The Puritan Dilemma Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Puritan Dilemma - Essay Example the new colony, including several deaths and several colonists returning to England, the situation in the new world has changed dramatically and we have seen a great number of new settlers arrive and settle in our area. We have found a favorable place to settle with a beautiful harbor and enjoy a great deal of freedom in practicing our religion as we see fit. This is the greatest reason why one should choose to move to our colony even should it be necessary to practice some untruth to escape the oppressive nature of the kingdom by obtaining licensing to Virginia and then traveling to Massachusetts. Under Winthrop’s guidance, the colony has done very well. We had a good start thanks to Winthrop’s efforts in carefully selecting our founding colonists to be God-fearing men and women with a good variety of skills that would be helpful in the new world. Of the first 1000 settlers, we had coopers, sawyers, doctors, pastors and other skilled workers and planters as well as an enormous supply of provisions against our first few years of establishment. The first few struggles in which some of the colonists suffered illness and death and others left feeling the new world was not for them included the death of Winthrop’s son and the surprise of finding earlier settlers dispirited and starving upon our arrival. However, thanks to Winthrop’s guidance and planning, we were not concerned about survival within our first year of foundation and have even found a means of communicating amicably with our wild neighbors. It is one of the great dilemmas of our Puritan beliefs that we must often balance our decisions between life and God. Our excellent governor tells us to contemplate â€Å"the problem of doing right in a world that does wrong† (Morgan, 1998: 203). Winthrop tells us about his love for hunting which is to such an extent that he realizes he should not take such pleasure in it if he is to properly serve God. â€Å"Puritanism required that man refrain from