1. City Upon a Hill John Winthrop, 1630
Sermon: A talk on a religious or moral subject, especially one given during a church service and based on a passage from the Bible - important because of the religious connection to Puritans.
What does he mean by “City Upon a Hill?”

2. City Upon a Hill John Winthrop, 1630
Definitions:
superfluities: being more than sufficient, excessive
wrath: fierce anger, vengeance or punishment
harrying: harass, annoy, prove a nuisance to by or as repeated attacks
smiting: to strike or hit hard, stick as weapon

3. City Upon a Hill John Winthrop, 1630
The “Shipwreck” Winthrop refers to is the “Wrath of God” that falls on peoples or nations who fail to do God’s will.

4. City Upon a Hill John Winthrop, 1630
The main focus is on mercy, kindness, sharing and other selfless qualities.
The Puritans will not succeed by harrying out the sinner or otherwise smiting evil, but by loving each other, caring for each other, and “abridging ourselves of our superfluities, for the supply of others necessities” (that is, there will be equality of wealth, with no one living in luxury while others starve). The projected society would be almost unequaled anywhere in the known world.

5. City Upon a Hill John Winthrop, 1630
Why will later settlers hope their societies will be like New England?
Because of the love and comradeship, care and goodwill in New England. Notice that so far Winthrop has been urging his people to be caring and loving and selfless. He isn’t saying they already are all those things. He isn’t boasting about a pre-existing condition. He is urging them to become caring and loving and selfless in the name of their godly mission, so that they will truly succeed.

6. City Upon a Hill John Winthrop, 1630
First we see what “City Upon a Hill” really means: it doesn’t mean perfect, it means visible. They will be under a microscope, unable to hide their failures from all eyes trained on them. No one wants to live in a city on a hill, because all of your faults and failings in plain view.

7. City Upon a Hill John Winthrop, 1630
Winthrop dramatically positions his group on the very edge of life and death, good and evil; they have never been more free to choose which way they will go. It’s all up for grabs.
Choose life that we may live, choose God for God is Life.