What are the literal and figurative threats to Winthrop’s community as expressed in “A Model of Christian Charity”? In what ways are they like and unlike those noted by Bradford? What sorts of language and images does Winthrop use in his journal to illustrate these threats?
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Winthrop takes the parts of the bible that promote charity and selflessness very seriously. He envisions an idealic society in which no one will have to subside on less than that of anyone else. The main threats that he writes about are internal to the community. External events will affect the colony, as he notes, but will not be a hardship if everyone is giving away their excess resorces and living within their means. It struck me how similar to Carl Marx and the current day ideas of socialism Winthrop was. Even today, talking about redistribution of wealth and resources is still a relevant topic. This system would only work without selfish actions, which seems to be Winthrop’s percieved biggest threat.
Bradford also voices strong concerns about the internal corruption of the strong moral values that their community upholds. It is similar in that everyone must follow the moral doctrine of the community, and if one person takes more liberties, it will only result in the quickening collapse of their utopia. Bradford is different in that he sees these threats as corruption from an outside source. Starting with the sailors on the boat, we see how Bradford consistently sites external sources for any corruption that may take place in their society. This continues into the depictions of the land, the natives, and the less puritan neighbors.
Winthrop writes his journal to read as a purely factual account of events passing, whether it is or not. He of course writes with the religious and idealic biases that we’ve read, but his journal is at the very least believable. Unlike Bradford, he described the beauty of the land rather than objecting the evil of the world. This reflects the idea that he is less concerned with external evils, and more with internal corruption.
For Winthrop, the greatest threat to the Massachusetts Bay colony is division among people that will result in the “ruin of the public.” In order to ensure unity, cooperation and, most importantly, the realization of a model community, Winthrop encourages his community members to “love brotherly without dissimulation.” He preaches that the slightest selfish misstep could lead to the ruin of the community, as in the case of Saul, for its survival rests in the full participation of each member. The teachings are highly individualistic in their strong emphasis on personal behavior, but are intended to be understood in reference to not only individual (religious and material) prosperity, but also for the better functioning of the community as a whole. While Bradford expressed similar fears of communal disharmony, he blamed pursuit of material gain for his observed divisions. Winthrop, on the other hand, highlights that commerce must be upheld communally and is therefore not a threat to but an enabler of communal religious life.
Winthrop’s strict adherence to the ‘law’ of the Bible reads almost as a handy guidebook for new Puritan settlers, who can conveniently flip to the correct section in the ‘Model of Christian Charity’ for moral advice on topics ranging from forgiveness to forming a loving brotherhood. Each ‘code of conduct’ is corroborated by passages from (for example) Matthew, Corinthians, or the stories of Christian martyrs, suggesting that every decision or reaction to a problem should be influenced by corresponding lessons in the Scripture. As long as the Puritans behave according to the Bible, in, as Toby stated, a completely uniform and somewhat robotic manner, Winthrop seems to believe that their colony will succeed. Winthrop’s fears for his colony, therefore, are those of an internal behavioral nature, and little attention is paid to possible external forces.
In his journal, Winthrop discusses ‘rogue’ Puritans, such as Anne Hutchinson, who did not strictly follow the rules of the Bible. Dissenters like Hutchinson, who thought that the elect joined personally with God, were prosecuted accordingly by Puritan leaders. Though in many ways Winthrop seems more open and accepting than Bradford in his model of values, the prosecution of any persons with differing beliefs taints the loving, brotherly Christian image of the settlement.
Bradford, on the other hand, feared the influence of outside temptations like Thomas Morton and his extravagant, Pagan lifestyle or possible attack by the (freshly armed) Natives. Bradford describes the servant Thomas Granger’s sodomy with multiple animals, highlighting not only the eradication of Granger, but also the sacrifice of each of the ‘offending’ animals in an attempt to purify evil outside influences. Bradford’s writing focuses less on specific Bible passages than a notion of purity, simplicity and blocking external forces of evil (i.e., everyone who is not Puritan) – this backs up the notion that Bradford was a Separatist and Winthrop was not.
Though Winthrop and Bradford disagree on the source of possible Puritan contamination, both men agree that their actions will determine God’s level of assistance in their voyages. Winthrop warns that “The Lord will expect a strict performance of the articles contained in it [the Bible]; but if we shall neglect the observation of these articles…the Lord will surely break out in wrath against us,” while Bradford provides an example of a non-believing sailor who showers the Puritan voyagers with vile language and contempt (i.e. outside evil), but “it pleased God…to smite this young man with a grievous disease, of which he died in a desperate manner…for they noted it to be the just hand of God upon him.”
