzTqM5o6lwq5Cy7xREeQAw4XeMIwiP4Y2lp6GZ95UUbD5WaYRBAuq8Po2Ir_nbw16o5RuULGMuaW5GeKRYdae4XlBrf3Nw5ThpzXtWU7dytrBJ_d1cS3JpfzaC9U4g/s320/Narragansett+Indian.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> 1681 painting of a Narragansett chief </span></div>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971674088814672391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7234314881468242887.post-79699641986539971292010-05-13T19:30:00.001-07:002010-05-13T19:32:32.480-07:00Captured by Indians<meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"></meta><meta content="Word.Document" name="ProgId"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 12" name="Generator"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 12" name="Originator"></meta><link href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5COwner%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"></link><link href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5COwner%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx" rel="themeData"></link><link href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5COwner%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml" rel="colorSchemeMapping"></link> <m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent><style>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtYXJR_6LwgJJuEzMY3Hrmps1A3AtQcddNqS6IsVQy6bgSJOrc-dCzOOzDEJn9W6UbBaTBvb5HoU27Tx1xOhy-V0ES97wytj2DKZ_euh0firpIn1GFSZ7hTik-m0j5zcOd0WoAW8PPCTk/s1600/RowlandsonCover_1930.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtYXJR_6LwgJJuEzMY3Hrmps1A3AtQcddNqS6IsVQy6bgSJOrc-dCzOOzDEJn9W6UbBaTBvb5HoU27Tx1xOhy-V0ES97wytj2DKZ_euh0firpIn1GFSZ7hTik-m0j5zcOd0WoAW8PPCTk/s320/RowlandsonCover_1930.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">In 1675, during the bloody Puritan-Indian conflict known as Metacom’s War, the town of Lancaster is sacked by Pequot warriors. Amidst burning buildings and the slaughter of family members, Mary Rowlandson is carried off. That’s how her captivity narrative begins…</div><div class="MsoNormal">In the following pages, Rowlandson candidly expresses her hardships through the lens of her Puritan worldview. Her narrative is a fitting end to the semester, because it brings out several of the main themes I’ve focused on, including Puritan attitudes toward self-examination, the Bible, and affliction.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Rowlandson not only chronicles events, but also candidly shares developments within her soul—hope and fear, suffering and anguish, and deep communion with God. She is honest about discouragement, homesickness, and grief. She sees her times of solitude cooped up with the Indians as an opportunity for spiritual growth: “Now had I time to examine all my ways…” (13). She expresses her true situation, exposing all her weakness and doubts, and then measures her thinking against God’s word. Her self-examination never ends in condemnation but in hope and comfort through the Scriptures. </div><div class="MsoNormal">“This was a sweet cordial to me when I was ready to faint,” she writes (4), also calling the Scripture “my guide by day and my pillow by night” (12). Rowlandson’s source of guidance and comfort in all circumstances is the Bible. After observing its importance as a source for the sermons and poetry I’ve read, through Rowlandson I see the Bible in action in a Puritan’s life, reviving her hopes and giving her the eyes of faith in hardship. “Some Scriptures we don’t understand until we’re afflicted,” Rowlandson reflects (15). </div><div class="MsoNormal">Her narrative is an example of the Puritan attitude toward affliction as a source of sanctification. Of a small mercy, she writes, even while her child is dying in her arms, “As he wounded me with one hand, so he healed me with the other” (3). Her terrible sufferings have spiritual benefits for her soul, and she sees God’s mercies in the small blessings afforded even in extreme situations. She realizes the need for gratitude in times of peace and plenty: “So little do we prize common mercies when we have them to the full!” (19). </div><div class="MsoNormal">In recording violence, bereavement, solitude, and fear during the bloodiest war of New England, Rowlandson’s ultimate aim is to set down “the sovereignty and goodness of God,” especially in sustaining and encouraging her through Scripture. She ends the narrative with her hope to now live differently: “If trouble with smaller things begin to arise in me, I have something at hand to check myself with, and say, why am I troubled?...I have learned to look beyond present and smaller troubles, and to be quieted under them.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-small;">*The numbers cited refer to the “removes” into which Rowlandson divides the book.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwOUilJ5-3tXDnzdxPmkbQtEPjo-v0nN8tAwQ3ZKQmm-h04zf1KCOPAhx_UZFdNPZRsVwTULEzxUiUnI8JyEzlHsQgRiLxP8_OOAJaH_0uT30vX7ceGKvTIGi3VYKvV3yO3eRKZxxwH1Q/s1600/mapofmary'sjourney.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwOUilJ5-3tXDnzdxPmkbQtEPjo-v0nN8tAwQ3ZKQmm-h04zf1KCOPAhx_UZFdNPZRsVwTULEzxUiUnI8JyEzlHsQgRiLxP8_OOAJaH_0uT30vX7ceGKvTIGi3VYKvV3yO3eRKZxxwH1Q/s320/mapofmary'sjourney.