Winthrop's A Model of Christian Charity

Standing amidst the crowd on that rocky boat, John Winthrop addressed each and every Puritan that stood before him individually. The future colony of Massachusetts Bay, a community sent from England to further Calvinist religion, wondered how they, a group of outcasts who have a habit of quarreling with authority, could construct a strong society without fighting amongst themselves. In 1629, aboard the Arbella, Winthrop addressed their concerns in his sermon A Model of Christian Charity. The structure and language of his oration focuses the audience on John Winthrop’s ultimate purpose.
John Winthrop, in A Model of Christian Charity, proposes that the community should obey the Covenant of God in order to prosper in the perilous lands of the British colonies. Winthrop delineates the concept of adhering to God’s Covenant as “lov[ing] one another with a pure heart fervently” and being “knit together” as a united community (223). Winthrop affirms the overall expectation of ...