Jonathan Edwards Compare And Contrast

It is nearly impossible to study the formation of the United States and not run across the words “In God We Trust.” What you may not know is, that many that who have played a part in the history of this nation have had several different interpretations of exactly what this means. Three examples of this are Thomas Paine, Jonathan Edwards, and Cotton Mather. Each had his idea of God and the mechanics of how religion worked, some differed, and some were the same. Cotton Mather was a highly respected minister, as were his two grandfathers. (1)“He was expected by his family to excel and did not disappoint them...” While he was a firm believer in God, he also believed in spectral evidence, or the supernatural. He believed that there was good and evil in the world and that God had already predestined who fell into which category. He believed that good would always appear to be good, and anything less was of the devil. (2) “He is often blamed for the Salem witchcraft trials, for example, but he never actually attended one of them...” Jonathan Edwards was a minister like his father and his mother's father. His …show more content…
(6) "...he said that a sermon he heard at the age of eight impressed him with the cruelty inherent in Christianity and made him rebel forever.” He believed in God, but he did not believe in a standard form of religion. He credited for writing “Common Sense,” which greatly influenced the creation of the Declaration of Independence. But once people learned of his opinion of the church, they began to turn on him. He later wrote, “The Age of Reason,” where he tried to explain his opinions, stating that he (7) “believed in one God.” He went on to give the reasons and what he felt were contradictions between different religious beliefs to support his opinion. (8)”Each of those churches accuses the other of unbelief; and, for my own part, I disbelieve them