John Winthrop's Religious Beliefs

John Winthrop, an English puritan, lives out purpose as God’s advocate for Christianity. His synopsis of his view of God is that "God Almighty in his most holy and wise providence, 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" (Griffith 16). Winthrop’s perception of God and God’s religious plan is that He is of most importance and the people’s Christian savior. He believes that God rightfully bestowed inevitable destiny upon everyone; he fabricated the rich, the poor, and hand picked those to lead and those to follow. Winthrop lived by this belief and his support came from God’s three reasons for why this is how Christian’s live. Conformity, blind kindness, and inducing community were God’s reasoning …show more content…
As a Quaker, Penn believed God’s purpose for his believers is to follow one’s internal compass in living an accepting and prosperous life under the direction of him. Like Winthrop, Penn too supported living freely but as opposed to Winthrop’s reasoning of acting solely on God’s direct order, Penn believed in living freely to the dictations of one’s conscience. Principles of acceptance, community, and nonviolence were shared between Penn and Winthrop; however, Penn additionally stood by the right to religious freedom and cultural acceptance where not only were all beliefs accepted, but also encouraged and respected. William Penn allowed God’s purpose to be freely interpreted and his purpose to be practiced and carried out in any way that one believed right. Where Winthrop saw rules dictating his actions, Penn lived life as a Quaker following his ‘inner light’ that he believed God to have bestowed upon him. God created Penn and everyone else equal and to never find oneself lesser than anyone else of any status or