Poelker Puritan Blog

In “A Model of Christian Charity” John Winthrop, an unordained politician uses the mode of the Puritan sermon to discuss how people ought to deal with wealth and money. In doing so, he demonstrates how closely intertwined political and religious life were in Puritan society. The notion of creating a new Eden or, “city on a hill” is clear early on when he references the early Christians: “Hence it was that in the primitive Church they sold all, had all things in common, neither did any man say that which he possessed was his own” (pg. 5). Furthermore, he leans heavily on scripture, using the metaphor of the “Christian Body:”

"First of all, true Christians are of one body in Christ (1 Cor. 12). Ye are the body of Christ and members of their part. All the parts of this body being thus united are made so contiguous in a special relation as they must needs partake of each other's strength and infirmity; joy and sorrow, weal and woe. If one member suffers, all suffer with it, if one be in honor, all rejoice with it."

The Massachusetts Bay Colony Seal

Winthrop goes on to describe a particular type of love, or charity, that exists between the members of the Christian body, and how that manifests itself in the people’s attitude toward money. He advocates forgiveness, or mercy, of debts as well as labor that comes not from want of reward but simply out of desire for service. As the sermon nears a close, we find the application of all Winthrop biblical expounding which is that given the Puritan’s “Covenant with God,” they as a people have a duty to uphold his laws: “Now if the Lord shall please to hear us, and bring us in peace to the place we desire, then hath He ratified this covenant and sealed our commission, and will expect a strict performance of the articles contained in it.” This is in essence the Covenant of Works. Otherwise, he claims, their society will be upheld as an example of failure to the rest of Christendom. This is essentially the Covenant of Grace, in that to fail in accordance with God’s standards would mean than they would be allowed by God to perish.

This attitude is interesting first of all because it shows the commitment Winthrop and his comrades had to the word of God. He demonstrates belief in an attainable utopia. The focus on wealth in the sermon is also interesting, given the economic prominence of the Mass Bay colony, especially when compared with the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock. If viewed through a cynical lens, one could argue Winthrop is manipulating biblical texts in order to instill obedience in his subjects. To paraphrase reductively: follow the law because God says so. This, after all, is the problem with theocracies. I’m not sure we can actually call the Puritan system a theocracy, but the emphasis placed on religion within the government does seem to suggest something of that sort. On the other hand, the importance of logic in the text as well Winthrop’s reference to “man in the state of innocence” (pg. 2) is in line with Enlightenment philosophers of the same era, and points to a well founded establishment of power and government for the New World.

Cover From an Early Bradstreet Collection

   
We can look at two stanzas from Anne Bradstreet’s “By Night When I Soundly Slept” to illustrate the presence of both the Covenant of Works and the Covenant of Grace.
First for that of grace, look to the third stanza:

"My hungry Soul he fill'd with Good;

He in his Bottle put my tears, 

My smarting wounds washt in his blood, 

And banisht thence my Doubts and fears."

At first it would seem that she is merely thanking God for his grace, with no thought for the looming fear of punishment and eternal damnation. However, the nature of the metaphorical acts she describes God doing are caught up in relieving pain. He fills her “Hungry soul,” bottles her tears, and washes her “smarting wound.” Because she already has pain and injury, the act of relieving them is one of Grace, in the sense that without God she would continue to suffer. Also, we get a sense that the grace is not necessarily expected and her surprise alludes to the possibility of God’s disdain for her troubles. This is highlighted by the last line: “And banisht thence my Doubts and fears.” For the speaker should only have doubts and fears if there are instances when God does not provide his grace, as in those human beings “Damned to Hell.”

Bradstreet, in this poem and others, responds to God’s grace with her works, as can be seen in the fourth and final stanza and its discussion of the Covenant of Works:

"What to my Saviour shall I give

Who freely hath done this for me?

I'll serve him here whilst I shall live

And Loue him to Eternity."

The desire to serve God in response to the grace provided to this undeserving poetic subject fits in well with the tradition of Puritanism. We also might look to the Petrarchan subject, and say that the Petrarchan lover is at the mercy of the object of love in the same way that Bradstreet is at the mercy of God. More important however, is the way in which Anne Bradstreet offers the only thing she has to give to her loving God: “I’ll serve him here whilst I shall live / And love him to Eternity.” It’s a little surprising that Bradstreet makes no reference to the act of her poetry as a tribute to God, instead focusing on a vague profession of love and service. Nonetheless, it serves to reinforce the idea of the Covenant of Works and emphasizes Bradstreet’s own piety.