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has a wide presence in American culture, and longtime scholarly interest in him is increasing as more of his previously unpublished writings are made available. This reader serves as an introduction to the man and to his huge body of published and unpublished works.

Scheduled to appear in 10 volumes, this scholarly edition of Cotton Mather's Biblia Americana (1693-1728) makes available for the first time the oldest comprehensive commentary on the Bible composed in British North America. Combining encyclopaedic discussions of biblical scholarship with scientific speculations and pietistic concerns, Biblia represents one of the most significant untapped sources in American religious and intellectual history. Mather's commentary not only reflects the growing influence of Enlightenment thought (Descartes, Hobbes, Spinoza, and Newton) and the rise of the transatlantic evangelical awakening; it also marks the beginnings of historical criticism of the Bible as text in New England. Volume 1 (Genesis) of Cotton Mather's Biblia Americana is particularly valuable because Mather addresses some of the most hotly debated questions of his age: Are the six days of God's creation to be taken literally? Can the geological record of the earth's age be reconciled with biblical chronology? Were there men before Adam? How many animals fit into Noah's Ark? Was Noah's Flood a local or global event? Why are the religions of the ancient Canaanites, Egyptians, and Greeks so similar to the revealed religion of Moses? Did God dictate the Bible to his prophets, and how many (if any) of the books of the Pentateuch did Moses write? Such questions were as relevant during the early Enlightenment as, indeed, they are to many believers today. Edited, introduced, annotated, and indexed by Reiner Smolinski, Mather's commentary on Genesis is as rich in its critical texture as it is surprisingly modern in its answers to many central concerns of the Christian faith.

Cotton Mather's synoptic commentary on Ezra through the Psalms contains the core of the massive theological and scholarly endeavor that he called "Biblia Americana." Here, he links biblical to secular history, analyzes the problem of suffering and evil in creation, and considers the Psalms both as Hebrew poetry and as Christian prophecy. In his annotations on Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, Mather explores topics that range from the philosophical underpinnings of international law to court customs in the Persian Empire to the uneven progress of the reformations attempted by Ezra and Nehemiah. In Job, Mather turns to questions of theodicy and natural philosophy. The Psalms commentary shows his linguistic acumen and his formidable skill as a Christian Hebraist, as well as his sensitivity to difficult matters of hermeneutics. Throughout, he displays the lively wit, curious intellect, and compassionate nature that made him one of the most popular ministers of the colonial period. Published in North America by Baker Academic, Grand Rapids.

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.  

The first American commentary on all books of the Old and New Testaments, Cotton Mather's Biblia Americana (1693-1728) is a unique record of how European Enlightenment criticism (Newtonianism, Cartesianism, philosophical materialism, Spinozism, cultural historicism) of the Bible impacted Reformed theology and biblical hermeneutics in colonial New England before the American Revolution. Biblia Americana contains more than 3,000,000 words and represents Mather's collective thoughts on all manner of issues, from the Mosaic creation account to the Second Coming and Judgment Day. In Volume 2 (Exodus - Deuteronomy), Mather harmonizes miracles with natural philosophy, Israelite uniqueness with cultural archaeology, and textual variants and authenticity with up-to-date philological criticism. Particularly noteworthy is his comparative approach to Israelite rituals and iconography with those of their Egyptian and Canaanite neighbors, and the transmission of religious ideas from Egypt to Greece and Rome. He was fully vested in virtually every theological and scientific debate of his age, perhaps the last American of his generation to possess such all-encompassing knowledge. This never-before-published document demonstrates that Mather fully participated in the European debate as he disseminated his new ideas from his Boston pulpit and in his numerous publications.

This volume serves as a companion piece to the ongoing edition of Cotton Mather's Biblia Americana (1693-1728), the first comprehensive Bible commentary composed in British North America. Written by some of the most prominent scholars in the field, the essays in this collection offer original in-depth studies of Mather and his hitherto unpublished scriptural interpretations in the historical context of the Early Enlightenment, and the rise of Pietism. Transcending the pejorative image of the Puritan witch-doctor, Mather emerges from these essays as an erudite scholar and cosmopolitan theologian who was fully immersed in the rising developments of biblical exegesis around the turn of the eighteenth century. In facing the challenge of historical criticism or in examining the meaning of race and gender in the Bible, Mather wrestled with religious questions that are still relevant today.