Jonathon Edwards: Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

      This sermon was given by Jonathon Edwards in Enfield, Connecticut on Sunday July 8, 1741. It was put into the book The Works of Jonathon Edwards(1829-30), vol. 7, edited by Sereno E. Dwight. Jonathon Edwards was born in East Windsor, Connecticut in 1703. Edwards was known as the "Pope of Connecticut Valley". Jonathon Edwards graduated from Yale College in 1720. He succeeded Solomon Stoddard in 1729 as a pastor, after Stoddard died. Edwards was known for his many brilliant sermons that he gave in his home church, which continually grew because of those sermons. In 1734 the Great Awakening occurred. This was when many people were converted to Christianity. Edwards taught many new believers at this time. He taught by his experiences and his knowledge to lead great sermons.

         One of these sermons is know as "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God". Edwards starts off his sermon by explaining Deuteronomy 32:35. This verse says "Their foot shall slide in due time". This is he explains is the possibly meaning the fall of the Israelites. Edwards does a good job of explaining a deeper meaning in this sermon. He takes about how they are the downfall of themselves. That if man walks a slippery path they will fall on their own. Edwards explains the power of God. He states " There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God." Edwards is a knowledgeable about the Bible. One excerpt I really like from this sermon is when Edwards says "What are we, that we should stand before Him, at whose rebuke the earth trembles, and before whom the rocks are thrown down?" The people like what he says in his sermons because of his word choice.

      Later in his sermon Edwards begins to replace the word "they", meaning the Israelites, with the word "you". This is referring to the people of Enfield, Connecticut, in the congregation. his words are so powerful to the people. These people in the congregation got very emotional that day. At a point in his sermon he say "O Sinner". How would it feel to be in that congregation and be called a sinner, knowing it was true? Edwards taught that God punishes people for their actions, whether they be good or bad. Edwards begins to close his sermons by telling them to run to God. That now is the time to ask God for forgiveness of their actions, and ask God to wash them of their sins. Edwards tells the people to never leave this season of happiness that they can be in if the are forgiven. Edwards had so much power in his words because this is what the people needed to hear at the time. Edwards teachings can help everyone, even in the world today.

Roger Williams From The Bloody Tenet of Persecution, for Cause of Conscience, in a Conference between Truth and Peace

          The text is from The Writings of Roger Williams, vol.3 (1866-1874). This excerpt was written by Williams when he was in London trying to get a patent for Providence Plantation in Rhode Island. Williams was a separatist minister and had an education at Cambridge University in 1627. Between then and 1629 he became a chaplain at Otis in the county of Essex to Sir William Masham. It was in this work when Williams' ideas of church reform started to grow. He said that it was years later when Archbishop Laud compelled him "out of this land" (193). This was likely due to Laud's requirement for all clerics to give an oath of loyalty to the Church of England. As well as that, Williams refused a call to minister at the First Church of Boston, shortly after his arrival in America, because he felt that the people there were not separatist enough and he could not officiate to anyone who was this way. In fact, Williams believed that a majority of the people in Plymouth and the Massachusetts Bay Colony were not separatist enough. This is his reason for writing a letter to Plymouth colony, in which he points out his main concerns towards the Puritans and the king himself.  

            In this letter that Williams wrote to Plymouth, he addressed the main problems he has concerning King Charles and the Plymouth Bay Colony. Mainly, Williams is calling out the king on whether or not he has the right to give away this land that the Narragansetts are settled on. He claims that King Charles is giving royal charters that give away land the king does not own. Williams is interested in how the English settlers are going to deal with the natives who are already occupying this land that the king has been giving away. He believes that this is unjust and illegal to do so. Williams then moves on to write a letter to the town of Providence in which he explains that he does not believe in "an infinite liberty of conscience." He believes that this idea is unchecked and crooked. To delve into his explanation, he uses a metaphor of a ship. Williams sets up the metaphor where the ship is filled with "many hundred souls" who all share similar happiness and sadness in a realistic view of society. The ship is filled with Catholics, Protestants, Jews, people of the Islamic religion, and basically any religion that could be represented. Williams pulls into question what the captain has the right to control and what he would not have the right to control. He believes that the captain should control the common laws and orders put in place to maintain the ship and its journey, but should not have the right to order the people of the ship to follow his own personal religious beliefs. In this metaphor, the ship is in place of the State and its involvement with forcing its people to worship a religion and belief that they have no right enforce. Williams is explaining one of the first ideas of the separation of church and state. He holds just as much importance to civil laws and liberties as he does to religious liberties. He believes that the government should focus on making and enforcing laws that are in no way enforced with someone's religious beliefs. He explains how the practice of one's conscience cannot be compelled, and the fact that if you don't believe what the State is forcing people to practice, then there's absolutely no value in it.                    

