著者

曽村 充利

出版者

Faculty of Global and Interdisciplinary Studies, Hosei University

雑誌

GIS journal : the Hosei journal of global and interdisciplinary studies (ISSN:21894159)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.6, pp.43-134, 2020-03

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This study will consider the relationship between George Herbert’s pastoral manual, The Country Parson (CP) and his Anglican via media. The text will be analyzed historically in relation to religion, politics, culture and society in early seventeenth-century England. CP is not a flat textbook but a well-conceived work drawing on literary genres with various voices and attitudes for identification and differentiation. As to religion Herbert can be categorized as ‘a modest conformist’ who is following Laudian uniformity in ritual and seems to take a conservative stance on controversial issues. Though the idea of hierarchy relies on patriarchy and ‘passive obedience,’ the sociological arguments that CP is ideological and political and a governmental treatise will be critically reviewed. Compared to the Puritan preachers obsessed with an inner self, CP broadly deals with ‘the outward appearance’ of a pastor, though Herbert’s inner self is expressed in the prayers. CP is intended to teach pastors about the importance of appearances in order to establish trust with the local people. The text tries to be in the middle of extremes: between ‘Schismatic’ and ‘Papist,’ appearances and an inner self, authoritarian and egalitarian, and sacred and secular. Therefore, a pastor is required to be ‘always moving and eternally variable.’