JLEW

I have too say, at least they were controversial. By today's general standards, they weren't the best of cultures. There obsessive commitment to god, the basis of their beliefs, was sometime too much. The Puritan trusted too much in the fate of you know who. Some instances of their beliefs, such as predestination, were just absurd. How could one fall for such a insane concept? Then, what was the people's will to do good? Of course, they did good. Of course, to the Puritans this meant going to Church when you had to. I, too, question their work ethic. They had the vast natural recourses, of course when I mention this i mean those that they could actually eat, that would have but taken simple, yet hard, work. Yet, wasn't that one of the Puritan's beliefs, or was it not? Well, regardless, their priorities were skewed beyond conversion. There lack of guidance for thing other than religion caused them to act in their own fashion for survival. By pure fate this came from the hand of the Indians. Yet, after these givers of gifts would die out, the Puritans would take their remains; corn, possessions, land. Puritans; all religion and survival, or was this not entirely the case?

These people were only surviving in the fashion they knew of. They followed only the bible, learned only by its teachings. The Puritans were only one sided, they had only one ultimate goal in life. Puritans did only what they knew was good. That, by today's standards, are of highest respect. Mary Rowlandson was a wonderful Puritan, by example. She not only lived by the bible, but she survived. She saved the soul of a child(from my view). I know, in my first paragraph I made it seem as if the Puritans were incapable of doing good. Yes, they had their issues, but so do we. Today, comparing side to side, our to their standards, the Puritans were much, much better persons in the eyes of their society.

    My title gives a pretty good summary of John Edwards. The only reason people are listening to him is because his words are stricken with fear. He scares them by giving them the example of the Israelites, for example, and preaches how their sinning brought unto them destruction. He point out that they were careless, saying they were "walking a slippery path." Why they were walking on a slippery path, he cannot say. Throughout the entire article he cannot back up his views. But, people were different back then; they didn't ask questions, they just listened.

    John Edwards exemplified that their society could come to destruction byu god at any time, because for their sinful ways. He just wants people to believe what he beleived, and he used the fera of hell to get the people to listen. 

    The Puritans, to say the least, had a hard life. They were first off persecuted and looked down upon in their home country of England. In other words, their social status was very low. Being so low on the social scale, they were also generally very poor, and staying alive was a struggle for them. That is why so many found the New World so appealing; an escape from their hardships back in England. Though, the Puritans would find life in the New World quite different.

    The Puritans  first of all had no money to pay for the voyage to America, so, most sold some of their most valued goods. They were unprepared for the trip itself, and many died on the voyage over. When they arrived, they would find no sanctuary, no relief. Yet, despite such hardships, they kept a strong faith, and in most cases were cheerful in bearing these difficulties, which was an absolute surprise to me. Yet, it wasn't just their need for food that was destroying them, but also the hostile natives, in some cases, that would attempt to kill them off. 

    Attacks by the natives was a constant concern, for at any moment they could be whipped out. Yet, the Puritans weren't driven away. They stayed, and continued to attempt at making a living in the new world. In the end, i believe it was their faith and cheerfulness that saved them.