Koehler's Puritan Blog

                                   The instructions of the puritan’s culture, by the covenants of works and grace, are to accept God’s predestined plan for what it is and praise Him for His wisdom, because even if the plan is one that doesn’t appear to end favorably, the overall outcome is for the greater good of mankind. A puritan must have utter devotion to God, by doing that they will be rewarded.

            Anne Bradstreet touches on ultimate trust and thankfulness towards God in her poem, Verses upon the Burning of our House. Her house is burning down, when she was done watching she, “blest his grace that gave and took” (Line 14). Again near the end, she thanks god again, “There's wealth enough; I need no more.”( Line 51). Her reaction to the burning of her house is a near perfect model of how a puritan has to stay true to their covenants even in the darkest of times. A puritan knows that everything God has given them, God can take; either way God must be thanked and praised for His gifts even when they’re gone. The covenants a puritan follows requires them to look beyond the love for the material world God has shown them, and and put their faith in the Treasure that lies above, heaven.

            In his sermon, John Winthrop also examines the ideal puritan mindset of the material world. He focus is turned toward charity and a puritan’s obligation to help his fellow man, and the puritanical rules one must follow in helping his fellow man. Whether a helping act is an act of morality or commerce will determine how much or how little they should give, but they are always required to give some amount. This is in accordance to the covenant of works and designed to enrich the social community, all the while enhancing the covenant of grace in the charitable person.

           The entire puritan community is based around love and faith.  Love between God and His people and the love between people of the community is the basis of the covenant of works, while faith is the basis for covenant of grace. The puritans believe they must follow both covenants entirely to achieve the ideal community.