Wonders of the Invisible World

Analysis of The Wonders of the Invisible World In this primary document, Cotton Mather, a Puritan theologian, writes about his fears of losing the entire country to the devil and his minions as the Christian religion, in his mind, is being slowly eradicated from the entire country due to witchcraft. In 1693 Cotton Mather wrote a literary piece called The Wonders of the Invisible World a year after questionable events in defense of the persecutions of those accused and convicted in Salem for witchcraft

Cotton Mather is one of the best known Puritan writers for his work The Wonders of the Invisible World. Mather gives the outside world a glimpse into what the Salem Witch trials were like and how they conducted their way of figuring out who was a witch in their colony. The Wonders of the invisible world brought the audiences into the firsthand experience of a trial and made them experience it from the viewpoint of one of the citizens of that colony. Mather specifically focuses on the trial of Martha

Throughout time, historians have relied on first person encounters to accurately depict the world and the people at a certain time. Cotton Mather’s, The Wonders of the Invisible World, does exactly that by giving the reader a perspective into the Salem witch trials as well as a first person view from Mather himself. Through this work, Mather shares his opinions on the actions taken in the trials and the works of the Devil and God inside of New England. During this time period, religion played a significant

The short story, “Wonders of the Invisible World” by Cotton Mather, tells of how the devil is working around Boston. He tells this story from his own perspective in which he believes the devil is working in secret, and through the youth. One of the trials used as an example was Martha Carrier who was found guilty based on the information collected by Cotton Mather. Nathaniel Hawthorne, writer of the famous “Scarlet Letter”, writes a short story from the narrator’s perspective, and how he visits his

I chose to analyze the primary source of “The Wonders of the Invisible World,” written by Cotton Mather. He was born on February 12th of 1663 into a wealthy family of New England Puritan ministers. Cotton Mather started school at the age of twelve at Harvard College. He graduated and chose to become a member of the clergy but was unable to because of a speech impediment. He was able to overcome this however and a number of years later he was ordained in 1685. He became a very revered and influential

Conversely, Cotton Mather stood by the use spectral evidence even after his father had condemned it. In The Wonders of the Invisible World, Mather outlined his belief that the convictions in Salem were justified. In fact, it was the judges of the court of oyer and terminer who asked Mather to write a book to clear their name. Directly contradicting his father’s stance on the admission of spectral evidence, Cotton Mather stated that, “We are Humane Creatures, and we are safe while we say, they must

a preacher, theologian, and historian, exercised great authority in early New England, and still retains some of that authority today, for his clear depiction of the area’s history. Authority is a large part of Mather’s argument in Wonders of the Invisible World, used in his logos, his logical arguments, and his extrinsic ethos and intrinsic ethos, and he often uses religion as proof of his authority, with references to America as the ‘Devil’s territories’ and the Puritans as God’s chosen, and

works especially “Wonders of the Invisible World.” At first glance, Mather 's book seems to be just a detailed account of the trials and executions that took place in the Massachusetts colony, but deeper investigation reveals otherwise. To dispel Mather 's arguments and reveal more details on the events of Salem at this time, Robert Calef published “More Wonders of the Invisible World” in 1700. Calef 's book seems just as capable as Mather 's book to maintain longevity in the world of literature and

Beginning in 1245 in France and peaking in the late 1670s, witch trials become one method by which to subdue and control social deviance--beggars, drunkards, outspoken women, and even the mad. Control was placed in the hands of the church, which began to wane the Enlightenment took hold. Yet, twenty years after the “zenith” of these trials, in 1692, witch trials found new life within a small Puritan community of Salem, Massachusetts (Cockerham 2014: 10-11). Scholars have returned again and again

Although he did not approve of all the trials, he had helped to stir up the wave of frantic fear by his Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcraft and Possessions. Later he further pursued his inquiries into satanic possession with “Wonders of the Invisible World.” The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. These trials began after a group of young girls in Massachusetts claimed