Paper Details  
 
   

Has Bibliography
5 Pages
1175 Words

 
   
   
    Filter Topics  
 
     
   
 

Jonathan Edwards and the Puritan Mind

eternal nature. This striving almost borders on self-torture, as Edwards, towards the end of the narrative, explains that he never loses the awareness of his sin, and that awareness causes him to almost doubt his salvation (see p.185-186) and the position of his soul in regards to eternity. You will find with Edwards that along with the intense introspection and focus on piety, there is very rarely a mention of the grace of God. His faults are not seen as covered through forgiveness, but through a sense of "trying to do better next time," this is indicative of Edwards constantly comparing his spiritual state to that of a previous time in his life. Edwards' constant teeter-tottering between a state of a sensitivity and a delight in "divine things" and a state of "wickedness" in which Edwards gaze was not fixed fast upon the holiness of God, illustrates to us the kind of conflict that would exist in the minds of Puritan thinkers of the day. They would be seen as striving always to do good, yet always wondering if their good was good enough, and living in condemnation every moment that their mind was not entertaining thoughts of eternal bliss and the holiness of God.If Edwards were our only key to understanding the Puritan mind, we would see that Puritan work ethic was not a high priority (which is far from the truth), Edwards proves to be a bad example in the high priority that Puritans placed upon work. Within these three writings of Jonathan Edwards we see him engaging in relaxation, pondering over the significance of nature, and engaging in thought on various issues, which are areas in which the Puritans do not normally pride themselves (see Max Weber's work on Capitalism and the Protestant Ethic).Also, using Edwards as a base of understanding, one could see that Puritan thought is concerned more with the idea of doing than being. In the present era of Protestantism the church's focus has been on what the believer's position and...

< Prev Page 2 of 5 Next >

    More on Jonathan Edwards and the Puritan Mind...

    Loading...
 
Copyright © 1999 - 2024 CollegeTermPapers.com. All Rights Reserved. DMCA