Puritans and Quakers: Religious movements in early modern England

Puritans and Quakers

Comparative Analysis of the Beliefs and Attitudes between Puritans and Quakers in Colonial America (17th-18th centuries)

Early Colonial American society during the 17th and 18th centuries is characteristically bound by strong religious beliefs of Christianity. The New England inhabitants from Britain, who have established their respective colonies in the Americas, have brought with them their cultural histories; thus, this culture had been further developed in the new country to strengthen its new identity and culture as the American society.

In colonial America, two religions dominated its cultural history: Puritans on one hand, and the Quakers, on the other. Puritanism was borne from the creation of a religion that seeks to fuse and at the same time, reform, the Catholic and Protestant teachings and principles. When it was created, it was given a chance to further develop and eventually became one of the dominant religions of the British colonies in America. Puritanism is known for its conservatism and strict adherence to the teachings of the Bible; since the religion aims to make Christian life, Christians of this religion are regarded as "purists" and intolerant to any deviations or differences of people from the established religious norms.

The Quakers, meanwhile, are actually categorized under the broad category of Puritanism. However, as the Puritans and Quakers established their own colonies in America, the latter became an independent religious institution from Puritanism. Also called the Society of Friends, Quakers adopts a more pragmatic approach towards living the Christian life than the Puritans. For them, "God exists in everyone"; furthermore, Quakerism is considered a way of life where the primary objective is to bring out the "God" in all of us and eliminate the evil that lurks from within the heart of people, which hinders them to cultivate their goodness -- that is, living the ideal Christian life.

To illustrate more effectively the religious beliefs and attitudes of these two religious groups, this paper discusses four (4) individuals who are prominently known for their active participation in their respective religions. This paper illuminates Puritan life through the writings and sermons of Sarah Knight and Jonathan Edwards, respectively; while Elizabeth Ashbridge and John Woolman sets the ideals of life according to the Quakers. A comparative analysis of the religious beliefs and attitudes of these two sets of religions is given at the end of the paper, which brings into lucidity the dynamics of religious culture of colonial American between the 17th and 18th centuries.

In the memoirs of Sarah Kemble Knight, evidence of rigid Puritan beliefs is apparent in her journal entitled, "The Journal of Madam Knight." In narrating her experience as a traveler from Boston to New York, she displays disapproval of a young lady's on what Knight considers as 'rude' and un-ladylike manners when relating to other people. She discloses, " ... I was interrogated by a young lady I understood afterwards was the eldest daughter of the family, with these, or words to this purpose, (viz.) Law for mee -- what in the world brings you here at this time a night?- -I never see a woman on the rode so dreadfull late, in all the days of my versall life. Who are you? Where are you going?...I stood aghast, prepareing to reply ... she then turned agen to mee and fell anew into her silly questions, without asking me to sitt down. I told her shee treated me very rudely, and I did not think it my duty to answer her unmannerly questions ... " This passage from her journal illustrates the character of Puritans, who consider any deviation from their religious norms of being conservative towards other people as intolerable.

The strict adherence to Puritan beliefs and attitudes creates thinking among Puritans that the world is made up of "us" and "them," with the Puritans (us) taking pride in their religion, and alienating and considering non-Puritans (them) as different from them, especially in character and attitude. Indeed, this attitude is subsisted to by Jonathan Edwards, whose strong and somewhat radical approach to practicing Puritanism created sensational views of the religion itself among non-Puritans. In his sermon, "From Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God," Edwards celebrates practitioners of Puritanism while criticizing non-practitioners of the religion. He addresses non-practitioners as "unconverted persons," and this term implies that there is a need for people to be converted to Puritanism; otherwise, people shall experience what Edwards considers as a state where "[t]here is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of god; there is hell's wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor any thing to take hold of. There is nothing between you and hell but the air ... " Edwards' sermon evidently uses the rhetoric of fear as a strategy to entice the "unconverted persons" to subsist to Puritanism. However, his use of rhetoric of fear demonstrates how staunch Puritanists are when discussing and convincing other people to convert to their religion; such is the nature of Puritanism, whose objective is to 'purify' and 'cleanse' the world of people who have a great chance of being burned to death in hell, living a life of sinfulness.

Quakerism as a way of life differs greatly in the accounts of Elizabeth Ashbridge and John Woolman. Ashbridge, in her biography, narrated her beliefs in and attitudes toward life as a practitioner of Quakerism. In the narrative, she shares, " ... I begged to be Excused till I was joyned to Friends & then I would give up freely, to which I receiv'd this Answer, as tho' I had heard a Distinct Voice: "I am a Covenant keeping God, and the word that I spoke to thee when I found thee In Distress, even that I would never leave thee nor forsake thee If thou would be obedient to what I should make known to thee, I will Assuredly make good ... " Having lived a life of internal struggle in choosing a religion that will relieve her from her emotional distress, Ashbridge explains that her conversion to being a Quaker was a choice she made because she felt free and unrestrained from living the good life -- that is, living life under God's guidance but devoid of the restrictions and limitations that other religions impose upon their members.