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A City Upon a Hill: Spirituality and Exceptionalism in The 85 NEW MODES OF SELF-FASHIONING A CITY UPON A HILL: SPIRITUALITY AND EXCEPTIONALISM IN THE FOUNDING OF AMERICA MAULANA MUALIM State Islamic Institute of Purwokerto Abstract: This article presents the concepts of puritan spirituality found in one of the most famous speeches of the founding fathers of America, entitled A Model of Christian Charity. A religious speech delivered by John Winthrop on board of Arbella during the great migration to America in 1630, to be perceived by his fellows as their modes of survival in the harsh wilderness of America. A qualitative technique combined with a socio-historical approach is applied to investigate the Puritans’ values in the sermon grounding the foundation of America as a new exceptional nation of the world. The values of kindness, charity, love, and communalism are encouraged for the pilgrims to survive in the New Land and to make it a “City upon a Hill”. Keywords: America, city upon a hill, exceptionalism, puritan, spirituality 1. Introduction America and almost all products of human civilization evolved in this geographical area are brought together by groups of people moving to this newly founded land. People living in America, apart from the small numbers of Indian tribal communities, were transported from Europe, Africa, and the rest of the world (Johnson 1997: 11-12; Kaus 2017: 2). The English language as the national and official means of communication was brought by the British colonists. The hamburger, an American type of fast food, was inspired by the steak recipe brought by Jewish immigrants from Hamburg, Germany (Rubel 2018: 5 Kaus 2017: 20; Smith 2012: 322). The Jazz, a world phenomenon, born in New Orleans and flourished in Chicago and New York in the 1920s was brought by the slaves from Africa – for example, the distinct beats, tones, and improvisations, were borrowed from their religious rituals (Cayou 2012: 8). The question of who discovered America has been extensively discussed and brings up numerous perplexing facts and myths. Including the most renowned and well-accepted discovery in the academic world: by Christopher Columbus (Morison 1978: 400; Johnson 1997: 15; Toth 2017: 22). It is believed that several ships had docked on its shores before Columbus' fleet, namely Arab, Chinese, and Viking ships (Gavin 2002: 333; Starr 2013; Toth 2017: 23). Given the aforementioned data, can we now decide and have our say about who discovered the continent of America? Who found the civilization of America? Did the Arabs, the Chinese, or the Norsemen give birth to a new nation? Or did the Spaniards? Historical manuscripts show that none of those navigators moved, settled, and built a new nation in America. The Arabs only passed by to continue their journey, the Chinese did not leave any records of settlement, Eriksson stayed for about ten years, and Columbus came to colonize the Native Americans for their resources that included gold and spices, back and forth from Spain (Morison 1978: B.A.S. vol. XXVII, 2021 86 352; Gavin 2002: 443; Johnson 1997: 11). A great migration of British Puritans to America took place between1620-1640. The political, social, and religious conditions in England were hard for the adherents to Calvinism-Protestantism, so they decided to sail the Atlantic Ocean one way and settled in America forever, in pursuit of the freedom to practice their religious belief and build a new nation. The first ship that sailed to America in 1620 was Mayflower, led by a priest named William Bradford, and the second exodus was eleven ships led by John Winthrop, under the flag of Arbella in 1630 (Johnson 1997: 27; Johnson 1997: 34). John Winthrop was the leader of the voyage; he was later to become the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (Bremer 2005 passim; Johnson 1997: 29). Onboard the Arbella, Winthrop delivered a sermon to his Puritan fellows, encouraging them to help each other to unite despite all the differences, for one reason, i.e. that of building a new nation in a new land. The sermon is entitled A Model of Christian Charity, and is famous for a phrase found in its concluding part that wrapped up the whole topic of the sermon: City upon a Hill, which originates from a biblical verse “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14). Through this sermon, Winthrop intended to advise the future colonists of the Massachusetts Bay Colony that their community should be like a City upon a Hill, watched by all the eyes of the world and attracting Europe’s attention (Johnson 1997: 30). These spectators were observing whether the group could conquer the wilderness and gain success in that most unlikely place. If they failed to keep this covenant with God, they deserved nothing but punishment from Him (Bremer 2005: 300; Brauch 1998: 343). 