I found the reading of John Winthrop interesting. In a generation where the media portrays what the puritans would consider "sinful", it was refreshing to see someone so pure as John Winthrop. For example, he knew the man was stealing wood, but instead of punishing the man he instead helped him. This is very saint-like, and Winthrop himself was a follower of Jesus. Many of the tasks that Mather writes about deduce that Winthrop's views were parallel to that of Jesus'. Winthrop believed that man must "see his own errors, than other men's". As well, Winthrop gave to others, and led by example for his family to do the same.
Going back to my second sentence, I feel that in today's generation we often forget the goodness that others have, instead we focus a lot on the negative.
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I wrote a very similar post. I think that Winthrop's views on society and how it should be ran are much more Christian and pure than those I have heard about Puritans. The fact that he wanted to give and was said to be "a man of an excellent spirit" shows this. The Puritans seemed to have a very dark side to their religious views. As you mentioned he did not punish the man for stealing and instead gave him the wood so he would not be cold. I feel that the Puritans would have punished a thief. So then I ask who is truly more religious, the man who turns the other cheek (as Jesus would want) or the man who punishes a sinner?
ReplyDeleteJohn Winthrop appears to be the saint of the group, at least to me. He seems to give his whole being in striving to do good. Since the Puritans had a great many hardships in adapting to the new world, they needed such a strong man who carried much of the burden upon himself. He surely represented the Church in all his doings and still, due to envy, had to deal with defending his honor. With his humble nature he was able to turn to God for all his strength. I found him to be a very honorable man.
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