Contradictions In The Puritan Religion :: essays research papers

Contradictions In The prude Religion     Life is full of legion(predicate) contradictions, and the basis of the prude holiness is no exception. The Puritans believed that they were Gods chosenpeople, as mentioned in the Bible. They saw themselves on a level above theaverage man, but in reality, their religion was full of inconsistencies. ThePuritans believed in something known as the Doctrine of Elect, hinted at inRomans 828-30, 96-24, and later at the Synod of Dort.. The doctrinecontradicted the more widely held belief of Pelagianism, the belief that mancould redeem himself through acts of charity, piety, and by alert an unselfishlife. It came to be one of the greatest theological discrepancies of all time.Evidently, the Puritan beliefs were almost entirely contradictory.     Some of the Puritan beliefs were both simple and believable. Otherswould see frightening today. Puritanism was founded on the principles andbeliefs of John Calvin, and one of the major ideals they focused on was thedoctrine of predestination. Calvin believed that the alter of God was theticket into Heaven and that his grace could not be gulled. Gods grace wasbestowed upon a select fewer regardless of what they did to earn it. This doctrine stated that God determines a mans destiny, whether it be redemptionor condemnation, regardless of any worth or merit on the persons part. Itcould be compared to the failures of fabianism in that no matter how hard aperson worked, how religious a person was, how often a person went to church, therewas no way to get into Heaven unless they were chosen. Aside from the doctrineof elect, the Puritans had other outrageous beliefs including the degradation ofones self, the utter and total dependence on divine grace for salvation, andthe wrath of an angry God.     The God worshipped by the Puritans was not a forgiving God, anddefinitely not a happy God. The Puritans fear him and tested zea lously to makethemselves worthy in his eyes. They insisted that they, as Gods special elect,had the tariff to conduct affairs carrying out his will according to the Bible.Though many of their beliefs seemed outrageous, the most heinous of all was theaforementioned Doctrine of Elect.     If this Doctrine of Elect guaranteed the chosen a spot in heaven, thenthere was no movement for them to behave as pious, God-fearing Puritans. Therewas no reward aft(prenominal) death for those who had been good and were not chosen.The standard was the same for the special few who made their way onto Gods