Godly Letters : The Literature of the American Puritans

In Godly Letters , Michael J. Colacurcio analyzes a treasury of works written by the first generation of seventeenth-century American Puritans. Arguing that insufficient scrutiny has been given this important oeuvre, he calls for a reevaluation of the imaginative and creative qualities of America's early literature of inspired ecclesiological experiment, one that focuses on the quality of the works as well as the demanding theology they express. Colacurcio gives a detailed, richly contextualized account of the meaning of these "godly letters" in rhetorical, theological, and political terms. From his close readings of the major texts by the first generation of Puritans-including William Bradford, Thomas Hooker, Edward Johnson, John Winthrop, Thomas Shepard, and John Cotton-he expertly illuminates qualities other studies have often overlooked. In his words, close study of the literature yields work "comprehensive, circumspect, determined subtle, energetic, relentlessly intellectual, playful in spite of their cultural prohibitions, in spite of themselves, even, they are in every way remarkable products of a culture that . . . assigned an extraordinarily high place to the life of words." Magisterial in sweep, Godly Letters is likely to stand as the definitive work on the Puritan literary achievement. Cover Godly Letters Copyright Dedication Contents Acknowledgments Preface Prologue 1. A Costly Canaan: Morton and the Margins of American Literature Part One: Vision 2. Advancing the Gospel, Dividing the Church: Design and Vision in Bradford’s Plymouth 3. “A Strange Poise of Spirit”: The Life and Deaths of Thomas Shepard 4. The Charter and the “Model”: Writing Winthrop’s Holy State Part Two: Doctrine 5. Doubt’s Venture, Faith’s Call: Shepard’s Activist Calvinism 6. Regeneration through Violence: Hooker and the Morale of Preparation 7. Primitive Comfort: The Spiritual Witness of John Cotton Part Three: Revision 8. Wives and Lovers: Reaction and the Gender of Puritanism 9. Marching Orders: Johnson’s Summary Syntax 10. Government in Exile: Williams and the Decay of Dialogue Epilogue 11. “God’s Altar”: The Fall to Poetry Notes Index About the Author "In Godly Letters, Michael J. Colacurcio analyzes a treasury of works written by the first generation of seventeenth-century American Puritans. Arguing that insufficient scrutiny has been given to this important oeuvre, he calls for a reevaluation of the imaginative and creative qualities of America's early literature of inspired ecclesiological experiment, one that focuses on the quality of the works as well as the demanding theology they express."--Jacket