History for "After-times"

The Magnalia is prefaced by pages of interesting-looking material—attestation, poems, Latin odes, and introduction.  These prefatory writings proved quite fascinating! The “Attestation” in particular, written by Salem pastor John Higginson (1616-1708), reframes for us the concept of multi-generational vision.  He gives ten reasons for the Magnalia’s importance:

1.      Obey Scripture by recording the works of God for after-times

2.      Manifest the truth, to avoid misrepresentations of New-England

3.      Record the “True Original and Design of this Plantation,” that it may be known and remembred for ever”

4.      Render glory to God for what He did for the colonists

5.      “Embalm and preserve” the names of “Eminent Persons” for posterity to imitate

6.      Provoke remembrance among the present generation of God’s Providences in the wilderness

7.      Cause genuine belief in God among the generations to come, that they “may serve him with a perfect Heart and willing Mind”

8.      Witness against and reclaim the degenerate

9.      Present a memorial to “Mother England” of what “the Little Daughter of New-England” has done

10.  Stand as a “Monument of a fuller and better Reformation of the Church of God, than it hath yet appeared in the World”

The Magnalia, then, grapples with many of the central Puritan themes: transmitting faith to new generations, the importance of memory, knowing why they came to America, glorifying God, and providing an example of pure religion to the world. This list of reasons demonstrates a rootedness in a multi-generational, covenantal perspective of time.  Identification with the ancient Israelites places the Puritans in a large span of history, but even within their own American “errand” they saw in terms of past, present, and future.  Fathers, sons, and posterity.  Original settlers and born New-Englanders.  “Eminent persons” and those who will imitate them. 

Because of its charge to readers, the Magnalia is a jeremiad.  It is calling the settlers’ descendants to remember their forebears’ faith, to examine themselves, and to face the consequences of disobedience or reap the blessings of obedience. Above all, they must REMEMBER and learn from the past.  The reasons listed for the Magnalia contribute to a kind of philosophy of history-- why do we record history and how should it be recorded?