The Massachusetts Bay School LawEssay Preview: The Massachusetts Bay School LawReport this essayThe Massachusetts Bay School LawUpon arriving in America, the Puritans have a charter granted by the king which gives them some measure of self-government. The “Massachusetts Bay School Law” established in 1642 expressed the Puritans ideas on education, religion, and the study of a “particular” calling. Every Puritan was expected to abide by the law and to report offenders, who were consequently reprimanded or punished accordingly.
The master of the family was obliged, according to the “Massachusetts Bay School Law,” to teach their children and apprentices how to read. According to the Bible, Puritans believed children were ignorant, as well as evil. Therefore, education was enforced solely and specifically for religious purposes. Children were taught to read in order to understand the scripture of God, and in hope that knowledge and understanding of the Word of God will help them flee from evil thoughts. Whether it were reading or writing, every lesson in Puritan schools derived from or pertained to the bible. The Puritans sought knowledge, therefore, not simply as a polite accomplishment, nor as a means of advancing material welfare, but because salvation was impossible without it.
Parents were responsible for educating their children, of God and his expectations, as soon as the child was capable of understanding. Although, obedient children knowledgeable of God were not necessarily guaranteed salvation, enlightenment increased their probability, as opposed to ignorant children who would most likely not be saved. Under the mandate of the “Massachusetts Bay School Law,” fathers had to study, answer questions, and review the law of God (from a catechism, a book which summarizes in the form question and answers the Puritan system of Christian belief) with their children, a minimum of once a week. The purpose of this was to help children not only to memorize,
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For more on this, see: https://www.nytimes.com/1983/07/12/us/bible-law.html?_r=0
[1] “Children are the most precious assets of our society” (NYTimes, 16 November 1980, http://www.nytimes.com/1980/11/13/us/politics/children.html?_r=0]
[2] See here (1 Feb 1983, http://www.nytimes.com/1981/02/01/us/politics/children-pays-for-education.html) the article on William & Mary.
[3] The Puritans included a “proprioceptive” religious model with a similar focus on the future. Charles A. Roberts, The Spirit of a Young Man and Religion in the Age of Science. Boston: M&G & Co. 1950; reprint, pp. 38-40. Text includes, “The law and doctrine of God which is to be followed by one who is willing to observe it, be made manifest in the hearts and minds of the good” (The New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 43, no. 2, January 1951), pp. 39-40.
[4] The Puritans used the word “propriositive” in both its sense of an immediate or imminent end to the state of nature, “prophesy, contemplation, contemplation” and the concept of the “intelligent agents” who were to be “called on” by the law for the purpose of promoting a “conscience of men” rather than as means for social or political change. The Puritans did not apply to the word “proprioceptive” in both sense of an immediate or imminent end to the state of nature, but rather to the development of human mental capacities. These capacities did not “end” merely but may be improved or destroyed while on the journey.
[5] Ibid: “There is still no evidence that it is necessary to seek treatment in advance for diseases associated with fasting due to the fact that the cure for this disease is not yet known and the use of fasting is no more widespread than the cure for cancer in the early 1920s. “We do not consider the practice of fasting in any way to impede the development of brain development and to prevent brain diseases. In fact, the use of fasting has been the key to improving neurodegenerative diseases and helping the brain to heal itself.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1, pp. 34-42.
[6] See this article (in italics), from http://www.