America is NOT the Shining City on a Hill

Ronald Reagan famously described America as a "shining city on a hill," but is that what Jesus intended when he used the phrase in the Sermon on the Mount? How did a biblical metaphor about God's people transform into a symbol of American exceptionalism—and why does that shift matter? Author Kaitlyn Schiess traces the history of the "city on a hill" from its use by Puritan leader John Winthrop to its true origins in Jesus' teaching. She explores how this powerful metaphor has been misused in political rhetoric and why its original meaning holds crucial significance for Christians today.

Transcript:

"Did you know that lots of popular quotes we attribute to celebrities or historical leaders are actually…totally untrue? Marie Antoinette never said “let them eat cake.” Marilyn Monroe never said “Well-behaved women rarely make history” (and neither did Eleanor Rosevelt). Many of those famous quotes are misattributed – it was actually Harvard professor Laurel Thatcher Ulrich who said the thing about well-behaved women. Or that fantastic line that’s often attributed to Nelson Mandela – “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” He never said it, it’s from a novel by Marianne Williamson. But it sounds better coming from Nelson Mandela, which is why it’s attributed to him on countless social media posts, graduation speeches, and a handful of popular films.

There’s another quote that is frequently misattributed.  Over the last election, politicians from both parties have referenced “Reagan’s shining city on a hill.” They harken back to President Ronald Reagan’s vision of America as a moral exemplar and prosperous land of promise. We hear it so often that we might be forgiven for forgetting that this line isn’t Reagan’s, it’s Jesus’. 

This isn’t just a problem of misattribution, it’s a problem of context. Where this phrase—“a city on a hill”—comes from matters because it’s context could actually radically change how we understand it. So let’s look at where it comes from in three parts – first how Reagan popularized it as a slogan for American exceptionalism, then the Puritan use that he drew on, and finally it’s true origin: in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. 

Ronald Reagan made the phrase so popular that nearly every American presidential candidate since has used it. Historian Richard Gamble says that Reagan “invented” the city on a hill as we know it today. In his 1989 farewell speech, Reagan described what he meant by the phrase he’d used his whole “political life”: “in my mind, it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind swept, God blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace.” He also said that his city on a hill was a city with free ports and doors open to “anyone with the will and the heart to get here”—in sharp contrast from his party’s economic and immigration messaging today. 

It's not a bad vision. But it’s also pretty different from his source material. In his farewell address Reagan didn’t cite Scripture for his “city on a hill,” but the Puritan governor of the Massachusetts Bay colony, John Winthrop. 

Winthrop wrote about being a "city upon a hill" in a sermon called, “A Model of Christian Charity” in 1630, and while it’s unclear where (or even if) he delivered the sermon, the common story is that he gave it aboard the Arbella as it journeyed from England to the new colony. In this document, Winthrop outlined his vision for the community, focusing on the meaning of “Christian charity,” (charity in the older sense, meaning: love). While Winthrop believed that God had ordained an inequal social order, he also believed that God commanded that the wealthy and powerful provide for the poor. This was not just a universal Christian command, this was a requirement particular to the relationship the Massachusetts Bay colony had with God. Winthrop described the people as entering into a covenant with God, a special kind of relationship that came with obligations and benefits. Winthrop told the people that God would bless them in this land if they kept up their end of the bargain, but would surely judge them if they did not give generously to the poor or bear one another’s burdens. 

Back in 1630, Winthrop didn't apply "a city upon a hill" to the entire continent, but to one very small community of Puritans. And it wasn't about economic growth or a strong military. It was about obeying God by caring for the poor. While it’s interesting how little of that context makes it into our contemporary politics, that’s nothing compared to how much of the original context, the Sermon on the Mount, we’ve forgotten. Jesus’ sermon was not given to America, nor to any earthly nation. No, Jesus preached to the people of God, instructing the disciples present as well as us believers today about how to live well. And just before he gets to this “city on a hill” metaphor to describe the people of God, he gives a list of blessings, sometimes called the “Beatitudes.” These blessings make it hard for us to interpret the “city on a hill” the same way contemporary politicians do, as a symbol of financial prosperity and military might. Among the people Jesus blesses are: the poor, the mourning, the meek, and the persecuted. 

And then Jesus introduces three metaphors to describe the people of God: salt, light, and the city on a hill. And he makes clear what the point of these metaphors is: “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” The point of the city on the hill is God’s glory, not our own.

Why does it matter so much if politicians and pundits pick up this biblical language and use it out of context? For Christians, this text is not merely a storehouse of helpful language or interesting metaphors that we are free to pick and choose from as we please. The Bible is the Word of God, given to the people of God. If you've heard politicians wax poetic about the “shining city on a hill” for decades, picking up all of their ideas about what makes a flourishing community and a good human life, you won’t discard all those associations when you pick up your Bible and read Matthew 5 or Luke 6. You will read those modern American ideas into the text, usually without realizing it.

The Sermon on the Mount is not a call for America to be stronger or more prosperous, or even for it to be a moral light to the nations. But that doesn't mean it has nothing to say to our politics. Instead of calling America "a shining city on a hill," it calls the people of God, the real "city on a hill," to love our enemies, to give generously to the poor, and to seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness. To learn more, check out the resources in the notes and follow us at Holypost.com."

Resources:

Reagan's Farewell Address to the Nation https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/farewell-address-nation John Winthrop, A Model of Christian Charity https://history.hanover.edu/texts/winthmod.html