Rowlandson PuritanismRowlandson Puritanism3/23/15English IIIRowlandson Puritanism        Strict adherence to piety distinguishes early Puritan culture from others of that era.  Mary Rowlandson’s piece A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson is a prime example of Puritan literature.  The values reflected in Mary’s work, such as evidence of Puritan elements, the overall focus of her literature, and point of view prove her novel to be Puritan.  These characteristics displayed in Rowlandson’s literature reflect Puritan upbringing and ideals.         A definite display of Mary Rowlandson’s puritanism lies in her incorporation of the Puritan elements.  In her piece, Rowlandson describes god as “he wounded me with one hand, so he healed me with another” (Rowlandson 77).  This pain Rowlandson believes god is inflicting on her reflects the Puritan element of providence.  This element states that everything God does has a cause and a purpose.  Rowlandson shows that she believes God is harming her for a good reason.  A second example of Rowlandson using the Puritan elements lies in her incorporation of Grace.  When Rowlandson states “how righteous it was with God to cut off the thread of my life” (Rowlandson 77) she displays knowledge that God has a reason to punish her, yet he does not.  This exhibits the Puritan element of grace, or unconditional love.  God allowed Mary to live even though she has sinned due to his unwavering love for his people.  More obvious evidence of Mary Rowlandson’s puritanism lies in the role she assigns god.

Not only does Mary reveal knowledge of Puritan elements, but also general Puritan beliefs.  The Puritans are extremely reverent of God, and require him to be the central focus of all Puritan life.  Mary displays her view of god when she recalls how disrespectful she had been of “God’s holy time” (Rowlandson 77).  To Puritans, it is extremely important to keep the Sabbath a day devoted to god.  By focusing on her misspending the Sabbath, and not her current plight, Mary is showing how intent she is to keep god the center of her life.  Other Puritan writers also focused on God as a central theme.  Puritan writer William Bradford recounted his journey and settlement of America in Of Plymouth Plantation.  Bradford describes the new American land as cruel, and with nothing to sustain his men but “God and his grace” (Bradford 79).  This shows that other Puritan writers also focus their pieces around the presence of God in their lives.  Mary Rowlandson’s point of view also demonstrates her Puritanism.

More: Puritan blogger Mary Rowlandson

With that the topic of the week turned to the subject of God, how did Mary Rowlandson relate in her personal life?

I find God almost every time.  But he seems just as much of a human being as me, and he needs to do as little work as he can to come to earth.  One of the few things I don’t hate is God and I find it hard to love him (Rowlandson 73–74). We all have, of course, the ability to imagine a perfect being or an exact form (Rowlandson 77: 18–19). When I do, I often find myself thinking I’m pretty bad at it for trying to do anything special. I like to be creative and to make my own decisions. I love thinking about how to use my creative faculties when it comes to God. That is why I love telling people where I stand and what I think I mean.

I live because I believe in the very things that I have learned.  I believe in something in the world that is different from whatever I think from day to day, and that is God.  To me, God is the perfect man if you know where you stand and if you do your good work, God will come through you to help you.

The Lord has called us to His glory.  But let us see where His glory may be.  What is it that we see with our own eyes? Well, his name’s Himalayan: it is not only the name of God. It’s the name of God that we may call Himself.  When we call God to Himself, we do this so that we may bring Him to the Lord, which means that we might see Him by the ways of His glory and see into Him in the Holy Spirit (Deut 22:9–10).
And so, while I consider myself to be an intelligent man living and living in some small way, God is also known to me as Father.  God’s grace and majesty have made him something we can use to know of God because it is what we see through His eyes but not through His means (Deut 22:20; 23:12). I say that I do not love or worship Him because I love Him and I can use him more than God does (Deut 23:23–25). Even knowing Him I don’t think that I can use He to help me.  I think God is more complex than we imagine (Deut 23:26; 23:31). God is, essentially, what we perceive from outside the confines of what we hold to be basic.

I am the only God I ever truly know and know how to feel about or respect.  I remember vividly seeing Him.  I have never felt so strongly before seeing Him.

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Mary Rowlandson’S Piece And Puritan Culture. (August 23, 2021). Retrieved from https://www.freeessays.education/mary-rowlandsons-piece-and-puritan-culture-essay/