Cotton Mather finished The Wonders of the Invisible World in 1693, right after the Salem witch trials. The author mainly wrote this book to overview and explain the judges’ decisions. He also turned to his own experience and line of reasoning to defend the brutal fight against witchcraft in New England. One can trust the narrative in terms of the accurate depiction of trials and accusations since Mather himself backed the tribunal’s establishment and received official records for his book. What is more, he consulted the writings of Bernard of Batcombe, John Gaule, and William Perkins when elaborating on practices helping to expose witches.
Nevertheless, there is a lack of evidence to prove Mather’s claims regarding the devil nature of witchcraft and its presence in the region. He was a strict Puritan who believed that the devil fought against Christians through his agents, and the only way to stop this unchristian behavior was to eliminate witches. Before the trials, Mather was the consultant on several other cases. Eventually, he concluded that people experience unusual visions and behaviors due to bewitchment rather than natural reasons (Hennessy, 2012). The truth is, it was difficult to explain and cure the majority of physical/mental disorders and their symptoms (like fits and cramps) at the time. For that reason, the only thing Puritans could blame instead was witchcraft.
In The Wonders of the Invisible World, Mather supports his arguments against witches by describing incidents at Salem. He writes that “The New-Englanders are a People of God settled in those, which were once the Devil’s Territories” (Hennessy, 2012, p. 16). Mather believes that the devil wants to regain the land using “invisible hands” and “preternatural tortures” (Hennessy, 2012, p. 17). The majority of testimonies presented in the book was not checked for credibility at the court and could be totally fictitious. Science at that time could not explain a majority of strange and unusual events; thus, the latter was used to defend anti-witchcraft narration. For that reason, one should not trust the veracity of this narrative due to lack of evidence.
Reference
Hennessy, D. (2012). Classics of American literature. (Vol.1).