Because more than three hundred years have passed since the Salem Witch Trials, information regarding the matter has been lost over time. With a lack of original court documents and buildings associated with the trials, there are many misconceptions that exist of what actually took place during this time. Further, many people have unanswered questions like, “Why did the clergy dislike witchcraft?” and “Why did settlers even practice it in the first place?”. Compelled to debunk the misconceptions and interested in answering these questions, I felt drawn to study Richard Godbeer’s works.
Richard Godbeer is an author of sensory literature specializing in colonial and revolutionary America. He puts major emphasis on religious culture, gender studies, …show more content…
In fact, Puritan clergy members believed that people could not do anything to affect God’s plans and all forms of human suffering were a result of his judgments. However, the Puritan theological rules were fairly ambiguous. So much so that people believed they could take part in and practice magical rituals without feeling that they were abandoning their traditional Christian beliefs. They felt compelled to do this because magic gave them the ability to alleviate their suffering by blaming it on “witches” and other unordinary people. Ultimately, certain themes in Puritan spirituality left people wanting unconventional coping mechanisms during life crises. He stated in his work “How Could They Believe That: Explaining to Students Why Accusations of Witchcraft Made Good Sense in Seventeenth-Century New England” that, “People believed that they could harness occult forces to control their world. Experts in these techniques, often called ‘cunning folk’ by contemporaries, told fortunes, claimed to heal the sick, offered protection against witchcraft, and could apparently use their powers to harm or destroy their enemies. Accusing someone of witchcraft involved accounting for an otherwise inexplicable illness or misfortune in personal
Richard Godbeer is an author of sensory literature specializing in colonial and revolutionary America. He puts major emphasis on religious culture, gender studies, …show more content…
In fact, Puritan clergy members believed that people could not do anything to affect God’s plans and all forms of human suffering were a result of his judgments. However, the Puritan theological rules were fairly ambiguous. So much so that people believed they could take part in and practice magical rituals without feeling that they were abandoning their traditional Christian beliefs. They felt compelled to do this because magic gave them the ability to alleviate their suffering by blaming it on “witches” and other unordinary people. Ultimately, certain themes in Puritan spirituality left people wanting unconventional coping mechanisms during life crises. He stated in his work “How Could They Believe That: Explaining to Students Why Accusations of Witchcraft Made Good Sense in Seventeenth-Century New England” that, “People believed that they could harness occult forces to control their world. Experts in these techniques, often called ‘cunning folk’ by contemporaries, told fortunes, claimed to heal the sick, offered protection against witchcraft, and could apparently use their powers to harm or destroy their enemies. Accusing someone of witchcraft involved accounting for an otherwise inexplicable illness or misfortune in personal