belief in the literal interpretation of scripture, caused colonists living in British North America to view anyone living outside the religious and social boundaries as potential minions of Satan. This notion perhaps best explains why in 1692 the remote location of Salem Village in Massachusetts became the focal point for a series of witchcraft accusations that would reverberate across all of colonial New England. In a manner complicit with the writings of Cotton Mather, Salem Village’s Puritan minister the Reverend Samuel Parris often used fiery sermons to illuminate the tenaciousness of the Devil’s activities. With this notion in mind, when Parris found himself at the center of a dispute regarding his salary, Parris accused Satan of corrupting his church members against him and his ministry. According to Parris, “Christ having begun a new work [the new congregation in Salem village], it is the main drift of the Devil to pull it all down.” Candidly, for four months prior to the outbreak of the infamous Salem Witch Trials, Parris’s sermons focused almost exclusively on Satan and witch craft. Moreover, what Parris referred to in this new work was the formation of a Puritan Church in Salem Village, which did not adopt the half way covenant, apart from the Church in Salem Town that did accept the half way covenant. This half way
