Over the class of history, many spiritual motions have been established, developed refocused and extinguished. The seventeenth century was no different. Two popular motions in Western Europe and the English Colonies in present twenty-four hours America were Puritanism and Deism in this clip period. In comparing to today ‘s society the positions and ideals for both these motions might be regarded as rather extremist but in the seventeenth century they had a significant sum of followings. Puritans are a group of utmost Protestants whose beliefs chiefly focus on the thoughts of predestination and anti-hierarchy of the church. Pre-destination is an thought in which God is believed to hold already chosen the people he wants to take into Heaven and those to be dammed to Hell.
First, the construct of God in respects to both spiritual. The construct of being of God has its similarities in both faiths. As a immature freethinker at the age of 19, Franklin wrote and printed a freethinker piece of land called a “ Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain ” in this piece of land he goes into the construct of God. He shows that Deism recognizes the being of God, the shaper of the existence. Franklin describes God as the First-Mover, an all-wise, all-good and almighty being ( Franklin, 26 ) . This is non unlike the descriptions of the Christian God in which the Puritans believe in from the Bible.
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On the other manus, there are rather a few differences in respects to both spiritual positions on God. Firstly, will be the construct of Jesus Christ. Puritans believe Jesus to be the boy of God as all Christian groups do but unlike other groups they believe he is should be the caput of the church non adult male. Deists believe Jesus to be a wise adult male ( Franklin 26 ) whose instructions should be revered and applied to the life of adult male.
Another large difference is the bible and thought of worship. Puritans like other Christian groups believe the bible to be the word of God. It is used to learn adult male the really ethical motives that God want us to achieve in order to be called his kids. However, in Deism the bible is regard as fabrications ( Franklin 26 ) and the thoughts of miracles are besides consider fiction. In the facet of worship, puritans once more like other Christian groups worship God as the Godhead and ever-loving male parent nevertheless in Deism founded on ground and observation does non execute a agency of worship therefore imputing to the belief in a god different from that of the Christian religion.
Another property of God that differs between the two motions is the construct of God ‘s love. The love of God is indispensable to the both religions, but the really views on it mostly differ. The Puritan God ‘s love is shown though the people saved from snake pit and are pre-destined to travel to Heaven nevertheless this is the same God that Judgess people to travel to hell before their birth utilizing the same construct of pre-destination. On the freethinkers side the love of God is non straight referenced but can be into included in the beliefs of the being of the goodness of God ( Franklin, 26 ) in which the freethinkers believe.
Second, the construct of human nature ; Human nature in this instance cite the construct of adult male actions and reactions in his/her present state of affairss. To the Puritans, human nature was fundamentally tag as immorality. In John Winthrop address, “ – On Political Authority and Liberty ” he classified human nature as the natural autonomy, which is bashed on to be evil and corrupt ( Winthrop 1 ) . Michael Wigglesworth, “ Day of Doom ” besides exemplifies the stance of Puritans on human nature as immorality. “ Your best responsibilities are tainted, poisoned and mingled with some wickedness and hence are most abominable in the eyes of the sanctum God ” this is sin, mentioning to the original wickedness of Adam is used to further negatively distort human nature.
The Deist thoughts on human nature seem to be wholly different. Franklin ‘s piece of land states the contrary to the ideals of the Puritans. His tract utilizations ground and logic to analyse and warrant the non-existence of immorality in human nature. The free thought mentality suggests that because God is almighty, all-wise, and all-good his plants reflect him therefore they must be all merely and good in order to corroborate his authorization as Almighty. Following this logic, if adult male is a creative activity of the Almighty God, so if we are considered one of his plants with mean that we in bend exist to be good with that our nature is therefore besides good ( Franklin 27 ) . However this leads into another inquiry sing human nature, the thought of Free-will. Both faiths circle around the same point when it comes to the facet of human nature. Deists believe free-will does n’t truly exist ; traveling back to the Deist construct of God as shown in Franklin ‘s piece of land. If adult male is made by God and therefore depends on God and receives everything in being from God so all power that adult male has must come from God and if this is true so adult male can non truly travel against God ‘s consent and this must intend adult male ‘s free-will can non be true if it is non possible to move outside the constrains of what God desires.
The Puritans construct of free-will, at a glimpse centres on it bing but does n’t truly hold value in the expansive strategy of things. If the construct of pre-destination is implied so the destiny of adult male has already been decided by God and harmonizing to Wigglesworth, “ you good responsibilities can non salvage you and your bad plants have damned you ” on a certain degree free-will is genuinely non-existent.
Last, the interaction between God and adult male ; from a position of Franklin ( Deist ) as depicted in his print, the relationship and interaction between God and adult male seemed to be more based on God as a Godhead than as a male parent unlike in Christian religion. In Franklin ‘s thesis God and adult male relationship is show as we exist and survive due to his will. In the instance of Puritans the interactions between God and adult male is to take every adversity like a approval. This rule is expressed in both plants by John Dane and Mary Rowlandson. The puritan construct expressed in these plants was that and hardship that was experienced in your life was the mark of God love ( Dane 12 ) . A good word picture is the narrative of Mary Rowlandson. She was a married woman of the curate of Lancaster, Massachusetts whose proverb have household killed by Indians and was taken captive but she still remain faithful to God and thanks him for the adversities. This happened no affair what hurting had befallen her. This was the ideal relationship Puritans believed should be between God and adult male.
Another facet of the interaction between God and adult male is the construct of the hereafter. Puritans believe that when the organic structure dies, the psyche is released and goes either to Heaven or Hell based on how the psyche has been judge by God. Deism does n’t agree with this, Franklin as a freethinker believes in reincarnation. Reincarnation focuses on the thought that when the organic structure dies the psyche goes back to the original province before it was attach to a organic structure which is an unconscious province. This occurs till it is reunited with a new organic structure were it starts a fresh once more.
Over the class of this essay I compared two different spiritual motions in respects to the seventeenth century to demo the similarities and assorted differences in the constructs of God, human nature and the interaction between both. This was done to turn out that although these faiths may look wholly at odds end the forming ideals are rather similar in respects to those constructs.
