Puritans errand in the wilderness meaning the Puritans task with the inhabitants of the wilderness which would be the Native Americans for example. One of the tasks were to build a civilization on a strong foundation. As children of the Lord, they are blessed in whatever they do according to the fulfillment of Gods word. Obeying and fulfilling Gods word also gives them a call to action to share their faith with the Native Americans. As Christians they were already fighting daily battles that describe their inner character and being an example of how to live a holy life. Not only they were fighting certain spiritual battles, but they were also fighting with new battles involving tasks in the wilderness. Cotton didn’t have a need to leave, however he never criticized them for the reasons they decided to leave England. He believed that they needed biblical reasoning for their sudden actions and there was one, so he wasn’t persuading the Puritans to leave, but he completely understands by what reasons.
John Winthrop was an early Puritan leader whose vision for a godly commonwealth created the basis for an established religion that remained in place in Massachusetts until well after adoption of the First Amendment. It was, however, eventually superseded by ideas of separation of church and state.Winthrop was also clueless as to what their arrival in the new lands would bring them. The new lands was a mystery to Winthrop in terms of the weather conditions, the kinds of people that live there, and etc. Just like Cotton, Winthrop wrote to them to remind the Puritans that through all the difficulties, they had to rebuild civilization and economy from scratch. Even if they have some progress of rebuilding society, the very next second things can turn around for worse. Danger lurks every corner and as believers they had to be alert every step of the way, future generations depend whether they succeed or not through these difficult life-changing trials.
Mary Rowlandson spent 11 months in captivity among the Native Americans during Kind Philips War in the years 1675-78 in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. She wrote a book called ‘Captivity and Restoration’ about her experiences. Mary’s character as a human being was tested whenever she had to turn her back on the civilization and go into the unknown. Being held captive gave her some time to recollect everything she’s been through and to see the character transformation leading her to Christ (the real reason for her transformation). Ever since that moment she gave God all the credit and glory. Not only was she shown true power of love, was convinced that she’s actually worth something, Mary also noticed her Spiritual growth has been increased in ways she never knew she could! The horrible treatment she got from the Indians was all covered by the compassion shown to her by the fellow Christian Puritans living in the wilderness. Her relationship with the Lord only strengthened and it was her turn to fulfill the errand into the wilderness.
Thank you for reading this essay! I hope you learned something new or simply enjoyed reading it! As always I’ll be posting more as soon as I can and have a blessed rest of your day!
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