Jonathan Edwards was born in 1703 and lived till 1758. Jonathan was raised in the Puritan belief and from a young age was very devoted to his faith. At the age of 13 young Edwards was trained to be a pastor for the Church of … As a pastor Edwards was one of the most passionate and powerful of any pastor to ever read a sermon. He had a very strict religious belief and was very passionate about his Puritan practices. Edwards believed that every man falls short of God’s grace and had to repent their sins and work to become better people. His sermons invoked many emotions on the listeners and used metaphors to paint a picture in the listeners minds to scare them to repent. He was just as passionate with his personal religious beliefs has he was with his sermons. He kept a very detailed journal of self examination about his life and was very strict with his beliefs. Overall it is very clear Jonathan Edwards was very passionate about religion and was the “Last Puritan”. William Byrd was born in 1674 and lived till 1744. …show more content…
William believed in Calvinism. William was a man of knowledge more than he was a man of religion.He was not a very diligent in his religious practices. Every day he made sure to read his books rather than pray his prayer. Calvinism was already not as strict as the Puritan belief. William wanted to learn about the world rather than find enlightenment through God. He was interested in other religions and was content to observe them as long as they contained the three main components of religion. William did practice his customs. He did say his prayers every few days, he went to church, and read his bible. He just was not diligent about these practices. This being said William has shown that he was a man of knowledge rather than a man of religion. Jonathan Edwards and William Byrd while very different had similarities. Both men were very intelligent. In their societies they were both looked upon as leaders of the community. While they practiced different beliefs both had practices that they would very diligently follow. Edwards would keep a journal of everything he did and would self examine himself daily. William would read from his different books daily and learn new things every day. Both men were religious in their own way. Both men had a significant effect on religion of colonial America. Edwards and William do not, from a first glance, seem very similar but they are in fact very similar. These men were also almost opposites when it came to their religious practices and beliefs. Edwards was a Puritan and a very strong believer in his belief. He was very