In John Winthrop’s “A Modell of Christian Charity”, he outlines acceptable behavior for a Christian in regards to charity and morality. This work focuses on the individual roles people must play in their community. He emphasizes living as one community bonded together, feeling the pain and joy of one another. Winthrop believes this can be achieved by showing mercy to your neighbor. Giving above what you can to help your brothers. He preaches the idea of unity and togetherness while implying discrimination. First he ranks people into two categories, the rich and the poor. Then, he describes Gospel law, which appears at regeneracy, which talks of the separation between Christians and non-Christians. Winthrop is addressing that Christians are like minded and thus bonded together. This implies that non-Christians are the “other” and of a different mindset. After this, he describes that under Natural law we are to love everyone but in Gospel law, we don’t have to love them for who they are - we can love them as our enemies. Later on Winthrop talks about how a person can see themselves in others, making love easy. This also implies that if someone looks different, they should be judged and treated differently.
I also think that a major reason why this was written was to unify the settlers who were separated by many miles. Towards the end of the work Winthrop addresses that even though they live far away, they are still members of the same community, bonded together. Was this intended to remind people of what they belonged to? And the duties required? The emphasis on “proper places” and brotherly love make this work seem like the laws of behavior for their community. Winthrop wanted the people to act like this, while also remembering their place in the world, and wrote “A Modell of Christian Charity” to serve as a guide. He obviously wanted people to uphold lives with Christian ideals but my modern brain cannot help looking for possible motives. The people of this time did not govern the way we do today, there was no separation of church and state. When they talked about laws to live and be governed by, they included the Gospel law. Winthrop uses the fear of God to inspire his people to live moral lives. At several points he makes assumptions about society, one of which being that people will be inspired to help their neighbors more when they recognize that they are a united community. Helping your neighbor turns into helping yourself. Winthrop sees value in communal bonds and uses religion, love of God, as the “ligaments”.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Nicki, I totally agree that Winthrop did have a motive that he was not keeping up front. I believe his motive goes farther than talking about his community and how to be a good and charitable christian. Winthrop concludes his Modell by saying that they must be "As a city upon a hill." Basically he is saying that the community shouldn't just exercise christian charity, but that they must exercise perfect christian charity. The title says it all, his writing is meant to help his community become the "modell" for perfect christianity.
ReplyDeleteI like the points you decided to address. I am a little unsure about when you said that Winthrop talks about how a person can see themselves in others, but then you imply that it means that if you look differently you should be treated differently. I feel that it is contradicting in a way. If you can see yourself in someone else it means that the appearance of another person does not alter how you treat them. If you can see them through yourself you will treat them how you would want to be treated. I did like the point you made about how unlike today there was no separation of church and state. That plays an important role in the way a society runs. He wants to bring the community together but at the same time he is trying to do that under what he views as the "modell" christian way.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your stance on Winthrop. To me, he seems like he is all over the place and cannot make up his mind on how he feels, but I am wondering if he actually did that on purpose. The way that Winthrop addresses points is like he is not going to take a permanent stand on anything, because even though society is not about the individual, it is. Winthrop reminds me in this work of someone that helped to establish important political ideas: St. Thomas Aquinas. Winthrop takes into account he role of the individual and then society, and how both identities play a significant role on the individual. I also agree with Christine Lividini on how you brought up the issue of church and state, and the separation of them in today's world.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement that Winthrop was trying to bring together like minded christians who happaned to be from different parts of the globe. His faith in not only God, but religion is very eveident here. He believes that even though these people have led completely different lives, their faith is enough to bring them together and form the basis of their new community. And while his intructions on how to go about living in their new community have obvious aspects that lend themselves to an orderly an moral sociaty, i feel like he was aiming for more. Winthrop said, "We must love one another with a pure heart fervently." He wanted everyone in his society to take part in making its members lives better. If you had more, he asked that you give to those who had less. It wasnt just an experiment to him. He knew if this small christian society could flourish, it would have far reaching positive affects across the globe.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree with your entry as well as Erin's. I do feel that Winthrop seems a bit scattered in his writing. I was very interested in Erin's idea that maybe it was done on purpose. I think people do better with readings of others when a side is not directly chosen. The reader feels more in control because they are allowed to come to their own conclusion. I feel that Winthrop is capable of knowing this ahead of time. He wants people to read what he has written and understand it but a lot to have the option of disagreeing with him, which in return causes more people to agree with him as a result. He wants to connect to everyone, which I feel is an important characteristic that a writer should have.
ReplyDelete