“There is either obedience or the church will burn like Hell is burning!” (pg 30) Parris tried to defend himself with such passionate and heartfelt comments but Proctor would have none of it. To him Parris was not in his society. Also, his relationship with Abigail Williams was a strained one, plagued with affair, scandal, and betrayal. He did love her, but soon after seeing what she truly was he resented his connection to her and, like what his old true nature told him, he confessed, causing a resent to appear within the town that never gave him his old trust
‘Year of Wonders’ is a novel that explores the impact on the life of a small village in the 1660s. The villagers of Eyam begin to question their faith because of the terrible price they must pay to contain the plague within their boundaries. They question their beliefs as the sinister side of religion becomes more apparent with the passage of time. This essay will explore how religion is used to explain why the villagers must take on the burden of quarantining their village and then how later characters such as Anna Frith questions her beliefs in God based on her observations of life in the village at this time. This essay will also explore how the villagers begin to abuse their beliefs and use them to scapegoat others.
To preach forgiveness is to preach the “good news” and lead the lost into the glory of God. However, in these times many Evangelicals have turned to a more dark interpretation of the “good news”. There are vivid descriptions of hell that cause fear into many. There are many laws created by churches that use fear to control their followers. With this going on, it is no wonder why others believe that Evangelicals are motivated by hate.
Thesis: Body Paragraph 1: Christians mainly went to the Crusaders in order to receive remission for their sins. In the Middle Ages, many people lived in poor conditions and in poverty. By the Church being there, they knew that God was in their favor and will protect them. However by doing sinful acts, God was not in your favor. Luckily the Crusaders were the solution to this.
Each part of life, such as love, birth, death was controlled by Christian dogma; fear was used in this belief system. The danger of sin was used to motivate people to embark on the First Crusade. It was believed that every person would be judged at death, and only the “pure” souls would be allowed into heaven. Conversely, the souls that were tainted by sin would be condemned to eternity of hell. Considering that most people at the time were illiterate, religious art was used to illustrate what would happen if they led a sinful life.
In bewilderment, they see the minister’s face covered with the black veil which creates commotion among them. There are speculations about the origin of the veil, nevertheless nobody dares to ask. Mr Hooper’s sermon is on secret sin, as the Puritans were obsessed with this theme. The veil induces in minister such emotions that the sermon is the greatest ever and causes in parishioners anxiety and at the same time disgust as it reminds and makes them aware of their own sins. The scene might be compared with that in the novel Scarlet Letter, where reverend Dimmesdale, suffering guilty conscience delivers the speech which makes all the people astonished.
The causes for both the Salem Witch trials and McCarthyism were both based on the fanaticism of just a single person. The initial reason as to what sparked the Salem Witch trials was that, reverend Parris had noticed that he was losing more people in his church and that the attendance was decreasing by the moment! (Douglas Linder) Consequently, he made himself as well as others believe that his church was the church through which god spreads his blessing, and now, god's community is cursed by witches. Given that it was a puritan’s community back then, the people seemed to have believed so easily and gave into thinking that witches were behind this. Henceforth, Mr. Parris made it exceptionally clear that if you are against the church, then you are truly well amongst the dead.
All people are born sinners. Natural men must be reborn to be saved; “…hell is waiting for them…” (Edwards 46). These views are that of Jonathan Edwards in Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Edwards belonged to a religion that was lingering and was close to disappearing due to the growing numbers of Christians, so he used figurative language and imagery in order to scare people back into the Puritan way of life. “Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downward with great weight and pressure toward hell.” (Edwards 47).
The Black Death affected people from all walks of life: Rich or poor; educated or illiterate, all could be touched by the Black Death. Scholars suffered as universities and schools were closed or abandoned [12]. Schools and universities were probably being abandoned because students and professors were dying, and the ones that survived did not want to contract the disease, so they left. The Church experienced the results of the Black Death, too. When the priests died, no one could hear the confessions of those still living.
Religion came into affect because people were sad about the ones they had left behind and thought that God was punishing them for their sins. So people started to pray and ask for forgiveness. Some people went so far and became known as flagellants, people who whipped themselves and scourged themselves as penance for their society's sins. They traveled from town to town.Populaar endowments of educational institutions multiplied. The years of the Black Death witnessed the foundation of new colleges at old universities and more.