1 The ubiquity of ‘the devotional’
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Amy G. Tan
Abstract
Chapter 1 considers how devotional activities were understood in the early modern period and how meditative thought appeared in a range of early modern publications. It takes the position that devotional practices and publications were inherently interconnected with politics, social concerns, controversy, theology, vocation, and more. To illustrate this principle, the chapter gives specific attention to meditation, one of the most individual and interior of devotional practices. Drawing on descriptions of meditation, as well as meditative writings across multiple genres by a number of authors including Richard Bernard, this chapter offers a new way to characterise meditation – a practice that scholars have found difficulty in defining – by identifying its key characteristic as the making of mental links between the spiritual and the natural worlds. This underscores the utility of considering together all of a pastor-author’s works, across genres and topics, and it establishes the principle of avoiding false separation between ‘devotional’ and ‘non-devotional’ literature as a foundational aspect of analysis throughout the rest of the book.
Abstract
Chapter 1 considers how devotional activities were understood in the early modern period and how meditative thought appeared in a range of early modern publications. It takes the position that devotional practices and publications were inherently interconnected with politics, social concerns, controversy, theology, vocation, and more. To illustrate this principle, the chapter gives specific attention to meditation, one of the most individual and interior of devotional practices. Drawing on descriptions of meditation, as well as meditative writings across multiple genres by a number of authors including Richard Bernard, this chapter offers a new way to characterise meditation – a practice that scholars have found difficulty in defining – by identifying its key characteristic as the making of mental links between the spiritual and the natural worlds. This underscores the utility of considering together all of a pastor-author’s works, across genres and topics, and it establishes the principle of avoiding false separation between ‘devotional’ and ‘non-devotional’ literature as a foundational aspect of analysis throughout the rest of the book.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- List of figures ix
- Acknowledgements x
- List of abbreviations xii
- Select chronology xiii
- Introduction 1
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Part I: Religious goals: pastoral approaches to devotion, vocation, and print
- 1 The ubiquity of ‘the devotional’ 31
- 2 The making of a pastor-author 54
- 3 The call to preach and the question of printed sermons 75
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Part II: Audiences: imagining and fostering relationships with readers
- 4 If you learn nothing else 101
- 5 Different audiences, different messages 122
- 6 A bit of parish trouble and a manual on giving 145
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Part III: Innovation: adapting content, genre, and format
- 7 A trial, a guide for jurors, and an allegory 161
- 8 A puritan pastor-author in the 1630s 178
- 9 ‘That all the Lord’s people could prophesy’ 195
- 10 The paradigm of the ‘pastor-author’ beyond Bernard 216
- Bibliography 241
- Index 259
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- List of figures ix
- Acknowledgements x
- List of abbreviations xii
- Select chronology xiii
- Introduction 1
-
Part I: Religious goals: pastoral approaches to devotion, vocation, and print
- 1 The ubiquity of ‘the devotional’ 31
- 2 The making of a pastor-author 54
- 3 The call to preach and the question of printed sermons 75
-
Part II: Audiences: imagining and fostering relationships with readers
- 4 If you learn nothing else 101
- 5 Different audiences, different messages 122
- 6 A bit of parish trouble and a manual on giving 145
-
Part III: Innovation: adapting content, genre, and format
- 7 A trial, a guide for jurors, and an allegory 161
- 8 A puritan pastor-author in the 1630s 178
- 9 ‘That all the Lord’s people could prophesy’ 195
- 10 The paradigm of the ‘pastor-author’ beyond Bernard 216
- Bibliography 241
- Index 259
