Historical musings

Nenneman positions his reader to see Eddy as a child of nineteenth century New England and impresses on us how she cherished family, her longing to see it manifest in her experience woven like a golden thread through her long life.

The third paragraph on page 33 seems important. The author here compares the Calvinist focus on a small portion of Scripture in regard to predestination, with Augustine’s late fourth century “emphasis on the alleged fall of man…and man’s inherent depravity”, an emphasis which he suggests altered the course of history.

The historical background regarding the Puritan immigration to the American colonies is most interesting. Nenneman suggests (p. 34) that the Puritans’ aim was to establish community life according to their – perhaps narrow – perception of Scriptural demands, rather than for “religious freedom”. However, the practical need for “cooperation and compromise” did indeed contribute to a live and let live spirit in the new colony.

Julie Swannell