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The Puritan Dilemma

            In The Puritan Dilemma we discover Edmund S. Morgan's views of what Puritanism is and how John Winthrop dealt with the dilemma of being a puritan. Morgan describes that "Puritanism required that a man devote his life to seeking salvation but told him he was helpless to do anything but evil. Puritanism required that he rest his whole hope in Christ but taught him that Christ would utterly reject him unless before he was born God had foreordained his salvation. Puritanism required that man refrain from sin but told him he would sin anyhow. Puritanism required that he reform the world in he image of God's holy kingdom but taught him that evil of the world was incurable and inevitable. Puritanism required that he work to the best of his ability at whatever task was set before him and partake of good things that God had filled the world with, but told him he must enjoy his work and his pleasures only, as it were absentmindedly, with his attention fixed on God." (Morgan p5.) !.
             Morgan continues to describes a puritan's belief as "existing by virtue of a covenant with God, an agreement whereby they promised to abide by His laws, and He in turn agreed to treat them well" (p15.) .
             John Winthrop caught the fever of Puritanism at college and for him the dilemma of living in the world without taking his mind off God was the hardest for him. Winthrop would have much rather been a monk or hermit, but that was not permitted Puritans must live in the world not leaving it. In Winthrop's life he faces many dilemma's which all have to do with the problem of living in the world without leaving it. The major dilemma's are if Winthrop should leave England to go to the New World with the Massachusetts Bay Company and the problem of separatism and dissent in Massachusetts. .
             Winthrop is first faced the problem of leaving England. Winthrop is offered to go to the New World with the Massachusetts Bay Company as a governor.


Essays Related to The Puritan Dilemma

1. The Puritan Dilemma - The Story of John Winthrop

In Edmund Morgan's book, "The Puritan Dilemma," he discusses the life of John Winthrop and how Winthrop influenced the development of the Massachusetts Bay Company. ... John Winthrop started his journey when he became a Puritan. ... He argues that the Puritans should leave to avoid God's judgment. ... In the final chapter of The Puritan Dilemma Morgan shares that the code that is developing is not only for protection, however, but a blueprint for their experiment. (191). In the end John Winthrop became a strong and talent leader for the Puritans. ...

  • Word Count: 751
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2. Colonial and Revolutionary America

There were many advantages to the Puritans to attempt such a move. The Puritans composed the majority of the membership of the Massachusetts Bay Company. ... Many that were not puritans wanted to make the trip because they felt they would prosper in this new land. ... The harder dilemmas were those having to do with their new found religious freedom. They had the freedom to govern themselves as good Puritan's should, but what exactly did that mean? ...

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3. The Thirteen Colonies: Geography and Culture

The culture of New England was most deeply affected by the Puritan founders of the original settlements of New England. The Puritans were a hard working, religious people. ... While Massachusetts was the major Puritan center, the other New England colonies came about due to the Puritans strict intolerance to other religions. ... Being mostly a Quaker settlement, they ran it comparably to the Puritans in Plymouth, but were more tolerant. ... This moral dilemma is an example of Southern culture, Christian men who ravage slaves and then dont know what to do with their own offspring. ...

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4. Never-Ending Sin

Hester showed this and did not care what the Puritans thought of her. ... Puritans began to criticize her and say Pearl was the daughter of the devil. The children of the Puritans would run away from her and throw mud at them. ... The Puritans are very strict and religious and sin is not allowed or the person is condemned. Hawthorne's strategy in The Scarlet Letter is to enclose his human dilemma between the extreme positions represented by the black puritan and the fair puritan and to investigate a range of consequences within those boundaries. ( Stubbs Caldwell) The day that Dimsdale co...

  • Word Count: 1408
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5. Toni Morrison

In Mary Rowlandson's Narrative, she defines her Puritan race by showing what it is not through the Native Americans. ... Mary Rowlandson sees this instance as an act of the devil and since the Puritan religion would condone such acts, she believes that even God sees the Puritans as a better race the Native Americans. Rowlandson never mentions how the Puritans have moved on the territory of the Native Americans but again seeing how the Native Americans attacked and destroyed the Puritan's homes and villages. Perception of another race is the key, without it, Mary Rowlandson's w...

  • Word Count: 1155
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Anne Hutchinson

Puritan and Pilgrim was not synonymous terms. The Puritans were those who sought to purify the English church and to modify forms, while remaining with in it. ... But eventually the Puritans became independents, not only in America, but in England as well. ... Many Puritans of 1630 were men of education and fortune, members of Parliament, or clergymen of the most liberal education. ... Volume1: TO 1877 Nation of Nations Morgan, Edmund The Puritan Family: Religion and Domestic Relations in Seventeenth Century New England , Puritan Dilemma: The Story of John Winthrop Underwood, Devon Wome...

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7. The Scarlet Letter: the use of light and dark

As the story progresses, the reader meets new characters, all of them with their own dilemma. ... Darkness is used to portray hatred and punishment, or in the puritan society sin. ... Hester used to be one of the finest most beautiful puritan women in the town. ... At one point, near the conclusion of the novel, Hester redeemed her puritan soul and got her light back. ... In the puritan society and in the novel the devil is called the black man. ...

  • Word Count: 1649
  • Approx Pages: 7
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8. Edna vs. Hester

Hester lived in the Puritan culture and Edna lived in the Creole culture. ... The Puritan culture is very strict and does not even allow Hester the right to love whomever she"d like. ... Hester first lost her independence to the letter "A" stitched on her chest by the puritans and this left her unable love, but gradually as she became more independent of the culture and her emotions overran her she realized that she must be with Arthur. ... Additionally both women are in dilemmas about love. ... Hester and Arthur finally confess their love for one another towards the end of the novel and even...

  • Word Count: 998
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