ipl-logo

John Winthrop: A Model Of Christian Charity

1299 Words6 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Puritan society beliefs

The Puritans were plaster saints. In other words, they considered themselves humans without failings. Puritans are primarily remembered for their devout faith, their repressive religious code, and their repressive and violent attitudes towards women and children. The Oxford English Dictionary confirms these attributes by stating, “A Puritan is a person who practices or who is characterized by extreme strictness or austerity in religion, morals.” Their extreme moral code caused the Puritans to have a sense of superiority to anyone who was not following their lifestyle. John Winthrop summarizes what he believes are the statutes of what Puritans should live by in, “A Model of Christian Charity.” Winthrop’s writings are based on his interpretation of bible scriptures. In a Model of Christian charity, the four focal points are love, forgiveness, mercy, and justice. The sermon Winthrop gave contradicts the actual character of the Puritans. The Puritans are remembered as extremists, not individuals who practice unconditional love under the ideals of a loving God. …show more content…

He demonstrates these points by echoing the bible by stating: “he perform this out of the same affection which makes him careful of his own goods, according to the words of our Savior (from Matthew 7:12), whatsoever ye would that men should do to you.” Winthrop claimed that the attributes of justice and mercy are two rules that walk toward one another. He wanted Puritans to show mercy to someone in distress and do justice to a poor man. Winthrop essentially uses these two traits because they are easily recognizable references from the Bible. Using biblical references and exploiting emphasis on God’s laws Winthrop is merely trying to gain public support to unify the

Show More
Related
354 Words | 2 Pages

Religion was very important to the Puritans in the 1600s. John Winthrop a member of the Puritans gentry, wrote to his wife the ‘I am verily persuaded God will bring some heavy affliction upon this land.” A year later he went and lead a group of a group of puritans to New England. By the 1630s another twenty thousand Puritans would come to America. When John became governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, he told immigrants that will have to guide people toward this holy ideal or they were not welcomed.

Read More
313 Words | 2 Pages

The Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay colony had originally planned for a government that was to be ruled by God 's laws, however over time the colony would become democratically ruled. Rather than living under a democratic society, John Winthrop, along with other stockholding members, preferred to have the Puritan settlement be run by “godly rule” (9) . The original intention of the Massachusetts Bay colony was to set a model of an uncorrupted church and godly society (12) which would in turn help those in England see God 's will and be saved by it (13) . The Puritans, however did believe in the separation of church and state, but this did not mean a separation of the state from God. Despite the idea of separation, the government still

Read More
290 Words | 2 Pages

The puritan rhetoric and conception of love does not in any way match with the normal human way of perceiving love. John Winthrop explains it as it is written in the holy Bible, and also expounds it by the use of his knowledge. His explanation out of the Bible are not however as complicated as those of ordinary people, who believe that love is expensive and one has to buy it from a friend. Winthrop convinces the Christians on the simplicity of love, and later brings them to understand that loving one another is the greatest commandment which has a reward at the end. Unlike the rest of the people who are non believers, Winthrop touches on the aspects of love by quoting different verses from the bible.

Read More
278 Words | 2 Pages

I agree with the people who said the Puritans were both selfless and selfish. According to Document A: 'City upon a Hill, ' the leader of the 1630 migration, John Winthrop suggested that everyone work together to achieve prosperity. He specifically says, "We must be knit together in this work as one man; we must take care of each other with bortherly affection." He seemed to be driving people into working for one another rather than for oneself. Unlike the failed attempt at settling in Jamestown, the Puritans seemed to be on the right path to success (by working selflessly and helping one another).

Read More
631 Words | 3 Pages

A Neglected Hero of Liberty What are the main people you think of when the word “religious freedom” and “God given rights” pop up, John Locke, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. What about Roger Williams, didn't think so, those three actually championed his Williams idea of Sole Liberty. He did everything possible for society in his time to accept his idea. Roger Williams became who is because of religious intolerance, contributes to religious equality and freedom today, and represents bravery and fairness.

Read More
215 Words | 1 Pages

As a strict Puritan, Winthrop held the belief that any form of sin should be punished. Accordingly, as colonists were led astray and bent the law, Winthrop was obliged to select and institute a suitable punishment for each iniquity put to trial. However, as the colonies developed a sense of defeat and hopeless grew with it. They had not reached their goal of establishing a utopian society and many colonists reached a consensus that Winthrop’s leadership was to blame. Thereafter, a portion of colonist detached from Winthrop's in order to cultivate and promote their own ideologies.