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971674088814672391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7234314881468242887.post-55640872195680233382010-05-02T18:39:00.001-07:002010-05-02T18:53:57.912-07:00Why Poetry, Mr. Wigglesworth?<meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"></meta><meta content="Word.Document" name="ProgId"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 12" name="Generator"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 12" name="Originator"></meta><link href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5COwner%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"></link><link href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5COwner%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx" rel="themeData"></link><link href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5COwner%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml" rel="colorSchemeMapping"></link> <m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent><style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">I have compared Wigglesworth’s <i>Day of Doom</i> to a sermon, for it has a “preacherly” function. Using paraphrased Scripture set to ballad meter, the poem is meant to expound doctrine, prompt self-examination, and draw readers to repentance. So, why didn’t Wigglesworth just use the sermon form? Why switch to verse?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0-vJHZQUs5jZ5oYQfJrJR_yS87HKnHRb4tj_eZq5yFheopMievEreX1R9BUwuKPqgIOVcNzPLxt0LWsZNbUMnz6EEL4Nv_mfMBG1LkbPmhA_I0bFTHYxmKM8fnqKlqWKKwmser1qC9BE/s1600/Wigglesworth+to+the+reader.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0-vJHZQUs5jZ5oYQfJrJR_yS87HKnHRb4tj_eZq5yFheopMievEreX1R9BUwuKPqgIOVcNzPLxt0LWsZNbUMnz6EEL4Nv_mfMBG1LkbPmhA_I0bFTHYxmKM8fnqKlqWKKwmser1qC9BE/s400/Wigglesworth+to+the+reader.jpg" width="260" /></a>In Wigglesworth’s case, the catalyst seems to be a combination of life circumstances and concern for readers. For significant periods of time, Wigglesworth was unable to man his pulpit due to physical infirmity. In the prefatory poem to Day of Doom, excerpted to the left, he explains his poetry by the fact that he was physically unable to preach. Poetry provided a way to share the message he was so passionate about—a way that would reach a wide audience. <span id="goog_840033444"></span><span id="goog_840033445"></span> </div><div class="MsoNormal">The reading experience was what counted in the Puritan writing aesthetic. The truth had to be accurate, clear, and accessible. Even for the Puritans, who were accustomed to hearing and reading sermons, I think poetry was more accessible as home reading. Poems would also be more readily received by non-church-members. </div><div class="MsoNormal">Rhythm and meter can be catching, but the key to Wigglesworth’s accessibility is dramatic portrayal of theological truths. Unlike the sermon form, his poems are stories, with characters and dialogue. Jeffrey Hammond points out that the readers could see themselves in the sinners who plead before the Judgment seat—the hypocrites, the reliers on works, the misguided, etc. Further, the character of Christ the Judge would prompt a reader to seek Christ the Merciful while there is yet time. </div><div class="MsoNormal">I can see Wigglesworth, languishing in his sickbed, yet so full of urgency for the unregenerate that he could not rest with a stopped tongue. He unleashed the truth, instead, through his pen, in a form that he thought would speak directly to readers’ souls.</div>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971674088814672391noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7234314881468242887.post-79703881282613161332010-04-19T20:31:00.001-07:002010-04-19T20:31:30.471-07:00Puritan Bestseller<meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"></meta><meta content="Word.Document" name="ProgId"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 12" name="Generator"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 12" name="Originator"></meta><link href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5COwner%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"></link><link href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5COwner%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx" rel="themeData"></link><link href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5COwner%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml" rel="colorSchemeMapping"></link> <m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent><style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">Michael Wigglesworth’s <i>The Day of Doom</i> was America’s first bestseller, rivaled only by the Bible and the Bay Psalm Book. First published in 1662, it went through three to five American editions and three in England. One source estimates that one out of every two New England families owned a copy! </div><div class="MsoNormal">The introduction to my edition tells me that Michael Wigglesworth was born in England in 1631. When he was six, he moved to New Haven, CT. Later, he studied at Harvard—first, medicine, then switching to divinity. He became pastor to the church in Malden, Mass. Throughout his life, Wigglesworth struggled with depression, doubts, and physical weakness, as well as conflicts within his church’s leadership.