s made. Reverend Hale reiterates upon this when he says to Proctor ...remember, until an hour before the Devil fell, God thought him beautiful in Heaven.(Miller 68)The Puritans second belief is that of Theocracy. Theocracy is the belief in a government that is totally controlled by the church. If a person was not a member of the church, they could not vote in elections or hold offices. The ministers were the main officers and administrators of the civil government. If a person does not know the beliefs or rules of the church they become a suspect of many things. The church was very powerful and held most of its authority.The Puritans had a strict view of sin and they thought that everyone was constantly tempted by the Devil to sin. They also believed that once someone did sin they must openly confess, then repent and finally do some sort of penance. Without this open confession, there would be way for that person to be saved.Many people are ready to confess in The Crucible because they know that they will be forgiven. Without that confession they stand the chance of being hanged. For fear of punishment, and the irrationality of the Puritans, this led to many false confessions (Cliffs Notes 44). This situation is summed up best by Walter J. Meserve when he states, Lies always lead to confusion; lies juxtaposed to confessions may make that line between folly and wisdom even more indistinct. (129)Belief in witches, at this time, was wide spread in both America and in Europe. During this time thousands of people were executed. The biggest problem was how to identify a witch.The Puritans eagerly accepted the ideas of witches existing in any society. This was a result of their complete acceptance of every word of the Bible. Because they accepted every word of the Bible as the absolute truth, debate on this issue was not allowed. A phrase that became known to almost everyone in the Puritan society was taken from Exodus 22:18, ...
