The Wonders Of The Invisible World Analysis

Rowlandson did a great job expressing her religion, but so did Cotton Mather. In “The Wonders of the Invisible World”, Mather’s runs into problems in his colony with things such as witchcraft. Mathers wanted to protect his Puritan beliefs and did not want evil teachings to corrupt others religious views. Mathers believed in the persecution of this witches to keep the Puritans and their believes safe. Mathers had a strong religious background and was a preacher. As a preacher his job was to protect his church from the devil that was presenting itself in people that were thought to be witches. He thought he was doing God's work by destroying them. “An army of devils is horribly broke in upon the place which is the center, and after a sort, the first born of our English settlement.” (page 329) I find it appalling that Cotton Mather's goes on to explain some of the executions of these witches. The
In this writing the Puritans wanted to keep their believes save much like Cotton Mather. “The Puritan settlers of New England, like their Protestant counterparts in seventeenth-century Europe, placed special emphasis on making key texts, especially the Bible available to every believer.” (page 361) During this time, the Bible had a influence over everyone's lives. They believed that the devil were over take their children if they were not taught the proper religion, and that they would be compelled to do horrible things. It refers to things such as “Job feels the Rod/ Yet blesses God”. It refers to the Bible on many different occasions. These people believed in evil spirits that could come to this world and take over others. It acknowledges God on many occasions with the help of a rhyming scheme. It does not only refer to God, but also life lessons. It goes on to say “The cat doth play/ And after slay.”, meaning that the children should not go out to play and people should not have fun until after they are done