The expression "city upon a hill" was used by the Puritan leader John Winthrop to describe the fact that the colony was being established with a declared purpose known to its supporters and critics alike, making the world a witness to the colonists' sincerity. The phrase came originally from a text well known to the Puritans, Matthew 5, verse 14: "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid." Winthrop's 1630 speech, given aboard the ship _Arbella_ en route to Massachusetts Bay Colony, used the phrase as a warning against hypocrisy:
For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken… we shall be made a story and a by-word throughout the world. We shall open the mouths of enemies to speak evil of the ways of God… We shall shame the faces of many of God's worthy servants, and cause their prayers to be turned into curses upon us til we be consumed out of the good land whither we are a-going.
religiously
They did it by only letting people that believe in christian living
John Winthrop wanted Puritan New England to be a holy ideal community that others looked up to and admired.
A City upon a Hill is one of the phrases that Jesus used while he was giving his parables. Jesus used the phrase "A City upon a Hill" when he was giving the parable of Salt.
it was a frase no really a city Boston, Massachusetts
write your own essay
Massachusetts Bay Colony
he wrote "City Upon A Hill"
No, that is wrong below. The term "city on a hill" comes from the Bible and was used by John Winthrop in 1630. He stated " we shall be as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us." Then, in 1974 Reagan gave a speech called We will be a city upon a hill at the conservative political action convention. JFK also used the term in a speech.
In 1630 John Winthrop led a group of Puritans to settle the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Winthrop hoped their settlement would be an example of Christian living. In a sermon, he said,"...We shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us..."
The "city on a hill" comes from The Bible and Jesus's sermon on the Mount. When the Piligrams left they brought with them the idea of a city on the hill as an example of how life should be lived and conducted. They believed that the English church was filled too much ceremony and should be more simple. So, when they built their colony they kept to the simplicity, taught from the Bible, and had strict rules concerning behavior within the colony.
The phrase,"City upon the hill," actually comes from the Old Testament, where Jesus held his sermon on the Mount. It was later coined by John Winthrop in his sermon to the Puritans, he used the phrase as a metaphor telling them they should act like Jesus on the mount because their actions would be observed by people throughout the world. They would be models of good behavior. President Reagan used it to show that those in Washington should be a model for people to look up to and that is why they are on top of a hill.