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The Tongue of Angels: Pauline Style and Renaissance English Literature

Knapper, Daniel
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1574171968581074

Abstract Details

2019, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, English.
As major sources of discourse and debate on theological topics like the resurrection, justification by faith, and predestination, the biblical epistles of Saint Paul played a central role in the development of religious thought and practice across Reformation Europe. But in a period when Christian belief and biblical knowledge permeated every aspect of human life, how did Paul’s epistles inform Europe’s robust literary and rhetorical cultures? How did scholars and artists respond, not only to Paul’s provocative ideas, but also to his provocative manner of expressing these ideas? This dissertation is the first critical study of the reception and influence of Paul’s rhetorical style in the Renaissance, 1500-1660. It explores creative uses of Pauline style across a range of mediums and genres – including drama, poetry, and oratory – at a time when the confluent cultural forces of humanism and Protestantism profoundly altered critical perceptions of Paul’s prose. The dissertation argues that Pauline style developed into one of the most theoretically productive and artistically provocative styles of the period through a controversial process of critical evaluation. In their biblical scholarship, humanists used emerging methods of grammatical and rhetorical analysis to represent Paul’s epistles as persuasive and eloquent to their readers, who often complained of Paul’s inelegant, and apparently incoherent, manner of expression. This theoretical discourse directly impacted literary activity in England, shaping how and why authors adapted Pauline style in their texts. From the romance plays of William Shakespeare; to the metaphysical poetry of John Donne; to the courtly sermons of Lancelot Andrewes, English authors imitated Pauline style to produce aesthetic effects, reflect on theological problems, and engage in religious controversy. By thus tracing the reception of Pauline style, the dissertation reveals how English authors used biblical writing to shape their own rhetorical practices, and it also reveals how questions of style shaped theological discourse in Reformation Europe’s contentious religious culture.
Hannibal Hamlin (Advisor)
Richard Dutton (Committee Member)
Alan Farmer (Committee Member)
264 p.
Literature; Religion; Religious History; Rhetoric
Saint Paul; Pauline epistles; style and rhetoric; biblical rhetoric; Renaissance literature; Reformation literary culture; Shakespeare

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Knapper, D. (2019). The Tongue of Angels: Pauline Style and Renaissance English Literature [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1574171968581074

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Knapper, Daniel. The Tongue of Angels: Pauline Style and Renaissance English Literature. 2019. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1574171968581074.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Knapper, Daniel. "The Tongue of Angels: Pauline Style and Renaissance English Literature." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1574171968581074

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.