Puritanism / Age of Reason

• Puritans


  People who wanted to stay with church,but wanted to purify it from the catholic faith
• Separatist 


  The church was far from fixing and it was time to restart. They wanted to separate from the church.
• T: Total Depravity

  U: Unconditional Election

  L: Limited Atonement

  I: Irresisistible Grace

  P: Perseverance of the Saints
• King Henry made his official church. It was called the Church of England or the Anglican church
• By making his church, King Henry was the first person to link church and state together.
• "Upon Wedlock and Death of Children"

  • Written by Edward Taylor
  • He uses metaphors to explore themes of marriage, parenthood, and the grief of losing his children
  • He also talked about the beauties of nature, which puritians didn't because nature led to the fall of man (apple, snake, and Eden)
• “Upon a Spider Catching a Fly”

  • Written by Edward Taylor
  • In this poem, he talked about the good and bad of the Puritan faith through bugs.
  • The devil leaves temptations for us to get trapped.
• Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

  • A sermon written by Jonathan Edwards
  • Through the Halfway Covenant, second-generation Puritans could become halfway church members to baptize their children.
  • Edwards didn't like this, so he preached this sermon to tell people that if they didn't repent now, really horrible things would happen to them
  • This was an important part of a religious revival called the Great Awakening
  • This sermon is an example of the idea of free will
  • Free will to accept god's grace and go to heaven
• Edward Taylor

  • A holistic physician
  • Herbs and roots
  • He was a metaphysical poet
  • Spiritually
• The Age of Reason

  • Was the opposite of the puritanism
  • The world is governed by physical laws
  • Mortal Mortality led to Natural Harmony
  • Reason: The part of the mind that can interpret physical data
  • Lead to the Scientific Method getting popular
• Deism

  • belief in the existence of a supreme being, specifically of a creator who does not intervene in the universe
  • Only one god
  • The best way to see that god isn't in a written scripture, but only in the physical world
  • The physical world is the true Bible
• The social contract


  You agree to surrender your natural rights in order to enjoy civil rights
• Thoms Paine

  • Wrote Pamphlets (Printed publications that spread ideas, prompted debate, and shaped public opinion)
  • Was able to spread his opinions very easily
  • Political activist
  • A revolutionary figure in the Age of Reason
• The American Crisis

  • Written by Thomas Paine
  • Were made of 16 pamphlets
  • Aimed to boost morale among American troops and civilians
  • "These are the times that try men's souls"
• The Age of Reason

  • Written by Thomas Paine
  • Paine criticized revealed religion(organized religion) and advocated for deism
  • Most people didn't like him after this and accused him of being an atheist
  • "All national institutions of churches were set up to terrify and enslave mankind and monopolize power and profit"
  • Paine was HIM
• Letter to Benjamin Rush

  • Written by Thomas Jefferson
  • This letter held Jefferson's opinions about politics, philosophy, and personal reflections.
  • It showed that Thomas Jefferson was an advocate of religious freedom
  • It also elaborate more Jefferson's idea of desism.