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Reading <i>The Day of Doom</i> was challenging, to be honest. Within a few stanzas, the horrors of the Last Days began to come alive. The subject is not geared toward modern sensibilities, and as a poem, it is not a beautiful specimen. It is more of a theological treatise in verse form, a dramatic interpretation of central Puritan beliefs. </div><div class="MsoNormal">Once I let go of the poetic shortcomings, however, and took the poem as it was, I began to see its value—and the spiritual challenge it raises. Rather than a tool for self-expression, this poem is directed at the reader. Like a sermon, it is an arrow aimed at one’s spiritual center, to strike at doubts and expose the need for self-evaluation. This poem is written to provoke admissions and questionings: “I am a sinner! Have <i>I</i> obtained pardon through Christ’s blood? Or shall I suffer for eternity? Am I among Christ’s sheep, or am I among the hypocritical goats?” While immersed in <i>The Day of Doom</i>, it is impossible for the reader to ignore the call of Christ. One must face the unequivocal presentation of Christ as the only way to heaven—and either reject or accept Him. </div><div class="MsoNormal">So, why was the poem so popular? The answer could be that, in that culture, the question of salvation trumped word choice. “For Puritan readers, theological truth <i>was</i> beauty,” concludes Hammond (<i>Sinful Self, Saintly Self</i>). The art that appealed to early America’s Christian culture was an art designed to save souls. </div>In subject matter and wording, <i>The Day of Doom</i> follows the Biblical prophesies pertaining to Christ’s Second Coming and the Judgment at God’s throne, along with frequent retellings of Christ’s sacrifice. Through dialogue and narration, two main ideas develop: the unregenerate will suffer forever in hell, and those who are bought with Christ’s blood will rule with Him in heaven. Wigglesworth adds to these themes detailed Biblical theology. Perhaps the longest section is God’s response to religious hypocrites. God explains His seeming harshness of punishment; expounds free will, predestination, and original sin; muses for pages on the horrible fate of the damned (stanzas 203-205 are most intense); and concludes with a short, joyous description of heaven. Attached to the end are a short poem about eternity and an ending address to the reader, mirroring a similar opening address. Throughout the work, the ideas, words, and phrases are basically a reformulation of the Bible. In fact, a column of Scripture references runs along the margin of the poem—one to four references per stanza.Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971674088814672391noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7234314881468242887.post-479159475050403942010-04-15T08:18:00.000-07:002010-04-15T08:18:56.543-07:00Meditation 1Edward Taylor's own words introduce him better than I could, so allow me to share a beautiful poem written by him...<br />
<br />
What Love is this of thine, that Cannot bee<br />
In thine Infinity, O Lord, Confinde,<br />
Unless it in thy very Person see,<br />
Infinity, and Finity Conjoyn'd?<br />
What hath thy Godhead, as not satisfide<br />
Marri'de our Manhood, making it its Bride?<br />
<br />
Oh, Matchless Love! filling Heaven to the brim!<br />
O're running it: all running o're beside<br />
This World! Nay Overflowing Hell; wherein<br />
For thine Elect, there rose a mighty Tide!<br />
That there our Veans might through thy Person bleed,<br />
To quench those flames, that else would on us feed.<br />
<br />
Oh! that thy Love might overflow my Heart!<br />
To fire the same with Love: for Love I would.<br />
But oh! my streight'ned Breast! my Lifeless Sparke!<br />
My Fireless Flame! What Chilly Love, and Cold?<br />
In measure small! In Manner Chilly! See.<br />
Lord blow the Coal: Thy Love Enflame in mee.Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971674088814672391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7234314881468242887.post-55304321141048110322010-04-13T19:20:00.000-07:002010-04-13T19:20:41.724-07:00Bradstreet & Balance<meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"></meta><meta content="Word.Document" name="ProgId"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 12" name="Generator"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 12" name="Originator"></meta> <m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent><style>
