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Authority
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Authority in the Puritan Community was based on a hierarchical structure.
This structure placed God at the top, the minister below, and at the
bottom was both the Chosen and Un-chosen ones.
To the Puritans, God was a planner, in particular, their planner.
Since God was not present, the minister was the only person who the
community respected and followed. The
minister interpreted what God said and wrote; he was God’s voice, therefore,
the people of the community listened. God
‘s Chosen were educated individuals of the community.
They tended to work on God’s plan and participated in meetings so they
also could be heard. The Un-chosen however, were not educated in God’s plan, hence,
they could not participate, but instead they tested the Chosen.
God
Minister Chosen
Un-chosen |