In the first paragraph of “A Model of Christian Charity”, Winthrop lists four things for consideration: that God Almighty has created the rich, poor, powerful, and submissives to the powerful.
He may have chosen this list order for his Puritan audience to show juxtaposition between the categories of people mentioned, leading into his explanation of God’s divine wisdom of creating and giving a variety of societal roles with the purpose of creating unity.
