In his book, The Puritan Dilemma, Edmund Morgan narrates the dilemma of Winthrop, who felt that he needed to separate himself from the rest of the society which he felt was unclean in religious aspects. However, Winthrop was afraid the extent to which he felt he could distant himself. Another worry that engulfed him was that he was not really certain whether the generation that could come out of him could match the standards that he cherished. His major awareness is that he appreciated the presence of God. This is evidenced, when he ideologically differed from Rodger Williams who felt that the congregation should confess for having been in the churches in England. Winthrop thus appreciated that God was the custodian of all wisdom and it was not right to exhibit a mind of what was expected of the Lord by the entire congregation.
This time was faced with a combination of both religious and political controversies which led to an outspoken tension that eventually led to political row. These rows were contributed by the fact that the doctrinal dictates that were projected at the time could not be ascertained (Morgan 230). The doctrines were outlined in the docket that was used in the development of the new doctrine. Morgan illustrates the Winthrop was more concerned on his deed than his desire to establish the puritans. Winthrop feels that separatism could be a selfish desire, which was clearly ill spoken in the Holy Scriptures.
Winthrop and the puritans were not certain whether the city they would build in England would be perfect due to various factors that ensued at the time. Winthrop was a separatist. However, he was opposing the separation of others because the entirety of the whole idea was not basically feasible. He felt that even though he was physically distancing himself from the Church of England, he did not really denounce it. Basically, they gad similar doctrinal basis and some of the basis that differed were insignificant. It is evident that the church was experiencing much pressure from within and without (Morgan 154). Substantive analysis indicated that the puritans were interlocked within the practices that they wanted to denounce. For instance, the desire and yearn for purity was impossible because evading sin was impossible.
Another major reason the Winthrop could not ascertain whether the religious breakthrough supported by the development of prevailing doctrine could persist. In the conditions that were dictated by the doctrine, it was evident that the group was trending on an unstable ground since the many of these conditions were impractical and hard to follow. This was a difficult situation which implied that the actual implication of attracting more followers would attract more controversies especially following the fact that most of these doctrinal aspects were questionable (Morgan 98).
Anne Hutchinson and Rodger Williams believed in Arminianism and antonominianism which involved interacting with God to manipulate his ways (Morgan 59). They believe the future was already predestined and the human behaviors were immaterial in as far as experiencing eternity were concerned. Their expulsion from Massachusetts had devastating consequences since they divide both political and religious groups. They both contributed to expansive differences that marked the beginning of instability in Massachusetts. As the author alludes, the two characters were termed as poisonous since their beliefs and ideologies were conflicting and were filled with major controversial rows. For instance, it was impractical to call upon the majority to repent upon the practices upon which they had engaged in the Church of England and yet, the doctrinal basis was not changed. It clearly implies that level of hypocrisy had ensued. This eventually led to the occurrence of the political mishap that led to the dissolution of the puritans (Morgan 234). According to the author, Winthrop was compelled to eventually flee the state of Massachusetts.
Winthrop was a governor faced with many challenges in his desire to implement the laws that were stipulated. He was unable to conceive an overall picture concerning the aspect of combining various basic concepts that were stipulated in the scriptures. The puritans felt that there was a need to develop a binding agreement or a covenant with which the laws could be enacted. Ideologies by Rodger Williams were another stumbling block in his pursuit for effective governance. This is because of his call for repentance from the communion with the England churches yet it was a communion that would remain amongst the majority since they had not denounced that church. The government under Winthrop could be regarded as democratic since it was not extreme. He left people to make their choices on free will. He was also hesitative which shows that he experienced an aspect of uncertainty (Morgan 18). This implies that he was in a more viable position to let people to wallow in similar uncertainty without having to dictate how matters especially those that accrued to faith were carried out.
Basically, it is impractical to ascertain that some of undertakings nullified the political capacity of the group due to the expulsion of Anne Hutchinson and Rodger Williams believed. In a move to explain the entire scenario, it turns out that the major ideologies surrounding the whole issue could not be ascertained (Morgan 45).
Massachusetts in Winthrop’s times never fulfilled the aim of the founders in that it enhances the various that were used to the basis for religious faith. The puritans were discouraged in due time since with time, divisions and relenting ensued causing the banishing of the puritans. The founders had intended the faith to spread and draw more people to join the puritans. However, contradicting beliefs ensued and prohibited the spread of the religious belief that was difficult to run by. The conflict broke up in the long run and a political instability ensued. Eventually, the spearheading individuals were put to task to express the ongoing row in the eve of many religious controversies in the state (Morgan 153).
When the rows started in Massachusetts, Winthrop fled. He was justified because his being would raise more fracases in the already threatened state. Initially the author points out that he lacked the surety within which he would defend a doctrine that was experiencing numerous controversies. The controversies revolved around other religious beliefs among the developments of the political ideologies within which all governance ideologies were formulated. It is evident that if he stayed he would be the main target and would be charged with allegations that he would not be in a position to defend. Due to his religious instability, Winthrop was already facing a lot of opposition from both religious and political and theoretical ideologies. Inconsistencies were another major challenge. Being a puritan required more sacrifice than religious ideologies such that the puritans could not observe consistency in their faith.
Work cited
Morgan E. The Puritan Dilemma: The Story of John Winthrop. New York: Tallman publishing Co, 1996
