Conforming to the Word: Herbert, Donne, and the English Church Before Laud

Front Cover
Bucknell University Press, 1997 - 181 pages
This book remedies the lack of scholarly attention given to the conforming Church of England under James I (1603-25). The Jacobean church was not a lax hiatus between the Elizabethan and the Laudian, but a vibrant, positive force for writers like George Herbert and John Donne. Shown by recent historians to be clearly Protestant in its leadership, it maintained a middle way that included at its center both moderate and conforming puritans as well as Calvinist bishops. An examination of their writings reveals differences between Arminian "custodians of order" like Hooker and Andrewes, and Calvinist "preaching pastors" like Donne and Herbert. This book also explores significant resonances between Herbert and Richard Sibbes, a fully conforming puritan whose writings Herbert likely knew.
 

Contents

Preface
9
Thou Didst Lately So Triumph and Shine The Jacobean Church
13
Thy Book Alone Conforming to the Word
25
Take the Gentle Path Moderate Conformity
36
Prayers and Preaching St Martininthe Fields
48
Not Putting a Holiness in the Things Other Churches and Chapels Herbert knew
60
Golden Beautiful Glorious Doctrine in the Church of Herbert and Donne
71
The Rules versus Fair Entreaty Gentle Persuasion Hooker and Andrewes Donne and Herbert
84
Evangelical Counsels Herbert and Donne
101
Honest and Religious Men Sometimes Traduced Conforming Puritanism and Herbert
113
Picturing Spirituall Conflicts Herbert Sibbes and the Christian Life
122
Conforming Not to the Letter But to the Word
135
Notes
140
Bibliography
166
Index
174
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