            This excerpt plays a role in John Winthrop's journals A Model of Christian Charity When this letter was seen by the governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, he immediately intervened because he saw it as one of his subjects "rocking the boat". The ministers of Mass. Bay Colony also examined his letter and came to the conclusion that Williams was very presumptuous due to his lack of title and completely in error within his claims. They then sent for someone to arrest Williams and have him shipped back to Boston, but when they arrived at his livings, Williams had already fled three days prior to a place that was unknown to them. Williams' letter to Plymouth completely violated the Puritan's important belief of a covenant where the group's welfare trumps the individual's. This letter that Williams has written to Plymouth led to the first colony that enforced the separation of church and state, which was Providence Plantation in Rhode Island. There, the first Baptist church was founded and many different peoples from all sorts of religions came seeking this new religious freedom. This letter essentially paved the way for the separation of church and state. I would say that by understanding Williams and his beliefs of how society should function, you would also be understanding the roots of America's religious freedom. 

References  

Baym, Nina, Jerome Klinkowitz, and Patricia B. Wallace. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Julia Reidhead. 8th ed. Vol. A. New York: W.W. Norton, 2007. Print.

A Model of Christian Charity by John Winthrop and Excerpts from The Journal of John Winthrop

A Model of Christian Charity by John Winthrop and Excerpts from The Journal of John Winthrop

Main Blog Post by Kaylyn Fairchild

The text written by John Winthrop titled A Model of Christian Charity was published in 1838 by the Massachusetts Historical Society, according to The Norton Anthology: American Literature edited by Nina Baym and Robert Levine (166). The original manuscript was lost somewhere along the way, but a copy was found and later published. Winthrop was born in England, and grew up with good social and economic standing from growing up on a wealthy farm, raised by a lawyer—his father—and a tradesman’s daughter—his mother. When in college at Cambridge University, his faith was exposed to Puritan ideas, which caused him to be solidified in his belief that the Church needed to be purified and rid itself of the beliefs it had acquired from Rome. A great depression hit England in the 1620s, and that coupled with Charles I—a known Roman Catholicism sympathizer with little regard for Puritans—taking the throne, pushed Winthrop along with a group of Puritans to request permission to emigrate, which the group was granted in March of 1629. For the most of twenty-years Winthrop was elected Governor, starting in October of 1629. No one is sure of when Winthrop began writing his sermon, but they expect it to be sometime just before leaving England or while on his way there (Baym and Levine, 165-166). The excerpts from The Journal of John Winthrop are written during the Puritan’s time in New England and the struggled with religion they begin to face in the colony. The time that it is believed Winthrop wrote his sermon and the pieces in his journal is important because it was around the time that Puritans started to believe that God would punish England for their tainted faith, which caused the Puritans to want to start anew in an untainted land. They wished to spread the message of the Puritan faith without repercussion from Charles I, which is why they decided on emigrating to New England.

Chapter two of A Model of Christian Charity starts with Winthrop’s reasoning for leaving England and why he decided to write his sermon. He explains that the Puritans wanted to live closer to each other in order to share their love of Christ with one another. The second reason he brings up is that they wished to live somewhere under religious rule, where they could express their faith freely, and hold each other accountable for their actions. He also explains that they wish to improve their faith and relationship with the Lord and live in a community absent from evils. The next few paragraphs go on to explain their wish for a harmonious relationship with God and the way they should practice their faith in this new land (Baym and Levine, 175-177). The excerpts from The Journal of John Winthrop talk most about the problems the Puritans begin to face in regards to religion and obedience within the colony. The first person Winthrop mentions is Roger Williams. Roger Williams, who was a Separatist pastor, wrote a letter originally intended for Plymouth, explaining that he would not preach to churches that had not been separated from the Church of England. Because Williams had convinced other settlers of the same opinion, it was decided that he would be shipped back to England as soon as possible, but when they went looking for him, he had left his home before they arrived there (Baym and Levine, 178-179).

