Meyer, Scott James (2021) Cotton Mather: theological conviction and change. PhD thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/82179/ Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] COTTON MATHER: THEOLOGICAL CONVICTION AND CHANGE DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF THEOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS STUDIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW IN FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY SCOTT JAMES MEYER MAY, 2021 WORD COUNT: 112,379 (c) SCOTT JAMES MEYER 11 MAY, 2021 Abstract This thesis examines the ministry and work of eminent puritan Cotton Mather as it adapts, adjusts and reasserts itself during the times of upheaval, declension and transition in which he lived. As the puritan ideal changed going into the eighteenth century, I ask the question “how did Mather’s work and ministry morph, change and adapt to this shift?” By analyzing many of his relevant writings and sermons in depth I attempt to grasp the nature and direction in which his work morphed. I identify six overlapping areas of mutation that help to answer this question. His refined and ulti- mately innovative version of New England puritanism reflected changes in his views of ecclesiology, ecumenicism, piety, covenant theology, political philosophy (what Mather called “eleutherianism”) and Christian cosmopolitanism. When taken together, these areas become a lens by which to view the changing mosaic of Mather’s beliefs. Mather is recast as a puritan minister whose thought broadened and took ener- getic turns in unexpected ways at the same time that puritanism itself was contracting. This thesis brings a congruence to Mather’s changes and will provide a new coherence for his theology and ministry as a whole. I find that Mather moved away from his early commitment to New England exceptionalism and closer towards a new expression of a continuing protestant reformation in pursuit of Christ’s return to earth. This expression of hopeful change is where we find a Matherian worldview previously unexamined. We will see Cotton Mather incorporate many of the changes in his own life and ministry into an innovative theology of covenantal hope and assurance that becomes a forward- thinking and influential vision for the Christian church in New England and worldwide. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 2. COVENANT - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 37 2.1 The Centrality of the Puritan Covenant 38 2.2 The Heart Calvinism Of The Covenant 42 2.3 The Everlasting Gospel (1700) 52 2.4 The Covenant of The Puritan Family 62 2.5 Covenantal Elasticity and Declension 66 2.6 Covenantal Threats, Protection and Contested Space 73 2.7 Covenant Conceptualizations Compared 91 2.8 Covenant Imperatives 96 3. ECCLESIOLOGY - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 107 3.1 Proudly Primitive Foundations 110 3.2 The Magnalia Christi Americana (1702) as History and Mission 114 3.3 Mather As Pastor 125 3.4 Experiential Ecclesiology in Transition 129 3.5 A Midnight Cry (1692) 134 3.6 Things For A Distressed People To Think Upon (1696) 140 3.7 A Pillar of Gratitude (1700) 142 3.8 Ratio Disciplinae (1726) 145 4. PIETY - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 156 4.1 Foundations and Uses of Piety 158 4.2 Grasping Piety 162 4.3 Matherian Appreciations of Piety 170 4.4 Bonifacius (1710) 174 4.5 The Young Man Spoken To (1712) 183 4.6 Piety For All 188 5. ECUMENICISM - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 196 5.1 Matherian Ecumenicism in Context 198 5.2 Ecumenical Standards 208 5.3 Ecumenicism as Necessity 212 5.4 Ecumenical Taxonomy 223 5.5 International Ecumenicism 229 5.6 Ecumenical Community 237 6. ELEUTHERIANISM - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 246 6.1 New England Liberty Defined 248 6.2 Theology of Acts 5:29 253 6.3 A Covenant Liberty 258 6.4 Eleutherianism and the Reformation of Christian Manners 264 6.5 The Declaration Of the Gentlemen, Merchants, and 267 Inhabitants of Boston (1689) 6.6 Eleutheria (1696) 275 6.7 Theopolis Americana (1710) 291 7. COSMOPOLITANISM - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 296 7.1 Cosmopolitanism As Ideal 299 7.2 Cosmopolitanism as a Covenantal Function 305 7.3 Americana and Cosmo-Polity 310 7.4 Things Look’d For (1691) 320 7.5 The Glasgow Connection (1715) 326 7.6 Parentor (1723) 333 7.7 Manuductio Ad Ministerium (1726) 339 8. CONCLUSION - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 346 Acknowledgments I would like to acknowledge Professors Carlos Eire and Kenneth Minkema at Yale Divinity School who in their own unique and invaluable ways have influenced, encouraged and inspired me. I am in your debt. I would like to thank my dear friend and colleague Paul John Krause for dependably making himself available to discuss all things Cotton Mather with me, day or night. I appreciate it very much. Last but certainly not least, I would like to express my deepest appreciation for the matchless guidance, expertise, camaraderie and care of my supervisor Dr Scott Spurlock at the University of Glasgow. I dedicate this work to him. “It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord.” - Matthew 10:25 1 1. Introduction You must have a Name reviled on Earth, 'tis so you may be the fitter to find a Name written in Heaven.1 -Cotton Mather This thesis examines the ministry and work of Cotton Mather as it adapts and reasserts itself during his life. Much of New England!s social and intellectual history can be illuminated through Mather as one of the most prominent and prodigious individuals in early American history. He has been called "the most salient, representative, interesting, controversial, provocative figure” in colonial New England.2 The rapid transformation of New England during his lifetime was accompanied by crucial strains of puritan thought as demonstrated through his ministry and work. His refined and innovative version of New England puritanism reflected changes in his views of ecclesiology, ecumenicism, piety, theology, political philosophy (what Mather called “eleutherianism”) and Christian cosmopolitanism. The loss of puritan ascendancy3 in New England spurred Mather to adopt a revitalized vision of piety, an ecumenical broadening and a recast covenantal understanding that emboldened him 1 Cotton Mather, The Right Way to Shake Off a Viper (1720), p. 12. 2 Thomas Holmes, Bibliography of Cotton Mather (Newton: Crofton Publishing Corporation, 1974), vol. 1, p. vii. 3 Note that the lowercase capitalization of "puritan” throughout is a deliberate choice made in light of Francis J. Bremer!s work which communicates that puritanism cannot be categorized into a single form. For more on the topic of capitalization see Francis J. Bremer, John Winthrop: America’s Forgotten Founding Father (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003); Heather Miyano Kopelson, Faithful Bodies: Performing Religion and Race in the Puritan Atlantic (New York: NYU Press, 2014); Karen Ordahl Kupperman, Providence Island, 1630-1641: The Other Puritan Colony (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993) and Michael P. Winship, Making Heretics, Militant Protestantism and Free Grace in Massachusetts, 1636-1641 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002). 2 and the church towards the eschaton. This was not a transmogrification; rather it was a pivot of priorities situated within the changes of colonial Massachusetts. This thesis evaluates Mather!s conception of the changing role of the New England puritan Congregational church in light of the events both he and it experienced during the late seventeenth and into the early eighteenth century. Mather practiced and preached a New England Calvinism which acted as a cultural, confessional and theological marker that distinctively identified him within a historic protestant tradition.4 This thesis recasts Mather in a new way in accordance with the strategic direction of his work in specific areas. These areas were chosen because they reflect core puritan doctrines and foci that represent logical corollaries where his work would take root and expand. There is currently a diverse historiography of Mather but it has not shown the interconnectivity of these issues through his life. This thesis will bring a congruence to the ways in which Mather's thought developed and changed and will provide a new coherence for his theology and ministry as a whole. The areas in which we trace his oscillations are each illustrative of Mather in their own way. These areas are interlocking with and interrelated to both Mather!s output and the tumultuous times in which he was writing and pastoring. Simply put, these areas were prioritized in my work because Mather prioritized them in his. They are found at the nexus of what Mather felt the the puritan community needed and what he was best equipped to offer. The change in Mather!s work in these areas was predicated on the changes occurring in New England at this time. 4 For more on historical Calvinism as a mark of protestant identity see Bruce Gordon, John Calvin!s Institutes of the Christian Religion: A Biography (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016), preface, xv. 3 The covenant theology of Cotton Mather is solidly situated within each of the areas discussed. It is created by connecting his scriptural, covenantal and eschatological commitments into a cohesive whole. There were covenantal implications of this changing theology. In re-charting Mather!s thinking on the covenant, including the people God has covenanted with, Mather!s changing theological priorities are revealed.