In the course of the 17th century when the Puritans started to colonize New England they believed that God intervened in human history to work the salvation not only of individuals but also entire communities or nations. The Puritans believed that they had been singled out by God as an entire community of the saved or the elect; within the terms of salvation-history this community had been charged with a special destiny- to establish the conditions of a pure and uncorrupted church that would ensure the salvation of all Christians. The experiment in theocracy in New England, then, was aimed at creating a model church that could be copied by the imperfectly reformed churches of Europe:
             The Puritans wanted to create America's first utopian, or ideal, society ® idea of being an exceptional alternative to England rather than an extension to it.
             Winthrop: „We shall be as a City upon a Hill, the eyes of all people are upon us." (see: "A
             • Puritans believed in the extreme power of God in the predestination of man to heaven or hell and in the teachings of the Bible. The federal covenant describes the agreement or contract by which the Puritan community could expect collective salvation. Just as a redeemed individual exhibited the signs of sainthood through pious behavior, serious demeanor, and the keeping of God's laws and those of the magistrates, so a redeemed community expected itself to be pious, well regulated and observant of divine and civil laws. Backsliding, by any member of the community, would place in jeopardy the salvation of the entire group. A sin committed by any one member of the congregation placed in threat the sainthood of all the others. Not surprisingly, this encouraged individuals to watch each other, as they watched themselves, for signs of backsliding or any tendency away from the serious purpose to which they had devoted themselves and to which God had c
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