Lost at Paul’s Cross: Unrecorded Sermons

Abstract

The sermon has always been closely related to the life of the soul. From the very earliest times in the history of the Christian Church, building on Jewish antecedents, preaching has channeled the power of the Word of God as a moralizing force. The mendicants and the bishops shared much of the responsibility for preaching at Paul's Cross, and some of the essential balance that was once part of the experience of the English Church was lost with the expulsion of the friars. This chapter considers some of the sermons and events that have been associated with Paul's Cross before the reign of Elizabeth for which only limited evidence survives, especially in the written text of the sermon, manuscript, or printed form is not known. Mary Morrissey has referred that 'roughly 250' Paul's Cross sermons were printed, or survive in manuscript for the period between 1558 and 1642. Keywords: Christian Church; Jewish antecedents; Mary Morrissey; Paul's Cross sermon; reign of Elizabeth