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Impacts of puritan theology
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Love is one of the most basic, fundamental yet complex aspects of humanity. It's so often sought after yet so often it goes on felt. In the 16th & 17 century the Puritans were a group of Christians who worked to rid the Church of England of the aftertaste left by the Roman Catholic Church. John Winthrop draws on the Puritans basic emotion and desire for love in his sermon titled "A Model of Christian Charity". Winthrop delivers his sermon en route to the new colony, the physical transition taking place aids Winthrop's attempt to captivate and motivate the colonists for the spiritual transition that will need to take place in the new colony. Winthrop opens his sermon with three reason for which there must be a distinct rich and poor class:
One of the most cherished doctrines of the Puritans is the well-known weaned affections. From a Puritan perspective, people must learn to wean their way off of “Earthy possessions” in order to dedicate their attention on God. Puritans were preoccupied with the belief that if people invested themselves in Earthy distraction including relationships, they would struggle to find everlasting-spiritual beauty. In both “The Author to Her Book” by Anne Bradstreet as well as the “Prologue” by Edward Taylor, the authors portray themselves in a struggle to be weaned from their affections.
There may not be two more contrasting characters of early America then Thomas Morton and John Winthrop. Morton was nicknamed, "Leader of Misrule" while Winthrop was seen as the "model of [a] perfect earthly ruler" (147). These two figures not only help settle a new land, they also had firsthand knowledge of each other. They are not two people that lived years apart from each other but rather they lived concurrently. With two such polarizing people living in a small new land, there was bound to be at least one disagreement. We are fortunate to have writings from each of these two fascinating men. One can't help but be thoroughly entertained when reading the words that each man left behind. Morton was the rebellious and raucous and Winthrop was the conservative preacher. Each had different ideas and ideals for what America was to become. Their two opinions could not differ much more from the other but they both weren't quite right. It seems that America has found a middle ground. Perhaps these two help set the path to where we stand now.
As the regions began to expand and develop, their motivations for settlement helped to mold their societies. New England was a place where men sought refuge from religious persecution and was established as a haven for religious refugees. Despite this reason for settling, the New Englanders still attempted to spread their own beliefs of religion. As illustrated by John Winthrop in his Model of a Christian Charity, he preached to his fellow colonists that “we shall be a city upon a hill” (Doc A) exemplifying the Puritans’ aspirations of a Holy Utopia. He and countless other New Englanders practiced the belief that they must all work together. They were determined to “mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work.” The Articles of Agreement plainly laid out the basis for the New England region. These articles made New England a cosmopolitan mix of rich and poor families, all being in possession of land and resolute in doing God’s work (Doc D). However, while the New Englanders settled to create a Holy Utopia, the people of the Chesapeake were concerned not only with their religious freedom, but also ...
In the 1700’s the Puritans left England for the fear of being persecuted. They moved to America for religious freedom. The Puritans lived from God’s laws. They did not depend as much on material things, and they had a simpler and conservative life. More than a hundred years later, the Puritan’s belief toward their church started to fade away. Some Puritans were not able to recognize their religion any longer, they felt that their congregations had grown too self-satisfied. They left their congregations, and their devotion to God gradually faded away. To rekindle the fervor that the early Puritans had, Jonathan Edwards and other Puritan ministers led a religious revival through New England. Edwards preached intense sermons that awakened his congregation to an awareness of their sins. With Edwards’ sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” he persuades the Puritans to convert back to Puritanism, by utilizing rhetorical strategies such as, imagery, loaded diction, and a threatening and fearful tone.
Lower class groups of society are not as fortunate as the middle or upper class, which gives Christians motivation and compassion for those that may need help or hospitality. In the works of C.S. Lewis, “Mere Christianity”, Lewis states that was formally called “alms” (Par. 2). Alms is giving to the poor, but charity is much more than simply giving to the poor. Charity involves not only giving monetarily, but also giving of a person’s time, abilities, and kind-heartedness toward another person. According to Donald Watt, Winthrop asserts that church and state should connect.
A Puritan lawyer, John Winthrop, immigrated to New England because his views on religion were different from those in England. Even though Puritans are Protestants, Puritans tried to purify the English Church. In 1630 on board of the Arabella on the Atlantic Ocean on way to Massachusetts, he wrote “A Model of Christian Charity” which gave his views on what a society should be. ‘…the condition of mankind, [that] in all times some must be rich, some poor, some high and eminent in power and dignity, other mean and in subjection….[Yet] we must knit together in this work as one man.’ (Doc. A). In this he is saying that men may be different but to make a new world work, they must work together. All through his speech he mentions God. For example, he opens his sermon with ‘God Almighty in his most holy and wise providence…’. This shows that in New England, the people were very religious.
I find John Winthrop and Jonathan Edwards to be the most fascinating writers I have ever read. For one, they are the "apostles" of our time. Second, their comparisons to the apostles of Christ are too close to ignore.
