Religion played really of import functions in the lives of the Puritans and Benjamin Franklin. They both had differing thoughts about faith, God, and human nature, but all in all, these thoughts affected them the same manner. At the nucleus, all faiths have the same basic rules such as being righteous, being sort, and being good to others. These rules help us do determinations, comfort us through adversity, and direct us in our mundane life. It is the manner these faiths are followed, how their rules are taught, and which 1s may or may non be enforced, that is different. The differences between the impressions of Benjamin Franklin and the Puritans about God and human nature can be portrayed the same manner. The footing of their spiritual beliefs is the same because both the Puritans and Benjamin Franklin believed that faith served as a moral compass for human existences to follow but their positions on those single moral ideals differed. Some of their beliefs about human life were the same but their positions on God, human nature, how worlds interacted, and what they were capable of were all different.
The Puritans, on the other manus, entirely relied on specific regulations, ordinances, and rules to steer their mundane lives. They believed that adult male could non be trusted and needed to be controlled by a higher power, by God and his Torahs. John Winthrop discusses how adult male has two types of autonomy: natural and civil or federal. Natural autonomy is fundamentally free will, which he considers to be evil and a “ great enemy of truth and peace, ” ( Winthrop, 1 ) . This natural freedom goes against all signifiers of authorization, and God ‘s Torahs strive to incorporate it and power over it. He compares a adult male who has this autonomy to a wild animal stating that “ this autonomy makes work forces turn more evil and in clip to be worse than beast beastsaˆ¦ ” ( Winthrop, 1 ) . The lone manner to maintain this autonomy under control is by holding spiritual ideals and following God ‘s Torahs, which is the 2nd of autonomy. He explains this autonomy as a moral autonomy, profound relationship between God and adult male. “ This autonomy is the proper terminal and object of authorization and can non exist without it ; and it is a autonomy to that merely which is good, merely, and honest, ” ( Winthrop, 1 ) . He besides describes this relationship with God as the sort of relationship a married woman may hold with her hubby. She shall make as he wishes ; she shall obey his determinations and his waies, and listen to anything and everything he says.
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One of Franklin ‘s inexorable beliefs was that since God is perceived as all-good and almighty, the whole universe has to be every bit good as He is and how He made it. Free will and evil can non be existent, and that there was no difference between good and evil. He thought that people should understand that making good things have positive reactions while making bad things had negative reactions, and everyone should be able to accomplish good while denouncing the bad. “ This persuasion [ that good behaviour was good in itself and bad behaviour harmful in itself ] , with the sort manus of Providence, or some guardian angel, or inadvertent favourable fortunes and state of affairss, or all together, preserved me, thro ‘ this unsafe clip of young person, and risky state of affairss I was sometimes in among strangersaˆ¦ ” ( Franklin, 9 ) . Therefore, he thought that human existences should follow this dogma all the clip, irrespective of what structured faith may state you or what a sermonizer may state. One should follow it without fright of snake pit or wickedness or any other signifier of God ‘s penalty, merely because it was the right thing to make. The Puritans did non believe this manner. Their ground for being good, making good, following Torahs, and holding good ethical motives was to delight God, to non perpetrate wickednesss, and finally travel to heaven. They behaved this manner for fright of what sort of requital they may confront upon their decease, in the face of God. Dane shows this when he talks about happening a piece of gold in the liner of a brace of bloomerss he was orienting. He went back and Forth on whether he should maintain the coin or give it back to the proprietor, foremost taking it and seting it off, so conveying it back out and in the terminal, giving it to his male parent who gave it back to the adult male. Subsequently on his life, he contemplates killing himself because he believes he has lived in great wickedness therefore he was populating against God ‘s will. “ Many problems I passed through, and found in my bosom that I could non function God as I should. What they were, were excessively boring to advert, ” ( Dane, 6 ) .
Last, there are several similarities between the ideals of the Puritans and Benjamin Franklin. Due to his Puritan background, he shared and felt that many Puritan values were of great importance in society. He maintained these values good into his maturity, transporting with him in his day-to-day lifestyle picks and waies. These values included his dedication to societal equality, instruction, industry, honestness, charity, community, and abstention from intoxicant and other morally corrupt activities. The Puritans felt really strongly about the instruction of their kids. It was the first clip history that instruction chances were given for free to kids of all ages. John Dane proclaims that “ aˆ¦when I was a small male child, being educated under reverent parents, my scruples was really disposed to state me of immoralities that I should non make, ” ( Dane, 1 ) . Franklin besides expresses his involvement, “ my early preparedness in larning to read ( which must hold been really early, as I do non retrieve when I could non read ) aˆ¦ ” ( Franklin, 2 ) . The Puritans were the first to compose books for kids, made rational progresss within the state, and believed that instruction of the coevalss to come would assist the church. They were sacredly motivated to set forth their best instruction attempts.
They both firmly felt that abstention was the best class of action where confronted with superficial trials such as intoxicant usage, other drug usage, sexual relationships before matrimony, and things of that nature. John Dane makes note of that when he talks about Woodrow Green, a topographic point he moves to after he gets married. He is surrounded by other husbandmans and beefeaters of his age, and is hesitating about what to make when the others decide to travel another adult male ‘s house to imbibe the intoxicant he brews at place. “ I dared non traverse them. For they were such blusterous chaps ; but I was in a sad melody and knew non what to make, ” ( Dane, 5 ) . He speaks to his brother in jurisprudence ‘s male parent who advises him to go forth town for some clip while he tells the adult female of the house about the state of affairs. Soon after this, one time Dane comes back, some of the other beefeaters become leery of him and endanger him to the point of demoing up to his workshop to try to kill him. Even so, Dane remains strong in his beliefs and his religion continues to persist. During his life-time, he besides encounters sexual progresss from several different adult females but he chooses to forbear from prosecuting in any illicit activities because of God ‘s will and fear of the effects that could stem from opposing it. He was remaining in an hostel in Hertford at one clip and when he went to bed at dark, he discovered a adult female in his bed. “ aˆ¦went down and asked my hostess why she would function me so. ‘Oh, ‘ said she, ‘there ‘s cipher would ache you. ‘ I told her if I hired a room I would hold to myself, and showed myself really angry, ” ( Dane, 3 ) . Franklin besides talks about non imbibing when he begins working at a printing house at Watt ‘s. “ I drank merely H2O ; the other workingmans, near 50 in figure, were great guzzlers of beer. On juncture, I carried up and down stairs a big signifier of types in each manus, when others carried but one in both custodies, ” ( Franklin, 5 ) . He knew that although all other work forces referred to beer as “ strong, ” intoxicant did non supply any kind of strength to the organic structure.
In decision, Benjamin Franklin ‘s positions and the Puritanical positions of faith, God, and the construct of human nature had huge differences, every bit good as alone similarities. They both agreed on the significance of faith in society and community. They both had the same beliefs about the importance of instruction, abstention of drugs, honestness, pureness, virtuousness, and good morality. Though, their thrust to set up these beliefs and unrecorded by them every twenty-four hours came from different beginnings. Their thoughts of human nature and what human existences had the capacity to carry through differed every bit good.
