America was found on circumstance of religion. The founding members of the early colonies retreated to the new world to flee religious persecution and to find freedom. Christianity affected the individual lives of colonist as well as their society. Christianity was religion of answers in the Northern Colonies.
In the Northern Colonies Christianity was freely practiced. The newly formed colonies were focused around religion. Each colony was settled central to a church. This helped the colonist adapt to their new environment. Colonist turned to religion in their time of need and questioning. They were in a new and scary place. They needed a form of answers to keep them sane.
A famous columnist, Mary Rowlandson, turned to religion in her time of extreme need. Mary was held captive by indians after her colony got raided by indians. Their whole life revolved around faith. Their extreme religion often lead to extreme judgement which she used to describe the Indians during her captivity. When we first encounter Mary Rowlandson in her book, “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration”, she is describing the savage indian raid. She is interpreting the event as a lesson from God, “The lord hereby would make us the more ac knowledgeable His hand, and to see that are help is always in him” (258). She saw it is a punishment for those, like herself, who sinned. Mary thought this was her punishment for not keeping the sabbath day holy. During her captivity, Christianity was a coping mechanism for her. It gave her something else to focus on rather than the dire situation at hand. Colonist used the bible as a way of distraction from the events happening around them. After the raid she sees the carnage and explains how it was God’s doing, “It is a solemn sight to see so many Christians lying in their blood, some here and some there, like a company of sheep torn by wolves, all of them stripped naked by a company of hell hounds....yet the Lord by His almighty power preserved a number of us from death, for there were twenty-four of us taken alive and carried captive” (259). She thanks God for saving herself and others. She looks at the positive side of things rather than the obvious negative. Later in her book she credits God for keeping her strong in her faith and making her get out of captivity safely. Just like Mary, other Christian colonist also thanked God for keeping their faith strong. Like Mary Rowlandson, Anne Bradstreet turned to Puritan Christianity in her time of need. She writes “To My Dear Children” out of love and faith while she is on her deathbed. She wants her children the to remember her and her love for God. Bradstreet writes this letter to them to give an example of what God did for her and what God can do for them, “I have not studied in this you read to show my skill, but to declare the truth, not to set forth myself but the glory of God” (Bradstreet 235). She writes about her childhood and how …show more content…
The Puritans saw themselves as the chosen people from God. They believed they were the new Isreilites and had a covenant with him. They saw other religions as unimportant and wrong. They would outcast anyone who was practicing Christianity to their standards as well as anyone else of a different religion. Puritans were judgemental because they were trying to protect themselves as a result of their persecution in Europe. In John Winthrop’s “A Model of a Christian Charity” his entry dated January 11th 1636, describes someone 's faith as an infection, “The reason was because he has drawn above twenty persons to his opinion and they were intended to erect a plantation about the Narragansett Bay, from where the infection would easily spread into these churches (the people being many of them much taken with apprehension of Godliness”. This passage explains how someone is trying to teach his religious opinion and immediately thought of as wrong. Winthrop calls this person’s faith an infection that is easily spread. He immediately jumps to the conclusion that this person’s faith is detrimental to his people and could revise his community. This shows the closed minded ness of
In the Northern Colonies Christianity was freely practiced. The newly formed colonies were focused around religion. Each colony was settled central to a church. This helped the colonist adapt to their new environment. Colonist turned to religion in their time of need and questioning. They were in a new and scary place. They needed a form of answers to keep them sane.
A famous columnist, Mary Rowlandson, turned to religion in her time of extreme need. Mary was held captive by indians after her colony got raided by indians. Their whole life revolved around faith. Their extreme religion often lead to extreme judgement which she used to describe the Indians during her captivity. When we first encounter Mary Rowlandson in her book, “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration”, she is describing the savage indian raid. She is interpreting the event as a lesson from God, “The lord hereby would make us the more ac knowledgeable His hand, and to see that are help is always in him” (258). She saw it is a punishment for those, like herself, who sinned. Mary thought this was her punishment for not keeping the sabbath day holy. During her captivity, Christianity was a coping mechanism for her. It gave her something else to focus on rather than the dire situation at hand. Colonist used the bible as a way of distraction from the events happening around them. After the raid she sees the carnage and explains how it was God’s doing, “It is a solemn sight to see so many Christians lying in their blood, some here and some there, like a company of sheep torn by wolves, all of them stripped naked by a company of hell hounds....yet the Lord by His almighty power preserved a number of us from death, for there were twenty-four of us taken alive and carried captive” (259). She thanks God for saving herself and others. She looks at the positive side of things rather than the obvious negative. Later in her book she credits God for keeping her strong in her faith and making her get out of captivity safely. Just like Mary, other Christian colonist also thanked God for keeping their faith strong. Like Mary Rowlandson, Anne Bradstreet turned to Puritan Christianity in her time of need. She writes “To My Dear Children” out of love and faith while she is on her deathbed. She wants her children the to remember her and her love for God. Bradstreet writes this letter to them to give an example of what God did for her and what God can do for them, “I have not studied in this you read to show my skill, but to declare the truth, not to set forth myself but the glory of God” (Bradstreet 235). She writes about her childhood and how …show more content…
The Puritans saw themselves as the chosen people from God. They believed they were the new Isreilites and had a covenant with him. They saw other religions as unimportant and wrong. They would outcast anyone who was practicing Christianity to their standards as well as anyone else of a different religion. Puritans were judgemental because they were trying to protect themselves as a result of their persecution in Europe. In John Winthrop’s “A Model of a Christian Charity” his entry dated January 11th 1636, describes someone 's faith as an infection, “The reason was because he has drawn above twenty persons to his opinion and they were intended to erect a plantation about the Narragansett Bay, from where the infection would easily spread into these churches (the people being many of them much taken with apprehension of Godliness”. This passage explains how someone is trying to teach his religious opinion and immediately thought of as wrong. Winthrop calls this person’s faith an infection that is easily spread. He immediately jumps to the conclusion that this person’s faith is detrimental to his people and could revise his community. This shows the closed minded ness of