“A Warning to the Flocks Against Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing”
Written in response to a growing number of cases of fraudulent ministers in the Boston area. One particular case so incensed Mather that he was moved to write the essay which served as a warning signal to be on the lookout for especially egregious cases like that of a Rev. Samuel May. May turned out to be a simple laborer who had conceived the plan to exploit the natural trust endowed in ministers as way of duping the women of a certain church’s congregation into sex.
“The Reward of Well-Doing”
Essentially an essay calling for people to do good in the name of the proverbial dictum that virtue itself is the reward. The only reward which Mather posits as recompense for virtual behavior is attaining honor in the eyes of God. The only argument which Mather uses to sustain this proposition can be termed weak at best: anyone who can’t see that doing good is its own reward is already lost and not worth trying to convince.
“Of Man”
Though one of Mather’s longer essays, the message in “Of Man” is pretty straightforward and simple. Within the grandness of the cosmos, the earth is at the lowest position. And occupying the position of lord over all that is plentiful on this lowest hierarchy of the universe is man. Mather’s argument is basically an affirmation of an existential philosophy: mankind was purposely created by God to fulfill the purpose of being the high priest of this dominion. The proof is in the machine. What other being could possibly make a claim toward being perfectly constructed as a replication of the form of God? In the mind of Mather, in other words, that God might look like an octopus is a fundamental design flaw any worse than which the mind cannot conceive. It is a theory based on reverse engineering principles, but Mather doesn’t seem to recognize this flaw in his reasoning.
“The Diligence of Wicked Men in Doing Evil”
Mather does take note, however, of the propensity for those engaged in the service of wicked acts to put more time, effort and calculation into their actions than those who are engaged in acts of good. The question of why this would be so pursues a logical path toward what is actually a pretty rational conclusion: when people are comfortably assured that what they are doing is honest or at the very least lacking in conscious will to be wicked, one doesn’t really have to be as meticulous in the management of the process. Goodness comes naturally, in other words, not because men are naturally good, but because they recognize when doing good they are less likely to get in trouble. Wicked men must be more diligent in carrying out evil not because evil is more complex, but rather to avoid punishment.
“The Negro Christianized: An Essay to Excite and Assist That Good Work, the Instruction of Negro-Servants in Christianity”
For a time early in the history of the American slave trade, it was generally agreed that instructing African pagans in the ways of Christianity would be detrimental to the system. The argument against enforced religious conversion was that a slave which had been educated in the faith would recognize their conditions of existence as inequitable with the teachings of Christ and therefore discontent would intensify and spread thereby increasing the likelihood of slave rebellions. Mather argued against this interpretation by suggesting—somehow—that Christianity would have the power to mollify the temperament of slaves and serve to moderate the tensions created by recognition of the inequality of their status.
“Ladies and Men of Wealth Have the Means of Doing Much Good”
That everyone should commit no less than a tenth of their income to improving the church and helping the needy is established as something of a Biblical fact. Mather even goes so far as to cast upon anyone who contributes a penny shy of ten percent of their income the potential for an honest accusation of sacrilege. So it is not that the wealthy are not expect to contribute the most because they have the most, but how much above and beyond those who have the most should be expected to contribute to the common good. Ultimately, he leaves it to each to decide for themselves, but with the caveat (which sounds much like the argument for the reward of doing good) that the more contributes to improving the welfare of others, the greater the glory that is cast upon them in the eyes of God.
