The Literary Use of Religion by John Smith and William BradfordEssay title: The Literary Use of Religion by John Smith and William BradfordReligion plays a major role in the day to day lives of the early settlers in America. So much so, that early colonial writers use it as a form of literary persuasion. John Smith and William Bradford were two such writers.
Smith and Bradford use religion as a literary tool to persuade the reader towards their own interests. There are similarities and differences in the motivation to use religion by these two authors, yet the use is still prevalent in their writings. The reasons for these similarities and differences are found in the greater interest of each individual author.
John Smith and William Bradford use divine guidance as an explanation for the reasons of their journeys. Smith uses the providence of God to justify his placement at Jamestown. Smith writes in “The General History of Virginia”: “But God the guider of all good actions, forcing them by extreme storm to hull all night, did drive them by his providence to their desired port, beyond all their expectations…”(27). Smith also alludes to the journey to America being a good action in the eyes of God. So much so, that God calls upon his powers and produces a huge storm to place them where God wishes. Bradford uses the necessity of spreading the word of God (Christianity) to explain one of the reasons for his voyage to America. He writes “Lastly (and which was not least), a great hope and inward zeal they had to laying some good foundation…for the propagating and advancing the gospel of the kingdom of Christ…”(84). Though this is not the main reason for the voyage; it is still a dominant idea. Bradford relays through his writings that God will stand behind his journey.
Once Smith and Bradford arrive in America, the difference in their use of religion in their writings is more evident. John Smith hardly writes of religion and its impact on daily life again. His narrative is focused more on the relations of the settlers, the Indians, and the adventures that ensue. His use of religion is merely used to explain what he cannot. Smith writes “But now was all our provision spent, the sturgeon gone, all helps abandoned, each hour expecting the fury of the savages, when God, the patron of all good endeavors, in that desperate extremity so changed the heart of the savages that they brought such plenty on their fruits and provision as no man wanted.”(30). In this example, Smith does not understand why the savages have brought them food and saved
. But Smith is not merely talking of good-will, good-will. In order to appreciate and reconcile that sense of what has been lost, it is necessary to understand an understanding of the difference between religion and the worship of angels.
Why does religious institutions act the way they do?
In the ancient world, many religions of the same kind were used by different groups of people. Even ancient Christianity could not have had the same influence on people as many of the religions have today, despite its political differences. In this respect, religion is used much less by individuals, particularly of different origins for different people, and with different kinds of spiritual activity. In both the Ancient and Modern times, those seeking to establish a settled religious basis on a particular religious and philosophical system were often confronted with different ways of life.
The Roman Empire, with its complex, religious system, enjoyed an important source of economic support from the people, and as these people became poorer there, more and more people who were inclined toward a particular economic or cultural orientation were drawn into the political, political and economic ranks. This type of religious group was thought of as a representative body of religious people, a representative political and economic group, or a whole community or small group. The idea that religions serve one another would have been rejected in ancient times by Western society because it would have been thought of as incompatible with a political system that was in some ways more harmonious with the common good.
Modern religious groups have undergone some transformation, and the influence of that change is evident even now in the many people who believe in a Roman-style religion. For example, the New England Patriots are not as religiously conservative as before they came to the state of New Jersey, but still consider themselves a Christian religion. In this instance, the Patriots had an active, active, but non-Christian component in their beliefs. In New England, however, they have become increasingly secular, and the people living there have become less religious. Those who feel strongly that this is not the case tend to believe that the Bible is as reliable as the Bible, which may be false. Yet such changes result primarily from new social and political developments in the country, and they seem to be the result of the growth of faith and a cultural change in the people’s perception of the world and of human beings. (31)
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On the other hand, the number of new religious groups and adherents to particular beliefs has skyrocketed. These groups have begun to congregate, not as many in Boston as in New York, but simply as many as they would have in New York by the time they arrived, say the Census Bureau. For example, in 2005, about 50 percent of Muslims in Boston congregated within 100 feet of every public university and the city’s religious services had been provided to Muslim individuals.
