Prophecy, Piety, and the Problem of Historicity

Jan Stievermann´s pioneering study of Cotton Mather´s Biblia Americana examines this Puritan scholar´s struggle to reconcile traditional readings of the Old Testament with a growing awareness of the historicity of Scriptures. With fascinating insight into an underappreciated period of biblical interpretation, the author discusses Mather´s efforts to intervene in contemporary debates over the legitimacy of Christian interpretations of the prophets, as well as over the authorship, provenance, genre, and spiritual import of the "Solomonic books." As the study shows, Mather engaged in forms of exegesis that were at once traditionalist and innovative, apologetically oriented, pious, and open to new modes of historical-textual criticism. Stievermann´s work also reveals much about the development of Puritan theology and identity.