From Pulpit Logic to Passionate Appeal: The Shift from Reason to Passion in Selected post-1688 Whig-Aligned Clerical Texts
Katarzyna Kozak
University of SiedlceAbstract
This article examines a selection of clerical texts associated with Whig-aligned churchmen in post-Revolution England, focusing on how their rhetorical strategies – particularly their treatment of the passions-reflect an effort to engage broader audiences while distancing themselves from High Church and Tory ideologies. The analysis is based on three case studies: John Tillotson’s sermons, Gilbert Burnet’s writings, and John Dennis’s works. Tillotson, seeking to present Low Church religion as ‘reasonable,’ though emphasised the need to subordinate passions to reason, at the same time acknowledging their significance. Burnet, by contrast, emphasized the need to adapt sermons to the unlearned, recommending a more deliberate and expansive use of passions as a legitimate tool of persuasion. John Dennis, while portraying passions as destructive in his attack on High Church’ ‘priestcraft,’ simultaneously embraced
impassioned and affective language to strengthen his polemic, aligning with Burnet’s recognition of the persuasive power of passions. These examples suggest a marked shift in the period’s religious and political culture – from reasoned moral instruction toward more emotionally charged appeals aimed at increasingly diverse audiences. By tracing this evolution, the study highlights how rhetoric of passions became an essential element in the communication strategies of Whig-affiliated writers at the turn of
the eighteenth century.
Keywords:
sermon, Low Church, Latitudinarian, rhetoric, passions, reasonReferences
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