Introduction: Herbert’s Neatness.- 1. Mystery in The Temple.- 2. The Critique of Certitude.- 3. Adoption, Doubt, and Presumption: From Perseverance to Assurance.- 4. Herbert, Scripture, and Fellowship.- 5. Lord Cherbury in The Temple: Faith, Mystery, and Understanding.- 6. Truth and Method: Error and Discovery in The Temple.- 7. The Mystery of Hearkening: Listening for The Odour.- 8. Conclusion.
Gary Kuchar is Associate Professor of English at the University of Victoria, Canada. He is the author of Divine Subjection: The Rhetoric of Sacramental Devotion in Early Modern England; The Poetry of Religious Sorrow in Early Modern England; and co-editor of The Return to Theory in Early Modern English Studies Vol. 2.
“Kuchar does put unique voices into dialogue with the Herbert
corpus and his exploration of the interplay between dogmatic and
mystical Christianity offers a fruitful jumping-off point for
future studies. … Herbert scholars and scholars of
seventeenth-century religious culture will certainly find
considerable value in this work.” (Brad Pickens, Anglican
Theological Review, Vol. 102 (1), 2020)“George Herbert and the
Mystery of the Word makes a welcome turn in cultural studies,
successfully reinstating a category and a mode of reading … the
theological and phenomenological peripheries offered will make this
text valuable to read for all who study Herbert’s poetry.”
(Jonathan Nauman, Seventeenth-Century News, Vol. 77 (1 – 2),
2019)“This is a book rife with gems of conceptual, interpretive,
and historical insight. … it is a valuable rethinking of the
complexity of the EnglishReformation, as well as a welcome
broadening of our understanding of what literary responses to
doctrinal matters can entail.” (Ryan Netzley, Journal of British
Studies, Vol. 57 (4), October, 2018)
“The diverse scope of the book, ranging from reformation theology
and biblical exegesis to natural philosophy and critical theory,
makes it of interest not only to graduate students and academics
working on Herbert, but to anyone interested in the philosophical
debates of biblical reception and interpretation in the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries. … George Herbert and the Mystery of the
Word is a striking piece of scholarship, expertly written, and
wide-ranging in its implications for Herbert studies … .” (Naya
Tsentourou, Modern Language Review, Vol.113 (2), April, 2018)
“An essential inclusion on any Herbert bibliography … . The
ultimate payoff of George Herbert and the Mystery of the Word is
not just a deep sense of Herbert’s commitmentto mystery, but the
realization that this may be a root cause of the blossoming of
seventeenth-century religious poetry. … I will be rereading and
thinking about this impressive book for some time, as I’m sure will
anyone else interested in Herbert, seventeenth-century English
religious literature, or seventeenth-century religion more
broadly.” (Hannibal Hamlin, George Herbert Journal, Vol. 40 (1+2),
Fall 2016/ Spring 2017)
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