Title: The devil's mousetrap
First published: 1997
Description: This study approaches the thought of three colonial New England divines - Increase Mather, Jonathan Edwards, and Edward Taylor - from the perspective of literary criticism. Author Linda Munk focuses on the background of these men's ideas and the sources from which they drew, 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 the Apocrypha, to Puritan treatises, and, most remarkably, to post-biblical exegesis, Jewish and Christian. She proceeds to unpack these 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.
Subjects: American Christian literature, American literature, Christian literature, American, Criticism and interpretation, History and criticism, Literary art, Puritan authors, Puritan movements in literature, Puritans in literature, Redemption in literature, Edwards, jonathan, 1703-1758, Taylor, edward, 1642-1729, Mather, increase, 1639-1723, American literature, history and criticism, colonial period, ca. 1600-1775, Christian literature, history and criticism, Writing skill
Places: New England
People: Edward Taylor (1642-1729), Increase Mather (1639-1723), Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
Time periods: Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775
LC classification: PS186 .M86 1997