PART 1
Between Heaven and Hell
The Puritan Tradition
uritans too often have the reputation of being black-clad
moraIists setf-righteously proclaiming the values of thrift
and hard work. According to the American writer and
humorist H. L. Mencken, a Puritan is one who suspects that
"somewhere someone is having a good time." To call someone
a puritan is usually not a compliment.
This negative image, however, is based on a stereotype of the
16th-century Puritans that, like mast stereotypes, is full of halftruths and misconceptions, True, the Puritans did value hard
work and self-sacrifice, but they also honored material success.
WeaItb was considered to be the reward of a virtuous life. Some
Purirans, especially the early Pilgrims, wore severe black
clothing because that was all they had. Those who settled the
Massachusetts Bay Colony after 1630, however, were better off
financially. They could afford decorative and colorful clothingwhen they could find it in the colony, that is. These Puritans
were even known to drink beer and other alcoholic beverages
on occasion.
Puritans also valued family life, community
service, att; and literature. They wwe the
first in the' colonies to establish a
printing press, free public grammar
schools, and a college (Harvard).
Qn the other hand, the
Puritans were arrogant in
their religious faith and
completeiy intolerant of
viewpoints different from
their own. Puritans who
remained in England
k
k
Tombstone d&gn
New England
13
MYS.kreakr a d Haby Maty
(1674).unknown anin. The
Cmngcr Collccrim, NEWYork.
participated in a revolution that not only
toppled he king but had him beheaded
as well. Those who had come to North
America had even freer rein for their
beliefs. With supreme confidttlce arid
self-consciousness, they went a bout
setting up their institutions as though
not only God but the whole world were
watching. "The eyes of all people are on
us," prodaimed John Winthrop, the first
governor of tke Massachusetts Bay
Puritan Belie&
The key to the Puritan heart and soul is religious
belief. What follows is a brief explanation ofthe
Puritans' basic convictions:
ha ma^ beings are inherently mml
and so
must s m # k rn w@rmm#
tbezr sinfid
nature. This belief in original sin was one
of the fist things a Puritan child learned.
*
'In Adam's fall I We sinned all" is the
rhyme that teaches the letter A in The
NW &gland PM.
PersmI sabation d@& sobly on the
gr- of God, no# an i d W l effort.
Puritans believed in predestination, the
doctrine that only those people who are
*elected* by God are saved and go to
heaven. The only way en individual could'
know that he or she was savtd was by
directly experiencing God%grace in-a
%
religious conwrsion.
-,+-
The Bible is the supreme atcthority on eartb.
Puritans argued that h e Bible was the sole
guide not only in governing the moral and
spiritual life but a h in governing the
church and sslciecy as a whole. One effect
of this belief was to make Puriqn churches
more dcmocrati~o r g a k d around their
congregations rather-than around ruling
bishops. On the other hand, it 1
4 fie
Puritans to be more repressive in their
political systems and i o r r &tolerant of
others. For exam&*
used the Bible to
justify their occupation of the land and their
use of force against Native Americans:
'Whosoever therefore raisteth the power,
resistah the oidham+ofGod: and they that
resist shall receive w m m damnationn
(Romans13:2). En ihw the P ~ i t a n saw
s
themselves as God%
people, like the
L~ & i l t ~ r,af:
q ~ s r c .ip
q *theold Testament.,
-+
'
-
,-
1
.
A-*: