Government by polemic
Subtitle: James I, the king's preachers, and the rhetorics of conformity, 1603-1625
By: Lori Anne Ferrell.
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Published: 1998
Place of publication: Stanford, Calif
Language: eng
Number of pages: 231
Subjects: James I, King of England, 1566-1625 -- Religion; Church of England -- History -- 17th century; Anglican Communion -- England -- History -- 17th century; Church controversies -- Church of England -- History -- 17th century; Church and state -- Great Britain -- History -- 17th century; Sermons, English -- 17th century -- History and criticism; England -- Church history -- 17th century; Great Britain -- Politics and government -- 1603-1625
Description: This book is a study of the Anglican Church in the Jacobean period, a time of central importance in English religious and political history. By looking at official words instead of official deeds, the author challenges the recent revisionist position, made by both Anglican apologists and historians, that the reign of James I was an era of religious consensus and political moderation.

Analyzing sermons preached and then ordered into print by the king, the book demonstrates that the Jacobean claim to "moderation" and the pursuit of a so-called via media were rhetorical strategies aimed at isolating Elizabethan-style Calvinist reformers and alienating their supporters.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [213]-226) and index.