Individualism, and the problems associated with it, are a significant part of John Winthrop’s Model of Christian Charity. When the Puritans immigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the early 1630s, they were faced with very serious issues regarding community formation. Creating a new colony in a part of the world dominated by wilderness is a monumental undertaking, and can only be done by those who all share the same agenda. Otherwise, a group of varying ideologies may devolve into factions, erasing any hopes of establishing a community.
This is when religion comes in handy. When it comes to uniting large groups of people and getting them all on the same page, religion is invaluable. It has an uncanny ability to transform large, unruly …show more content…
A Model of Christian Charity is divided up into three sections.
In the first and briefest section, Winthrop explains how God has always divided mankind into two groups: the rich and the poor.
“God almighty...hath so disposed of the condition of mankind as in all times some must be rich, some poor, some high and eminent in power and dignity, others mean and in subjection” (FHY 20).
In the following section, he goes into the reasons for this division. At the end, Winthrop dives into the application, where he addresses his audience of Puritan immigrants and the immense project that awaits them. To keep his listeners from being too discouraged, he places the issues and challenges of their ambitious goal within a religious context. This is perhaps the best way to motivate a group of people whose faith already influences a majority of their decisions.
He is providing them with a religious and spiritual model for understanding why they have to give money to others, even if they might not get repaid. Winthrop is also providing a blueprint for how to make these decisions. Most importantly, he does not forget to mention the rewards that God will offer them for performing these acts of …show more content…
However, Winthrop wants them to see the religious and spiritual dimensions of these challenges, so that they will be motivated to give, even in ways that they don’t want to.
Towards the end of the text, Winthrop makes his famous declaration that, if they succeed, “He [God] shall make us a praise and glory [so] that men shall say of succeeding plantations, “The Lord make it like that of New England,” for we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us” (FHY
This is when religion comes in handy. When it comes to uniting large groups of people and getting them all on the same page, religion is invaluable. It has an uncanny ability to transform large, unruly …show more content…
A Model of Christian Charity is divided up into three sections.
In the first and briefest section, Winthrop explains how God has always divided mankind into two groups: the rich and the poor.
“God almighty...hath so disposed of the condition of mankind as in all times some must be rich, some poor, some high and eminent in power and dignity, others mean and in subjection” (FHY 20).
In the following section, he goes into the reasons for this division. At the end, Winthrop dives into the application, where he addresses his audience of Puritan immigrants and the immense project that awaits them. To keep his listeners from being too discouraged, he places the issues and challenges of their ambitious goal within a religious context. This is perhaps the best way to motivate a group of people whose faith already influences a majority of their decisions.
He is providing them with a religious and spiritual model for understanding why they have to give money to others, even if they might not get repaid. Winthrop is also providing a blueprint for how to make these decisions. Most importantly, he does not forget to mention the rewards that God will offer them for performing these acts of …show more content…
However, Winthrop wants them to see the religious and spiritual dimensions of these challenges, so that they will be motivated to give, even in ways that they don’t want to.
Towards the end of the text, Winthrop makes his famous declaration that, if they succeed, “He [God] shall make us a praise and glory [so] that men shall say of succeeding plantations, “The Lord make it like that of New England,” for we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us” (FHY