Literature, Belief and Knowledge in Early Modern England: Knowing Faith (Crossroads of Knowledge in Early Modern Literature, 1)

The primary aim of __Knowing Faith__ is to uncover the intervention of literary texts and approaches in a wider conversation about religious knowledge: why we need it, how to get there, where to stop, and how to recognise it once it has been attained. Its relative freedom from specialised disciplinary investments allows a literary lens to bring into focus the relatively elusive strands of thinking about belief, knowledge and salvation, probing the particulars of affect implicit in the generalities of doctrine. The essays in this volume collectively probe the dynamic between literary form, religious faith and the process, psychology and ethics of knowing in early modern England. Addressing both the poetics of theological texts and literary treatments of theological matter, they stretch from the Reformation to the early Enlightenment, and cover a variety of themes ranging across religious hermeneutics, rhetoric and controversy, the role of the senses, and the entanglement of justice, ethics and practical theology. The book should appeal to scholars of early modern literature and culture, theologians and historians of religion, and general readers with a broad interest in Renaissance cultures of knowing. Crossroads of Knowledge in Early Modern Literature: Series Description 6 Acknowledgements 7 Contents 8 Notes on Contributors 11 List of Figures 15 Part I 16 Chapter 1: Crossroads of Knowledge: Literature and Theology 17 Bibliography 47 Part II: Literature, Theology and Hermeneutics 51 Chapter 2: Erasmus on Literature and Knowledge 52 Bibliography 72 Chapter 3: The Hermeneutics of Richard Hooker’s Defence of the ‘Sensible Excellencie’ of Public Worship 75 The Hermeneutical Question 79 The Apologetics of Worship 85 Bibliography 93 Chapter 4: Seeing and Believing: Thomas Traherne’s Poetic Language and the Reading Eye 96 Physical Observation and Spiritual Vision 98 Traherne’s Visual Style 103 Bibliography 117 Primary Works 117 Secondary Works 117 Part III: Rhetorical Tropes, Literary Form and Theological Controversy 119 Chapter 5: The Absence of Epistemology, or Drama and Divinity Before Descartes 120 Bibliography 140 Chapter 6: ‘Qui enim securus est, minime securus est’: The Paradox of Securitas in Luther and Beyond 142 Dictata Super Psalterium 146 Qui enim securus est, minime securus est 146 Romans Lectures 148 Signs of Grace 153 Bibliography and Abbreviations 160 Abbreviations 160 Other Works Cited 160 Chapter 7: Allegories of Fanaticism 161 Organs of Divine Might 162 Swarms 167 Knowing and Unknowing 176 Bibliography 179 Part IV: Religious Knowledge and the Senses 181 Chapter 8: What the Nose Knew: Renaissance Theologies of Smell 182 Bibliography 199 Chapter 9: Nosce Teipsum: The Senses of Self-Knowledge in Early Modern England 201 Scepticism and Self-Knowledge 201 Augustine and Reformed Theology 203 Body and Soul 208 Sensory Metaphor and Literary Form 210 Conclusion 214 Bibliography 217 Part V: Justice, Ethics and Practical Theology 221 Chapter 10: Knowing and Forgiving 222 Bibliography 241 Chapter 11: How to Do Things with Belief 243 Bibliography 260 Chapter 12: Locke’s Cicero: Between Moral Knowledge and Faith 263 Ancient Philosophy: In Search of the Summum Bonum 266 Christian Apologetic in a Philosophical Age: Doubt and Faith 276 Conclusion 279 Bibliography 282 Part VI 285 Chapter 13: Afterword 286 Bibliography 296 Index 298 Front Matter ....Pages i-xvii Front Matter ....Pages 1-1 Crossroads of Knowledge: Literature and Theology (Subha Mukherji)....Pages 3-36 Front Matter ....Pages 37-37 Erasmus on Literature and Knowledge (Brian Cummings)....Pages 39-61 The Hermeneutics of Richard Hooker’s Defence of the ‘Sensible Excellencie’ of Public Worship (Torrance Kirby)....Pages 63-83 Seeing and Believing: Thomas Traherne’s Poetic Language and the Reading Eye (Jane Partner)....Pages 85-107 Front Matter ....Pages 109-109 The Absence of Epistemology, or Drama and Divinity Before Descartes (Debora K. Shuger)....Pages 111-132 ‘Qui enim securus est, minime securus est’: The Paradox of Securitas in Luther and Beyond (Giles Waller)....Pages 133-151 Allegories of Fanaticism (Ross Lerner)....Pages 153-172 Front Matter ....Pages 173-173 What the Nose Knew: Renaissance Theologies of Smell (Sophie Read)....Pages 175-193 Nosce Teipsum: The Senses of Self-Knowledge in Early Modern England (Elizabeth L. Swann)....Pages 195-214 Front Matter ....Pages 215-215 Knowing and Forgiving (Regina M. Schwartz)....Pages 217-237 How to Do Things with Belief (Ethan H. Shagan)....Pages 239-258 Locke’s Cicero: Between Moral Knowledge and Faith (Tim Stuart-Buttle)....Pages 259-280 Front Matter ....Pages 281-281 Afterword (Rowan Williams)....Pages 283-294 Back Matter ....Pages 295-300 The primary aim of Knowing Faith is to uncover the intervention of literary texts and approaches in a wider conversation about religious knowledge: why we need it, how to get there, where to stop, and how to recognise it once it has been attained. Its relative freedom from specialised disciplinary investments allows a literary lens to bring into focus the relatively elusive strands of thinking about belief, knowledge and salvation, probing the particulars of affect implicit in the generalities of doctrine. The essays in this volume collectively probe the dynamic between literary form, religious faith and the process, psychology and ethics of knowing in early modern England. Addressing both the poetics of theological texts and literary treatments of theological matter, they stretch from the Reformation to the early Enlightenment, and cover a variety of themes ranging across religious hermeneutics, rhetoric and controversy, the role of the senses, and the entanglement of justice, ethics and practical theology.--Back cover Annotation The primary aim of this book is to uncover the intervention of literary texts and approaches in a wider conversation about religious knowledge: why we need it, how to get there, where to stop, and how to recognise it once it has been attained. The essays in this volume collectively probe the dynamic between literary form, religious faith and the process, psychology, and ethics of knowing in early modern England Subha Mukherji, Tim Stuart-buttle, Editors. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.