John Winthrop: A Model of Christian Charity

The section of this reading is Winthrop's statement that "the exercise of this [Christian/brotherly] love...is twofold, inward or outward...Simile simili gaudet (like will to like). (83)" This notion that in order to show and share love one must love oneself first. The inward love is necessary to fully engage in the charity which the colony was striving for. This loving of oneself is a difficult thing for many people, then and now. However, it stands to reason that, and is certainly visible in some people we all know, if a person is truly unhappy with themselves they are not able to project true love onto another person. One must love oneself first.

Winthrop's second portion of this statement is that the exercise of love is outward. He uses the examples of a mother and child, God and His followers, and Adam and Eve, but it is true in all of our lives. If taken into the area of marriage, most people can relate to it. When a person finds the one who is the same as themselves, it is an amazing, fullfilling feeling. True love with one who you would give anything for and do anything to make that person happy and live side by side working and struggling throughout life. This is the commitment and love Whinthrop is speaking of as being necessary for Christian survival.

"Nothing yields more pleasure and content to the soul than when it finds that which it may love fervently, for to love and live beloved is the soul's paradise, both here and in heaven" (84).