Puritans, Revolutionaries, & Transcendentalists Historic Pathways Puritans, Revolutionaries, & Transcendentalists

Theology Theists – A person who believes in an all powerful God as a creator and ruler Deists – A person who believes in a God, based on reason, who created the universe, but has assumed no control over life, exerted no influence on nature, and given no supernatural revelation Pantheists – A person who believes in the worship of all gods, identifies gods with nature

Puritans

Basic Beliefs Came to America to escape persecution However, believed that their way of life was absolutely right This lead to persecution of others No person could remain in the community without being a member in good standing of the Church Doctrine of the Elect Only God could grant the gift of Salvation If not chosen, could not enter Heaven Arbitrary – no amount of good work, righteous living or moral behavior could help anyone become Elect

Ideology Theocracy Basic Beliefs Government totally controlled by the Church A person must be a member of the Church to vote Without Church membership, loss of property was possible Basic Beliefs As sinners, all must be punished – All humans are inherently evil God decided the fate of all people before they were born – Nothing they did could change destiny Each person, regardless of fate, was responsible for own behavior All Puritans had to carefully watch their own behavior & that of their neighbors God required everyone to be busy & work hard Bible is the supreme authority on earth

Puritan Essentials View of God: God is omnipotent and wrathful (Theists) View of Man: Man is basically Evil without God Work and Worldly success are the paths to God’s grace View of Society: Emphasis on success of society and authority View of Truth: Faith and religion Values: morality, religion, Bible, & God MISC: Education was religious Pessimistic view of life

Revolutionaries

Basic Beliefs Believed in God -- Did not believe God controlled life God is benevolent God judges, but doesn’t control Reason and logic was an integral part of life Optimistic about life – saw the goodness in man Individual rights and liberty were supreme Success can be achieved through work

Revolutionary Essentials View of God: Believed in a higher power who was benevolent (Deists) View of Man: Man is perfectible and basically good All men can achieve success through work View of Society: Emphasis on the individual View of Truth: Science and reason Values: usefulness, success, reason MISC: God judges but doesn’t control Importance of liberty Education is practical and vocational Optimistic view of life

Transcendentalists

Transcend “To go beyond” To go above reason and beyond the material world Ralph Waldo Emerson lionized as the great thinker of the time Emerson’s optimism was tailored to the era Social Reform Movement Anti-Slavery For Women’s Rights Use intelligence to rescue mankind from poverty, ignorance, and social injustice When inconsistencies were pointed out, Emerson accused critics of not being morally capable of understanding

Basic Beliefs Generation of well educated that struggled to define spirituality and religion Individuals had it within themselves to be perfect – the capacity to be happy Self-reliance and self-discipline Pantheism- belief that nature is divinity – nature over civilization Based on feelings rather than reason, Personality over laws Universe ruled by all-pervasive intelligence known as the Over-Soul As an intelligent being man was divine – salvation from within Man in the process of realizing own divinity God gave humankind the gifts of intuition, insight, & inspiration – Why waste such a gift?

Transcendentalism Essentials View of God: Believed in many gods (Pantheists) View of Man: Man is divine and shares divinity with all life Success is measured by man’s correct relationship to his work View of Society: Emphasis on the individual as superior to society View of Truth: Intuition and instinct Values: Nature and instinct MISC: Self Knowledge was important Education aimed at self-knowledge Idealistic view of life