As you read Jonathan Edwards' personal narrative, you will undoubtedly find that Edwards' descriptions and expressions of his insurmountable love for God (and all things in relation to the Christian faith) are of an extremely unusual degree compared to that of the ordinary believer. It is therefore justified to identify one of the themes of the Personal Narrative in the intense emotionality towards religion, or, to be more precise, towards his Puritan faith. In addition to examining aspects of his work regarding this theme, this essay will also compare the personal narrative to a section of Walt Whitman's Song of Myself; section 48, as this part of Whitman's influential and historic poem details his strong and diverse views on religion and God. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay As a child, Edwards initially found the doctrine of God's sovereignty hideous and repugnant. He was disgusted by the idea that God chooses “whom He will to eternal life and rejects whom He will.” At some point, however, his view was completely changed, which he calls a “wonderful modification,” and from that point on he continued to have very few doubts and objections to this doctrine. Indeed, the absolute sovereignty of God was what his mind was so sure of, and what often appeared to him as “exceedingly pleasant, brilliant, and sweet.” He then began to have a great desire for God and holiness, finding everything that revolves around his faith extremely "sweet" and full of "delight". His passionate love for God thus led him to feel “an ardent desire to be a complete Christian in everything.” This belief, however, caused him to reject any idea of ​​earthly pleasure and instead devote all his attention, love, and energy to being with Christ in the afterlife. He then made «a solemn dedication to God» in which he states: «…in giving myself and everything I had to God; to be for the future in no way my own; behave like someone who has no rights over himself." It is this extreme devotion to God that emphasizes his emotionality, to the point of placing himself in such a humble position, especially since he has sworn to consider nothing else as part of his happiness, believing that he has no right to feel himself dabbling in earthly things. This is demonstrated by the fact that Edwards states that he promised to "fight with all [his] might, against the world, the flesh, and the devil." From his words, one can discern that Edwards' love and commitment to God and his Puritan faith made him a strong supporter of the orthodox Christian ideologies of that era, whereby the soul is seen as an eternal creation and transcendental and therefore superior to the temporal human body. This belief had been a catalyst in shaping Edwards' view of strongly dividing soul and body by opposing any pleasures of the flesh and focusing only on anything that would benefit the soul, particularly for the afterlife. His determination to "fight...against the world, the flesh, and the devil" exemplifies his attitude toward the body and the Earth as sin-bound creations, and therefore should not be granted the slightest mercy. These stern, fiery ideals contrast greatly with those of Walt Whitman, which can be deduced from section 48 of his famous poem: Song of Myself. In this small part of Whitman's long Song, the poet openly dictates his opinions on God and spirituality. With this segment, Whitman had become courageous enough to boldly declare, “I said.