PROSTITUTING THE PULPIT? THE NEGOTIATED AUTHORITY OF EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY NEW ENGLAND CLERGY
OF DISSERTATION
The Mathers: Three Generations of Puritan Intellectuals, 1596-1728
In this classic work of American religious history, Robert Middlekauff traces the evolution of Puritan thought and theology in America from its origins in New England through the early eighteenth century. He focuses on three generations of intellectual ministers - Richard, Increase, and Cotton Mather - in order to challenge the traditional telling of the secularization of Puritanism, a story of faith transformed by reason, science, and business. Delving into the Mathers' private papers and unpublished writings as well as their sermons and published works, Middlekauff describes a Puritan theory of religious experience that is more creative, complex, and uncompromising than traditional accounts have allowed. At the same time, he portrays changing ideas and patterns of behavior that reveal much about the first hundred years of American life.
The Size and Structure of Families: A Comparative Analysis of Census Data
Recent hypotheses by Levy regarding the essential similarity of actual family structures in all societies are examined in the light of United Nations data on type and size of households, and in the light of more detailed census materials from selected nations, mostly in Latin America. Some support is found for his assertion that in no society has the very large residential family become the modal form. In passing, the measure average household size is shown to reflect mainly fertility, and to have little to do with extended family structure. Other parts of Levy's argument are seen to require further specification before they can be proven or disproven. Data are presented which suggest the need for qualifications in the common view linking urbanization with the "breakdown" of the extended residential family. Limitations of the data used underline the tentative character of the findings and point the way to needed future research.