The Puritan And Deist Doctrines

The puritan And Deist DoctrinesM both Ameri slews and historians abroad consider The United States founding and independence to be closely associated with religious reasons and purposes. This is true of course, save Protestant and puritan ideologies were non the simply things affecting the newborn countrys independence in 1776. trance most of its Founding Fathers were of the Puritan credit and background, some(prenominal) of its key revolutionaries were in fact of a different, often overlooked, religion free thought. These faiths did not often discord while on the subject of founding a country, only they for certain did when the notions of theology and benevolent character were concerned. unmatched avid Deist, Benjamin Franklin, repented from Puritanism to Deism and wrote several pieces on his religion. Puritans such as canful Winthrop and Michael Wigglesworth also wrote of their faith and how it affected their daily lives and figureing. Puritans and Deists had ratt ling different tantrums on the nature of paragon, humans nature and its origins, and the relationship among the two.One major difference between the Puritan and Deist doctrines was that of the Character (or nature) of matinee idol. For the Deists, they believed that idol was each(prenominal)-wise, all told- wide-cut, all powerful (Franklin, 26). One major reason Deists believed and developed this fundamental doctrine was the utilize of exact thinking or reason. Benjamin Franklin, the major Deist this paper willing discuss, had a clear reproducible thinking path from which he seldom deviated. This logical thinking led him while a teenager to cease Puritan beliefs. As a boy who sought k directledge in books, he found some who led him to believe in a different divinity, 1 who was a Universal idol, and not average a Christian God. He wrote A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, delectation and Pain, in which he laid out a step-by-step logical argument of why God was good and why diabolic did not exist I. there is said to be a First Mover, who is called GOD, manufacturer of the Universe. II. He is said to be all-wise, all-good, all powerful. III. If He is all-good, whatsoever He doth must be good. V. what He God consents to must be good, because He is good therefore Evil doth not exist (Franklin, 26). Franklin goes on to read that everything God does can only be, and will only be good and that evil, which does not exist, cannot be permitted by God if it did exist But this God permitting evil for a wise end Objection destroys itself for whatever an infinitely good God hath wise Ends in suffering to be, must be good, is thereby make good, and cannot be some otherwise (Franklin, 26-27). Franklin would later on slightly recant this liking, give tongue to that his doctrine of no evil was not very useful (Franklin, 29). Franklins God was universal, the epitome and definition of good, and could not create or tolerate any kind of evil.While Frank lin was convinced that the nature of his God was nothing but good, the Puritans believed something quite the contrary. The Puritan beliefs of God can be seen in belles-lettres and historical accounts they wrote and viewed the nature of God as vengeful and wrothful- a foreshadow of justice and punishment. Michael Wigglesworth, who authored the then famous poem, The Day of Doom, wrote that the Son of God came to pass judgment both Quick and Dead (Wigglesworth, 3) on the Day of Judgment. In his poem, Wigglesworth implies that only a few will escape (by grace) the wrath and be linked with God, the rest being doomed to eternal judgment and torment in Hell. (This idea of predetermination will be discussed in detail later.) tin Dane, another Puritan, symbolically attributed Gods wrath to two separate occasions with a bee sting, which symbolized Danes netherworld and Christ on the cross. it struck my finger, and water and blood symbolizing the crucifixion of Christ came out of itGo d would find me out (Dane, 9). However, the Puritans did not believe God was completely bad, since they wrote of his loving care and providence in times of contend and spiritual weakness. In her memoirs, Mary Rowlandson recognized Gods blessings through her incarceration. She considers the attack and captivity to be Gods punishment, but also sees his protection and help through her excerption the wonderful goodness of God to me, in preserving me so that I did not use wicked and violent meat to end my own miserable intent (Rowlandson, 16). The Puritans view of the nature of God is almost like that of a bipolar father, providing for his children when they most need it, but having indignation for any small error. exchangeable to his view on God, Franklins view on human nature was that all humans were the incarnation of God created by God. According to Franklins doctrinal logic, since God is good, all of His creations must be basically good basically we do not have a sin nature (or inheritance) at birth. If a brute is made by God, it must depend upon God, and receive all its Power from Himbecause He is Good therefore a Creature can do nothing but what is good (Franklin, 27). Franklin goes on to refute the idea of concentrating on an afterlife. He argues that because our bodies will experience Pleasure and Pain (complete opposites) in equal amounts in this life, there is no point to having an afterlife, or being able to recall a previous life. But since Pain of course and infallibly produces a Pleasure in proportion to it, every individual Creature must, in any State of Life, have an equal