The "Ideal" Community of Christian Charity

“Where there is a vacant place, there is liberty for the sons of Adam or Noah to come and inhabit, though they neither buy it nor ask their leaves.” With these words, John Cotton bid farewell to the brave aboard the Arbella that were to set sail for a new beginning (“The Divine Right”). One of the brave, John Winthrop, was delighted to leave the persecution due to his Puritan beliefs in England. Born in England, he found himself to be in disagreement with the ecclesiastical courts and, like his fellow Puritans, wanted more plainness of rituals and preaching unlike various Roman Catholicism practices of the time (Wood). Granting a charter to set out to find a colony, he gave a sermon called A Model of Christian Charity to the settlers explaining the future ideal life of “a city upon a hill, [where] the eyes of all people are upon us.” As Winthrop describes the harmony that will pursue in the colony due to faith and love of each other and God, it’s hard to think of such a world as nothing more than a fairytale in today’s terms.

The beginning of the sermon gives reason to why there is wealth and poverty in the world by stating that this diversity and shared struggles within the community create a setting in which God may be honored which is a necessity to society (Wood). It also explains that God would rather that humans do good deeds for each other and therefore allows the rich to give charity to the poor. Although making logical statements, it is when Winthrop indulges on the topic of charity in more depth that the dream transforms into more of an ideal rather than an actual reachable goal.

Ironically, while many in the history of the Americas came here for personal economic gain, Winthrop describes his economic society revolving around the ideas of “sharing the wealth.” In this society, it is pertinent that “every man afford his help to another in every want or distress,” or in other words, one must lend money to another without the intention of a payback and avoid the temptations of selfish economic enterprise. These actions and attitudes, though very generous and loving, seem to clash with normal human behavior. As historian Paul Seaver explains, this creates tension and anxiety between ethical values and the Puritans actual behavior displayed during that time (Seaver). Historian Bernard Bailyn also agrees with Seaver and explains, “To be both a pious Puritan and a successful merchant meant to live under what would seem to have been insupportable pressures,” (Seaver).

It is this conflict between extremes that was present within not just the Puritan society but many different religious societies all over the world. It is a natural principle that when you push an idea or belief upon a people, it has a tendency to push back just as hard. This was seen throughout the Puritan society as they slowly slid their way into Atlantic commerce, and later on in history started using their economic gain for selfish means (Seaver).


Reuben, Paul P. "John Winthrop (1588-1649)." PAL: Perspectives in American Literature - A Research and Reference Guide. 26 Jun 2009. Web. 30 Aug 2009.

Seaver, Paul. "The Puritan Work Ethic Revisited." The Journal of British Studies. Vol 19. (1980). p35-38. Web. 29 Aug 2009.

"The Divine Right to Occupy the Land." Faith and Freedom Foundation. (1998). Web. 30 Aug 2009.

Wood, Andrew. "Summary of John Winthrop." Web. 30 Aug 2009. <http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/wooda/149/149syllabus5summary.html>.