Salem Witchcraft: Cotton Mather and (Im)mortality of the Soul

From the venue:

Salem Witchcraft (1691-1693) has become a permanent fixture in our national mythology, yet many questions remain unanswered: Was witchcraft really practiced among God-fearing Puritans at the time? How many victims and victimizers were involved? Could the accused have saved themselves? Were the executions a miscarriage of justice? Was the clergy tacitly complicit in the outbreak?

Dr. Reiner Smolinski, professor of early American literature at Georgia State University and editor-in-chief of Cotton Mather’s 10-volume Biblia Americana (1693-1728), colonial America’s first commentary on the Bible, will address these questions and more in a public lecture, Thursday, June 20th, 6-7:30 PM, Alpharetta Branch Library. Be prepared to ask questions after the lecture. You can download a copy of Mather’s Wonders of the Invisible World (Boston, 1693) free of charge at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/etas/19

Hope you all can join us for this fascinating presentation!