Similarities Between Paine And Phillis Wheatley

Johnathan Edwards, Thomas Paine and Phillis Wheatley expressed their views on religion quite differently. However, the authors shared some commonalities.

Edwards believes that God selects those he will save. He views God as a supreme authority and adores him “as a sovereign God,” (A:405) and asks “sovereign mercy of him” (A:405). He sees Christians as having an “exceeding dependence on God’s grace and strength” (A:408). He feels that the gospel of Christ is his “chosen light” (A:408) and that Christ is his “chosen prophet” (A:408). He compares holiness to “a sweet, pleasant, charming, serene calm nature”(A:402) where Christians, like a “little white flower” (A:403), soak up the light of God just as the flower soaks up the sunlight.
He believes in “one God” (A:653), life after death, “the equality of man, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make to make our fellow citizens happy” (A:653). He does not believe that God would only offer his grace to certain people. He feels that organized religion is the “study of human opinions and of human fancies concerning God” (A:656). He thinks that religion should be the “study pf God Himself in the works that He has made” (A:656). In essence, it is the study of science, which is available to all men. God, in Paine’s view, is the “Almighty lecturer” (A:659), giving us the science to create our own comfort, and through this His act of graciousness, the capability for humans to be kind to one