Cotton Mather is probably best known for his contributions to the Puritanism of colonial America. Yet the subject of this book is Mather's theology of Christian experience, usually associated with continental Pietism, a dynamic movement of reform and renewal in the Lutheran church. Richard Lovelace summarizes the basic thrust of Mather's treatment of spiritual rebirth, sanctification, pastoral and social ministry, the need for spiritual awakening, and the effects he believed this awakening should produce in Christianity and the mission of the church. In Mather, the two great strains of American Evangelical Protestantism--Puritanism and Pietism--were combined, influencing Jonathan Edwards and American religion in general throughout the Great Awakening and subsequent revivals. Thus, the book is unique in tracing the roots of modern Evangelicalism beyond nineteenth-century Arminianism to the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century blend of Puritant-Pietist thought.

Cotton Mather is probably best known for his contributions to the Puritanism of colonial America. Yet the subject of this book is Mather's theology of Christian experience, usually associated with continental Pietism, a dynamic movement of reform and renewal in the Lutheran church. Richard Lovelace summarizes the basic thrust of Mather's treatment of spiritual rebirth, sanctification, pastoral and social ministry, the need for spiritual awakening, and the effects he believed this awakening should produce in Christianity and the mission of the church. In Mather, the two great strains of American Evangelical Protestantism--Puritanism and Pietism--were combined, influencing Jonathan Edwards and American religion in general throughout the Great Awakening and subsequent revivals. Thus, the book is unique in tracing the roots of modern Evangelicalism beyond nineteenth-century Arminianism to the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century blend of Puritant-Pietist thought.

In The American Puritans , Dustin Benge and Nate Pickowicz tell the story of the first hundred years of Reformed Protestantism in New England through the lives of nine key figures: William Bradford, John Winthrop, John Cotton, Thomas Hooker, Thomas Shepard, Anne Bradstreet, John Eliot, Samuel Willard, and Cotton Mather. Here is sympathetic yet informed history, a book that corrects many myths and half-truths told about the American Puritans while inspiring a current generation of Christians to let their light shine before men. Table of Contents: Introduction: Who Are the American Puritans? 1. William Bradford 2. John Winthrop 3. John Cotton 4. Thomas Hooker 5. Thomas Shepard 6. Anne Bradstreet 7. John Eliot 8. Samuel Willard 9. Cotton Mather

A comprehensive introduction to the Pietist theologians of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Puritan England, Pietist Europe and Colonial America. Provides a comprehensive introduction to the Pietist theologians of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Demonstrates the influence that Pietism had on the religious, cultural and social life of the time. Explores the lasting effects Pietism has had on modern theology and modern culture. Presents both Protestant and Catholic theologians in Puritan England, Pietist Europe and Colonial America. Focuses on women as well as men. Features up-to-date research and commentary by an international group of leading scholars.

The author uses Thomas Robbins' 1820 edition of Mather's work to show how a Puritanical political sentiment prompted American Renaissance writers to address the implications of democracy. Hawthorne, Stoddard, and Stowe used Mather's work to discover the importance of democratic concepts and categori

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.