A Model Of Christian Charity By Mary Rowlandson

In a time when numerous countries were beginning to explore the new and exciting land of North America during the Age of Exploration, and groups of people from England and Spain were fleeing their home countries either for religious freedom or wealth, vast and civilized colonies began to form all throughout the New World. It is in this context that the colonies founded by the English and the Spanish began to develop and grow. There was a significant difference between the Spanish and New England colonies between 1492 and 1700 in terms of the treatment of indigenous people, and there were some immense similarities between the two colonies in terms of the role of religion in their society and the

In David D. Hall’s essay Worlds of Wonder in the Northern Colonies and T.H. Breen’s Worlds of Goods in the Northern Colonies; the argument of the settler’s views or main objective on the land is put to question. David D. Hall supports the idea that religion was deeply rooted in the early settlers while T.H. Breen supports the idea that the early Americans only concern was becoming an “empire of goods.” While the two hold factual evidence to this argument, David D. Hall proves to be the most reliable due to its religious reliability of tradition.

Thesis: Although religious tolerance introduced religious diversity to the middle colonies and fragmented the Massachusetts colony, it did not change the dominance of Protestantism, whose predominance as a major faith remained irrefutable

In her writing titled “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restauration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson”, Mary lies out for the reader her experience of being held in captivity by Indians during the King Philip’s War. Perhaps one of the most significant aspects of this writing is the glimpse that the reader gets into Rowlandson’s faith and religion. Faith was a major aspect of life in the Colonial Period. It was of widespread belief that God was to be feared, and that he was the only way to redemption (Kizer). Mary Rowlandson was no different, but the extreme conditions of her captivity caused her faith to occasionally waiver. Most of the time throughout her journey in captivity, she depended on God, and the

One reason for the Colonial Americans’ growth in faith is the fact the era was abundant with religious figures who strove to lead people to God and created guidelines for them to live by. The people of Colonial America were blessed to abide in an “enchanted world of wonders.” These wonders were no doubt brought on by the hand of God, and the recognition of this fact caused new religious leaders to rise up and help people focus on living Godly lives despite the secular distractions that they were presented with. One Puritan leader, John Winthrop, stated, “That which the most in their Churches maintain as a truth in profession only, we must bring into familiar and constant practice, as in this duty of love we must love brotherly without dissimulation, we must love one another with a pure heart fervently we must bear one another’s burdens…” Winthrop not only wanted each individual person to maintain a stronger focus on faith in daily life, he also wanted them to use their faith to unite together, and his Model of Christian Charity showed the people how to accomplish that. Many people tried to abide by these teachings and pass them onto their children before they made their own way in the changing, confusing world because many parents feared their children would “Fall un’wares in Fowler’s snare.”

John Winthrop’s “Model of Christian Charity” was delivered to the colonists bound for Massachusetts Bay Colony to unite them and help them become a model community for England. Through his use of metaphors and biblical allusions, Winthrop is able to thoroughly convey the importance of remaining unified to his very religious Puritan audience. Previous attempts of colonization in America, such as Roanoke, the lost colony, had created a negative view of colonization. Previous colonists were also only focused on profit and did not build a stable community, which led to their downfalls. Therefore, Winthrop tells his audience that they must work together “as one man”. This metaphor compares the group of colonists to a single person who has one mind

In the seventeenth century, religious persecution ran rampant throughout Europe. In attempt to escape the oppression, many fled to less critical countries and territories. One of the popular refuges was colonial America. Settling in the north, these religious refugees made up a majority in the New England population, endeavoring to use it to form their Ideal society. They could use the new land to implement a new civilization reflective of their beliefs.

Butler, J. (2007). . In New Worl Faiths: Religion in Colonial America. [ebrary book]. Retrieved from http://lrps>wgu.edu/provision/17908228

Patricia Bonomi’s Under the Cope of Heaven: Religion, Society, and Politics in Colonial America was not only well written, but also a very interesting read. She kept the writing style easy to comprehend, but not excessively simple while keeping a good grasp on the subject at hand. Bonomi gives us her view on not only religious argumentation, but also the religious events that kindled the flames of the American Revolution. She discredits the past historiography of the eighteenth century, in which there was a theorized religious decline, placing a rationalist century between the seventeenth century ruled by Puritans and the eighteenth century that revolved around Revivalists, which wouldn’t make sense. While Bonomi relies on many local studies

In the trial of Anne Hutchinson, we meet a well intentioned yet lost people described and labelled as the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Company. These self governing Puritans, once a people who sought God to set them on their way, settled only to be found as a people who simply lost their way. This journey to lost began when first motivated by a desire for religious reform and separation from the liturgy, ceremonies and practices of the Church of England. Once they banned together, they set on their way and traveled in groups to the New World. With the Word of God as their ultimate authority and the desire for a personal relationship with God, these people landed in Boston in 1630 united to self govern the newly founded Massachussets Bay Colony. Unfortunatly, this self rule resulted in a government of intolerance, fear and a liturgy not much different from what was once found in the Church of England. A system designed to set apart outward morality, or sanctification, to strengthen the authority of the Church only worked to neglect the place of true piety purposed to strengthen the spiritual lives of the people it served.

Within the colony of Massachusetts, religion played an important role in shaping the community’s people and interests. The reason for the Puritans move to North America was to escape the convictions the Christians of England were placing on them (Divine, 89). Winthrop and his followers believed that in this new land they must create a place where they could come together as a people and build the perfect religious society (Divine, 90). In a speech about his vision for the land, John Winthrop said, “We must delight in each

John Winthrop’s 1630 sermon, “A Model of Christian Charity” is one of the first examples of early “American exceptionalism”. (Noll, 2012) In his sermon, Winthrop (1630) talks about how the citizens in colonial America should set a good example for others, and obey God, as they are looked up to by non-Americans. This concept of America being chosen, or somehow unique in a divine manner was the fundamental meaning of American exceptionalism to Puritan society.

William Bradford’s writing Of Plymouth Plantation Is a written record of the journey from his old home in Europe to the settlement in the new world. The separatist traveled from England to Amsterdam and finally to the new world and later the life of the colony. Reading Of Plymouth Plantation presents us with an understanding of the basis of American culture and history. His writings are used to help us understand the reasons for the settlement of America as well as the hard ships the pilgrims had to face in order to escape the religious prosecution. His Writing also acts as an example to follow for several of our present day religions such as the many Mormons moving too their main church in Ohio. Mormons like the pilgrims move in search of religious freedom and to escape prosecution in a place with people who share similar beliefs with them. This Work also

Some of the first colonists to land on the shores of the “new world” believed that they had a mandate from God to create a new society here, and that it should be a new, superior kind of society that would be an example to the rest of the world. John Winthrop told his flock aboard the Arbella that their society would be grounded in the principles of the Bible, and that by concentrating themselves in one area together they would be able to have a more pure Christian society. They would be able to repel the influences of the inferior and corrupt exterior world, and although they would practice the precept to “love his neighbor as himself,” they would prefer to have a Christian

A Model of Christian Charity is a sermon by John Winthrop. He gives this sermon aboard the Arbella in 1630. John Winthrop began his and his Christian's journey with words for guidance and inspiration. He starts his sermon by stating that God created the rich and the poor. He created them for different reasons, in order to manifest his exertion in the areas of mercy, love, gentleness, faith, patience and obedience. Religion is used as a way of connecting with the Puritans. He also uses references from the bible to prove his points. He talks about how God has created the three laws, and how if you follow them you will be