The Puritan Age:

1. The Puritan Age: Religion Government Moral Standards

2. Outlook on the World • The Puritans considered the Bible as the true law of God that provided guidelines for church government. • They emphasized Bible reading, prayer, and preaching in worship services. They simplified the ritual of the sacraments. They also wanted more personal and fewer prescribed prayers. • The Puritans stressed grace, devotion, prayer, hark work ethics, strict morals, and self-examination to achieve religious virtue.

3. Religion • Religion impacted every facet of life in a Puritan community • They believed they were chosen by God and lived every moment in a God-fearing manner • The Sabbath was to be respected, or else punishment would occur • The church was simple and bare, and men and women were separated during the services • Sermons could last up to four hours

4. Guilt • The Puritans tried to live by a set of values that would enable them to reach perfection, and when they felt that they were not living up to those values, it was considered a sin. • If you sinned, you were having a moral rebellion with God. This meant that you would be eternally plagued by a sense of guilt. • Not only feeling as thought you have sinned, but also feeling or being told that you were not being a good citizen led to a sense of guiltiness in the Puritans.

5. Guilt • Preachers such as Jonathan Edwards told their congregations that God hated Puritans for their sins, which led them to feel guilty for their sins. • This became a focus of the teachings of Puritanism, and the preachers often used this sense of guilt and the wrath of God in their sermons. Jonathon Edwards

6. Crime • The Puritans were devout Christians who set out to establish a colony that would represent the true and “proper” manner in which Christianity should be practiced. • Puritans had some beliefs which had major affects on the basic ideals of a law. One belief was that each person would be tempted by the devil and saved by God. Another belief is that people were born evil, and could only be forgiven through a lifetime of proper Christianity. • Some examples of Puritan laws were: • The church believed it was illegal to enjoy any form of entertainment that might distract people from God. • Any form of idleness or laziness was prohibited. • They valued land and animals, so any form of hunting or obliterating land was prohibited. • Puritan laws were often tied to the Bible in some way. Swearing, sleeping during sermons, and skipping church were also punishable.

7. Adultery • In 1641, the Puritans had constructed the first code of laws. Among those was the penalty of death for the crime of adultery. • Adultery is basically, "Any sexual relationships outside of marriage.” • In Puritan society, adultery was considered the ultimate sin, and a moral violation against God's will.

8. Sin • The Puritans’s lives centered on sin and what it did and didn’t consist of. • They believed that the definition of sin was the primary problem that confronted mankind and it was man’s enemy and eternal problem. • Solution to sin was to believe in God and follow his rules and the Bible.

9. Government • The Puritans’ religious values impacted the way they set up their government. • Included in the Puritans’ belief system was the idea that there was a contract between humans and God. • This principle translated to their opinion that there shouldn’t be any restrictions that would prevent one from becoming involved in governmental matters. • “Government by contract” influenced later American democratic ideas.

10. Government • The Mayflower Compact was a document written by the Puritans which defined how their government would be run in the New World. • Puritans looked to the Bible for guidelines on creating government, combined with their previous knowledge of English government. • People who held power in the Puritans’ government had very strict interpretation of the law since their views were tied to their religion. • This idea is important in explaining why the Salem witch trials were so harsh and widespread- knowing the ethics of their community was being threatened, those with authority used excessive measures to keep their society together.