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"A Model of Christian Charity" is a sermon of disputed authorship, historically attributed to Puritan leader John Winthrop and possibly written by John Wilson or George Phillips. [1] It is also known as "City upon a Hill" and denotes the notion of American exceptionalism. [2]
"City upon a hill" is a phrase derived from the teaching of salt and light in Jesus's Sermon on the Mount. [n 1] Originally applied to the city of Boston by early 17th century Puritans, it came to adopt broader use in political rhetoric in United States politics, that of a declaration of American exceptionalism, and referring to America acting as a "beacon of hope" for the world.
This scripture was cited at the end of John Winthrop's lecture or treatise, A Model of Christian Charity; it served as a warning to his fellow Puritan settlers of Boston in 1630 that God and their enemies would be watching, if they failed to uphold their covenant: "we shall be as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us."
John Winthrop (1587/8-1649), Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, who led the Puritans in the Great Migration, beginning in 1630. During the crossing, Winthrop preached a sermon entitled "A Model of Christian Charity", in which he told his followers that they had entered a covenant with God according to which he would cause them to prosper if
John Winthrop was born on January 12, 1587/8 [a] [3] to Adam and Anne (née Browne) Winthrop in Edwardstone, Suffolk, England. His birth was recorded in the parish register at Groton . [ 4 ] His father's family had been successful in the textile business, and his father was a lawyer and prosperous landowner with several properties in Suffolk. [ 5 ]
The City Upon the Hill concept as used in the Bible, and by John Winthrop have to do with the notion that everyone is watching, and perhaps an exhortation to be a model for the rest of the world. Whereas American exceptionalism "is the theory that the United States is inherently different from other nations."
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Arbella or Arabella [2] was the flagship of the Winthrop Fleet on which Governor John Winthrop, other members of the Company (including William Gager), and Puritan emigrants transported themselves and the Charter of the Massachusetts Bay Company from England to Salem between April 8 and June 12, 1630, thereby giving legal birth to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.