The second person Winthrop writes about is Anne Hutchinson, a woman who developed religious beliefs not aligned with Puritan views. Anne Hutchinson believed that the righteous people saved by God were already chosen, and that the people who held themselves to high moral standards and did righteous works were no sign of justification in God. She convinced many people of these beliefs, and for that the Puritans viewed her, like they viewed Roger Williams, as dangerous. There were many charges she faced: for lecturing on her faith in her home, preaching something other than free faith, preaching in contradiction to the Puritan’s view of the New Testament, etc. The court ordered the followers of Anne Hutchinson to be disarmed. Anne Hutchinson soon made her way to Roxbury, where she was again admonished for preaching her beliefs. It was not long after that Anne Hutchinson was banished. She gave birth to a child after being excommunicated. Mrs. Hutchinson’s death was upon her when she and the Dutch were killed by nearby Indians, which I believe the Puritans saw as the wrath of God showing that he was displeased with her beliefs. The final piece of reading explains that Mrs. Hutchinson’s daughter had been taken and raised by the Natives for around four years, and when she was returned, it was not of her own will (Baym and Levine, 179-186).

The sermon and journal entries written by John Winthrop display a certain mindset held by the Puritans and also show a contradiction to our general beliefs of colonists coming to America for religious freedom. The Puritans did travel here for religious freedom, yes, but it was the freedom to practice the Puritan religion and nothing else. Any belief you held in contradiction to what the Puritans believed could have you excommunicated from the colony. Another thing I think the text displays is the Puritans wish for a community united together by their faith in God and when people began developing different beliefs, if something bad happened to them, the Puritans viewed it as God showing his displeasure at their actions. I believe that is why Winthrop writes so much about the circumstances of Anne Hutchinson. He explains all of these opinions she holds in contradiction to their faith, and then explains the horrible circumstances of her death. He also mentions what happens to her daughter, and considering people of the time viewed Natives as “savages”, it is possible that he saw her daughter being raised by such “savage” peoples was punishment from God as well. In A Model of Christian Charity he speaks of the good and positive things that can come from having a pure relationship with God in a community bonded by their belief in Christ. Then in his journal entries he speaks of the people who begin to veer from the faith that the Puritans held and how they had to right these wrongs before they were spited by God. This led to the excommunication of Anne Hutchinson, who then died a violent death. So overall, I believe the text written by Winthrop has the purpose of displaying how a community should function and what they should believe religiously in order to live a long and prosperous life in the graces of God.  

Secondary Post Juet 64-67 Smith 81-99

During the reading of Smith, I noticed that Smith's personality really showed in his writing. I think this is even more interesting because most (not all) writings form the time were mostly documentation, and some can be fairly dry and hard to understand due to the dialect. That being said, Smith's attention to the native's names made the reading more difficult to understand at times, but weather he put the names in to make himself look better or because genuinely cared, it put some flavor into the writing. 

I really enjoyed reading Smith's writing because of his personality in the way he writes. I thought it was somewhat astounding that there are people that we know of today that are just as adventure and confident as he was during his time. Throughout the writing you can see him writing to an audience as opposed to Juet who seemed to be writing more to himself in a sort of log or journal fashion. Smith is very clearly trying to make his mark on history, which he did. He really tries to paint himself in the best light, which I think most of us might do to some extent if there was a possibility of it being read throughout history. He paints himself as this noble, fearless, and amazing adventurer. He doesn't write too much about the other men on the voyage and if he does he didn't try to make them any better than himself.  

Once I was finished reading, I had to think about how much of history has been altered for these reasons. The reason we read these writings from so long ago are because they preserve history in a personal fashion. It's as close as you can get to jumping into the mind of Smith for a moment to see what his experience was. But I think it's important to note that much of history, no matter how well documented is up for interpretation. The people writing, translating, and publishing these works have free will to take out and put in whatever they please so when reading historical literature, we should be mindful of the possible distortions in history.