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Cotton Mather on Witchcraft
Hardcover
Published January 1, 1950
About the author
Cotton Mather
525 books37 followersCotton Mather A.B. 1678 (Harvard College), A.M. 1681; honorary doctorate 1710 (University of Glasgow), was a socially and politically influential New England Puritan minister, prolific author, and pamphleteer. Cotton Mather was the son of influential minister Increase Mather. He is often remembered for his connection to the Salem witch trials.
Mather was named after his grandfathers, both paternal (Richard Mather) and maternal (John Cotton). He attended Boston Latin School, and graduated from Harvard in 1678, at only 16 years of age. After completing his post-graduate work, he joined his father as assistant Pastor of Boston's original North Church (not to be confused with the Anglican/Episcopal Old North Church). It was not until his father's death, in 1723, that Mather assumed full responsibilities as Pastor at the Church.
Author of more than 450 books and pamphlets, Cotton Mather's ubiquitous literary works made him one of the most influential religious leaders in America. Mather set the nation's "moral tone," and sounded the call for second and third generation Puritans, whose parents had left England for the New England colonies of North America to return to the theological roots of Puritanism.
Mather was named after his grandfathers, both paternal (Richard Mather) and maternal (John Cotton). He attended Boston Latin School, and graduated from Harvard in 1678, at only 16 years of age. After completing his post-graduate work, he joined his father as assistant Pastor of Boston's original North Church (not to be confused with the Anglican/Episcopal Old North Church). It was not until his father's death, in 1723, that Mather assumed full responsibilities as Pastor at the Church.
Author of more than 450 books and pamphlets, Cotton Mather's ubiquitous literary works made him one of the most influential religious leaders in America. Mather set the nation's "moral tone," and sounded the call for second and third generation Puritans, whose parents had left England for the New England colonies of North America to return to the theological roots of Puritanism.
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
September 18, 2026
Interesting as a historical artifact. Cotton believed that the colonies were a utopia of christianity under attack by the devil, who resented the arrival of the Puritans in his territory. The tests for witchcraft and beliefs about witchcraft seemed more modeled on tradition and other writings than anything biblical, as far as I could tell. There was also some questionable eschatology and exegesis of scripture.
That we should approach this as a cautionary tale in our nation's history is obvious. But I think Salem has served the purpose of warning a developing young nation of dangerous intermixtures of religion and government.
We certainly didn't invent witch trials, as they'd been going on in Europe for ages. (Along with burnings of heretics, etc.) But when we were still a colony, the events at Salem were the beginning of the end of witch trials here. People recognized that accepting spectral evidence in a trial and putting people to death on the basis of that evidence was a travesty of justice.
For further reading, I recommend "A Fever in Salem" by Laurie Winn Carlson.
That we should approach this as a cautionary tale in our nation's history is obvious. But I think Salem has served the purpose of warning a developing young nation of dangerous intermixtures of religion and government.
We certainly didn't invent witch trials, as they'd been going on in Europe for ages. (Along with burnings of heretics, etc.) But when we were still a colony, the events at Salem were the beginning of the end of witch trials here. People recognized that accepting spectral evidence in a trial and putting people to death on the basis of that evidence was a travesty of justice.
For further reading, I recommend "A Fever in Salem" by Laurie Winn Carlson.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review