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</style>Anne Bradstreet particularly addresses one of the questions I asked during my reading: How did the Puritans integrate spiritual values with the demands of day-to-day life? Must a Puritan renounce all things of the world? On one hand, Bradstreet fights temptations to value too highly her worldly possessions and to pursue “fleshly” desires. As she describes dramatically in “The Flesh and the Spirit,” the spirit should always win over the flesh in internal struggles. On the other hand, she dearly loves many things in the earth, especially her family and her home. </m:defjc></m:rmargin></m:lmargin></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">Her poetry shows that the divide between flesh and spirit is complex. While she yearns for heaven and rejects the earth, she still cherishes her loved ones, her possessions, and her own health. For instance, she writes passionate poems to her husband. The balance lies in making God the priority, a balance achieved through continual self-examination. One must ask: do I still love God more than all? And, will I surrender willingly whatever he wishes to take away? </div><div class="MsoNormal">The test, Bradstreet discovers, is whether she continues to praise God in times of loss. She expresses palpable grief and real discouragement, yet she stirringly turns bad situations into professions of faith. She sincerely ascribes to the Puritan belief that afflictions are a form of God’s love, to draw one closer to Him. Affliction is the rod of a loving Father, wielded out of love and for her good.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">What shall I render to my God<br />
For all His bounty showed to me?<br />
Even for His mercies in His rod,<br />
Where pity most of all I see.</div><div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">-“Deliverance from Another Sore Fit”</div>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971674088814672391noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7234314881468242887.post-40291324864256493722010-04-12T18:51:00.001-07:002010-04-13T14:25:08.913-07:00Anne Bradstreet<meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"></meta><meta content="Word.Document" name="ProgId"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 12" name="Generator"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 12" name="Originator"></meta><link href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5COwner%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"></link><link href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5COwner%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx" rel="themeData"></link><link href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5COwner%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml" rel="colorSchemeMapping"></link> <m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent><style>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWUiuvPqHSiS6IynJoGQ9DxhsC47I_N0wMoHUlYTxdk-8CYewqjOSekIJ3x404iu6YnYWNzTb1flPm2iZDNLOtjxsZ9jqazZ8dKdhfL5pfKsWI8KgzM6su4fYiLp6EFig4fEeOw9-1bAY/s1600/anne_bradstreet-portrait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWUiuvPqHSiS6IynJoGQ9DxhsC47I_N0wMoHUlYTxdk-8CYewqjOSekIJ3x404iu6YnYWNzTb1flPm2iZDNLOtjxsZ9jqazZ8dKdhfL5pfKsWI8KgzM6su4fYiLp6EFig4fEeOw9-1bAY/s320/anne_bradstreet-portrait.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Anne Dudley Bradstreet was the first American colonist to have a volume of poems published. Born in 1612 in England, Anne Dudley was married at age 16 to Simon Bradstreet and, not long after, traveled to New England on the Arbella. Arrived in America, they experienced firsthand the hardships of founding a new colony, and Bradstreet expressed many of her experiences in verse. In 1650, her brother-in-law took her manuscripts overseas and had them printed as <i>The Tenth Muse</i>—without Bradstreet’s knowledge! In response to this unexpected exposure of her work, Bradstreet composed a humorous poem, “The Author to Her Book.” Despite her humble “blushing” at the faults she saw in the poems, Bradstreet’s work was immediately popular in England.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxnGWnGXOsLQQH7kcJZCN7-ibY6PxGZfKVe54qeialklMZ7NrNo1iZnepAXybkx48R44DdO9HlSIG94CMB_Ult07JvRipJazIBw9r1DaX6jR87zbmYwFoln27s9uR1Cg0pq1owvDOytIs/s1600/bradstreet-10th_muse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxnGWnGXOsLQQH7kcJZCN7-ibY6PxGZfKVe54qeialklMZ7NrNo1iZnepAXybkx48R44DdO9HlSIG94CMB_Ult07JvRipJazIBw9r1DaX6jR87zbmYwFoln27s9uR1Cg0pq1owvDOytIs/s320/bradstreet-10th_muse.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In the early years, Bradstreet versified ancient history and composed lengthy meditations on topics like the stages of life. Later, she noticeably shifted to personal and religious themes—and it is these works that gather the most attention today. Her meditations on love for family, struggles with worldliness, and praises to God are not only relatively easy to relate to, but they also highlight the hopes, fears, beliefs and priorities of a New England woman in the 17th century. Besides being a pleasure to read, Bradstreet's poetry illumines the internal life of the Puritan colonists.</div>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971674088814672391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7234314881468242887.post-55689560229331256292010-04-06T10:05:00.000-07:002010-04-06T10:08:28.016-07:00PoetryAh, poetry! I am entering on a brief study of three early American poets—Anne Bradstreet, Michael Wigglesworth, and Edward Taylor. Bradstreet seems like an old friend, for I have read and written about her before, exploring the relation of earthly and heavenly concerns in her poetry. Of the questions I asked at the beginning of this semester, here are some that the poetry may address:<br />