2. Puritanism and the Puritans Hulse (2000: 4) viewed the Puritans as people with profound theological vision and comprehension who wish that the knowledge to glorify God fulfills the world like the water covers the ocean. Kang (2009: 148) saw Puritanism as a movement that emerged inside the Church of England in the second half of the 1500s seeking to purify the Church by establishing a middle course between the ideas of the Protestant reformers and the Roman Catholicism. However, Puritans at some point were stereotyped as attempting to revolt against the government as well as the church and were perceived as a separatist movement. We are not supposed to strictly limit the Puritans to radical Protestant nonconformists, we need to see them in a much broader definition, as individuals distinguished by characteristics that transcend their political, ecclesiastical, and religious matters (Gleason, Kapic 2004: 17; Nuttall 1992: 9). The English Reformation that took place in the 16th century was the outset provoking the rise of the Puritan movement. This series of events that broke away the Church of England from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church was also seen as the impact of the European Protestant Reformation, voiced by Martin Luther in Germany. Despite the wave of Protestantism affecting all areas of Europe, the process of reformation in England was, however, not entirely successful, as churches of England were still adhering to Roman Catholic values, and churches held the power to rule the state. Subsequently, a handful of priests and monks who kept up the reformed Christianity of Luther promoted the purification of the English Church from its Catholic feudalistic practices. They believed that the church should live a modest life, religious services should be done as a charity, and rituals and church 87 NEW MODES OF SELF-FASHIONING documents should not be commercialized. Besides, luxurious artifacts should not decorate the sacred place where the mighty name of God is glorified, as those golden statues of angels and saints, velvet curtains, and engraved pulpits could hinder the nakedness of worshipers in front of their God. In responding to the “Reformation of the Church of England”, the Puritans were divided into those showing radical frontal reaction and those who were calm, soft, and diplomatic (Nuttall 1992: 9). The group who viewed the English Church to have been severely corrupted by worldly affairs believed that there was no way to negotiate, only separation and building their church was the way out of this complication. This group made their way to America on Mayflower to establish Plymouth Plantation Colony led by, among others, William Bradford in 1620. Another wave of this group sailed the Atlantic Ocean on Arbella, led by a priest and heir of a very wealthy British merchant, John Winthrop. after they were appointed by King Charles I to migrate to the New World and plant a colony in New England (Brauch 1998: 346). 3. “A city upon a hill” as a staple dream of America America has evolved from an unknown periphery into a world power in a relatively short period – it is no more than 387 years since the time of John Winthrop. We can see that America is now a powerful country, its development has spanned to multiple spheres of life – economy, military, arts, education, and so forth. Winthrop believed that the City upon a Hill, as a super condition, could not be realized unless his community complied with their covenants with God. The puritans’ migration to the New World did not take place because they felt like joining the venture, because they were squeezed by the political and economic condition of England, or because the departure of the fleets coincided with their readiness to hop on them; it was a conviction of faith that their names were prepared by God on the long list of the predestination scenario for hegira to the new Canaan called America. 3.1. Kindness and charity John Winthrop believed that the voyage and the hegira he was doing along with hundreds of people were predestined by God; he invited his fellow Puritans to be in subjection to God, to submit to Him all the worrying preconceptions of the new world that were yet to come. Sharing kindness and charity would help them form their means of survival, in order to cope with all the novelties they would soon encounter in the new world (Bremer 2005: 95; Johnson 1997: 22). The exodus was not the only one designed by God, the different social strata in human life were also well written in His scenario, not without reason. This issue was highlighted at the beginning of Winthrop’s sermon, provoking the audience's thirst for equality; Winthrop invited them to be in subjugation to the roles God had envisioned for them.
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