This volume of the Biblia Americana (1693-1728) contains Cotton
Mather's annotations on Hebrews, James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude,
and Revelation, as well as two series of essays on various matters
of biblical interpretation. A mixture of pious explications and
historical-textual criticism, the annotations are a treasure-trove
for scholars interested in the development of Reformed theology and
biblical exegesis during a decisive period of intellectual change
in the early modern Atlantic world. Mather, an apologetically
oriented but deeply learned scholar, confronts the early
Enlightenment challenges to the authority of the Bible and core
doctrines like the Trinity. He discusses problems of translation,
textual variants (e.g., the Johannine comma), but also authorship
and canonicity, especially with a view to the so-called Catholic
Letters and James. The extensive annotations on Revelation offer a
window into the development of Mather's millennialism and, more
specifically, his changing interpretations of hotly-debated issues
such as the eschatological conversion of the Jews, the expected
date for the return of Christ and the nature of His kingdom. In the
appended essays, Mather, in conversation with German Pietism,
develops a biblical hermeneutic that emphasizes an experiential
approach and the need for spiritual illumination. He also engages
with antiquarian scholarship on the Scriptures, their original
contexts, provenance, and transmission, as well as with literature
that situates Judaism and Christianity in a larger history of
ancient religions and cultures.
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