A Model of Christian Charity

"A Model of Christian Charity" is a 1630 sermon by Puritan layman and leader John Winthrop, who delivered it on board the ship Arbella while en route to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It is also known as "City upon a Hill" and denotes the notion of American exceptionalism. The sermon was known by reputation and preserved in contemporary manuscript copy held by the New-York Historical Society, but it was not published until the 1830s.

John Winthrop begins his sermon by stating, "God Almighty in his most holy and wise providence, hath so disposed of the condition of mankind, as in all times some must be rich, some poor, some high and eminent in power and dignity; others mean and in subjection." He then states three reasons why God made people have different positions from one another:

Winthrop then moves on to explain that there are two overriding "rules" which should govern all interactions within a community, "two rules whereby we are to walk one towards another: Justice and Mercy." He argues that justice and mercy should be exercised by both rich and poor, since both rich and poor have need of them. He summarizes these two rules with an overriding "law," that mankind "is commanded to love his neighbor as himself". He acknowledges that a person is responsible to make provision for one's family and also for the future, but the overriding principle is: "if thou lovest God thou must help [thy brother]."

So is it in all the labor of love among Christians. The party loving, reaps love again.

Winthrop believes that having this "bond of love" for one another would unite the group as they travel to America "to seek out a place of cohabitation and consortship under a due form of government both civil and ecclesiastical"—that is, as they work together to establish a new society based upon this bond of love. To accomplish this, he calls upon his listeners:

...we must love brotherly without dissimulation, we must love one another with a pure heart fervently. We must bear one another’s burdens. We must not look only on our own things, but also on the things of our brethren.

However, he then adjures his listeners: "We are entered into covenant with Him for this work [of establishing a new colony]. We have taken out a commission." He warns them that "the Lord will surely break out in wrath against us" if they fail to fulfill that commission by putting the interests of others and of the colony above their own interests:

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