The Life and Times of Cotton Mather

"In his curiousness, epic reach, and quirkily ingenious individualism he was...the first unmistakably American figure in the nation's history". With his Puritan background, weird name, and early involvement in the Salem witch-trials, Mather has - in Silverman's observation - become a "national gargoyle" in the US: a type of bigotry, superstition, and wrathful religion. Silverman's biography gives us all Mather's many faults and human failings (some of which repel, some of which amuse), but there is so much more here: no grim black-hatted witch-finder, Mather was in fact an early scientist and a witty man of the world who shocked ministerial colleagues with his veiw that luxuriant wigs were an "innocent fashion" rather than to be condemned. He was also in many ways humane, preaching Christian ecumenism (within limits), opposing religious persecution, and promoting smallpox innoculation in the face of sceptics.

I can't imagine too many Christians wading through a 400+ page biography about a man that most of them have never heard about, but they should. If nothing else, they would gain tremendous insight about life in early America, especially the Boston society. Along the way they would learn much about one of the most interesting and prominent characters of the colonial times. Mather came from incredible stock; the uniting of the most honored families in early New England, the Cottons and the Mathers - both grandfathers being famous Puritan preachers in early colonial history. Cotton, obviously named after both grandfathers may seem like a strange name until you know that his own father, also a well-known minister was named Increase (Cotton named one of his sons Increase, and later had a grandson by the same name; how did such a name fall out of favor?). Cotton lived from 1663 to 1728 and few have crammed so much into a lifetime. He preached hour-and-a-half long sermons (and on at least one occasion his pastoral prayer lasted two hours) at Boston's largest church, North Church. He studied medicine and science, fulfilled the full complement of the pastorate, often dabbled in politics, wrote almost 400 books and numerous articles and pamphlets. All of this while battling various illnesses, a stuttering problem, burying 13 of his 15 children and marrying three times. With all of this production nevertheless Mather is best known for his role in the Salem witch trials and executions, a role that has been somewhat exaggerated. The bigger picture of his life would reveal that in addition to his ecclesiastical achievements he also wrote the definitive history of colonial living in America, was the first to use inoculations (smallpox) and may have actually been the first to discover the germ theory of disease. Still, Cotton Mather was an odd man for a Puritan pastor. He communed with angels, received "Particular Faiths" (words of knowledge), often doubted his own salvation and flirted for a time with Arianism. In addition, he battled for many years with debt, and more seriously with his last wife, who left him for a time. What a life! The Life and Times of Cotton Mather is an interesting read. I am glad I took the time.

Religion, next to poor economic conditions, was primarily responsible for the foundation of the colonies. It too was the backbone for its evolvement. And one of the chief leaders in that unfolding was the noted Congregational minister Cotton Mather, who, as author, theologian, science-minded neophyte and sometimes political insider, helped to lead the way before the likes of Washington, Franklin, Paine and Jefferson came into the underdeveloped social, religious and political scene. Though often cited as the one who added fuel to the fire in the Salem witch trials by giving a sense of legitmacy to the ideas and beliefs of spectral evidence, he was also openly criticized by his harshest critic and dogged nemesis Robert Calef, who mocked him for his blatant inaction and for his uttering of dated apocalyptic pronouncements when primitive superstition took a firm hold of the Salem villagers: "Robert Calef, Mather's angriest and most dogged critic, charged that by being "the most active and forward of any minister in the country" in the Goodwin case, and by printing his account of it, Mather "conduced much to the kindling of those flames" at Salem that "threatened the destruction of this country." P.87. There were those who saw the trials for what they were-a farce. And Mather-as a "learned" man-was not in the league of those who possessed clear comprehension. Hence, his name, over time, became stigmatized with that dark period of early colonial history. As people are sometimes granted a second chance, Cotton Mather, after the tragic witch fiasco, took the opportunity to do only good-even in exchange for the bad-which he received from his enemies, a Biblical offering of the "other" cheek. The latter was the way of German Pietism, an approach that appealed to Mather, for it had: "...its emphasis on pastoral work and involvement in community life, its far-flung missionary work, perhaps especially its ecumenical attempt to reduce dogma to essentials." P. 231. But more than that, Cotton Mather seemed to try to go beyond himself, to try to outdue past accomplishments, because there was always this psychological manifestation of the stammerer he used to be, coupled with the stress of his prominent family lineage. It seemed to be pressure coupled atop pressure, forceful and expected success at all costs. In trying to be God's warrior and live up to perfection, he paid many costs: bankruptcy, the death of 13 of his 15 children, intellectual belittlement, to scores of other misfortunes. Yet, through his voluminous religious, economic, social, science, political and medical writings, he refined the colonies to a crest that it had never been at before. He, by his sermons, writings, insight, gave the colonies a caliber of legitmacy that it sorely needed in the eyes of the mother country, England. In a way, he gave the colonies respect by immersing himself in the lives of those who sought his council: academics, doctors, politicians to a bevy of others. He, in e

This is one of the best historical biographies I have ever read. If sterotypes and simple categorizations are the junk food of the mind, here is well-prepared dish to feast on. The author's wealth of research and evident grasp of the period and the person permeate the pages. Here is a wonderful opportunity to visit a transitional time between the middle ages and the modern scientific age and to get to know an influential, enigmatic and represtative player of the period. Whether you are drawn toward biographies in general or history in particular, this masterful book will make a forceful impact on your view of the Puritans.

If I had to describe this book in one word it would be: Excellent. I thought I knew a great deal about Cotton Mather, but after reading this book I realized I really didn't. I always believed Cotton was much more involved in the Salem witch trials than he actually was. I also didn't know someone tried to kill Cotton because of his support of small pox inoculation. And I didn't realize how involved he was not only in religion, but also in science and politics. After reading this book I find I think I know more about Cotton Mather than I know about my own neighbors today. This is a very detailed book. In this book we see both the great talents of Cotton Mather and his faults. Not only are we given information on what he did, but also we find out why he did it. His life is covered from birth to death. We find out how his father and even his grandfather influenced his life. We find out how his quest for fame and struggles with that quest affected his life. We see the struggles he had with three wives and a multitude of children. Not only do we learn about Cotton Mather, we learn about what was going on around him, and so we are shown a slice of how society operated at that time. There is a tremendous amount of information in this book. In fact, in my opinion, there was too much information. For example, in the early part of the book, we learn about Cotton's stuttering problem--which is good, because we learn how this affects Cotton's life at that time, but this goes on and on and on for many pages. I didn't need to know that much. But, on the other hand, none of this information is useless, and for anyone wanting a greater understanding of Cotton Mather, it is probably welcome. This is true throughout the book. The writing is engaging and easy to read, but to me the book at times becomes somewhat tedious. Not because it ever gets boring, but simply because I wasn't looking for such a detailed study of Cotton Mather's life. In fact, I found myself at times skimming through paragraphs to get to something new. Again, this is not a statement about the book as much as a statement that maybe for some people-like me--there is just too much detail for what we wanted to read. But even then, this book is one of the best biographies of any I have ever read from this time period. As a comparison, I will relate this to a very popular book from a few years ago-John Adams by David McCullough (yes, I know this is later time period). In the Adams book, we are given only a slice of history of Adams life, starting from early on in the American Revolution forward. In the Mather book, we learn nearly everything from his birth to his death. The Adams book is distorted in that the writer tries to make a hero of Adams, never pointing out his weaknesses, but only stressing his strengths. In Cotton Mather we are given everything-both strengths and weaknesses. In Adams we are given just a string of events in the life of Adams. In