FREE ESSAY ON PURITANISM

PURITANISM

Puritanism Sinner's In the Hands of an Angry God Jonathon Edwards
Puritanism, a religious reform movement in the late 16th and 17th century which sought to
purify the Church of England, Anglican Church. Puritans became noted for a spirit of
moral and religious pledge that determined their whole way of life, and they sought
through church reform to make their lifestyle the pattern for the whole nation. Their
efforts to transform the nation led to a civil war in England, and to the founding of the
colonies in America as working models of the Puritan way of life. The excerpt from
Jonathon Edwards' sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, is an example on how
Puritans followed their religion. Jonathon Edwards' work describes how God hated Puritans
for their sins; which led the Puritans to feel guilty for their sins. With the wrath of
God and the guilt man felt, the damnation and salvation principal became the focus of
Puritanism.
The Puritans religion had the belief that they were sinners, and that God hated them for
their sins. According to Jonathon Edwards, God hates man... 'Tis true that judgement
against your evil work has not been executed... (Edwards 41). He used evil work as a
metaphor for sins. Bremmer's article Puritanism, its Essence and Attraction describes
God's creation of man, man's fall from his grace, and how we became sinners. Man was part
of God's creation and was made in the image of God. The relationship between God and the
first man Adam was described as a covenantal bond. In the words of the Puritan West -
minister Confession, 'life was promised to Adam, and in him to his posterity, upon
condition of perfect and personal obedience.' But 'our first parents' violated this
covenant... (Bremmer 20). Since our first parents violated this covenant, they fell from
their original righteousness and communion with God, and so became dead in their sin. The
effects from this original sin were born by all men thereafter. 
Since the Puritans believed that we were all sinners, the Preachers often utilized the
concepts of the wrath of God and guilt in their sermons. God was so angry with man that
his wrath was great. Edwards in his sermon described God's wrath in terms of metaphors.
His wrath was so vengeful that he described floodwaters being held by a dam. It was God's
will that the dam did not break, and wipe man out. Puritans spoke frequently in his
benevolence (Bremmer 20). God had ill will toward man, and only salvaged a few and left
the rest for damnation. 
Man after the fall was by nature sinful, and for sinning against God man deserves
damnation. This was a central belief of Puritanism. Every man was in the hands of an
angry God. Thus are all you that never passed under a great change of heart by the mighty
power of the Spirit of God upon your souls; ... 'tis nothing but his mere pleasure that
keeps you from being this movement swallowed up in everlasting destruction (Edwards 42).
At the time God created Adam, man's salvation depended on his own actions. God pledged
happiness to Adam in return for man's absolute obedience to the will of God. The Covenant
of Works exemplifies this concept in Puritanism. In the fall, man broke the covenant, and
lost his opportunity to be salvaged. The consequences of man's sin could only be reversed
through divine action. God provided the release by the Covenant of Redemption. ... the
agreement whereby the Father compacted with the Son to provide the salvation of some men
and women through Christ's sacrifice (Bremmer 21). This superficial order for the sins of
mankind made possible individual redemption through the Covenant of Grace. Once man
reached this Covenant, believing in God could redeem him.
The excerpt from Jonathon Edward's sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, focused
on Puritanism theology. He addressed the issues of man as a sinner, God's hate of sinners
- wrath of God. Throughout the sermon he addressed the damnation of man, the process of
salvation and redemption. He hammered at his congregation using guilt and fear for their
souls. Thus Edwards' sermon incorporated the three covenants; Covenant of Works, Covenant
of Redemption, and Covenant of Grace.