The Devil's Mousetrap: Redemption and Colonial American Literature

by Linda Munk

Overview

The Devil's Mousetrap approaches the thought of three colonial New England divines—Increase Mather, Jonathan Edwards, and Edward Taylor—from the perspective of literary theory. Author Linda Munk focuses on the background of these men's ideas and on the sources from which they drew, both directly and indirectly, in framing their theology. She notes that the language used in the pulpit by Mather, Edwards, and Taylor is full of allusions to the Bible and Apocrypha, to Puritan treatises, and to post-biblical exegesis, Jewish and Christian. Munk proceeds to unpack many allusions that have, for the most part, proven to be unclear to contemporary readers, in order to provide essential insights into the construction of Puritan theology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195114942
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	09/04/1997
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

University of Toronto

Table of Contents

1	The Devil's Mousetrap	3
2	Jonathan Edwards and the Angel of the Lord: A History of the Work of Redemption	24
3	The Age of Messiah: Increase Mather and the Conversion of the Jews	47
4	Edward Taylor and the Feast of Tabernacles	70
	Afterword	95
	Notes	105
	Index	139

Editorial Reviews

"Munk's readings are sensitive and detailed. She works carefully through etymologies in several languages to achieve precision in key terms....The refreshing prose style adds to the value of a book that is both creative and rigorous in its scholarship, essential reading for those who would understand the Puritan mind."—Seventeenth-Century News

From the Publisher