Paul Johnson.īoston flourished as a town the Puritans built from scratch. A society, which to that extent, had a democratic element from the start. In a sense, the clergy were the first elected officials of the new American society. This model stressed self-government for each congregation. In America, they chose to adopt the congregational model. Cotton Mather.Īlthough initially the Puritans were technically members of the Church of England, which has a rule by Bishop’s model. The gospel has carried with it a fullness of all other blessings. And howling wilderness in a few years became a pleasant land accommodated with the necessaries, yea, and the conveniences of humane life. Never was any plantation brought onto such a considerable mess in a space of time so inconsiderable. Speaking of New England at large, Cotton Mather would declare… Nonetheless, they viewed their efforts as being blessed by God. Many things were going against the Puritans. The shores were inhospitable as were the winters, which proved so fatal at first. That still one of their first works was to gather a church into the covenant and order of the gospel. Wherever they sat down, they were so mindful of their errand into the wilderness. It was first published in 1702 and it provides an early account of so much from that era, including his Pius ancestors. Mather, who graduated from Harvard in 1678 when he was 15, wrote hundreds of books including a large two volume set, Magnalia Christi Americana, or the great works of Christ in America. Cotton Mather was a prolific Puritan divine from whom we learned so much about their settlements. The devout men and women who settled New England, the pilgrims and then the Puritans, saw themselves as being on an errand into the wilderness, according to Reverend Cotton Mather, who lived from 1663 until 1728. And they did this in America, throughout the colonial era, and really caused the electorate to think morally and spiritually that their vote counted that they were making a decision that would determine their freedom. They would choose a minister in a local community or in a colony to actually give a sermon about the morality and character of the men that should be elected that day, or women, elected to all office. Furthermore, the Puritans implemented the practice of having election day sermons.Īn election day sermon is that on the day of the election, they would have the minister. When an election was held, the question was, which of these candidates seems to exhibit the characteristics of someone who is elect. Even the term, election, was used by the Puritans because they believed in the Calvinist doctrine of election that some were chosen by God be saved. The Puritans held the first secret ballots in America to elect their minister. Reverend John Winthrop’s settlement of Boston in 1630 was the first major wave of Puritans to come to America. But after a while, persecution against them in England was so strong, many of them took the opportunity to create a new life in the new world, which was just beginning to open up for them in New England. The Puritans were dedicated Christians who chose to remain within the church of England to work for its purity, hence their name. Such was the case for thousands, upon thousands of Puritans from England in the 1600s who came to America. Imagine leaving your home, in some cases, your family, your home church, your livelihood in order to create a new life in a completely uncultivated land.
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