<br />
What was most important to the Puritans?<br />
What was the nature of community and family interactions? <br />
How did the Puritans integrate spiritual values with the demands of day-to-day life? <br />
What was the role of words—written and oral, prose and poetry—in their culture?<br />
And I’ll add: How does the congregation examine themselves and their commitment to God?<br />
<br />
As pre-reading, I chose a volume by Jeffrey Hammond called Sinful Self, Saintly Self. Rather than putting modern constructs on writing that is so different from our own, Hammond asks: How did the Puritans write, read, and experience their own verse? I’d like to keep some of his points in mind as I read. <br />
1. Remember that to us moderns, the Puritans are “the other”—their culture and worldview are foreign to modern America. Poems that seem grim and grave today may have been a “source of delight” to the Puritans. <br />
2. There is apparently a debate about whether most Puritan poetry can qualify as art. Did Puritan poets sacrifice art to their religious didacticism? On this charge, many poets have been dismissed, with the exception of some of Bradstreet’s and Taylor’s works. However, it’s important to consider whose definition of art we are using.<br />
3. The Bible was the basis for both writing and reading in that era. Poets often modeled their work after Biblical poetry like Psalms or Song of Solomon. Further, readers of the Bible were expected to judge their own hearts against Scripture. A religious poem was like “an index of spiritual condition”—if your heart responded fervently, it was an indication of your nearness to God.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj17VTJbQldQXjJZQZY3WndEcaVJ6R7C0MDbvN1XvZUxA6Gjumq-kCIwgYkj9kLrarUE2e4Fd4BQkRFbCiOmG8renIdUysoDrnnn-URCC0xrc9s1PIRK99HvOtfCvDnNN4CxUDQfbbeU0E/s1600/Hammond+Sinful+Self+Saintly+Self.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj17VTJbQldQXjJZQZY3WndEcaVJ6R7C0MDbvN1XvZUxA6Gjumq-kCIwgYkj9kLrarUE2e4Fd4BQkRFbCiOmG8renIdUysoDrnnn-URCC0xrc9s1PIRK99HvOtfCvDnNN4CxUDQfbbeU0E/s320/Hammond+Sinful+Self+Saintly+Self.jpg" /></a></div>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971674088814672391noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7234314881468242887.post-60244326673518050192010-03-27T12:02:00.001-07:002010-03-27T19:54:06.032-07:00Why read Magnalia Christi Americana?<meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"></meta><meta content="Word.Document" name="ProgId"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 12" name="Generator"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 12" name="Originator"></meta><link href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5COwner%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"></link><link href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5COwner%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx" rel="themeData"></link><link href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5COwner%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml" rel="colorSchemeMapping"></link> <m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent><style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">The <i>Magnalia</i> is a beautifully written account of the Puritans—an account written by a Puritan himself. Reading Mather’s work gives us insight on the American Puritan culture from within the culture—not from the perspective of an outsider, but of a man who completely identified himself with the tradition he recorded. From Mather, we learn why they crossed the Atlantic, their context in history, their major leaders, and interesting events. These are not just factual accounts, though; they are told in an engaging, purposeful manner that actually ushers us into the Biblically-framed world of early America. If you want to hear from the Puritans themselves about what was important to them and why, then read this work. Plus, <i>Magnalia</i> is a unique approach to recording history. It provides an interesting example of faith-inspired history, which can make us consider an important question: How will we present ourselves to posterity?<br />
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The <i>Magnalia</i> can be intimidating because it's so long, but it is separated into manageable portions. The volume I used only contains Books 1 & 2, and I can attest that <i>Magnalia </i>works in segments if one can't tackle the whole history. What surprised me is its readability. If I'm trying to race through the book at a modern pace, his details annoy me. However, when I sank into reading, I found his well-organized prose to be well-flowing, even buoyant. The use of rich metaphor, Biblical allusions, and addresses to the reader save his writing from being boring. You can't read Mather without noticing that it is steeped in Biblical language, so modern readers unfamiliar with Scripture, particularly the Old Testament, should use a footnoted edition. I've also found that reading the Biblical account of the Israelites alongside Puritan texts enriches my reading. </div><div class="MsoNormal">Finally, through the <i>Magnalia</i> we can get to know Cotton Mather, one of the larger-than-life figures in early America. He was an incredibly productive, brilliant scholar who wrote the immense <i>Magnalia</i> “by Snatches” in little more than two years, during which time he attended to pastoral duties and wrote several other books! In many ways, he is worth emulating. Even as he held up the lives of great New England leaders as examples of greatness, we can catch some greatness from Mather himself. