Confession, Exploration and Comfort in Upon the Burning of Our House by Anne Bradstreet :: Upon the Burning of Our House

Confession, Exploration and Comfort in Upon the Burning  of Our House      Ã‚   The theological concept of humankind’s inherent depravity created tension in the lives of seventeenth century New England Puritans.   The Puritans believed that humans were born sinful and remained in this condition throughout life.   This doctrine stressed self-discipline and introspection, through which the Puritan sought to determine whether particular spiritual strivings were genuine marks of true religiosity.   God preordained election to heaven, and some Puritans would be saved through the righteousness of Jesus Christ despite their sins.   There was no certainty in this life what eternal destiny awaited because the knowledge of who was elect was a divine mystery.   The experience of conversion, where the soul, touched by the Holy Spirit, is turned from sinfulness to holiness, was at least some indication of election.   Although full assurance might never be attained, the conviction of having been chosen by God fortified the Puritans to contend with the hardships of creating a community of Christ in the New World.   This fundamental knowledge of personal depravity, the essence of Puritan theology, created an atmosphere of constant introspection in a cyclical battle with worldly sin always ending with the acknowledged depravity.  Ã‚   The awareness of God’s preordained elect few did not inhibit the perseverance all Puritans applied to acknowledge depravity and to try and overcome sinfulness.   This concept of depravity as the cornerstone of Puritan faith became a central theme in Puritan writing. Poet Anne Bradstreet wrote about her life and how her trials ever urged her to continue her self-inspection in an effort to attempt to subdue the carnal desires of this world.   The Puritan dogma of introspection created a framework for literary confession in the poem â€Å"Upon the Burning of Our House July 10th, 1666.†Ã‚   This framework freed Anne Bradstreet to fully explore her beliefs without direct challenge to authority; thus she both remains within and steps outside of traditional Puritan beliefs, ultimately allowing her to find solace and comfort in the promise of heavenly reward.   In the poem â€Å"Upon the Burning of Our House† Anne Bradstreet exemplifies the normal Puritan lifestyle of tension, although tempered with an allusion of hopefulness not usual in Puritan theology.   Opening with an image of sleep, the poem alerts the reader to what would be considered a moral lapse by Bradstreet, for she was not being ever watchful for sin. The notion of millenialism, to go through life as though the second coming of Christ was imminent, meant that a Puritan was always prepared for the judgement day.