The Merging of Calvinist Thought and Enlightenment Values in Cotton Mather's Essay "The Triumph of the Reformed Religion in America" Lana Lowe College

Within “The Triumph of the Reformed Religion in America,” Cotton Mather represents his roots of Puritanism as well as transitioning towards more enlightenment thought. His essay centers on a minister named Eliot who seeks to save the natives by means of learning their language (Mather 63). In this way, Eliot would be able to teach his religion to them. Though Mather’s Christian views should be founded on Calvinistic values, it seems that his enlightenment thinking has changed the tone of his view on Christianity. He creates an almost idealistic story about a man with seeming divinity in a world filled with the depraved. The mix of his religion and thinking create a sort of hybrid religion with the love of doing good from Calvinist thought and the free will of enlightenment thinking.

The negative description that Mather provides of the natives describes a Calvinist viewpoint. Mather uses his description to emphasize, not only the differences of their peoples, but also the key places in which the natives do not abide by his religious principles. Mather discusses first the extent of their sins, emphasizing their depravity. He stresses the natives relation to beasts by saying that “their clothing is but skin of a beast” in one...