Question

Explain the essential features of Puritan theology and its continuing influence in America.

Answer 1

• American Puritanism originated from a movement for reform in the Church of England, which had a profound influence on social, political, ethical, and theological ideas of the Americans.The forming of American individualism and democratic thoughts were, obviously, influenced by Puritanism in New England. It also shaped American people’s national character of being hard-working and thrifty, and made them bear a strong sense of mission. Moreover, Puritanism rendered Americans devoted to popular education.
• Key puritan features and values include:
• Godly people were sober, hardworking, and responsible. English society had been corrupted by foreign influences and by disorder and needed to be purified.
• Catholicism had undermined the relationship between God and the individual
• Election & predestination – God chooses who is saved and who is damned. No one can earn salvation through works.Yet the saints are responsible for their actions.
• The congregation of saints chooses its members, hires and fires its ministers, and recognizes no other religious authority.
• Worship should be plain, lack mystery, and be focused on God, No stained glass, instrumental music, or art.
• Much value of education
• Intolerance – error must be opposed and driven out
• The belief in predestination differentiated Puritans from other Christians. To Puritans, belief in Jesus and participation in the sacraments could not alone fulfill one’s salvation; one cannot choose salvation, because that is the privilege of God alone. All features of salvation are determined by God’s sovereignty, including choosing those who will be saved and those who will receive God’s irresistible grace.
• Many of the mainstream values in the U.S. such as individualism, egalitarianism, optimism, can find their origin in Puritanism of colonial periods.
• The Puritans were important people who created a basis of what America consists of today.
  Within a democracy, there is not a simply majority, nor does one person control all Americans’ lives. The importance of education is traced back to the Puritans and their belief in being able to read and write.
• They were able to create the first schools in America, some which are still running today.
  Their religious views have allowed Americans to expand their knowledge about God and
  create a diverse religious culture among themselves.Puritan work ethic remains a model of American work ethic and it became a staple of American idealism.
• Work habits of today's Americans reflect so-called Protestant work ethic.Their dedication to self reliance led to the rise of a capitalist America.
• There is an ingrained notion still held by many conservatives even today that material prosperity in life inevitably follows from hard-work, self-discipline and righteous Christian values,poverty is seen as evidence that these qualities are lacking. So by that logic the poor are to some extent to blame for their own poverty.This emphasis on the individual's responsibility for his own salvation is peculiarly Puritanical and completely ignore systemic or institutionalized conditions that may make rising out of poverty implausible.
• Also America's cultural discomfort around sexuality and depictions of it is very Puritanical.The entire notion that morality can and should be legislated is rather Puritanical as well.