ABSTRACT

Although we often study the printed text of sermons, most originated as oral performances. Because the apparatus of printed versions tends to amplify the political and polemical aspects of a sermon, this focus has led some scholars to read sermons as they would polemical tracts, while ignoring an important purpose of the genre—the spiritual edification of hearers. This essay considers both oral and printed rhetorical effects in an examination of three English court sermons, all published in 1618. The study reveals that the oral rhetoric of the sermon speaks to an immediate need for individuals to reform their worship practices by incorporating both internal and external modes of piety into personal worship. The polemical and political attitudes, by contrast, would have been muted and implicit to hearers. As a result, I argue, a disproportionate emphasis on the printed text has dulled our sensitivity to early Laudianism’s moderate appeals.

摘要

虽然我们经常研究布道的印刷文本，但大多数起源于口头表演。由于印刷版本的装置往往会放大布道的政治和争论方面，这一焦点导致一些学者像阅读争论小册子一样阅读布道，而忽略了这种体裁的一个重要目的——听众的精神启迪。本文考察了三篇发表于 1618 年的英国法庭布道时的口头和印刷修辞效果。研究表明，布道的口头修辞表明个人迫切需要通过结合内部和将外在的虔诚方式转化为个人崇拜。相比之下，辩论和政治态度对听众来说是沉默的和含蓄的。结果，我认为，