Read More
829 Words | 4 Pages

Anne believed that the to be assured you had to share joy everyday amongst your community and Winthrop believed that you had to sanctify to be assured. The minister's use their good deeds as “evidence of salvation”. In simpler words, actions such as reading the bible, praying, going to church, and helping out your neighbor are all examples of good deeds that give people assurance in the minister’s and Winthrop’s view. For example, in “A Model of Christian Charity” Winthrop describes the Law of Nature and Grace in his model saying “By the law of nature, man must love his neighbor as himself.” The whole meaning of his model is to get assured; therefore, if you treat your neighbor as yourself, a good deed, then you will be assured to go into

Read More
1099 Words | 5 Pages

The New Englanders took religion seriously, making unitary laws according to Puritan standards. John Winthrop, later chosen as the first Massachusetts Bay Colony governor, was seeking religious freedom. Wishing to inspire the colonists to dwell in brotherly unity, he summoned them together to remind them “that if we [colonists] shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world.” On the other hand, those in the Chesapeake region came for the wealth that America promised. They were there to become prosperous or die trying.

Read More
167 Words | 1 Pages

The values that early American writers considered most important were piety, courage, and industry. They were highly honored by the large Puritan population, and these values helped them survive the beginning of the colonies. Overtime, however, different values were stressed more than others. For example, in “Of Plymouth Plantation,” written around 1620, Bradford chooses to write about the piety, courage, and industry of all the settlers in his settlement. In 1630, Winthrop gave his sermon “A Model of Christian Charity,” and in it he motivates his audience using piety and industry as reasons to succeed.

Read More
347 Words | 2 Pages

John Winthrop uses Tenets of Calvinism in his writings by "and so teaches us to put a difference between Christians and others. ' Do good to all, especially those of the household of faith'. Winthrop shows total depravity in that he recognizes the difference between sinners and Christians using his beliefs that man was born sinful. He also uses limited atonement in that Christ died for his certain people but it is those certain people that are supposed to influence others to follow Christ.

Read More
1394 Words | 6 Pages

The ideas constructed by the Puritans were not simply a principal starting point for American culture because they were the first in the country, but because they offered distinct ways of thinking that are still deep-seated in our culture today. Although many of the ideas of Puritans have evolved or vanished over time, it is important to give credit to the Puritan writers and thinkers such as John Winthrop and John Cotton who offered ideas that were new at the time and that stayed with the American consciousness—culturally, socially, and politically. “John Winthrop's legacy can be seen primarily in the fields of government, commerce, and religion. It was religion that would most impact John's life; his religion would ultimately impact the

Read More
393 Words | 2 Pages

Puritans are Europeans who escaped religious persecution from the Church of England. The Puritans age likely varies from children to adults. However, it’s apparent that Winthrop is appealing more towards Puritan males to create their ideal utopia. Winthrop evokes God to entice the colonist to fruitfully colonize the land. He uses nationalism, religion, and imagery to entice the colonist into creating a bountiful colony.

Read More
586 Words | 3 Pages

In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hawthorne’s more secular view of exceptionalism defies the religious exceptionalist standards introduced in John Winthrop’s sermon “A Model of Christian Charity”. While Winthrop expresses the importance of piety and family in an exceptionalist Puritan society, Hawthorne’s Puritan community in The Scarlet Letter does not emulate these qualities in the way Winthrop intended, demonstrating Hawthorne’s desire to condemn Winthrop’s exceptionalist ideals. Winthrop’s “recipe” for exceptionalism is firmly rooted in the importance of religion and strong family values. Winthrop states that it’s the citizens’ duty to “improve our lives to do more service to the Lord; the comfort and increase of the body of

Read More
958 Words | 4 Pages

In 1655, founder of Rhode Island, Roger Williams documented his views on politics and religious affairs to make them clear to the public. This documentation of his morals and principals was called Letter to the Town of Providence. In his letter he addresses the people and tells them that he is making no mistake by voicing his opinion. Williams takes his position with an analogy. He describes society as a boat.

Read More
920 Words | 4 Pages

Essentially, Puritans are expected to follow a strict set of religious and moral guidelines from which their actions and morality are derived. According to Hall’s A Reforming People, these moral expectations first introduced by the pilgrims were the driving force behind the power that the Puritan ministry had over society: “Ministers and laypeople looked first to congregations as the place where love, mutuality, and righteousness would flourish, and second to civil society. …Alongside love, mutuality, and righteousness they placed another set of values summed up in the word “equity.” Employed in a broad array of contexts, the concept of equity conveyed the colonists’ hopes for justice and fairness in their social world.”

Read More

More about John Winthrop: A Model Of Christian Charity

Related Topics

Open Document