Quotes from Perry Miller

It is only too clear that man is not at home within this universe, and yet that he is not good enough to deserve a better.

hence the conclusion is frequently implied and often explicitly drawn that the Puritans looked upon philosophy as a sensual indulgence, upon classical authors as contemptible heathens, upon science as a work of the Devil and a hindrance to faith. Neither the friends nor the foes of the Puritans have shown much interest in their intellects, for it has been assumed that the Puritan mind was too weighted down by the load of dogma to be worth considering in and for itself.

Cotton added, "zeale is but a wilde-fire without knowledge.

The arguments of Dell and Webster always come back to a fundamental Antinomianism, to the idea that grace gives not only the ability to act but all requisite knowledge, that the child of God knows the principles of eternal truth merely out of his subjective assurances.

Look," says the Puritan preacher, the doctrine is "as in nature, reason teacheth and experience evidenceth"; to deny it "is to go against the experience of all ages, the common sense of all men.

It is also true that much of the preaching was given over to the inculcation of sobriety and self-control. In the early half of the century, when the tempo of religious zeal was mounting, the clergy strove continually to hold their followers in check. In New England occasional outbursts of enthusiasm, particularly the emotional excitement aroused by Anne Hutchinson, called forth still more ministerial counsels of moderation

Prudence doth not abate diligence, but guides it in its worke.