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Crevecoeur and Puritans
By: Gwendolyn A. Cuizon March 7, 2006
Crevecoeur`s was a French-American writer. He published the Letters from an American Farmer in 1782. His book became an instant hit. In it he detailed information to promote understanding of the "New World". It helped formed an American identity in the minds of Europeans by describing an entire country rather than another regional colony. His environmentalist view as stated in ”Men are like plants; the goodness and flavour of the fruit proceeds from the peculiar soil and exposition in which they grow. We are nothing but what we derive from the air we breathe, the climate we inhabit, the government we obey, the system of religion we profess, and the nature of our employment [I, 444].”
In the A Puritan’s Mind, Puritans believed that "Theology is doctrine or teaching of living to God." It is "the science of living blessedly forever." Theology is not merely doctrine or teaching. Theology is doctrine or teaching of living to God - theology put to practice. It is the life which comes by Christ alone, given to undeserving sinners by faith, so they may regain the opportunity to glorify God in His love and mercy.”
Crevecoeur`s statement, in a way, directly opposed the Puritan’s beliefs. While Puritans believed that everything stemmed from Christ, Crevecoeur’s environmentalist view assumed that we are influenced by our immediate environment – air, climate, government religion system and even work.
For Puritans, Christ is the single most important influence that encompasses all other influences. Christ’s impact in our lives is absolute. And our succeeding actions stemmed from this belief. This is theology put to practice or “theology is doctrine or teaching of living to God." So doctrine and practice with Christ at the center must go hand in hand for it to be effective. This is the essence of the Puritan’s teachings.
For Crevecoeur, however, Christ may form an important part in the development of the moral of a person. He did support the idea that religion is an important factor in our lives. The biggest difference though is that Crevecoeur believes that religion is not the only factor as opposed to that of the Puritan’s. In Crevecoeur’s view, there are other external influences to be considered that would help mold a person. Religion to Crevecoeur then is not limited to Christ alone. Nature is one way of acquiring and expressing religion. Man is an amalgamation of external influences – nature, religion, environment, politics.. The end result is a reflection of these influences.
Crevecoeur and Puritan’s views may vary but they do have a common ground in the fact that they both recognized religion as vital to man’s character. But as far as the doctrines are concerned that is where all the similarities end.
Bibliography
Wikipedia. (2006, Feb. 15). Puritan. Retrieved on Feb. 18, 2006 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puritan
McMahon, Matthew. (1998, April). A Puritan’s Mind. Retrieved on Feb. 18, 2006 from http://www.apuritansmind.com/MainPage.htm
Wikipedia. (2005, Dec. 22).Jean de Crevecoeur. Retrieved on Feb. 18, 2006 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Crevecoeur
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