The Puritan Dilemma

Winthrop and the Puritans faced a dilemma that is still pertinent today: what responsibility does a religious person owe to society?--

Biography of the colonial leader.

This analysis of the progressive definition of John Milton’s social, political, and religious opinions during the fertile years of the Puritan Revolution has become a classic work of scholarship in the thirty-five years since it was first published. Professor Barker interprets Milton’s development in the light of his personal problems and of the changing climate of opinion among his revolutionary associates.

As both a politician and a historian, Winthrop was an interpreter of foundational events in American history. Within his journal, therefore, lie resources for understanding the nature of leadership and the meaning of liberty in our past. Because of the ongoing Puritan legacy in American culture, Winthrop's journal may show us our own world, and possibly our future, in new ways. - Introduction.