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971674088814672391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7234314881468242887.post-81001492682356866692010-03-25T07:14:00.000-07:002010-05-16T18:30:34.580-07:00Salem Covenant of 1629I've started at the end rather than the beginning in writing of the idea of covenant in New England. Several of my posts have addressed Puritan preachers' fears of second and third generation backsliding from the covenant. Here, though, let's focus on a beginning and discuss the Salem Covenant of 1629. Mather's description of the founding of the first Massachusetts-Bay church, included in chapter 4, Book I, of Magnalia, illumines the New England church body-politic, the serious resolve of Puritan faith, and the concept of covenant in general. <br />
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The oneness of church body and political body is striking: the church community was simultaneously the political community, for church membership was required for civic participation. Church membership afterwards depended on the covenant: Persons who were either not present or not able to consent to the original covenant were admitted by "Publickly and Personally own[ing] the Covenant," an act which Mather says can be done in diverse ways. An Enlarged Covenant of 1636 accounted for increasing number of settlers who were not church members.<br />
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In 1629, records Mather, the people of Salem "resolved to begin their Plantation with calling on the Name of the Lord." Interestingly, the Salem leaders sought practical advice from the church at Plymouth. Apparently, the two plantations considered themselves "Brethren" and worked in tandem. They appointed a day of fasting and prayer for three interrelated purposes: "the settling of a Church-State," "making a Confession of their Faith," and "entering into a Holy Covenant, whereby that Church-State was formed." The formation of their church/civil government was a spiritual act, performed before God and with His guidance. Their agreement with each other was not a simple contract, but a covenant in which GOD was a party.<br />
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Looked at from the Puritan perspective, the magnitude of this agreement takes my breath away! A binding agreement with fellow erring humans is not the same as one with the Holy God. They were promising obedience to the Almighty, and they were fully, solemnly aware of His presence. Salem residents saw God as savior and Father of their people and, at the same time, as the awe-inspiring, holy deity. The result of their faith is this beautiful covenant.<br />
<blockquote><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">We covenant with our Lord, and one with another; and we do bind our selves in the presence of God, to walk together in all his ways, according as he is pleased to reveal himself unto us in his blessed word of truth; and do explicitly, in the name and fear of God, profess and protest to walk as followeth, through the power and grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ.</span></span> </blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">We avouch the Lord to be our God, and our selves to be his people, in the truth and simplicity of our spirits. We give our selves to the Lord Jesus Christ, and the word of his grace for the teaching, ruling and sanctifying of us in matters of worship and conversion, resolving to cleave unto him alone for life and glory, and to reject all contrary ways, canons, and constitutions of men in his worship.</span></span> </blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">We promise to walk with our brethren, with all watchfulness and tenderness, avoiding jealousies and suspicions, back-bitings, censurings, provokings, secret risings of spirit against them; but in all offences to follow the rule of our Lord Jesus, and to bear and forbear, give and forgive, as he hath taught us.</span></span> </blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In public or private, we will willingly do nothing to the offence of the church; but willing to take advice for our selves and ours, as occasion shall be presented.</span></span> </blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">We will not in the congregation be forward either to show our own gifts and parts in speaking or scrupling, or there discover the weakness or failings of our brethren; but attend an orderly call thereunto, knowing how much the Lord may be dishonoured, and his gospel, and the profession of it, slighted by our distempers and weaknesses in publick.