Jonathan Edwards

Plenty who have read the works of Jonathan Edwards may agree that his popular sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" is not something to be shared in our contemporary church service. To an extent, I can see why since, overall, the sermon uses vivid imagery of hell to the point where any unsuspecting church patron would be scared out of their minds and may never want to attend that church again. However, in reading it, I could sort of see the beneficial side of preaching it even to the newest church attenders. For one, it actually provides the context as to what we're being saved from through our faith Christ (that being eternal damnation). Not many pastors these days touch on this fact during their sermons that it tends to leave people wondering what it is we're being saved from apart from our own sins. As my teacher said, most of today's sermons consist of "touchy, feely God loves us all" topics and, while they are great for a contemporary time, it could help to emphasize the existence of hell a little bit more as a way of leading more people in the right direction towards heaven.

De Crevecoeur's "What is an American" - current version

Everyone wishes they could sympathize with what an Englishman thinks upon entering the the mainland of the United States for the first time. Regardless of his intentions to visit the country, it is only fitting that their thoughts upon their arrival would be that they've entered the land of freedom, independence, justice, honor, and prosperity. Even if they don't know us, everyone often sees America as a country of such and only such. However, what outsiders do not see is even more shocking; between every injustice, there exists poverty, crime, domestic abuse, and taking freedom for granted. More than ever now, people blur the lines of freedom to the point where it is largely unknown what true freedom is these days. Despite this, America itself does not stop portraying itself in its own ideal image. Together, for the most part, we stand as a nation fighting for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We do our best to help others and bring to justice those in oppression toward us. Often times, we are more compassionate than the world makes us out to be.

1700-1820: Subjects I've learned about once more

Upon reading this introduction to the new era we read in class, I was surprised as to notice the subject matter we'll be getting into that I've not been taught in a while: the Enlightenment Period. Last I heard about this particular period in history was in high school, but I don't remember much about it apart from the idea of "new ideals". I was most intrigued to re-learn of the different ideals introduced during the time such as Deism, which I do not believe in, I just found it very interesting to have revisited ideas that I remember learning about. Little did I realize, though, that one of the biggest ideas introduced around this time was psychology -- a subject that very much intrigues me. The reason I found it so intriguing was because, at the moment, I anticipate that there will be more of a "psychological factor" in our readings (meaning readings that understand how people work). Far as I know, it may be one of the more interesting periods that we read about.

Who's "We"?

In class, we often have brought up the idea of "we" in terms of who specifically we're referring to in conversation. The first week of class, I believed that the sort of "we" we referred to was simply us as a class. The interactions we shared, the ideas we exchanged, etc. The more we've gone through class, however, my perception of the term "we" has slowly, but surely changed over time. From my understanding of the works of literature we've read thus far, the term "we" may as well be referring to those from different backgrounds and cultures. Much of what we've read (such as Mary Rowlandson's story and John Smith's account) show different cultures interacting with one another and, even if they don't agree on something, they are pretty much of the same people. How? They are all made by God and are therefore very much collective even if they don't understand each other. In other words, "we" refers to humanity as a whole.

My thoughts on Mary Rowlandson

Mary Rowlandson was, indeed, an interesting author in the way she wrote about her most famous experience. Her's was a captivity narrative that involved her time being captured by Native Americans during King Phillip's War for 11 weeks. The way she was treated during that time has often been compared to the way African American slaves were treated by Americans in the sense that the two different ideas (captivity vs. slavery) seem to parallel one another in this instance. It is possible that, with her Christian faith, that she had some sympathy towards slaves (for example: when she said "Yet the Lord showed mercy to me; and as he wounded me with one hand, so he healed me with the other", referring to the rough experiences they endured). Even the way she expressed her faith and even implemented some Scripture also made it clear as to why she would never give up in the face of suffering. She was, indeed, an influential figure of the time and continues to be so today.

John Winthrop

As a regular reader of Christian literature, I must say there have been some fascinating accounts of Christianity in both the past and present. One in particular that I read in the past involved the account of John Winthrop's "A Model of Christian Charity". Although his ideas were rather static, so to say, it followed the whole idea of a Puritan's belief: that everything is done in God's design. Basically, the idea shows that these so-called "charity's" are what make up the entire body of Christianity in which all pieces are necessary. It's also interesting to think that this is one of the many mentions of the whole idea of the "city on a hill" showing that God's light is not meant to be hidden. Overall, it's one of those works that makes you think deeper about the the model of New Israel -- being all-inclusive and aware of God's presence -- and it's interesting to see how well it holds today even.