JONATHAN WINTHROP
Reading Guide: “A Model of Christian Charity” and The Journal of John Winthrop
(on the trial of Anne Hutchinson)
We shall be as a City upon a Hill. (John Winthrop, from “A Model of Christian Charity”)
John Winthrop (1588-1649)
1. Who is John Winthrop? What position did he hold in Puritan New England?
2. What kinds of literature did he write?
3. Characterize his writing style.
“A Model of Christian Charity” (1630)
1. What kind of literature is “A Model of Christian Charity”?
2. What was its purpose?
3. What political theory do you find in the sermon?
4. Winthrop argues that what behaviors are essential for the success of the puritan
colony in the American wilderness?
5. Explain the allusion to “A City upon a Hill.”
6. What dangers are to be avoided?
7. Winthrop concludes with an “exhortation of Moses.” Explore the allusion.
CRITICAL THINKING
1. Do you agree that the rights of an individual must be subordinated for the good of
the group? Do Winthrop’s ideas in “Model” conflict with modern American faith
in the value of individualism, personal rights, and freedom of action?
2. Is America still today a “city upon a hill” for all the world to see?
From “The Journal of John Winthrop” (1636)
1. Who is Anne Hutchinson (1591-1643)?
2. In what sense is Hutchinson a “deviant” puritan, a “stray thread”?
3. What words does Winthrop use to describe Hutchinson? Read between the lines.
4. What “dangerous errors” got her in trouble? Try to explain these.
5. What “revelations” did Hutchinson have? Why were these revelations an
abomination to orthodox puritan leaders?
6. What was the outcome of her trial?
7. Describe her “monstrous birth” What was it?
8. How did Winthrop view Hutchinson’s slaughter by Indians?
CRITICAL THINKING
1. Although the Hutchinson trial was one of the shabbiest moments in Puritan
history, can you, in any way, justify Winthrop’s actions against her?
2. How exactly did Hutchinson pose a threat to Puritanism?
3. Although Winthrop proposed to write in an objective, “purified” style, did he,
concerning Hutchinson?
4. Did Winthrop “do justly” and “love mercy” (quotes from A Model of Christian
Charity”) concerning Hutchinson?