</span></span> </blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> We bind our selves to study the advancement of the gospel in all truth and peace; both in regard of those that are within or without; no way slighting our sister churches, but using their counsel, as need shall be; not laying a stumbling-block before any, no, not the Indians, whose good we desire to promote; and so to converse, as we may avoid the very appearance of evil.</span></span> </blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">We do hereby promise to carry our selves in all lawful obedience to those that are over us, in Church or Commonwealth, knowing how well pleasing it will be to the Lord, that they should have encouragement in their places, by our not grieving their spirits through our irregularities.</span></span> </blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> We resolve to approve our selves to the Lord in our particular callings; shunning idleness as the bane of any stake; nor will we deal hardly or oppressingly with any, wherein we are the Lord's stewards.</span></span> </blockquote><blockquote><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Promising also unto our best ability to teach our children and servants the knowledge of God, and of His Will, that they may serve Him also; and all this not by any strength of our own, but by the Lord Jesus Christ; whose blood we desire may sprinkle this our Covenant made in his name. </span></span></blockquote> In conclusion, I'll add a connection to self-examination. When I studied sermons, preachers continually exhorted people to examine their souls, and I began to gather an understanding of how self-examination is done: it depends heavily on evaluating based on the past, I said. Well, here in Magnalia we have another example of self-examination through public means. A form of self-examination is measuring oneself against a defined covenant. Mather notes that the Salem covenant was afterwards read often by the church, and they "renewed the Consent of their Souls unto every Article in it," especially on "Days of Humiliation."Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971674088814672391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7234314881468242887.post-85709946317180714472010-03-20T18:51:00.000-07:002010-03-20T18:51:42.649-07:00In RemembranceThe American Puritan leaders were continually aware of the importance of memory to the success of their endeavor and to the people's spiritual health. They had to remember where their fathers came from, why they came, God's gracious providences, and the consequences of disobedience. Remembrance would develop in each new generation the correct sense of identity, thus propagating the pure, upright commonwealth originally envisioned. Through its role in self-examination, remembrance purifies the heart of each individual. Further, memory prompts thanksgiving, which is God's proper due.<br />
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Stirring the memory, then, was a prominent purpose of the various forms of Puritan communication. How else would the people remember, unless through words? Where would they hear the words, unless from the pulpit or in forms appropriate for home and school reading? As in the sermons, we see a focus on multi-generational memory in the Magnalia. <br />
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In fact, Mather's Magnalia is itself a spiritual memorial, or, using Biblical terminology, an "Ebenezer." This comes from Samuel's actions after an Israelite victory recorded in the book of I Samuel. As a memorial to God, Samuel set up a stone and called it "Ebenezer," saying "Hitherto the Lord hath helped us."<br />
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Mather ends Book I of Magnalia with a sermon called "The Bostonian Ebenezer," which he sets up as a "stone" of remembrance for the town of Boston, saying "That a people whom the God of Heaven hath remarkably helped in their Distresses, ought greatly and gratefully to acknowledge what help of Heaven they have received." In this wonderful, buoyant discourse, Mather exhorts Bostonians to give glory to God in the Lord Jesus Christ, particularly for Christ's sacrifice which "purchased for us all our help" and for the ministry of angels. He encourages hope and piety among all the people.<br />
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He then enters directly into jeremiad form, based on another Biblical usage of a stone, in Joshua 24. Joshua and the people had just renewed their covenant with God, so Joshua "took a great stone, and set it up....And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the Lord which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God."<br />
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Through this Bostonian sermon- and through the Magnalia as a whole- Mather sets up a "great stone" that unites the functions of the two Biblical stones. The written words both memorialize God's goodness and serves as a witness against the actions of future generations in the covenant.Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971674088814672391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7234314881468242887.post-20422298330839404862010-03-14T09:34:00.000-07:002010-03-14T09:34:22.965-07:00A Light in the DarknessAnother account of why the Puritans went to America...<br />
