12 January 1588 A.D. John
Winthrop Born—Massachusetts Bay Colony & Freedom from Willy Laud’s
“My-Way-or-the-Highway” Imperialism, Red-Hot Arminianism & His Other Derangements
Graves, Dan. “John Winthrop Made
Massachusetts a Success.” Christianity.com.
May 2007. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/john-winthrop-made-massachusetts-a-success-11630035.html. Accessed 11 Jan 2015.
John Winthrop Made Massachusetts a Success
Can you imagine the outcry if the Boston Globe
were to announce that the Governor of Massachusetts had preached one Sunday
from the Bible, using as his text, Christ's "Sermon on the Mount?"
Does the very idea sound ridiculous and impossible? Well, such an event did
take place in 1630. Governor John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
preached aboard ship to a great company of Puritans sailing with him.
John was born in Suffolk,
England on this day, January l2, 1588-the same year the Spanish Armada
attempted to invade England. The Winthrops were Puritans--that is, they wanted
the Church of England to be purified of traditions, practices, and beliefs not
specifically found in the Bible. They were also a people of means, owners of
the manor at Groton who prospered by making and trading cloth.
Even as a boy, John was
sincerely devoted to God and even considered becoming a minister. Instead, he
trained in the law and received a court appointment. Although he followed his
father in trade and succeeded him as lord of the family estate at Groton Manor,
John never ceased to honor God in all his undertakings. The fact that he had
not entered the ministry troubled him so much that he admitted, "...I
think I am the rather bound to take the opportunity for spending the remainder
of my time to the best service of the church which I may."
During the 1620s, there was
religious and political turmoil in England as King Charles I battled for the
absolute power of the monarchy. Persecution of Puritans increased, because the
king wanted everyone to follow the formulas of the national church. Many
Puritans planned to emigrate. By 1629 a group of them had formed the Massachusetts
Bay Company to settle America. John was elected governor of the company. Soon
he had enlisted 700 colonists for the new settlement, and in l630, their fleet
sailed for America. It was on this voyage of the Arbella that John
preached on Christ's "Sermon on the Mount."
While aboard ship, John also
issued a "Model of Christian Charity," ideas that would stamp the
young Puritan colony. He called for brotherly love and strong commitment to the
Christian faith-- but moderation in just about everything else.
He devoted over 20 years of his
life to building the Massachusetts Colony. A later Puritan called him an
"American Nehemiah" because, like Nehemiah (who left an influential
court position to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem), John cast aside a high
position to unselfishly share the hardships of his fellow colonists in
establishing a godly society.
Like all great men, John had his
warts. Although he was a very practical administrator, his ideals were so strong
that they allowed little room for tolerance. He presided over the trial of Anne
Hutchinson who diverged from Puritan views and called for women's rights. But
rather than execute her, which he might have done, he exiled her.
Bibliography:
2. Fitzhugh, Harriet Lloyd and Percy K. Concise Biographical Dictionary. New
York: Grosset and Dunlap, 1935.
3. "John Winthrop." American Literature Vol 1; the 17th and
18th Centuries. Editors Carl Bode, Leon Howard and Louis B. Wright. New York:
Washington Square Press, 1969.
4. Kunitz, Stanley. American authors, 1600-1900: a biographical
dictionary of American literature. New York: The H. W. Wilson
company, 1938.
5. Lossing, Benson J. Eminent Americans. New York: Mason
Bros, 1857.
6. Lyons, Albert S. Medicine; an illustrated history. New
York: H. N. Abrams, 1978. p. 179.
7. Morgan, Edmund S. The Puritan Dilemma; the story of John Winthrop.
Boston: Little, Brown, 1958.
8. Northrop, Henry Davenport. New Century History of Our Country and its Island
Possessions. Chicago, Illinois: American Educational League, 1900.
Source of the image.
9. Vaughan, Alden T. "Winthrop, John." Encyclopedia
of American Biography. Editor John Garraty. New York: Harper and
Row, 1974.
10. Winthrop, John. Journal. Various editions.
11. "Winthrop, John." Dictionary of American Biography. New
York: Scribner, 1958-1964.
Last update June,
2007.
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