This thesis revolves around three central questions: 1) Why was the chronicling of spiritual lives important for the integrity of Puritan society?; 2) How did the early New England Protestants understand their place in redemptive history on American soil?; and 3) How do we better understand the importance of spiritual integrity for Jonathan Edwards and his contemporaries’ perspectives on the household and childrearing? The first section is grounded in interpreting the salvific purpose of Puritan print culture—specifically the influence of the Reformation on shaping the ways in which families documented their lives for the religion of their posterity. The second section seeks to answer the second and third questions by discussing the theological convictions of the first generation Puritans. It also examines the ways in which covenant theology was perceived by later generations in their understanding of ecclesiastical community leadership.