Getting the Pox off All Their Houses: Cotton Mather and the Rhetoric of Puritan Science

The article examines how Cotton Mather integrated religious discourse with scientific reasoning in his writings on disease, particularly smallpox and the introduction of inoculation in early eighteenth-century New England. It argues that Mather did not regard science and faith as conflicting domains; instead, he employed Puritan rhetoric to justify the acceptance of new medical knowledge. The study further demonstrates that Mather's rhetorical strategies shaped Puritan understandings of illness, divine providence, and human responsibility for protecting public health. Consequently, the article presents Puritan science as both an experimental practice and a cultural-religious discourse designed to persuade audiences to embrace medical innovation.

Loại tài liệu:

Article - Bài báo

Tác giả:

Tindol, Robert

Đề mục:

Early American Literature

Nhà xuất bản:

University of North Carolina Press

Ngày xuất bản:

2011

Số trang/ tờ:

Định dạng:

pdf

Nguồn gốc:

Early American Literature, Volume 46, Number 1, 2011, Pages 1-23

Liên kết:

ISSN 0012-8163

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