Predestination in Puritan Society versus the Free Will in an Enlightened Society
Within Puritan society, Puritans worked to ensure building a strong relationship with God was among their top priorities, and that they continually lived a life according to the Bible. In contrast, during the Enlightenment, people began to realize that there was more to life than religion. For example, they began to study and explore their interest in topics unrelated to religion; they also began to realize that they could be religious without being as devout as the Puritans. The Puritans believed that secular pleasures and ideology that did not give reverence to God should not be sought after. Thus, Puritan writers put strong emphasis on God’s power and importance…show more content… As a result, Puritan writers emphasize the importance of understand that God has complete sovereignty over one’s life, while the Enlightenment writers give reverence to God has the one and only deity, but believed that it was their free will through the course of their actions and decisions in life that would determine their final outcome in life. Thus, Enlightenment writers sought to teach readers that practicing good words and maintaining a good character was essential in order to ultimately become a good Christian. On the other hand, the Puritans believed that everything that occurred on earth was already predestined and that the only thing left to do was to continually give reverence to God, escape secular pleasures, and obey the teachings of the Bible. In conclusion, it is evident that the Puritans sought to persuade people that being a good Christian should be their sole goal, while the Enlightenment thinkers encouraged people to explore opportunities in the world, but remain strong in the Christian values and maintain their