Quantity of each, so that there is not, on that Account, any Occasion for a future adjustment afterlife (Franklin, 28). (This belief is direct contrast with the Puritan thinking that this life is a time of punishment that will soon end with constant recreation in union with God, if we should be so fortunate to receive Gods grace.)Deists and Puritans had very different vie ws on human nature. For the Puritans, human nature was wretched and unreformable through good works. For Franklin, humans are good and capable of improvement. He said that life is worthless without improvement. This improvement, or practice of virtues, was an integral sign of Franklins daily routine. He concentrated on the practice and retrospect of virtues not only to try to achieve moral perfection, but also to amend himself financially I from thence considered industry a Franklin virtue as a means of obtaining wealth and distinction (Franklin, 32). But for the Puritans, human nature was a sin nature, inherited from Adam, and passed down unbroken from generation to generation we had no bump of starting with a clean slate, it was already tainted. The Massachusetts Governor John Winthrop made this very clear to his audience in 1645 our nature is now corrupt (because all peck are sinners)our nature is common to man with beasts and other creatures (Winthrop, 1). The puritans be lieved strongly, as Wigglesworth explain in The Day of Doom, that all humans were merit of Hell. They thought of Hell not as their punishment from God, but as their punishment for sin nature, and they thought Gods grace to save some as an unnecessary mercy. Opposite of this belief, Franklin believed that humans were able to achieve a bust moral standard. Eventually Franklin even resorted to daily prayer, although Catholic in nature. He thought it right and necessary to solicit his assistance for obtaining it wisdom to this end I formed the following little prayer (Franklin, 34).Contradictory to the Deist view of human nature, the Puritans thought life could not get breach, and the doctrine of predestination did not help their morale either. They strongly believed in predestination, the belief that God already knew and commanded that some souls would perish (even the infantile or mentally incapacitated) and some souls would be saved humans had no choice in the matter. There was n o hope God commanded sin and damnation. Salvation was not merit-based, but your bad works would damn you (Wigglesworth, 4). John Dane thought of his nature as being so bad that to end his life he did not, fortunately would be better than to continue living in sin I ought of two evils to make out the least and that it was a greater evil to live and to sin against God than to kill myself (Dane, 11). Franklin, however, invented many things throughout his life solely for the betterment of mankind, just as he thought a persons life could be improved. He reflected on his attempt at individual perfection I wasa better and a happier man than I otherwise should have been if I had not attempted it (Franklin, 34). For Franklin, the human nature could use a stress up, but was not flawed from conception and things could only get better. The Puritans saying only a lose-lose situation, for all of their efforts of attaining merit were forfeit living was infract and sin is our nature.The Purit ans and Deists also had very different views on the relationship between God and human nature. For the Puritans, it was a cycle of wrath and punishment. God was wroth because the creation he made, mankind, became tainted and flagitious through inherited sinful nature. Thomas Shepard, an English minister, said that the human heart (nature) was full of atheism, sodomy, blasphemy, murder, whoredom, adultery, witchcraft, sodomyYour best duties are tainted, poisoned, mingled with some sin, and therefore are most detestable in the eyes of a holy God (Wigglesworth, 4). Since the Puritans believed in this type of sin nature, of course it made sense that their holy God would emergency to punish and rid them of such bad behavior God was wrathful because of their sin. Deists also believed in a cyclic sort of relationship between God and human nature, but their cycle ran the opposite route. They believed human nature was basically good because a good God created it. It was like a skilled watchmaker letting his work shine without his constant hustling eye and tiny tools he (the watchmaker) was good, therefore his good work did not need constant assistance it could be released as a well-oiled machine. aft(prenominal) viewing the evidence and doctrines of Deist and Puritan views, it is very perplexing to think that such differences could lead to a declaration of independence and constitution, both with a religious backdrop. The Puritans believed in a wrathful God who punished people for their flawed human nature that He created and encouraged (sin caused by God). On the contrary, the Deists believed in an all-good God who let his good creations with a good human nature be out from under His constant control. But we notice that even through these differences the men on both sides remained mostly civilian and friendly to each other. For instance, Benjamin Franklin was a good friend of George Whitfield. He gave to his ministries on several occasions and vouched for hi s character even though they had no religious connection (Franklin, 40). However civil they might have been to one another, we still can clearly see that Puritans and Deists had very different views on the nature of God, human nature, and their relationship.