Date of Award

3-2008

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Theological Studies (MATS)

Department

Seminary

First Advisor

Daniel L. Brunner

Second Advisor

Carole D. Spencer

Abstract

This work deals with the roles faith and politics played in the hearts and minds of those people who were caught up in the mass hysteria of the Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692. It examines the trials through the colored lenses of several of Salem's accused, their accusers, and the men who served as their judges. It focuses on the mishandling of the accused witches at both their hearings and trials, and how the purported "visions" seen by their accusers were often used as the sole evidence to indict, try, sentence, and hang many of the accused. Resurrecting a Witch does not claim to explain why Salem happened, rather it gives us a unique insight into the motivations behind the accusations of several of Salem's accused witches. Furthermore, it intimately details the aftermath of Salem on the lives of two individuals who played key roles in the trials, and how that experience reshaped their hearts and brought them to regret their role in Salem's injustices. Yet, the work does not end there, it also brings to the forefront a lesson for people today on what havoc can be wrought when misguided fear is paired with selfish desire. For Salem, this mixture of fear and desire would result in persons of faith who were willing to blindly accuse their neighbors of crimes they did not commit rather than to see themselves faced with that same fate. Resurrecting a Witch opens our eyes to the darker side of the human psyche, one that protects itself at all cost, even if the cost paid is the life of friend or even a member of our own family.

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