Reverse-Engineering the Covenant: Moses, Massachusetts Bay and the Construction of a City on a Hill

This article examines the famous “city on a hill” sermon delivered by John Winthrop at the start of colonial Massachusetts Bay. It focuses on belief-formation, looking at how Winthrop reverse-engineered the covenant in two senses. First, he found a blueprint for a godly society in the Pentateuch. Mo...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of the Bible and its reception Vol. 8; no. 2; pp. 209 - 227
Main Author Rowley, Matthew
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Boston De Gruyter 26.10.2021
Walter de Gruyter GmbH
Subjects
Accountability
Agreements
Bible
Christianity
city on a hill
colonial New England
Colonialism
Covenants
Engineering
God
Hebrew Bible
International relations
John Winthrop
National Covenant
Puritan
Society
Unexplained phenomena
Massachusetts Bay
Israel
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:This article examines the famous “city on a hill” sermon delivered by John Winthrop at the start of colonial Massachusetts Bay. It focuses on belief-formation, looking at how Winthrop reverse-engineered the covenant in two senses. First, he found a blueprint for a godly society in the Pentateuch. Moreover, scholars have missed Winthrop’s reversal of the covenant-formation process. In the Pentateuch, God approached Israel with a covenant offer—setting the terms of the agreement and setting the supernatural verification that the covenant was ratified. However, when Massachusetts Bay entered the covenant, Winthrop reversed the order: he approached God, he set the terms of the covenant and the standard of verification that God ratified the covenant. America’s “founding covenant,” though taken by many as a parallel with biblical Israel, is actually its opposite. In reverse-engineering the covenant based on the Pentateuch, Winthrop also altered the role of God and his people. One of the benefits flowing from covenant obedience, Winthrop argued, would be victory in battle against Native Americans.
ISSN:2329-440X
2329-4434
DOI:10.1515/jbr-2021-0012