The Puritan Dilemma by Edmund Morgan clearly portrays the story of how John Winthrop dealt with the dilemma of being a puritan. John Winthrop’s story reflects the eternal conflict that goes on in the mind of every Puritan on how a man is supposed to be in the world but not of the world. That is the question Winthrop answers with his actions in building a church.
What began as a religious belief and an effort for purifying the corrupt church achieved political and social dimensions in England and America.
There is an eternal conflict in the very philosophy of Puritanism. It requires man to refrain from sin, though it is impossible for any man. It demands man to reform the world in the image of God’s holy kingdom, but, at the same time, asserts that evil in this world in inevitable and irreplaceable. It forbids man from enjoying his life fully and prescribes rigorous penances even for small violations. It asks man to live a life of discipline without any sure promise for salvation as the lives of men are already predetermined by God.
Puritans believed that belief in Jesus and participation in the sacraments could not alone effect one’s salvation; one cannot choose salvation, for that is the privilege of God alone. (Donna M. Campbell)
The question that haunts the mind of many is –if the future and fate of man is already predetermined, what sense does it make to lead an austere life without enjoying life to its fullness?
Puritanism required that he work to the best of his ability at whatever task was set before him and partake of the good things that god had filled the world with but told him he must enjoy his work and his pleasures only, as it were, absent-mindedly, with attention fixed on God.”(Edmund S. Morgan, page 8)
The paradoxical tenets of Puritanism have different meanings for different people. Some lived in agony of uncertainty, wondering each day whether God had singled them out for eternal glory or eternal torment.”(Morgan, page 11)
The essence of Puritanism was to purify the world by presenting the picture of God’s holy kingdom at the same time preaching that there is no cure for the evils of the world and they are inevitable.
The Puritans saw grace as a gift from a kind and loving God; human beings were unworthy to receive salvation because of their depraved natures. As Augustine comments, “You are nothing in yourself, sin is yours, merit God’s. Punishment is your due; and when the reward shall come, God shall crown his own gifts, not your merits.”
(Puritanism)
The fundamental question that Winthrop faced after developing community was how to govern it. He recognizes the needs and threats posed by the forces outside the community. It has rightly identified that people can not remain pure under a corrupt church. Puritans put their efforts in reforming their church by not being separate from it. The story and struggle of John Winthrop amply reflects the serious and consistent effort to build raise a community which stands as an example for others. Edmund Morgan has presented the sincere efforts of John Winthrop in building a pure Christian community. The interesting aspect of his story as narrated by Edmund Morgan is the amalgamation of spiritual and religious philosophy and it its practical experience of using political authority for its growth and governance. The very idea behind the development of the community is that the laws of God are followed as the other laws of the state are followed.
The challenges that Winthrop faced in the process of building a pure Christian community has recognized the need for taking the help of evil men in preventing greater evil from taking place. The foreign policy of the society is the best example for it.
The very objective of the Puritans came to be realized by the Americans even after the disappearance of the Puritans as a great political force. After the 17th cent. the Puritans as a political entity largely disappeared, but Puritan attitudes and ethics continued to exert an influence on American society. (Columbia Encyclopedia)
They inspired American to be distinct from others by virtue of their Puritan virtues like economic success, self-reliance, frugality, industry and energy became the guiding principles for the American people in realizing their Great American Dream.
The Puritan concern in educating the people and their thrust on the Christian virtues played an important role in making American society prosperous. Especially their concern for education played a key role in the development of United States. The Puritan idea of congregational democratic church government was instrumental in shaping the political life of the state. Edmund Morgan has related the Puritans to the modern America along the impact of various religious and political ideologies as an experience of Winthrop for instance, the Elitism, nihilism, Isolationism etc.
“Though Winthrop’s moderation had brought the colony successfully through the crucial first years, separatism still posed a threat to its mission if not to its survival (Morgan, page 116).”
Winthrop’s efforts in building an ideal and pure community have faced challenges from the separatists like Roger Williams.
The Puritan Dilemma portrays how Winthrop faced the constant and haunting questions that nag the minds of many ordinary followers of Puritanism. Winthrop’s life is the best example for showing how he controlled and disciplined himself. For example, Winthrop loved to hunt, but he knew that it should not be allowed to catch his attention as it would deviate his mind away from god. And he knew as a Puritan and a as a leader he should be exemplary and his focus should be on god. He beautifully strikes a balance between the demands and temptations of life and the duties and responsibilities as a Puritan towards god. This is basically the central puritan dilemma, “the problem of doing right in a world that does wrong (Morgan, page 203).” Winthrop devoted a large part of his life to finding a solution to the puritan dilemma and many puritans after him have done the same (Morgan, page 203). “Being in the world but not of it.
References
Columbia Encyclopedia
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/society/A0860592.html
Campbell, Donna M. “Puritanism in New England.” Literary Movements (2008)
http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/purdef.htm
Puritanism, (2002)
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/novel_18c/defoe/puritanism.html