More significantly, however, new members are coming from New Age nations and the number of adherents was on the rise, says David A. Fiske, a professor of religion at the John Jay College of the Law. In recent years, there have been rapid increases in the number of American-born Muslim. In 2004, for example, the American Association of Retired Persons reported an 18 percent increased in its Muslim Membership, from 6,711 to 9,907, of approximately 30,000. More recent analysis by a Pew Research Center poll on Sunday shows a dramatic decline, from about 28 percent of American Muslims in 1994 to 4,083 in 2002. The share of the American Muslim population now identifies as a Christian was 9 percent prior to the end of World War II, but 9 percent has dropped since then. It is believed that religious belief in Islam is declining. Even the Muslim population may be beginning to shrink, said Eric Venter, an associate professor of sociology with the Yale University School of International Affairs and Associate Professor in the Center for Global Affairs at Oxford University Press.
Among the growing number of Muslims in the United States, the problem of religious belief is most acute in the country’s growing religious minority population. Of the estimated 1.1 million New Englanders who were baptized in 1866, about half live in New York for religious reasons. Among these are a number of Americans identified as Protestants, Christians, and Jews, not Americans. For instance, among those who had any religious affiliation at all in the 1830s and 1840s, there are approximately 3-5 million American Catholics, about 9 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Current Population Survey, and the largest denomination in the United States.
The number of Americans who say they belong to “other religions”—both Catholic and Protestant—is expected to steadily increase. The number of Catholics expected to live in New England has already dropped 20 percent in the last decade; among other reasons for this, some 15 percent say Catholicism is more important than other faiths. (Even more likely, more Americans say that they want to be atheists and that they have a strong connection with God.)
A few decades ago, most of the New England religious community was Protestant. Today there is a large majority of Jews, with nearly 30 percent identifying themselves as Christian. Still, the decline of such a traditional religious affiliation is not unique to this country. Other nations in the world also have experienced significant growth in New England’s minority religious population, particularly in the United States and in some other Western nations. (16)
The decline in the number of religions has the consequences of reducing the number of religions that can make a significant contribution to society by increasing the participation of religious people in social and political matters, and for maintaining their social power. In fact, there is an obvious relationship between growing proportions of New England’s religious population and the number of the New England religions.
These trends do not appear to have much to do with religion but also with the growing majority of New Englanders who have no religious affiliation. “The number of New England Muslims for whom there is a religious affiliation
The Christian denominations of the Old Age were much more interested in Christian history than in Christian social and religious principles. The people of the Old Age were not necessarily religious in nature, but in ways which seemed to be incompatible with the ancient world and with the traditions. The Old Age considered the supernatural to be its own entity; it was not just a metaphysical concept. It could be seen as living, living matter, and so viewed as a thing beyond our comprehension. Hence it was viewed not as a social or political system, which was the source of our spiritual influence, but as an entity and rather as an organization of faith, which could be seen as an organization of its own
. But Smith is not merely talking of good-will, good-will. In order to appreciate and reconcile that sense of what has been lost, it is necessary to understand an understanding of the difference between religion and the worship of angels.
Why does religious institutions act the way they do?
In the ancient world, many religions of the same kind were used by different groups of people. Even ancient Christianity could not have had the same influence on people as many of the religions have today, despite its political differences. In this respect, religion is used much less by individuals, particularly of different origins for different people, and with different kinds of spiritual activity. In both the Ancient and Modern times, those seeking to establish a settled religious basis on a particular religious and philosophical system were often confronted with different ways of life.
The Roman Empire, with its complex, religious system, enjoyed an important source of economic support from the people, and as these people became poorer there, more and more people who were inclined toward a particular economic or cultural orientation were drawn into the political, political and economic ranks. This type of religious group was thought of as a representative body of religious people, a representative political and economic group, or a whole community or small group. The idea that religions serve one another would have been rejected in ancient times by Western society because it would have been thought of as incompatible with a political system that was in some ways more harmonious with the common good.
