Predestination

Sin in the Scarlet Letter: The Use of Masks and Secrecy Vs. Open Confession “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” (Proverbs: 28) These words embody the underlying morals of The Scarlet Letter, an American novel published in 1850, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Scarlet Letter presents the unfortunate situation of Hester Prynne, an adulteress in a Puritan community. Hester’s husband, Roger Chillingworth, seeks revenge…

individualism first originated after the Puritan’s settlement in 1628. Puritans had many values within their culture such as the importance of religion, reputation, hard work, communalism, and individualism (class notes). Puritans believed in predestination, which means God has chosen a life for them and they must live up to this expectation. Each life is different, resulting in individualism. Even after people drifted away from Puritanism, many ideals continued to be prominent in society. This…

A good candidate for arguably the most fundamental idea in American history, is freedom. Americans ' love of freedom has been represented by conflicts, exploration, alliance. Americans have been notorious for acting on this belief. The term itself has practically been coined a synonym for being American. Of course, other societies also honor freedom. However, in many other countries, the idea does not occupy as much of a prominent place in public and private discourse as it does in America. The…

Biblical Allusions and Symbolisms in the Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter is filled with Biblical allusions and symbolisms that help enhance and deepen the context of the story. Watson found 38 allusions in his A Dictionary of Biblical Allusions in the Scarlet Letter and even “acknowledges the possibility that he may have overlooked some of the novel’s more obscure biblical allusions” (Watson 4). Knowing that the Puritan “interpretation of scriptures was a harsh one” (Puritans) and “emphasized…

Philosophies of The Enlightenment Era created religious freedom in America. By creating this religious freedom they influenced the founding fathers that establish America. Making the church separate from the state, people have the freedom to practice their desired religions. Also this allows others from other countries to move here and practice their religion without fear of being harassed. So by colonies reshaping their religious outlooks in The Enlightenment Era, this allowed all people to be…

In their simplest form, Jehovah’s Witnesses “strive to adhere to the form of Christianity that Jesus taught and that his apostles practiced” (“Jehovah’s Witnesses…”). Everyone knows of Jehovah’s Witnesses, for they are one of your friends or they have stopped by your door, but how many people know their true beliefs? Part of understanding their stray from Christianity, as well as their global influence, it is essential to learn about the history of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Jehovah’s Witnesses…

Max Weber is considered one of the fathers of modern sociology. His work continues to influence and confuse today’s best thinkers and writers. His most well-known work, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, is a body of work that is often discussed, argued, and maybe even alt right dismissed by other intellectuals. One of the more interesting lines written by Weber is, In the field of its highest development, in the United States, the pursuit of wealth, stripped of its religious…

numerous times the New Testament references how salvation and the privilege of going to Heaven can only be found in Christ, yet the Islamic faith ignores these verses due to the belief of exploitation in the scriptures. The last doctrine is that of predestination or pre-ordainment (al-Qadar), in which “means that nothing in the universe can happen without the will of God. Anything that takes place, good or bad, or because God ordains it” (Khan 2003). This means that Muslims believe that no one…

Throughout almost all of literature, fictional and nonfictional, women have been treated as property. A mere prize to claim during wars, they were mindless bed-warmers, a man’s simple-minded play thing; however let’s not focus on the sexism of literature, that’s all old and repetitive news. Instead, let’s center our attention on the idea of how powerful (even when being portrayed as average) the female really is, how vital their roles are in the tales of heroes. Unfortunately though we will not…

Slaughterhouse-Five are upheld by the author’s diction. The story revolves around World War Two and all of its sorrow and depravity. Therefore, the author uses diction that adds to the harshness and grief within the story. The theme of hopelessness and predestination is also up by the melancholic expressions Vonnegut employs. Finally, the tone is not only upheld, but also magnified by the harshness of the author’s words. Vonnegut skillfully uses his words to create a consistent environment for…