Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” was published in 1835, nearly 150 years after the infamous Salem Witch Trials. During the hysteria of the witch-hunts, one of Hawthorne’s Puritan ancestors served as a judge for the brutal trials that saw nineteen people executed and hundreds more accused. Like much of Hawthorne’s work, “Young Goodman Brown” is an allegorical criticism of the extreme behavior of the Puritans; unlike many of his other stories, in “Young Goodman Brown” Hawthorne uses the names of many real historical people in his scathing denouncement of the suspicion and mania surrounding the Salem Witch Trials.
Because of its use of religious ideas associated with Christianity, “Young Goodman Brown” serves as an excellent opportunity to examine what the Bible says about some of the issues presented in the story. If you've never read it, Columbia University has published a free PDF of the 10 page story here.
The overarching criticism in Hawthorne’s story is the hypocrisy of seemingly good people. The Puritans were known for their extreme zeal, but the picture painted of them in “Young Goodman Brown” is unflattering. A similar sentiment is found in the Bible when Jesus spoke to the Pharisees:
Matthew 23:27-28
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
At the height of his despair in the haunted woods, Young Goodman Brown exclaims, "There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name. Come, devil; for to thee is this world given." This leads to a shocking and dramatic crescendo when Young Goodman Brown and his wife Faith find each other at the wretched baptism of evil, apparently no less prone to wickedness than those around them. As uncomfortable as it may be, the utter sinfulness of each and every person is a central idea in the Bible:
James 1:13-15
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Romans 3:23
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
We should not forget that Young Goodman Brown chose to go into the woods that night, apparently knowing whom he would encounter there, and that he repeatedly chose to continue his journey further into the woods. We may not participate in a wicked
baptism at an unholy ritual in the woods, but we are all faced with temptation, and have all yielded to sin. Yet, in the final moment, surrounded by evil and tempted to surrender, Young Goodman Brown makes one final stand, and appeals for his beloved wife to do the same: "Faith! Faith!" cried the husband, "look up to heaven, and resist the wicked one." This is another Biblical connection we can make:
I Corinthians 10:13
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
The story seems to imply that at the very moment Young Goodman Brown looked to God, he was released from the grip of evil. By looking to God in faith, Young Goodman Brown overcame the wickedness and temptation. Turning to God by faith is precisely what the Bible instructs us to do:
Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
I John 5:4
For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
Hawthorne’s story provides very little instruction on how to do such a thing, however, as that was not Hawthorne’s purpose in writing. Fortunately, the Bible does not remain silent:
Romans 10:17
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
The Word of God is the means by which we, like Young Goodman Brown, can “look to heaven, and resist the wicked one.” When we are faced with temptation and sin, when the Devil’s onslaught threatens to overpower us, we have Jesus Christ and faith in His Word as a refuge:
I John 2:1
My little children, these things I write unto you, that ye sin not. And is any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
Hawthorne’s story stops short of fully exploring this incredible truth, however. Young Goodman Brown spends the rest of his life suspicious and misanthropic. Once again, we are so fortunate that the Bible does not remain silent, but explains the exact substance
of our faith: trusting in Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on behalf of sinners like us. He is not only a resource to rescue us from the day-to-day temptations that we face, but, more importantly, He redeems us for all eternity when we place our trust in Him:
I Peter 3:18
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
I John 5:10-13
He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
We are not resigned to live with bitterness over the failures of ourselves and those around us, nor are we doomed to be perpetually conquered by our sinful desires. We have everything we need in the Word of God:
Ephesians 6:10-18
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
James 4:7
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Thank God for the incredible power of His Word, which brings eternal salvation and rescues us from Satan’s grasp!
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