Open AccessRemaking the Bible: English Reformation Spiritual Conduct Books
Author(s) -
Helaine Razovsky
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
renaissance and reformation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.1
H-Index - 5
eISSN - 2293-7374
pISSN - 0034-429X
DOI - 10.33137/rr.v34i4.10799
Subject(s) - english reformation , literature , classics , class (philosophy) , history , religious studies , art , philosophy , protestantism , epistemology
Among the thousands of devotional works produced in the centuries following the English Reformation are hundreds that may be called spiritual conduct books. This article defines the term "spiritual conduct book" on the basis of a text's purpose and audience. Unlike more familiar secular conduct books, such as Castiglione's Book of the Courtier, spiritual conduct books place success in the next world above success in this world. This group of books, although derived from the Bible and from biblical commentary, also reflects secular interests, including class conflicts.