During the 17th century, many Puritans set sail for New England in order to escape religious persecution and re-create an English society that was accepting of the Puritan faith. John Winthrop, an educated lawyer from England who later became governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was one of the first in North America to advocate Puritan ideals and lifestyle. Winthrop delivered his sermon A Model of Christian Charity, in hopes of encouraging his shipmates to establish a truly spiritual community abroad. Almost fifty years later, a Puritan named Mary Rowlandson, daughter of a wealthy landowner and wife of a minister, wrote A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, describing her 11-week captivity by native Indians after an attack on Lancaster. Rowlandson recounts her story with heroism and appreciation for God. Although John Winthrop and Mary Rowlandson were in entirely different situations when composing their literary works, both writings reflect many of the same ideals that characterize the Puritan mind, such as the belief in God's mercy, the acceptance of one's condition in life, and the importance of a strong community.
The Quakers, also known as the Society of Friends was religious group that founded Pennsylvania. William Penn, one of the leaders, worked with the Quakers, Indians and the other population to make an ideal world for him, his followers, and the other people in his environment. With his efforts, and the help of others, the Quakers left a huge impact on Pennsylvania and the entire nation.
John Winthrop was a pioneer for religious freedom in America. As one of the early settlers sailing west on the Arbella, he composed a sermon called A Model for Christian Charity. Winthrop’s sermon is the framework for creating the spiritual colony that he envisioned and a way to unite the people coming to a new land. The people traveling west were not from one group but rather came from many groups and backgrounds. Winthrop knew that in order to succeed in the wilderness these individuals would have to give up some of their individuality for the greater good of the colony. Winthrop felt that religion was the ultimate way to accomplish this and that Christ was the perfect model to follow. In one passage he says:
In The Arbella Sermon by John Winthrop in 1630, was a very inspiring sermon to read. Winthrop passion and desire to make New England a “city on the hill”, had a strong impact on the new settlers as they were determined to build a Christian community with biblical laws. They felt it was their responsibility to a beacon of light to the rest of the world. The sermon contained the roles of the rich and the poor, how they should treat others with kindness and how they should take care of each other. Overall, the sermon seemed to have good intentions and goals, however I question one of the requirements that was mentioned, “commanded to love his neighbor as himself.”, knowing that there would be quarrels and ill treatment of the Quakers in the future, makes me question how sincere and serious the Puritans were when loving their neighbors. Winthrop, expresses his desire for a unified group of
In 1630, the Massachusetts Bay Company set sail to the New World in hope of reforming the Church of England. While crossing the Atlantic, John Winthrop, the puritan leader of the great migration, delivered perhaps the most famous sermon aboard the Arbella, entitled “A Model of Christian Charity.” Winthrop’s sermon gave hope to puritan immigrants to reform the Church of England and set an example for future immigrants. The Puritan’s was a goal to get rid of the offensive features that Catholicism left behind when the Protestant Reformation took place. Under Puritanism, there was a constant strain to devote your life to God and your neighbors. Unlike the old England, they wanted to prove that New England was a community of love and individual worship to God. Therefore, they created a covenant with God and would live their lives according to the covenant. Because of the covenant, Puritans tried to abide by God’s law and got rid of anything that opposed their way of life. Between 1630 and the 18th century, the Puritans tried to create a new society in New England by creating a covenant with God and living your life according to God’s rule, but in the end failed to reform the Church of England. By the mid 1630’s, threats to the Puritans such as Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson, and Thomas Hooker were being banned from the Puritan community for their divergent beliefs. 20 years later, another problem arose with the children of church members and if they were to be granted full membership to the church. Because of these children, a Halfway Covenant was developed to make them “halfway” church members. And even more of a threat to the Puritan society was their notion that they were failing God, because of the belief that witches existed in 1692.
Sarah Irving claims in her article, “Beyond Dominion and Stewardship”, the profoundly sinful character of humanity means that not only have we sinfully misused nature to our own selfish ends, but that we must plunge ourselves into the task of using nature to build Christ’s kingdom so that Christian communities might be, as John Winthrop put it when he drew upon Matthew 5, “a city upon a Hill, a light unto the world”. Irving uses Winthrop’s sermon to show the Puritans should build their communities so they would show a glimpse of heaven on earth. Puritans were called to go on an errand into the wilderness, as nature, which was previously holy, had failed after the fall of man. The Puritans believed by taking care of nature instead of misusing
John Winthrop was a wealthy English Puritan lawyer who arrived in Massachusetts on the Arbella, in, June 1630. As one of the founding leaders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, he was elected as the colony’s first Governor. He strongly believed in being united in a good cause and being an example to other nations around the world. Winthrop shows his strong belief in unity, in his sermon, “A Model of Christian Charity,” in 1630. With the passengers on the Arbella practically close to death and with no time for giving up, Winthrop addressed his sermon, “A Model of Christian Charity,” to inspire the passengers on how to overcome the struggles of the New World and the upcoming winter through their unity. However, unlike the strongly unified Puritans,
“every man might have need of others, and from hence they might be all knitt more nearly together in the Bonds of brotherly affection.”