Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Preface
- List of Abbreviations
- Map
- Introduction
- 1 Venning's Early Life (c.1621–43)
- 2 Venning at Emmanuel College (1643–50)
- 3 Venning and the ‘Puritan Revolution’ (c.1650–60)
- 4 Venning, the Restoration and Dissent (1660–74)
- 5 Godliness and the Pursuit of Happiness
- 6 Happiness in Work and Leisure
- 7 Sin, the Enemy of Happiness
- 8 Spiritual Growth as the Pursuit of Happiness
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index of Names
- General Index
7 - Sin, the Enemy of Happiness
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 May 2015
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Preface
- List of Abbreviations
- Map
- Introduction
- 1 Venning's Early Life (c.1621–43)
- 2 Venning at Emmanuel College (1643–50)
- 3 Venning and the ‘Puritan Revolution’ (c.1650–60)
- 4 Venning, the Restoration and Dissent (1660–74)
- 5 Godliness and the Pursuit of Happiness
- 6 Happiness in Work and Leisure
- 7 Sin, the Enemy of Happiness
- 8 Spiritual Growth as the Pursuit of Happiness
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index of Names
- General Index
Summary
‘God made man in his own likeness; man hath made sin in his likeness, and sin hath made misery in his own likeness.’ Ralph Venning.
Having considered godliness as a major element in Venning's theology, we come now to its antithesis, sin. Indeed, an ‘overwhelming awareness’ of sin was characteristic of puritanism, and struggle against the world, flesh and devil central to the puritan experience. It is certainly a major element in Venning's theology, yet, pertinently, it also reflects his emphasis upon the pursuit of happiness.
Venning discusses sin extensively in Sin, The Plague of Plagues; Or, Sinful Sin the Worst of Evils (1669). His purpose is five-fold, amongst which are the proselytising aims, ‘For admiring the free and rich grace of God’ and for ‘believing in our Lord Jesus Christ’. In Venning's view, recognition of the ‘sinfulness of sin’ is essential to the ordo salutis and being spiritually ‘awakened’. He therefore promotes ‘hating of, repenting for and from sin, thereby taking a holy, just and good revenge on it and our selves’ and ‘lastly, that this black spot may serve for a set off, to the admirable, incomparable, and transcendent Beauty of Holiness’. The latter theme, a puritan re-interpretation of the language of Laudian piety, was sufficiently important to Venning to warrant a treatise of its own.
Venning adopts the rhetorical imagery and language of a courtroom, intent on proving the utter sinfulness of sin. He cites witnesses against it, including God, Christ, Angels – holy, fallen and the devil; men – both saints and sinners; Creation; the Law; and the Gospel. Moreover, sin is a witness against itself. While he acknowledges that a number have expounded the nature of sin, he claims to have been distinctive:
I have not only handled this Subject in another manner, but that I have also spoken to other things, then any hath done that I have yet met withall.
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- Information
- Puritanism and the Pursuit of HappinessThe Ministry and Theology of Ralph Venning, c.1621–1674, pp. 120 - 152Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2015