Jonathan Edwards Speaks of Sin and Salvation and Franklin Contemplates Whitefield

For this week's blog entry, I'd like you all to take a look at the "Sinners In the Hands of An Angry God" sermon by Jonathan Edwards (15.1) and the entry by Benjamin Franklin (15.2) about George Whitefield (both found in the Mapp/Rushforth collection).

Address the following questions:

1. What are the difference between Edwards and Whitefield? (in terms of belief about God, about human nature?)

2. Why are both men so effective? What attracted follows to them (you may need to reference your textbook to effectively answer this question)?

3. How can we identify both of these men as part of the Great Awakening?

4. Why is the Great Awakening important in the "creation" of America?

Puritan Daily Life and Concerns

In light of our discussion of Puritans last week take a look at "A Puritan Maiden's Diary" on the Cornell Library website.

This link 1675 diary of a Puritan girl, its author is unknown, appears to begin on her birthday and covers, roughly, a two year period. It was first published in the late 19th century - the link is to the article as it was originally published with text from the diary. Read through the article and text (it's five pages) and then write a paragraph or two about the diary.

What seem to be some of the girl's major concerns? What kind of a "snapshot" of Puritan daily life does it provide? What do we learn about Puritan daily life? How does this account compare to some of your other readings about Puritans and what you learned in lecture about their daily lives and concerns?