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Carly Carlos

9/8/2019

Danforth’s Jeremiad

Using the second chapter in the Gospel of Matthew, Samuel Danforth likens the

wilderness that John the Baptist taught from to New England society in “A Brief Recognition of

New-Englands Errand into the Wilderness”. With this framing, Danforth presents his grievances

toward the morals of society in his day, as well as the solutions to those problems. These

problems include that religion is seen as merely entertainment or a spectacle, and that vanity and

pride are becoming more prevalent. Danforth also implies that being closer to nature (and having

less luxuries) allows for more devout piety. The solutions that he presents are to take more time

to consider and listen to teachings of faith, being a more active member of the church, and to live

more like a poorer person. Danforth’s grievances and solutions center around the idea of being

closer to nature as the best place to truly understand the teachings of God.

The first problem that Danforth suggests, in relation to the current state of morals in New

England, is the trend of faith being something which is “built upon temporary and transitionary

grounds” (Danforth 156) instead of being a full commitment of faith. His sentiment is that

churchgoers are allowing popular opinion to lead them away from the teachings that they could

learn, be that through the hard logic of “Pharisees and Lawyers” (Danforth 157) or the natural

complacency of tradition and shifting popularity. This complacency, naturally, is turning people

from the church. The second problem that Danforth suggests is the rampant vanity and pride of

the people of New England as a result of this lack of faith. Danforth goes so far as to say that the

“uncleanliness” of these people stems from the “eager pursuit of their private interests”
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(Danforth 165), that their pride in their own pursuits led them to stray from potential piety

through God’s teachings. These two problems are notably similar, as both thought processes

steer people from the church, and can be likened to the effects of people forming a larger society

away from the wilderness. In other words, because of moving away from the wilderness, people

are attending church less than they used to.

To respond to these problems, Danforth offers that the people of New England must

repent for their lack of faith. If one does come to the church and repent, Danforth assures that

there is “effectual grace” to the “healing of our spiritual feebleness” (Danforth 169), or that the

process of repenting will come with smooth and painless tranquility. The second suggestion

comes with the implication that the people who work the closest with the wilderness are the

closest to God, like John the Baptist. This is reflected most by Danforth’s expression that “John

preached in the wilderness, which was no place for silken and soft raiment” (Danforth 153) but

for the common folk who lived off the land in conjunction with nature. With these people having

no need for luxuries, they were not as swayed from the church by pride, as the silken clothing

represents. Thus, if people were to live as if they were poor, they will not be distracted by their

vanity and pride or be swayed away from the church.

Danforth’s grievances with New England’s society are notable because they seem to be

consequences of people turning to luxuries instead of living off the land. His solutions are based

around the return to the more natural and humble way that the poor live, and to cast away the

items and interests that aren’t necessary to survival. This humble life leads to piety, as the

distractions of pride and vanity aren’t even a consideration for those living with little to their

name. Only there, immersed in only what is important, can society truly hear the words of God.
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Works Cited

Danforth, Samuel. “A Brief Recognition of New-Englands Errand into the Wilderness.”

American Sermons: the Pilgrims to Martin Luther King Jr., by Michael Warner, Literary

Classics of the United States, 1999, pp. 151–171.