Puritans, Max Weber Essay

1.Explain: Puritans wanted to purify the Church of England. Puritans were people who wanted to get rid of things that were not stated by Jesus Christ or by the Bible. They rejected decisions and traditions established by the Church (i.e. people). Examples: paintings of God and Jesus, rich ornaments and dà ©cor, hierarchy in Church, selling pardons. They also thought that the temples should be smaller and not so monumental. Puritans’ beliefs were a threat to the hierarchy and wealth of the English Church, so they were persecuted and unwelcome in there. They had to look for a place they could live the way they wanted. 2.Describe the Puritans who set sail to America in 1620. Majority of Puritans who set sail to America on Mayflower in 1620 was well-educated and belonged to upper middle class (they were rather rich). Those people couldn’t worship God according to their beliefs because their religion was a threat to the Church of England. Puritans were constantly persecuted and they left to Netherlands, and then to Virginia in Noth America. Their trip resembled Exodus to the promised land. Puritans called themselves Pilgrims, because it was a pilgrimage to the new world where they hoped to be free and to establish the Church there. 3.The literary genres Puritans practiced and did not practice. 4.Explain the notion of predestination and how Puritans shaped they lives according to it. Puritans believed that they don’t have any influence on whether they will go to heaven or to hell. They believe that God knows it before they are born and they can do nothing about it. (There is a paradox of free-will -> although one may be a good person, he/she can still go to hell.) God may change his mind, but people cannot do anything. For Puritans, the fact that someone is rich and successful means that this person may be predestined, so they work even harder and look for success, hoping that maybe this would be a sign of their predestination. 5.What biblical events did the first Puritans in America draw parallels to? Puritans considered themselves to be like pilgrims to the Promised Land, like Jews running from Egypt to Israel. As they wanted to establish a Church they considered it to be a mission. 6.How did Max Weber compare Protestants and Catholics in terms of the notions of hard work and calling? According to Max Weber, Catholics believe that the hard work is their way to salvation. People have to work hard to be good people. Protestants, on the other hand, believe that they should work hard because it is their duty, as this is God’s will and it is useful for the whole country and society. For them it a kind of vocation. Every Protestant feels the vocation to work and to worship God (Everyone has his own mission in life – there have to be poor farmers and rich lawyers – this is God’s will and it is completely normal.) In case of Catholicism, only priests feel the vocation to serve God. 7.Explain how Max Weber analyzed in his discussion of Protestant ethics the notions of work, investment, charity, waste. Work– every Puritan has a vocation to work. It is a duty and God’s will. Work is useful for the whole society; thanks to work we make our community better. â€Å"Not leisure and enjoyment, but only activity serves to increase the glory of God, according to the definite manifestations of His will† Investment  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ If someone has money and is successful in business, it means that he is in God’s favor. Money should be multiplied not wasted and spent on unimportant things as luxuries and amusement. Charity– if someone needs charity it means that he is a beggar. If someone doesn’t work – he sins and offends God, as it is a duty to work. Supporting charity means supporting offending God. WASTE – waste of time is the worst and the deadliest sin. â€Å"Not leisure and enjoyment, but only activity serves to increase the glory of God, according to the definite manifestations of His will† – only hard work praises God an d any other activity is a waste. 8.What did a Puritan sermon look like (use in particular Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God). In the 18th and 19th centuries during the Great Awakening, major sermons were made at revivals, which were especially popular in the United States. These sermons were noted for their â€Å"fire-and-brimstone† message, typified by Jonathan Edwards’s famous â€Å"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God† speech. In these sermons the wrath of God was clearly one to be afraid of, although fear was not the message Edwards was trying to convey in his sermons, he was simply trying to tell the people that they could be forgiven for their sins. It combines vivid imagery of Hell with observations of the world and citations of scripture.