Puritan Beliefs :: The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne, Literature

The Puritans once held a position of power among the religious world. Their beliefs were strict and they did not compromise their morals or standards for any outside individual. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the Puritan religion reflects the attitude and values of the common man during that particular time period.The master(prenominal) belief among the Puritans was that they were immortals chosen people. In their eyes, they held supremacy over the average man. They believed in Pelagianism based on the Doctrine of Elect. This was the belief that man could redeem himself through acts of charity, religious devotion, and by living an unselfish life. Many of these strict beliefs were based on John Calvins principle of predestination. Predestination was that through Gods grace, one would reach heaven and that this special grace could not be earned it was predetermined at birth. This principle of predestination forced Puritans to in truth believe that their actions did not matter and their devotion to God had no bearing over their destiny.Puritans also believed in the degradation of ones self, which meant that they had to make themselves cum laude to God so that he would not instill his wrath on the Puritan community. They feared God and his special power, but considered themselves Gods special elects. Basically, they mat they had the right to perform any necessary deeds that would satisfy Gods will. Sin was thought of as an unavoidable element of human nature, and since this was a natural occurrence, all sins had to be confessed.