Prophecy, piety, and the problem of historicity : interpreting the Hebrew scriptures in Cotton Mather's 'Biblia Americana' / Jan Stievermann.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Stievermann, Jan, author.

Series:

Beiträge zur historischen Theologie ; 0340-6741. 179, (NL-LeOCL)840771797.

Beiträge zur historischen Theologie

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mather, Cotton, 1663-1728. Biblia Americana.

Mather, Cotton.

Bible. Old Testament--Criticism, interpretation, etc--History.

Bible.

Bible. Old Testament.

History.

Mather, Cotton, 1663-1728.

Biblia Americana (Mather, Cotton).

Local Subjects:

Mather, Cotton, 1663-1728.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

History.

Physical Description:

XI, 493 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Tübingen : Mohr Siebeck, [2016]

Summary:

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 Scripture. The book offers new insight into an underappreciated period of biblical interpretation. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part I

1 Cotton Mather and the Character and Composition of the "Biblia Americana" 15

1.1 Contemporary Models and Sources of the "Biblia Americana" 22

2 Situating Mather's Biblical Criticism: Main Tendencies and Questions 30

2.1 The Theological and Apologetical Orientation of the "Biblia Americana" 33

2.2 Mather's Understanding of the Authority, Inspiration, and Veracity of the Bible 42

3 Themes and Features of the "Biblia Americana" 56

3.1 Translation and Textual Problems 56

3.2 Evidentialism, Baconianism, and the Manifold Senses of Scripture 60

3.3 Canonical and Prefigurative Exegesis in the "Biblia" 70

3.4 The Millennialist Dimension of the "Biblia Americana" 75

4 The Significance of the "Biblia" for Understanding Mather and American Puritanism 82

4.1 Traditional Views of Mather and His Place in American History 85

4.2 Re-thinking Mather and the Puritans in Light of the "Biblia" 90

4.3 "What is American about the "Biblia Americana"? 98

4.4 Toward a New Mather 103

Part II

1 Issues of Authorship, Provenance, and Genre 107

2 Mather's Commentaries on Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Canticles 110

3 Mather's Commentaries on Isaiah and Jeremiah 137

Part III

1 The Quest for a Historical Realism of the Bible 149

2 Biblical Realism and the Ambiguity of Cultural Explanations 162

3 Biblical Realism, Natural Philosophy, and the Wonders of the Invisible World 169

Part IV

1 The Prefigurative Approach to the Hebrew Bible and the Problem of Historicity 193

2 Typological Readings 202

2.1 Revisiting the Americanization Thesis 214

3 Allegorical Readings 222

4 Mather's First Interpretation of Canticles 241

Part V

1 The Debate over Old Testament Prophecy and Prophetic Evidence 259

2 The Prophecies Concerning the History of the Church 281

3 The Messianic Prophecies 295

3.1 Mather's Later Readings of Isa. 7:14 312

4 The Eschatological Prophecies 319

4.1 Mather's Changing Views on the Eschatological Conversion of the Jews 340

4.2 Mather's Vision of the Millennium 351

5 Mather's Prophetic Readings of Canticles and Proverbs 361

Part VI

1 The Hermeneutics of Experimental Piety 381

2 Mather's Experimental Hermeneutics in Practice 392.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

9783161542701

3161542703

OCLC:

946011711