Defending Puritan Faith in Colonial America

Cotton Mather was one of the most influentialreligious leaders in early America. He assumedresponsibility for sustaining the reforming zeal ofthe Puritan movement begun by his ancestors, who leftEngland to establish an idealised society in NewEngland. As the seventeenth century drew to a close,the Calvinistic principles on which the earlycommunities had been based were no longer adhered toquite so strictly, and Mather saw it as his religiousduty to revitalise Puritanism and stop the degeneracythat he saw all around him. His Magnalia ChristiAmericana was an enormously ambitious work with whichMather hoped to demonstrate to the world God'ssupport for the Puritan cause in New England, andthus rekindle the Reformation throughout Europe andthe rest of the civilised world.One of the issues this study will consider is to whatextent Cotton Mather achieved his purpose. It willconsider in detail the language he used to expresshis beliefs and, like him, taking the Bible as aguide, try to assess the value of his achievement.His accuracy as a historian will also be consideredand an attempt will be made to understand therelevance of his work to a modern audience.

Autorentext

WEI Chanjuan came to Germany in 2001 for her Translation and Interpreting Studies at the University of Mainz-Germersheim (2002-2007). During those academic years, she actively wrote, among others, many articles focusing on Christian themes both in German and in English. Since 2007 she lives in Munich and works as a freelance translator and interpreter.

Klappentext
Cotton Mather was one of the most influential religious leaders in early America. He assumed responsibility for sustaining the reforming zeal of the Puritan movement begun by his ancestors, who left England to establish an idealised society in New England. As the seventeenth century drew to a close, the Calvinistic principles on which the early communities had been based were no longer adhered to quite so strictly, and Mather saw it as his religious duty to revitalise Puritanism and stop the degeneracy that he saw all around him. His Magnalia Christi Americana was an enormously ambitious work with which Mather hoped to demonstrate to the world God's support for the Puritan cause in New England, and thus rekindle the Reformation throughout Europe and the rest of the civilised world. One of the issues this study will consider is to what extent Cotton Mather achieved his purpose. It will consider in detail the language he used to express his beliefs and, like him, taking the Bible as a guide, try to assess the value of his achievement. His accuracy as a historian will also be considered and an attempt will be made to understand the relevance of his work to a modern audience.