Editing Cotton Mather (section)

==Works==
Mather was a prolific writer and industrious in having his works printed, including a vast number of his sermons.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mather |first1=Cotton |url=https://archive.org/details/magnaliachristia00math/page/n6 |title=Magnalia Christi Americana |edition=1st |location=London |publisher=Thomas Parkhurst |year=1702 |id=OL23316799M}}</ref>

;Major
* ''Memorable Providences'' (1689) his first full book, on the subject of witchcraft
* ''[[Wonders of the Invisible World]]'' (1692) his second major book, also on witchcraft, sent to London in October, 1692
* ''Pillars of Salt'' (1699)
* [https://archive.org/details/magnaliachristi03robbgoog ''Magnalia Christi Americana''] (1702)
* [http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/etas/28 ''The Negro Christianized''] (1706)
* [https://archive.org/details/corderiusameric00mathgoog ''Corderius Americanus: A Discourse on the Good Education of Children''] (1708)
* ''Bonifacius'' (1710)
* {{cite book |last=Mather |first=Cotton |display-authors=0 |title=The Christian Philosopher |date=1721 |url=https://archive.org/details/christianphiloso00math}}

===''Pillars of Salt''===
Mather's first published sermon, printed in 1686, concerned the execution of James Morgan, convicted of murder. Thirteen years later, Mather published the sermon in a compilation, along with other similar works, called ''Pillars of Salt''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mather|first=Cotton|year=2008 |chapter=Pillars of Salt |publisher=Library of America |editor-last= Schechter |editor-first= Harold|title=True Crime: An American Anthology|isbn=978-1-59853-031-5|url= https://archive.org/details/truecrimeamerica00haro}}</ref>

===''Magnalia Christi Americana''===
''[[Magnalia Christi Americana]]'', considered Mather's greatest work, was published in 1702, when he was 39. The book includes several biographies of saints{{Vague|date=June 2011}} and describes the process of the New England settlement.<ref>{{Cite book | last = Meyers | first = Karen | year = 2006 | title = Colonialism and the Revolutionary Period (Beginning–1800): American Literature in its Historical, Cultural, and Social Contexts | publisher = DWJ | place = New York |pages=23–24}}</ref> In this context "saints" does not refer to the canonized saints of the Catholic church, but to those Puritan divines about whom Mather is writing. It comprises seven total books, including ''Pietas in Patriam: The life of His Excellency Sir William Phips'', originally published anonymously in London in 1697. Despite being one of Mather's best-known works, some have openly criticized it{{By whom |date= March 2010}}, labeling it as hard to follow and understand, and poorly paced and organized. However, other critics have praised Mather's work, citing it as one of the best efforts at properly documenting the establishment of America and growth of the people.<ref>{{Cite journal | last = Halttunen | first = Karen | year = 1978 | title = Cotton Mather and the Meaning of Suffering in the ''Magnalia Christi Americana'' | journal = [[Journal of American Studies]] | volume = 12 | number = 3 | pages = 311–329 | doi=10.1017/s0021875800006460 | jstor=27553427| s2cid = 143931940 }}</ref>

===''The Christian Philosopher''===
In 1721, Mather published ''The Christian Philosopher'', the first systematic book on science published in America. Mather attempted to show how Newtonian science and religion were in harmony. It was in part based on [[Robert Boyle]]'s ''[[The Christian Virtuoso]]'' (1690).  Mather took inspiration from ''[[Hayy ibn Yaqdhan]]'', by the 12th-century Islamic philosopher Abu Bakr [[Ibn Tufail]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Aravamudan |first= Srinivas |date=2014 |title=East-West Fiction as World Literature: The 'Hayy' Problem Reconfigured |url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/24690362 |journal=Eighteenth-Century Studies |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=195–231 |doi= 10.1353/ecs.2014.0001 |jstor=24690362 |s2cid=170518926 }}</ref>

Mather's short treatise on the [[Eucharist|Lord's Supper]] was later translated by his cousin [[Josiah Cotton]].{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}