Introduction: "The most famous lay sermon in all of American history"

Part I, Text. Writing "A model of Christian charity"

"We shall be as a city upon a hill"

A chosen people

New England in a world of holy experiments

Left all alone in America

Love is a bond or ligament

Moralizing the market economy

The poor and the boundaries of obligation

Part II, Nation. Inventing foundations

Mobile metaphors of nationalism

From the top mast

Constructing a city on a hill in Africa

The carnage of God's chosen nations

Part III, Icons. The historical embarrassments of New England

Puritanism in an existentialist key

Arguing over the Puritans during the Cold War

Ronald Reagan's shining city on a hill

Puritan foundations of an "exceptionalist" nation

Ambivalent evangelicals

Epilogue: Disembarking from the Arbella

Appendix: John Winthrop, "A model of Christian charity" : a modern transcription.