Why did the Puritans believe in educating everyone?
Answer (3)
They believed in educating everyone so they could all read the Bible and understand the sermon and worship God by this.
The Puritans believed in educating everyone because they viewed education as essential for individuals to achieve salvation through the ability to read the Bible and understand religious doctrines. To facilitate this, they established educational institutions like Harvard University in 1636 and enacted laws to ensure that education was provided in towns of certain sizes. They saw education not just as a personal virtue but also as a social necessity, which led to the creation of the earliest public school systems in America.
The Old Deluder Satan Law of 1647 mandated that towns with at least fifty families should have an elementary school to prevent Satan from keeping men from the knowledge of the Scriptures. This law and the Puritans' broader educational practices were rooted in the belief that literacy and understanding of the Bible were critical for church membership and thus for living a virtuous Christian life.
Not only did the Puritans place high value on religious education, but they also believed that idleness was the work of the devil. They fostered an environment that encouraged industry and hardworking values, which in turn supported the notion that education was a public, rather than solely family, responsibility.
The Puritans believed in educating everyone to ensure that all could read the Bible and understand their faith, as knowledge of Scripture was essential for salvation. They established laws requiring education in their communities to combat ignorance and promote literacy. This commitment to education led to the founding of institutions like Harvard and shaped early American educational practices.
;
