The Art of Hearing: English Preachers and their Audiences, 1590–1640 (Cambridge Studies in Early Modern British History)
Cambridge University Press, 12/2/2010
EAN 9780521896764, ISBN10: 0521896762
Hardcover, 424 pages, 24.1 x 15.9 x 2.5 cm
Language: English
Originally published in English
This groundbreaking study of early modern English preaching was the first to take full account of the sermon as heard by the listener as well as uttered by the preacher. It draws on a wide range of printed and manuscript sources, but also seeks to read behind the texts in order to reconstruct what was actually delivered from the pulpit, with due attention to the differences between oral, written and printed versions. In showing how sermons were interpreted and appropriated by their hearers, often in ways that their authors never intended, it poses wider questions about the transmission of religious and political ideas in the post-Reformation period. Offering a richer understanding of sermons as complex and ambiguous texts, and opening up new avenues for their interpretation, it will be essential reading for all students of the religious and cultural history of early modern England.
Introduction
1. The theory of preaching
2. The art of hearing
3. From pulpit to print
4. Reconstructing the audience
5. Preaching and the people
6. Reading sermons politically
criticism and controversy
7. Reading sermons theologically
predestination and the pulpit
Conclusion.
Advance praise: 'This wonderful book takes us into one of English preaching's golden ages, and tries to find out what actually happened when preachers stood up and cleared their throats.' Times Higher Education