Hey, it's Erin. This is from John Winthrop's "Modell of Christian Charity"
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. First, to hold conformity with rest of His works, ... Secondly, that He might have the more occasion to manifest the work of His spirit, ... Thirdly, that every man might have need of other, ... All men thus (by divine providence) ranked into two sorts, rich and poor, under the first are comprehended all such as are able to live comfortably by their own means duly improved, and all others are poor, according to the former distribution. There are two rules whereby we are to walk, one toward another; justice and mercy. ... There is likewise a double law by which we are regulated in our conversation, one towards another; in both the former respects, the law of nature and the law of grace, or the moral law of the Gospel. (1) For the persons, we are a company professing ourselves fellow members of Christ; (2) the care of the public must oversway all private respects by which not only conscience but mere civil policy doth bind us; (3) the end is to improve our lives to do more service to the Lord, the comfort and increase of the body of Christ whereof we are members; (4) for the means whereby this must be effected, they are twofold: a conformity with the work and the end we aim at. ... Thus stands the cause between God and us: we are entered into covenant with Him for this work; we have taken out a commission, the Lord hath given us leave to draw our own articles, ... if we shall neglect the observation of these articles ... the Lord will surely break out in wrath against us. ... Therefore, let us choose life, that we, and our seed may live; by obeying. His voice and cleaving to Him, for He is our life and our prosperity.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Hey, it's Amy.
Thanks for the practice, Erin!
First, I was confused by Winthrop's mention of how "we are to walk, one toward another; justice and mercy," (so be merciful towards one another) while he states later on that "if we shall neglect the observation of these articles... the Lord will surely break out in wrath against us." I thought that the Puritans respected God, but didn't necessarily view him as merciful (as proved by the latter statement), but then why are the people expected to carry out justice and mercy in the will of God?
Also, towards the top (kind of 1/4 of the way down) Winthrop states, "Thirdly, that every man might have need of other." Is this justifying religious dominance of the priest as those who aren't as likely to be elite are in constant need of religious guidance, or is he stating that to achieve the perfect "society upon a hill," all must perform the duty alloted to them by God?
Third question: the very last word of the passage is "prosperity." Does prosperity refer to future prosperity given by God in Heaven, or is prosperity refering to the earthly fortune of the Puritans under God's care?
I feel like the main purpose of this passage is to support the fact that even Puritans believed that everyone was predestined, they still had specific duties on earth and needed to live up to the will of God and work together to achieve that perfect community. Winthrop states that "the care of the public must overswqy all private respects by which not only conscience but mere civil policy doth bind us; the end is to improve our lives to do more service to the Lord..." In the end, the main drive behind doing good works is doing service for God while serving our sentence on earth where God "hath so disposed of the condition of mankind."
Hey, it's Erin again.
I guess the reason that the people should carry out justice and mercy is because although they were predestined, they felt that everyone had a duty and they were the example for everyone else ("city on a hill"), but I could be wrong. About the word prosperity, I think it was used in the sense that God gives them all that's good (since everything's predestined); I guess it could refer to both then and after they died.
Post a Comment