Concept | Puritanism | Deism | Unitarianism | Transcendentalism |
Religious | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Prime Mover | God: triune, all-powerful, good, just wrathful | God: One, powerful, initially benevolent, now detached | God: One, powerful, benevolent | Oversoul: not anthropomorphic but good |
Universe | Creation of God, predestined, unknowable | Creation of God, but man's charge; eventually knowable, good | Same as Deism | Manifestation of creative power of the Oversoul |
Man | God's creature; not an animal | Same as Puritans | Same as Puritans | Same as above |
Nature | Created by God, but often hostile, evil, and source of temptation | Created by God, benevolent, mechanistic, proof of God's existence | Created by God, benevolent, proof of God's exist | Same as above, benevolent, proof of of Divine existence |
Human Nature | Corrupted by Original Sin, depraved | Perfectible | Partakes of the Divine Nature | Basically good (comes from Oversoul) |
Source of Evil | Man's nature (through Adam's fall) | Ignorance and the "passions" | Human perversity | Evil non-existence |
Attitude toward Life | Deterministic (predestination) | Optimistic--progress through reason | Optimistic--progress through faith, good works | Optimistic--inevitable progress |
Man's Will | Not free | Free | Free | Free--self-reliance + compensation |
Man's Duty | Faith, glorification of God, prepare for afterlife | To cultivate reason, do good works | To imitate the goodness of God | To realize his fullest capabilities |
Social Attitude | Obedience to authority, spiritual stewardship of man | Environmentalist, ethical, humanitarian | Same as Deism | Individualistic and humanitarian |
Man's Destiny | Election or reprobation | Happiness on earth, rewards and punishments after | Progresss forever | Reemergence with the Oversoul |
How Determined | Will of God | Good works, rationality | Same as Deism | Cultivation of innate Divinity |
Backgrounds of American Literary Thought, Englewood Cliffs: Prentice- Hall, 1974.