In this article, the author, Ian McAdam mentions the fact that the Puritans disliked the Catholic doctrine because it believes that man plays a part in attaining and maintaining his salvation.  The Puritan doctrine specifically states that man is saved by grace alone, and that works play no part in the equation.  However, this idea can be somewhat contradictory.  The Puritans emphasized the importance of a conversion experience and the ability to display evidence of God's work in their lives.  Does this not imply that man plays a part in his own salvation?  According to their doctrine, one is not saved unless he does these things.  This is one instance where the beliefs of the Puritans somewhat contradict each other, and also where their ideas differ from most beliefs of Protestants regarding salvation.

The genre of captivity narratives was very important during the time of the Puritans.  When one had been in captivity and then delivered, they were expected to write about their experience in order to show God's hand and how He delivers through trying situations.  In this article, David L. Minter discusses the fact that Puritans often wondered if they could be assured of their salvation.  Often times, someone in captivity would see their deliverance as an evidence of salvation, but not an assurance.  Such is the case with Mary Rowlandson and how she was careful not to place too much importance on her deliverance from her captors.  She viewed her deliverance as a sign that she was saved, but was careful not to say that she was now assured of her salvation due to the outcome.  Many Puritans could never feel assured of their salvation and lived their lives constantly questioning where they would spend eternity.

Many of the beliefs of the Puritans went along with the Calvinistic doctrine.  Among these beliefs is the idea that once one receives salvation, he should immediately have a conversion experience because he is receiving forgiveness through Christ at that moment.  Faith brings about a conviction of election, and one can be assured of his salvation through this conviction.  However, what happens when one's feeling of faith falters?  One of the main issues that is hard to comprehend about the Calvin doctrine is what happens when one does not feel the conviction of election any longer, or it falters for a short time.  The Puritans put a lot of emphasis on feelings and the need to constantly examine oneself to see if there is evidence of salvation.  In doing this, there seems to be no time to be thankful and enjoy one's salvation.  How can one be excited about something that he can never fully be assured of and has to constantly question?  This is a major way that the Puritan beliefs differ from Protestant beliefs today.

The Puritans required that one who received salvation should go before the church and publicly confess their conversion experience and in order to be brougt into "full communion".  Sometimes, the audience being addressed in Edward Taylor's sermons were the people who had received salvation and had a conversion experience but had not yet come before the church.  Taylor, along with the rest of the Puritan church, believed that active participation in the church was not only important, but necessary.  They believed that God did not want people to have "half-way" conversions.  The Puritans were more concerned than Protestants are today about the relationship the redeemed have with the church.  Instead of letting each individual be held accountable for his own relationship with God and the status of his own salvation, the Puritans insisted on the neccessity of telling others of a conversion experience and displaying good works.

One of the main concerns for Christians during the Puritan era was determining whether or not they were displaying signs or evidences of grace.  The Puritans lived in a constant state of alert when it came to determining the status of their salvation.  In some cases, a Puritan would see evidence all around him that pointed to the fact he had experienced regeneration and was, in fact, saved.  However, other times the person would see signs of Satan and be convinced that he was all around, and that the presumed signs of God's hand were only illusions by the devil.  The Puritans would often use meditation as a way to search within their souls to determine whether or not grace was evident.  In these meditations, they would attempt to set their minds toward heaven, and if able to do so, it would be considered evidence that they were truly among the elect.  Many aspects of the Puritans' beliefs about salvation seem to be abstract and based on personal opinion; unfortunately, hardly anyone was able to be one hundred percent certain of his salvation.