A. Diaries/journals, personal and historical narratives, religious poems and tracts, and sermons
B. Plain, realistic, purpose-driven, and instructive
II. Basic Puritan Beliefs - TULIP
A. Total Depravity - through Adam and Eve's fall, every person is born sinful (the concept of Original Sin)
B. Unconditional Election - God saves those He wishes. Only a few are selected for salvation (the concept of predestination)
C. Limited Atonement - Jesus died for the chose (predestined) only, not for everyone
D. Irresistible Grace - God's grace is freely given; it cannot be earned or denied. Grace is defined as the saving and transfiguring power of God
E. Perseverance of the Saints - those elected by God have full power to interpret the will of God and to live righteously. If anyone rejects grace after feeling its power in his life, he is going against the will of God - something impossible in Puritanism
III. Functions
A. Express the relationship between God and daily life
B. Emphasize religion and the importance of the church
IV. Themes
A. Idealism - religious and practical
B. Pragmatism - practicality and purposiveness
Famous Authors and Works:
1702: "Magnalia Christi Americana: or, the Ecclesiastical History of New England" - Cotton Mather
1741: "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" - Jonathan Edwards
1789: "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano" - Olaudah Equiano