“every man might have need of others, and from hence they might be all knitt more nearly together in the Bonds of brotherly affection.”
Winthrop defines love as a “bond or ligament” that knits human beings together (and human beings to Christ). Human beings, sadly, are not very good at knitting themselves together. The problem, not surprisingly, is rooted in the sin. Because of Adam’s fall, “every man is borne with this principle in him to love and seeke himselfe onely.” Even worse, human beings really cannot do very much about their selfish dispositions. Instead, they continue in self-love “till Christ comes and takes possession of the soule and infuseth another principle, love to God and our brother.” Thus, love among Christians “is a divine, spirituall, nature; free, active, strong, couragious, permanent; undervaluing all things beneathe its propper object and of all the graces, this makes us nearer to resemble the virtues of our heavenly father.” Christian love “rests in the love and wellfare of its beloved.” “wee must bring into familiar and constant practise; as in this duty of love, wee must love brotherly without dissimulation, wee must love one another with a pure hearte fervently.”
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If they safely reach Massachusetts, God will have ratified the covenant. If that occurs, the pressure is on. Should they “fall to embrace this present world and prosecute our carnall intentions,” God will break out in wrath against them. ” Now the onely way to avoyde this shipwracke,” Winthrop explains, employing a most appropriate metaphor, is for the colonists to actually remain “knitt together, in this worke, as one man.” Should they fulfill the covenant, God will bless them, and “men shall say of succeeding plantations, ‘the Lord make it likely that of New England.'” Winthrop’s most famous passage uses ample hyperbole: “wee shall be as a citty upon a hill. The eies of all people are uppon
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 ...
Before setting sail, from Southampton on that chilly April day in 1630, Reverend John Cotton provided the company with a farewell sermon entitled “God’s Promise to His Planation.” Starting the sermon with a reading from the second book of Samuel, Chapter 7, verse 10: “I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more.” Cotton is confirming what many had already decided upon, that they were God’s chosen people and it was their right and duty to God to venture forth to America and carry out his works. Sarah Vowell, author of the book The Wordy Shipmates, describes that sermon as thus,
to the beloved” (pg. 6). In this he is discussing the absence of moral responsibilities in
One reason everybody needs a friend in life is because one tends to get lonely. In the book Of Mice and Men by John
...importance of virtue here is that, virtues are needed for living well; But in order to obtain
Bernard then demonstrates how God deserves our love. Bernard locates himself and his hearers within the teaching of the Fathers, and as such sees no need for polemics on matters of doctrine. For one who is secure in the arms of the Beloved, only love is needed to go on loving. Bernard presents a progression in this journey of love, four degrees of love.The first of which is the love of self for our own sakes. In our fallenness, this tends to destruction.
""You Shall Love Your Neighbor As Yourself"." Catechism of the Catholic Church. Washington, D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2006. Paragraph 2309. Print.
I give to you, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you also are to love one
“Genuine love ought to be founded on the mutual recognition of two liberties; the lovers would then experience themselves both as self and as other; neither would give up transcendence, neither would be mutilated; together they would manifest values and aims in the world. For the one and the other, love would be revelation of self by the gift of self and enrichment of the world.”
I have heard many different accounts of what it is to love someone - to care truly for that person's best interest, to be willing to sacrifice one's own life for that person's well-being, and so on, the list is infinite. To be sure, these accounts all have a measure of validity; there are many different forms of love. However, there is one aspect that all of them have in common, which is the same point at which I think they fail to capture what it really is to love someone: they are too altruistic. Humans, it seems to me, are essentially self-centered creatures; and I do not intend that statement to have the extreme negative connotations that usually accompany the term "self-centered". I mean it in the most literal sense: humans are centered around the self. Much as we may try, the self is un-transcend-able. At this point in scientific and spiritual progress, we cannot ever truly experience anything through another person's frame of reference - all that we can know for certain is that which we think and feel. Thus, it makes no sense to speak of love as a sort of "leaving the self".
The Definition of Love Love by definition is an emotion explored in philosophy, religion, and literature, often as either romantic love, the fraternal love of others, or the love of God based on the definition found in The Encarta Encyclopedia. As I explored the definitions through the Internet, books, and articles, I noticed the definitions changed quite a bit, but yet had the same basic understanding. The definition I found in The Encarta Encyclopedia is probably the most simple and most basic. It refers to love in the whole aspect, which is Godly, fraternal, and romantic. All of which can only be defined by one word and that is love.
This type of love is the love that God has for His own children. This type of love is what was displayed on the cross by Jesus Christ” (Crier, 2015). The New Testament says multiple times that God is agape love, showing that God is the ultimate, most self-sacrificing love. Throughout the Bible God provides for His children out of love and even punishes them out of His love for His children. “Much is made of God's wrath and punishment in the Old Testament, but when God punishes, it is with reluctance… In fact, God often pleads with the Israelites to stop doing wrong and repent so that he may bless them” (God’s love, n.d.). Love is discussed hundreds of times in the Bible, both showing God’s love and in command to love others as God has loved
Love is not just an attribute of God's character ... It IS God! (1 John 4:16) It is the very essence of God's being. In John 13:34-35, we are commanded to love one another. This command is not referring to a physical affection or emotion, but a purposeful, voluntary SPIRITUAL affection; an unselfish concern for the well-being of others whether or not we feel they are deserving of our love. Even our enemies are to receive our love despite their attitude, or behavior toward us. (Luke 6:27-28) For despite our unworthiness, God loved us and made the greatest sacrifice to prove it.
What is love? Love is a very special and meaningful word to each human being. Each human being has his/her own thoughts about love to guide himself/herself to land safely and smoothly into the kingdom of Love. Without this preconceived idea of love, people would be acting like a blind person searching for the light with thousand of obstacles in front of him.
love is a description of ideal life in the family, in the church, and other