In the introduction to Magnalia, Mather sets the Puritan errand in the context of the Protestant Reformation. He places the New Englanders in a line of sincere reformers and martyrs persecuted by Catholics and Anglicans; these believers wished to reform the Reformation itself. They desired and petitioned to be accepted by the Church of England, but at last, "Multitudes of Pious, Peaceable Protestants, were driven, by their Severities, to leave their Native Country, and seek a Refuge for their Lives and Liberties, with Freedom, for the Worship of God, in a Wilderness, in the Ends of the Earth." The Puritan errand, then, was one of the many double reactions of the Reformation age. Protestants broke off from the Catholics but then splintered into various groups, each claiming to be "the truest Friends of the Reformation."<br />
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The New Englanders did not forget about the Reformation once they left Europe. Even aboard the Arbella, John Winthrop reminded his people that the world was watching, that New England should strive to be an admirable "city upon a hill," to be imitated by Protestant churches in Europe. The Magnalia is a means to lift New England to that position of prominence from which they can help purify the European Church. Mather humbly expresses his aim "to offer unto the Churches of the <i>Reformation</i>, abroad in the World, some small Memorials, that may be serviceable unto the Designs of <i>Reformation</i>, whereto, I believe, they are quickly to be awakened." The American Puritans were uniquely qualified to pose as an example for Protestant Christianity, because, as Mather claims, the Puritan faith was the closest yet to the ideal faith of the first-century Church. <br />
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He calls the American Puritans a "Light in the Darkness" that is "now to be Darted over unto the other side of the Atlantick Ocean," which recalls two specific Biblical images. First, in Revelation, "seven golden candlesticks" represent the seven early churches. Second, in Matthew 5, the "city upon a hill" phrase is part of a larger passage with a dominant metaphor of light:<br />
<blockquote>Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (5:14-16, KJV)</blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The American Puritans hoped--and Cotton Mather wrote--to set New England's candle on a candlestick to be seen by the worldwide "house" of Protestant Christianity, for a pure Reformation and the glory of God.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCrkTZfv4WPUAGZSbNKxPU-0JTifHtQYG3qrevAHoG_hLyjDLttdY5Nj5NHLrMKax0jGS_gysSQVdYfrmFlQznbCyt9ooUPGTJqu16IJGglYK9aa0LFjHcGDLOItZ3evs2UiMmuLmiiFw/s1600-h/Bugia_candlestick.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCrkTZfv4WPUAGZSbNKxPU-0JTifHtQYG3qrevAHoG_hLyjDLttdY5Nj5NHLrMKax0jGS_gysSQVdYfrmFlQznbCyt9ooUPGTJqu16IJGglYK9aa0LFjHcGDLOItZ3evs2UiMmuLmiiFw/s320/Bugia_candlestick.jpg" /></a></div>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971674088814672391noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7234314881468242887.post-80337550696299358612010-03-13T08:18:00.000-08:002010-03-13T08:18:20.039-08:00Praise for the MagnaliaJust for fun, here are some excerpts from the Magnalia's prefatory poems. Same idea as a book jacket with reviews from NY Times or well-known authors! <br />
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...such a <i>Scribe</i> as <i>COTTON MATHER</i>;<br />
Whose Piety, whose Pains, and peerless Pen,<br />
Revives <i>New-England</i>'s nigh-lost Origin....<br />
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His <i>Pen</i> was taken from some <i>Bird of Light</i>,<br />
Addicted to a swift and lofty Flight.<br />
Dearly it loves <i>Art, Air</i>, and <i>Eloquence,</i><br />
And hates <i>Confinement</i>, save to <i>Truth</i> and <i>Sense</i>.<br />
-Nicholas Noyes, Teacher of the Church at Salem<br />
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Thus led by secret sweetest Influence,<br />
You make Returns to God's good Providence:<br />
Recording how that mighty Hand was nigh,<br />
To Trace out Paths not known to mortal Eye,<br />
To those brave Men, that to this Land came o'er,<br />
And plac'd them safe on the <i>Atlantick Shore</i>:<br />
And how the same Hand did them after save,<br />
And say, Return, oft on the Brink o'th' Grave;<br />
And gave them room to spread, and bless'd their Root,<br />
Whence, hung with Fruit, now many Branches shoot.<br />
-Timothy Woodbridge, Minister of Hartford<br />
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Immortal Mather! 'tis thy page alone<br />
To Old World minds makes New World wonders known;<br />
And while the solid Earth shall firm remain,<br />
New World and Old World shall thy praise retain.<br />
-Henry Selijns, Pastor of a Dutch Reformed Church at New York (trans. from Latin)<br />
<blockquote></blockquote>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17971674088814672391noreply@blogger.com3