Tanquam Paulus in Cathedra

Abstract

Abstract This chapter explores how Lancelot Andrewes imitates Paul’s style in his courtly sermons, specifically sermons preached to royal audiences on major church holidays such as Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. The chapter shows that Andrewes develops key features of his preaching style—wordplay and imagery—by imitating passages from Paul’s epistles that humanists typically invoked in their accounts of Paul’s witty and elegant style. In his Ash Wednesday sermons, Andrewes imitates passages from Romans, 1 Corinthians, and Philemon to develop elegant yet powerful confutations of doctrinal error, and exhortations to moral and devotional living. In his Good Friday sermons, he imitates passages from Galatians and other epistles to develop lively, vivid depictions of Jesus crucified. The chapter also shows that Andrewes develops his Pauline exhortations, confutations, and depictions to contest various aspects of Puritanism, including Puritan assumptions about proper preaching style, attitudes toward religious good works, and notions of religious idolatry.