Winthrop notices the divergence of God’s providence as a threat to his community. Both Bradford and Winthrop believe in the “special work of God’s providence” as a means to live by, and any deviation will cause “fierce storms” and “grievous disease” (131). Winthrop describes a dependent society with people of all different economic backgrounds, “knit together by [the] bond of love.” He wants a society where people serve their fellow neighbor, brother, or sister willingly and view the situation as their honorable duty. However, if people begin to “prosecute [their] carnal intentions,” as Anne made reference to, the people in Winthrop’s community will lose their cohesiveness, and the community will suffer the wrath of God and pay the ”price of the breach of such a covenant.”
Winthrop envisions a utopic community of Christian believers and fears disappointment. Escape from Europe to the new world promises a fresh start and the purgation of old world corruption. Winthrop exhorts the colonists to live up to his ideal of the selfless, devout Christian. He borrows examples from the Bible and constructs a mythology of what the perfect man or women should be like from the figures of the apostles, saints, and early Christians. The examples serve to inspire but also provide evidence that unity of feeling and purpose is possible and that failure would be due to lack of effort or corruption rather than unavoidable tension between the individual and the community.
Tragically, Winthrop believes Christian charity is only possible because of a spirit of solidarity among Christians. He writes, “Each discerns, by the work of the spirit, his own image and resemblance in another, and therefore cannot but love him as he loves himself.” According to Winthrop, the success of the community relies on uniformity of belief. Deviance and multiculturalism would weaken feelings of charity and solidarity. Winthrop fears disunity, and his journal makes it clear that he is willing to utilize tools of social control, specifically incarceration and banishment, to enforce conformity.
As noted previously, Winthrop relies on heavy biblical rhetoric to emphasize the tenets he wants everybody in the community to live by. He clearly visualizes the biggest threat to the community to be his followers, as individuals, to give in to “carnal intentions” and eschew the greater good of the community as a whole. Because he does not highlight the new land and native people as the most central threat to his own group arriving in the New World (like Bradford somewhat does), he makes use of his eloquent command over religious text to give the threats he envisions a more concrete form. He stresses the exceptional character of his followers – apparent in the part referring to the colony as a “city upon a hill” – and uses this quality of specialness to represent what’s at stake should the people stray from the dictates of stricture. Essentially, he unites all of his followers – wealthy or poor – into one remarkably pious and pioneering group and employs numerous passages from the Bible to steel them against the evil within themselves from preventing the blessings of God on their settlement.
Both Winthrop and Bradford fear deviation from the word of God. However, Winthrop attributes this to internal factors in the settlers themselves, while Bradford blames the ‘evils’ of the natives and tangible aspects of the New World. Winthrop fears disunity in the Church through greed and individualistic want. As Chelsea previously noted, Winthrop relies on the rhetoric of the Bible, such as “justice” and “mercy.” He cites the importance of supporting one another, whether repayment is possible or not, because they are all one body of Christ. Whereas Bradford puts the onus of temptation on external factors of the New World, Winthrop holds his settlers accountable. He recognizes the capacity for success in the New World, though declares that if they “prosecute [their] carnal intentions, seeking great things for [them]selves and [their] prosperity, the Lord will surely break out in wrath” (176). Winthrop recognizes the temptations of the New World, though regards the evil that Bradford finds inherent in the land, as a fault within his followers. He believed they served as an example to the rest of the world that the fruits of the New World can justly be enjoyed as long as one follows the word of God.
Winthrop places great emphasis on the idea of structure and order within the community. While he specifically entreats his fellow settlers to work equally within the settlement for the good of all, he also puts contrary stress on the importance of social segregation (many of his examples in the first portion of the reading are structured similarly: “the rich may do this,” and “the poor are subject to do this”). Additionally, all must respect and obey the list of Christian ideals he presents in this passage, and it is only through these means that the settlement will be righteous and approved by God. Like Bradford, Winthrop’s concern, at large, lays in God’s approval (although negative, outside influence from natives or other settlements is of less concern to Winthrop). As if to sanctify his writing on the settlement, Winthrop incorporates, references, and summarizes passages from the Bible at every turn.