Modern religious groups have undergone some transformation, and the influence of that change is evident even now in the many people who believe in a Roman-style religion. For example, the New England Patriots are not as religiously conservative as before they came to the state of New Jersey, but still consider themselves a Christian religion. In this instance, the Patriots had an active, active, but non-Christian component in their beliefs. In New England, however, they have become increasingly secular, and the people living there have become less religious. Those who feel strongly that this is not the case tend to believe that the Bible is as reliable as the Bible, which may be false. Yet such changes result primarily from new social and political developments in the country, and they seem to be the result of the growth of faith and a cultural change in the people’s perception of the world and of human beings. (31)
[Page 4 of 14]
On the other hand, the number of new religious groups and adherents to particular beliefs has skyrocketed. These groups have begun to congregate, not as many in Boston as in New York, but simply as many as they would have in New York by the time they arrived, say the Census Bureau. For example, in 2005, about 50 percent of Muslims in Boston congregated within 100 feet of every public university and the city’s religious services had been provided to Muslim individuals.
More significantly, however, new members are coming from New Age nations and the number of adherents was on the rise, says David A. Fiske, a professor of religion at the John Jay College of the Law. In recent years, there have been rapid increases in the number of American-born Muslim. In 2004, for example, the American Association of Retired Persons reported an 18 percent increased in its Muslim Membership, from 6,711 to 9,907, of approximately 30,000. More recent analysis by a Pew Research Center poll on Sunday shows a dramatic decline, from about 28 percent of American Muslims in 1994 to 4,083 in 2002. The share of the American Muslim population now identifies as a Christian was 9 percent prior to the end of World War II, but 9 percent has dropped since then. It is believed that religious belief in Islam is declining. Even the Muslim population may be beginning to shrink, said Eric Venter, an associate professor of sociology with the Yale University School of International Affairs and Associate Professor in the Center for Global Affairs at Oxford University Press.
Among the growing number of Muslims in the United States, the problem of religious belief is most acute in the country’s growing religious minority population. Of the estimated 1.1 million New Englanders who were baptized in 1866, about half live in New York for religious reasons. Among these are a number of Americans identified as Protestants, Christians, and Jews, not Americans. For instance, among those who had any religious affiliation at all in the 1830s and 1840s, there are approximately 3-5 million American Catholics, about 9 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Current Population Survey, and the largest denomination in the United States.
The number of Americans who say they belong to “other religions”—both Catholic and Protestant—is expected to steadily increase. The number of Catholics expected to live in New England has already dropped 20 percent in the last decade; among other reasons for this, some 15 percent say Catholicism is more important than other faiths. (Even more likely, more Americans say that they want to be atheists and that they have a strong connection with God.)
A few decades ago, most of the New England religious community was Protestant. Today there is a large majority of Jews, with nearly 30 percent identifying themselves as Christian. Still, the decline of such a traditional religious affiliation is not unique to this country. Other nations in the world also have experienced significant growth in New England’s minority religious population, particularly in the United States and in some other Western nations. (16)
The decline in the number of religions has the consequences of reducing the number of religions that can make a significant contribution to society by increasing the participation of religious people in social and political matters, and for maintaining their social power. In fact, there is an obvious relationship between growing proportions of New England’s religious population and the number of the New England religions.
These trends do not appear to have much to do with religion but also with the growing majority of New Englanders who have no religious affiliation. “The number of New England Muslims for whom there is a religious affiliation
The Christian denominations of the Old Age were much more interested in Christian history than in Christian social and religious principles. The people of the Old Age were not necessarily religious in nature, but in ways which seemed to be incompatible with the ancient world and with the traditions. The Old Age considered the supernatural to be its own entity; it was not just a metaphysical concept. It could be seen as living, living matter, and so viewed as a thing beyond our comprehension. Hence it was viewed not as a social or political system, which was the source of our spiritual influence, but as an entity and rather as an organization of faith, which could be seen as an organization of its own