Title: Bonifacius: an essay upon the good, that is to be devised and designed by those who desire to answer the great end of life, and to do good while they live ...Author: Cotton MatherPublisher: Gale, Sabin Americana Description: Based on Joseph Sabin's famed bibliography, Bibliotheca Americana, Sabin Americana, 1500--1926 contains a collection of books, pamphlets, serials and other works about the Americas, from the time of their discovery to the early 1900s. Sabin Americana is rich in original accounts of discovery and exploration, pioneering and westward expansion, the U.S. Civil War and other military actions, Native Americans, slavery and abolition, religious history and more.Sabin Americana offers an up-close perspective on life in the western hemisphere, encompassing the arrival of the Europeans on the shores of North America in the late 15th century to the first decades of the 20th century. Covering a span of over 400 years in North, Central and South America as well as the Caribbean, this collection highlights the society, politics, religious beliefs, culture, contemporary opinions and momentous events of the time. It provides access to documents from an assortment of genres, sermons, political tracts, newspapers, books, pamphlets, maps, legislation, literature and more.Now for the first time, these high-quality digital scans of original works are available via print-on-demand, making them readily accessible to libraries, students, independent scholars, and readers of all ages.++++The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++SourceLibrary: Huntington LibraryDocumentID: SABCP02234200CollectionID: CTRG97-B1502PublicationDate: 17100101SourceBibCitation: Selected Americana from Sabin's Dictionary of books relating to AmericaNotes: Later editions published under the running title: Essays to do good. "An appendix, concerning the essays that are made, for the propagation of religion among the Indians, in the Massachuset-province of New England" p. 194-199. "Advertisement of the author's Biblia americana]" p. 200-206. "A book offered, first in general, unto all Christians, in a personal capacity, or in a relative, then more particularly, unto magistrates, unto ministers, unto physicians, unto lawyers, unto scholemasters, unto wealthy gentemen, unto several sorts of officers, unto churches, and unto all societies of a religious character and intention, with humble proposals, of unexceptionable methods, to do good in the world."Collation: 206 p.; 16 cm

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.

An authoritative selection of the writings of one of the most important early American writers   “A brilliant collection that reveals the extraordinary range of Cotton Mather’s interests and contributions—by far the best introduction to the mind of the Puritan divine.�—Francis J. Bremer, author of Lay Empowerment and the Development of Puritanism   Cotton Mather (1663–1728) has a wide presence in American culture, and longtime scholarly interest in him is increasing as more of his previously unpublished writings are made available. This reader serves as an introduction to the man and to his huge body of published and unpublished works.