Cotton Mather’s Ideas for Doing the Most Good
Many people have heard of Cotton Mather. He was one of the original Puritan clergymen of early Colonial America. He is famously known for his writings about the Salem Witch Trials. He was devout in his study of the Bible and progressive in his scientific work.
But what I find most interesting about Cotton Mather is his essay titled Bonifacius — An Essay Upon the Good That is to be Devised and Designed by Those Who Desire to Answer the Great End of Life and to Do Good While They Live.
I have not read the entire essay; only the portions included in my worn-out American Literature textbook from college. (Yes, I am a nerd. I still have several of my college textbooks and I actually read them. I love old books, learning, and all things literature!) I’ve read this portion of the book several times, amazed to learn that pop culture ideas like pay it forward, be kind, and do the most good actually originated way back in the 1700s with an orthodox Puritan preacher. They weren’t always talking about witches, fire, and brimstone, you know.
Mather begins his essay by telling readers ‘glorious things are spoken in the oracles of our good God’. He goes on to say ‘if men would set themselves to devise good, a world of good might be done’. You see, even way back then, Mather saw that the best way to help mankind is to do more good…
