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3. Mather was a leader in the public health field--he is responsible for savin Cotton Mather was appealed to by the board of teh Collegiate School in 0|24.161.129.150]] (talk) 12:26, 20 July 2009 (UTC) ha ha ha ha gays are funny[reply]

Fiction

As far as I remember, he even appeared in a Spiderman comic, right? --80.133.235.82 13:00, 15 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Cotton Mather and Robert Calef

It would seem important to include a section on the debate between Mather and Calef on the occurrences of the Salem Witch Trails. The dispute between the two greatly influenced the interpretation of the Salem Witch Trials throughout different periods. I see no mention of this in the article. (RorikStrindberg (talk) 04:58, 8 April 2008 (UTC))[reply]

If you have reliable sources in this regard, please be bold and add it, preferably with suitable citations. --Flex (talk/contribs) 13:42, 8 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, i would be using reliable sources. I find it interesting, and the differences between Mather's and Calef's accounts have changed the interpretation of the SWT. Calef's account, which blamed Mather, influenced Charles Upham's Salem Witchcraft where Mather influenced Chadwick Hansen's Witchcraft at Salem. (RorikStrindberg (talk) 03:34, 10 April 2008 (UTC))[reply]

Named after paternal grandfather?

Cotton Mather had the same last name as his paternal grandfather. That's not the usual sense of "named after." What is the point of this statement in the article? --- OtherDave (talk) 02:30, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

A reference in a mini-series to Cotton Mather

A quasi-fictional character in the HBO series Deadwood, The Widow Alma Garret, evocked Cotten Mather as one who would have found the School Teacher,"Ms Ringhousen", having said Cotten Mather would have found Ms Ringhousens methods hard and Joyless. And he being the Puritanican man as seen by his era, this being of some signifigance The Window Garret had immense respect toward toward Ringhouses training and intelligence and grattitude towards Sophia's education.

The inference to Cotten Mather suggests that his judgement or condemnation, were less than that of those tring to manage or manipulate the Nevada homesteaders, and indeed may have very well been an agent for the infamous pinkertens. A precursor to the FBI or CIA. WSBRODY —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.0.246.250 (talk) 00:03, 26 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Misinformed

"Wonders of the Invisible World appeared at the same time as Increase Mather’s Case of Conscience, a book critical of the trial. [12]:455 Upon reading Wonders of the Invisible World, Increase Mather publicly burned the book in Harvard Yard.[2]:22"

Actually, Increase Mather publicly maintained entire agreement with Cotton Mather and all of his works. The book burned was Calef's More Wonders of the Invisible World, in which Calef insinuated that both of the Mathers ministered to Margaret Rule in a lascivious manner. This article, and those pertaining to the Salem witch delusion severally, are in a sad state.

I hope the editor(s) will correct this and other oversights. After a while and some other projects, I may have time to revisit the suite of articles if it is still necessary. Pulsadinura (talk) 15:47, 27 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Mather as a positive influence on the trials

I think this section is improperly named. It describes negative acts, such as forced conversion, as positive. It implies that the actions he took were right, that 'witchcraft' was extant, wrong, and criminal. Mather might have had some decent intentions, but that doesn't make him a positive influence. Also, the section is largely centered on one author's opinion, and opinions based on that one author. At least, that makes the section misnamed.

I removed a sentence that was asking the reader why Mather would have not pursued those accused by a woman convicted to die. The statement was pleading Mather's case in a POV, non-encyclopedic tone; I removed it. I can personally think of a few reasons why he'd do this, though: (1.) He would not take the word of a 'convicted witch' (2.) He knew the woman was just throwing out accusations to get back at others who had done her wrong (3.) She accused peoples with whom Mather associated.

Also, Wikipedia frowns on "Criticism of" and "Counter Criticism" sections. Try to integrate these opinions into the article. --IronMaidenRocks (talk) 04:18, 31 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

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-==issues==
-Why was the content added about Mather and Slavery deleted?    <small>—Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[User:Mcommeyras|Mcommeyras]] ([[User talk:Mcommeyras|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/Mcommeyras|contribs]]) 07:52, 3 October 2007 (UTC)</small><!-- Template:Unsigned --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
+. Mather was a leader in the public health field--he is responsible for savin
-Well written article.  I dont have time right now to do an edit, but I would like to point out 3 more things about Mather:
+Cotton Mather was appealed to by the board of teh Collegiate School in 0|24.161.129.150]] ([[User talk:24.161.129.150|talk]]) 12:26, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
+ha ha ha ha  gays are funny
-. His scientific work got him elected to the Royal society.
-. Ben Franklin cited Mather as a positive influence on his own life.
-. Mather was a leader in the public health field--he is responsible for saving many lives by introducing small pox vaccination in the North American colonies when it was not yet the standard of care in Europe.
-What about Cotton Mather's ideas about women? Why was that not touched at all?
-Might want to mention that he was a slave holder.
-I wanted to point out that under the "Background" heading, it is said that Mather cautioned ''against'' the use of 'spectral evidence' during the Salem Witch Trials, whereas under the 'spectral evidence' link it is said that he urged its acceptance. I'm not sure which view is correct, just wanted to point out the discrepancy.
-Requesting Prof Smolinski add anything, particularly descriptions of his major writings and their importance to the culture at large. [[User:Chrisfelker|cfelker]] 13:45, 7 September 2006 (UTC)
-Cotton Mather was appealed to by the board of teh Collegiate School in New Haven when funds were needed for a new building.  Prominent in the New England colonies, Mather was thought to be well-connected to those who had money.  Mather, in turn, wrote to merchant Elihu Yale, with whom he was acquainted, seeking funds to help the New Haven school because these schools, like Harvard, were essential in educating young men to lead pure and useful lives, and to combat the Devil's influence in the new world.  After Yale donated a portion of a shipment to the school, Mather wrote the Collegiate School board to inform them of the gift, and apologetically announced that he had promised to rename the school in recognition of the donation.  I do not know of any record of the response of the board to Mather, but clearly they acceded to his unauthorized promise to the merchant.
-Whatever Mather said at the time about spectral evidence, his book ''Wonders of the Invisible World'' is one long compilation of anecdotes of often very visible supernatural occult phenomena. So apparently he liked to contradict himself on this issue.  Perhaps he was "large and contained multitudes."
-Cotton Mather, like many writers of his and earlier times, did not find consistency of view a necessity.  As did his father, Cotton felt free to allow new evidence or further consideration to change his opinion on topics.  Thus, in studying his viewpoint, one must be willing to understand that a particular opinion was held during a particular period of his life and might be changed at a later time.  This willingness to embrace new opinions, while sometimes confusing because of the passion associated with religious clothing, was not inconsistent with his life-long fascination with hard science and scientific observation.  It was this fascination which led him to create the first encyclopedia of New England flora and fauna, becoming the first new world-born member of the Royal Society.
-[[User:Arkhamite|Arkhamite]] 16:50, 11 February 2007 (UTC)
-In section PostTrial, this statement is not accurate: "Of the principal actors in the trial, only Cotton Mather and William Stoughton never admitted guilt.[5]" This may be what Bancroft says, but off the top of my head, neither the judge Hathorn nor minister Parris, both very much principal actors, ever admitted any guilt whatsoever. It seems to me that there were several others as well. The community was very much divided as to whether the trials were a just action, probably between the liberal and conservative segments (as always). [[Special:Contributions/24.161.129.150|24.161.129.150]] ([[User talk:24.161.129.150|talk]]) 12:26, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
 == Fiction ==