Today In Class

My history professor continued to expound on the Puritans of New England.

The first words of modernity were uttered by Rene Descartes, "Cogito Ergo Sum," which are translated as, "I think, therefore, I am." The emergence of the individual was commenced. Europe's new market economy produced a renaissance that produced a reformation. Martin Luther individualized Catholic doctrines for salvation, and then John Calvin reformed the Church with an emphasis on faith over works and predestination. The Puritans' theology was reformed, meaning that they believed the scriptures validate Calvinism.

Once the Puritans immigrated to New England in the Americas, they set up colonies. Their Calvinism set up their world view in the Americas as they tried to create a model Christian colony. It perpetrated and governed lawful recreation, education, food, time, housing, family, marriage, gender, sex, child rearing, age, death, religious practice, wealth, dress, and mood. The paradox of the Puritans was in their individual salvation within a community. Their families were set up as individual commonwealths that reflected the larger community. Puritans played sports for a number of reasons, one of them being to build bonds with others. One purpose in the gatherings on Sundays was to strengthen the bonds of the community during worship. In the midst of community accountability and a strong community bond, the Puritans taught individual salvation. Each person had to with go a rigorous self-examination to see if they were elect, to find if they were producing the fruits of the righteousness, and it was solely individualized!

I thought this worldview was very interesting, and I see a number of ways that I would like to raise a family in the Puritans' way. Some of their views have evolved into extreme views held as average for today---especially the individual society here in the U.S.